A WORCESTERSHIRE charity has called for the nature and climate crises to be tackled ‘together and at speed’.
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust said the two crises were inseparable and humans won’t solve either if we don’t all take action and prepare for a changing world.
If the two crises are not tackled, Worcestershire could see more extreme rainfall events and floods as well as extensive droughts that cause wildfires across heathland in the north and grasslands in the south of the county.
The charity is warning that much-loved wildlife like cuckoos and habitats like wildflower-rich grasslands that support multitudes of bees, butterflies, birds and mammals may not survive a rapidly changing climate.
Together with trusts across the country, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is calling on the UK Presidency of the global climate conference COP26 to tackle the nature crisis alongside the climate crisis as well as encouraging local authorities, businesses and residents across the county to do their bit.
Colin Raven, director of Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, said: “Nature plays a vital role in storing carbon safely as well as providing us with clean water, clean air and much more. But our natural places are in decline and now face an even greater risk of degradation from the results of climate change that are already inevitable in the near future.”
The trust is looking for sites next to its own nature reserves to ensure wildlife has space to move and adapt as changes to our climate take hold.
Wetlands, grasslands, heathland and saltmarsh as well as woodlands all store carbon so ensuring their creation and restoration helps wildlife, the climate and people.
The Trust’s Tiddesley Wood nature reserve just outside Pershore is one of the biggest stores of carbon in the Vale of Evesham. The 197acre semi-natural ancient woodland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and has been wooded since the last Ice Age. The charity is currently opposing proposals in the South Worcester Development Plan for 450 houses to be built almost adjacent to the woodland, threatening the resilience of the habitat and the wildlife that lives there.
Avon Meadows Community Wetlands and Local Nature Reserve, owned by Pershore Town Council and Wychavon District Council was created to alleviate flooding from surface water and the River Avon. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust was involved from the beginning and was instrumental in the design and creation of floodplain meadows and wetland features that are now home to a variety of wildlife and an active community group.
The Trust has also been working to create wetlands within and around farmland in the Cropthorne area. Small wetland areas on the edge of fields can filter out pollutants from entering wider water courses, help to reduce pressure on farmers’ pockets and our water bills, offer habitat for wildlife and capture carbon from the atmosphere
The trust is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the UK calling on the Government to commit to take urgent steps to stop carbon-emitting activities.
Visit the website at www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/cop26 for more information about the campaign.
