Our local patch is buggered. Usual story of developers not keeping their word when it comes to rehabilitation and restoration of a site as they are focus on productivity and profits.
Well- I want our local patch to be different. To oppose the forces of these corporations it is essential to match strength with strength.
Conservation organisations and local groups are largely ineffective at permeating society at the macro level. It is a cliche but true- profits and greed come before anything else.
I believe this has occurred because conservation bodies are not utilising the most powerful resource at their disposal- that is the army of birders which patrol the lands. The relationship between the men on the ground and the power houses is one of mis-trust and lack of unity.
The answer to effective conservation lies in the unification of the conservation power houses and the troops on the ground. If this unification occurs- then the power of the love of birds, of nature and of a better future is not only a match of strength to the power of greed and short term thinking but a submitting force. The money men need to be brought to their knees.
8 comments:
Oh, how very right you are, Peter. Power-hungry organisations who do things, not necessarily just for profit, but just because they can, whether those actions are to the benefit or detriment of wildlife. Complaints about such actions are met with excuses and false promises. It is sad to say that it is going on in many places.
Power Hungry. That is exactly what birders need to become. The power to protect local patches and our birds. Also the hunger to stand up for ourselves and have some respect. There must be a way.
What annoys me is the total lack of worry that our Beddington developers have to our efforts to stop them. They think we are spineless and toothless muppets and run circles round us.
What annoys me most is that it is the truth- respect is earnt and we haven't earnt any. We cannot protect our birds. The blame does not realy lie with the developers but with weak birders- whose job it is to protect birds. As an effective group we are pathetic. That is where the problem lies. Bullies only stop when the victim stands up for themself.In this case the birds cannot fight back- we have to do it for them.
Yes you are quite right in all that you say, the "Power Hungry" side of things usually set up "The Friends of Beddington" type of committee, who would will meet at a venue after a days worth of toil, they will send a representative (who has normally not got an ounce of influence anyway), who in turn reports back to the said company and low and behold, nothing that you have put forward gets done, there is never a middle ground for them, it is what they want that gets done.
I am afraid money talks and if your group can not find the backing of a major group like the RSPB then you will lose, I have seen this type of thing happen so often.
Best of luck.......
Cheers Martyn,
We have approached the RSPB on numerous occasions and they very politely tell us to f##k off.
I guess that is the sickest thing about all these problems. The conservation bodies quite simply do not lend any support to local birding groups- it is not in their remit apparantely. They reckon they have bigger fish to fry- what is bigger than the sum of all the local patches in the UK?
What is more important than an accessible inticate and connected network of bird reserves which covers the entire country and provides local access to birds for every UK citizen.
What is more important than providing birds with a place in every community across the country.
I am sick of listening to RSPB shite. 'Bigger fish to fry'- a lot of them are in it for head lines, career moves, and the 'glamour'- hob nobbing with 'big names' in conservation.
Change starts on the front line- not in brown nosing conferences and talking shops. They should get their heads out of eachothers arseholes, wipe the shit from their eyes and start helping birders.
I sometimes think that the only way to be heard by these people is by going to the local press and shaming them publicly.
Maybe then they will start to listen.
I would love to see the RSPB exposed for their incompetence and ineffectiveness. They are good in some areas but overall are not achieving full potential. Nothing or noone can change unless they realise they have a problem first.
Using the press to highlight this issue is an excellent idea- I will see if I can do anything- any advice would be much appreciated.
sorry Pete but having a pop at the RSPB is not really fair, it seems lots of people want o have a pop at the RSPB (from some birders themselves) it is as you say we need to unite that means backing the RSPB (verbally as well as membership) to tackle these problems. The RSPB is a limited resource and the pressures and issues are many. Lets stop slagging off conservation bodies and start getting behind them ...they need our support now more than ever.
I think everyone needs a good slagging off sometimes- including me more so. Birders and conservation bodies need to have the power to counter any threats to birds- and that means admitting our weaknesses and turn them around.
I am a big supporter of the RSPB- I signed up all my neices and nephews this year. I can support someone by recognising their strengths and weaknesses. The power of positive and negative thinking.
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