Act to avert biodiversity crisis

Remember those days of driving down country lanes, then having to clear the insects that smothered the windscreen. There haven't been many of those days recently. It is rare now to get an insect build up on a car windscreen. This has something to do with the destruction caused to insect populations by human beings. Some 59% of the insect population was lost between 2004 and 2023. Yet, still humankind blunders on destroying fellow species that are key to its own existence. The last biodiversity illiterate government allowed farmers to use the previously banned neonicotinoids pesticide for the past four years. These pesticides do incredible damage, especially to the bee population. The campaigning group 38 degrees claim that just a teaspoon full of neonicotinoids pesticide can kill 1.5 billion honey bees. The group are seeking to get the present government to ban neonicotinoids. Nearly one in six species in the UK are threatened with extinction. Some 19% of species have become extinct since the 1970s. These are just some of the statistics that highlight the climate and biodiversity crisis that has engulfed us over recent times. The devastation caused by the destructive way in which we live becomes more evident everyday. The fires, droughts and floods. Soaring food prices. (Food production will become ever more difficult and expensive if we go on destroying insects and other life). Human beings have to change the way they live. How can 35% of food produced in this country be thrown away? Human beings have to collectively wake up to the damage being done and take radical action. The sort of sustained action that was taken to counter the COVID pandemic - it is that kind of emergency. Instead, there seems a collective form of amnesia, as humanity creeps ever closer to the abyss. It is quite disillusioning to attend talks on this crisis and be reminded of the ineptitude of the political class. The failure to act, the creeping back from hesitant commitments, the catch all cop out 'it can't be afforded." Always putting off to another distant day the need to act now. Yet, on a more upbeat note, there have been positive things done. The saving of bird species like the red kite, sea eagles and the osprey. There have been great initiatives. Some farmers are leading the way, producing food, whilst fostering the environment. There is much happening but it needs to happen more quickly and on a bigger scale. It is important that more people get involved. This can mean volunteering in groups to work on the land. Locally, the Wren Group does work every week in Wanstead Park or on the Flats. The Friends of Wanstead Park do monthly litter picks. The councillors also do a monthly litter pick on the third Saturday of each month. The River Roding Trust do periodic work on the river. There are tree pits and pollinator pathways that local people can become involved with. Also, those who have gardens can make them more nature friendly. Join different groups like the wildlife trusts, Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust and RSPB. Locally, there is the Wren Group, River Roding Trust, Wanstead Climate Action, Wanstead Community Gardeners and the Friends of Wanstead Park to name but a few. Put forward contributions to consultations. Open a dialogue with politicians to engage them with the issues. Don't stand for excuses like it cannot be afforded. So there is much that can be done. Everyone needs to get more involved take responsibility for the way they behave. Then just maybe the climate and biodiversity crisis can begin to turn around.