The Ecological Apocalypse (Again)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Chris Packham hit the headlines this weekend by announcing that the UK was facing an ecological apocalypse. Yikes. He's right of course, but as apocalypses go it has been rather protracted. I wrote about a book called Silent Summer in 2010, which itself referenced an American book, Silent Spring (1962). Both featured similar conclusions. We have had over 50 years of ecological apocalypses. And people don't care about them. They don't care for three reasons. Firstly, they are unaware they're happening. This is partly a consequence ofShifting Baseline Syndrome. Essentially, new generations aren't aware of the degradation of the natural environment because they've got nothing to compare it with. My mum had fond memories of country walks through clouds of butterflies. There were certainly reasonable numbers when I was small. Our children are delighted to see one. It's also true that most people in the UK are now urban dwellers. To some degree or other they're suffering from nature deficit disorder. They're removed from the natural environment, physically and psychologically. Secondly - perhaps as a consequence - people in the UK don't really care about the natural world. This might seem odd in a nation of Springwatch viewers, animal lovers etc etc but nature has never polled well here. Political parties of all colours have ignored it for years as a result. Voters vote for all sorts of reasons, but environmental policies ain't one of them. Ask any Green Party activist. Lastly, those that are listening are suffering from apocalypse fatigue, as noted above. There are only so many apocalypses anyone can bear. One apocalypse is overwhelming enough, but when they come along one after the other you can only do one of two things. Hide under the sofa or convince yourself that the experts are all wrong and that things will get better. Tell anyone who will listen that around you the birds are doing well and the countryside looks lovely and green (etc. etc.). What was so interesting about the Blue Planet effect is that, while the problems it portrayed are really massive (e.g. global warming, ocean acidification...), people felt they could do something to help. They could fight their own battles as individuals or groups against plastic. And this is the answer. We don't need apocalypses. We need to understand what is happening (in a hurry!) and communicate it effectively. Extinction is an ugly word and one people respond to. We need to feel we can do something ourselves that will have a material effect on the problem. If it actually does have a material effect that's even better. As Chris Packham says, we can fix this. There are projects that do this. I went to one yesterday, with a collection of very jolly mayors. Making a Buzz for the Coastis a great initiative* helping bumblebees and other pollinators along 130 odd miles of Kent coast. It has partners across government, NGOs, corporates and communities and will very definitely make a difference. *very kindly endorsed by Mr. Packham, too!