Our local wildlife conservation group has frequently thought about what we are trying to do and whether it is what our members expect and so in the next copy of the SWT magazine we hope to show the following open letter to our members. But you can read it first.
Yes,
but what do you do? I've been asked that a few times and considering
all the meetings and events we organise, I see it as a wake-up call.
It
gives me the feeling that we're not making much impact. I'm still
searching for a sensible answer but we do have options.
We
can play it safe with a few meetings on easy subjects or we can
become much more radical and arrange discussions on the bigger
issues. These could be changes to local planning rules and the status
of local wildlife sites, delays in setting up marine conservation
areas or the effect on wildlife of anticipated changes to farming
subsidies.
We
could do more to support local campaigns like the appeal for the
Chalkhill Blue Butterfly project.
Our
national body, The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is celebrating
100 years since it was set up and pursues nationally important
campaigns including how the High Speed train projects will affect
wildlife. Should we get more involved with these? Check out their
website.
What
do YOU think? We'd like to know but whatever we do, we need your
active support. Find out more and how to contact us at:
http://www.somersetwildlife.org/Heart_of_the_Levels
