Do you know what I hate? Politics and politicians. I was raised by my grandparents in St Werburgh's which was then a working class area and politics involved Labour. These days findingf a Labour MP who will keep their word about the environment and not squirm out of any promises is like looking for gold in the River Avon. My 'local' MP is such a rare sight in her constituency that there is the belief she is only ever seen when Halley's Comet makes and appearance every 75 years.
I also grew up for some time in Germany where even cities and towns were very green and spotting a house without a window garden or garden was hard. Of course the German Green Party is nothing like the one we have in the UK which seems more interested in making sure "the right sort" of person is in the party and unlike the real Greens, pushes the idea of more building and investments in business. The environment...well, no money in that so although (like every other politician and party) they say it is vital that we tackle the environmental catastrophe currently happening.. we are still in an environmental catastrophe.
I will cite Bristol although the example can probably be used for other towns and cities. One thing you'll note is that hanging baskets in public places are always maintained and these are just to give the appearance that Bristol as a City and County is a very green place. It's for the tourists rather than citizens.
Some examples: back in the early 2000s I was keeping watch on the mature hedgerow that ran alongside the park on Winterstoke Road. There was a blackbird nest, a robin nest and even a wren nest. I was trying to have the hedgerow designated as a local, established bird breeding area and one day I came back from a day out and found that the entire hedgerow had been cut down. Nests and all just smashed up. I had to laugh when Bristol City Council who I had been in touch with over the nesting area stated that the cutback had "nothing to do with us" -there were still council contractors there when I saw the damage.
Troopers Hill -currently the focus of a lot of community work
At the end of South Liberty Lane, where the indoor bowling centre stands is an area used by dog walkers and five-a-side football. Around 2005 I saw the high trees there, where I knew there were nesting crows, being cut back to the trunk. I walked over and asked who had authorised the cut back when there were clearly nests in place. I was told to "**** off, trouble maker" now I kept asking who was in charge and eventually the work boss identified himself and I pointed out that nests were being destroyed. He replied "Well you can look amongst the branches we've cut down if you want" and just chuckled. "They'll find somewhere else to nest" I was told. A call to Bristol City Council was made and I was told "Our contractors comply strictly with all regulations and would not remove nests without a permission to do so by our environment department" So I explained the reaction I got from the contractors and that I had photos of the nests prior to cutting: "That wouldn't prove the nests were there when cut back" I( was told and there was some comment about public safety and the call ended.
In the late 1990s I informed the City Council that I was intending to sow wild flower seeds as well as plant willow wands on areas that were just waste in the Ashton Vale area. No problem as "it helps the look and local environment". When the flowers popped up and willows started to leaf it looked promising..then council workers came in and cut everything back and even turned over the soil which they had never done before. I spoke to the Council and was told "You can't just go planting seeds without permission" so I pointed out that I had gotten permission and who from. "Yeah, they left. Have you got permission in writing? It doesn't matter if you have because we can overturn that" End of conversation.
Not just the Council of course. Back in the late 1990s I was asked to be wildlife consultant to what would be Yanley Park -a waste tip being returned to nature with a pond, wildlife habitat and even park with benches for locals. The locals were not having that (you work that one out) and I had sustained harassment, threats, damage to my own garden and much more until the idea was dropped. By now it would have been a real quality nature reserve and I still have the plans somewhere. During all of this I found City Council officers siding with locals which, again, made no sense. Harassment from the Council was documented (our local MP simply was far too 'busy') and on the day I had two people come to hand me an award for my wildlife/country garden which had taken a lot of money and years of work to build up -a council official barged into our little group and declared my garden had been complained about and it "needed sorting" -the two visitors were somewhat astonished.
When we hear officials from the Mayor and other Council officials that they are taking part in the war to improve our environment remember it's "all about the press" and what they get out of it. They use second generation rodenticides that kill not just rats and mice (though they are becoming resistant to these) but causes death from secondary poisoning ('accidental' through consuming the poison or rodents killed by it) to domestic pets, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers as well as avian wildlife feeding on handy dead food.
Hengrove Mounds & Hawkfield Meadows again, like other areas in and around Bristol, a lot of work is going on to protect it
Bristol City Council is attempting to build on green sites while brown sites -old industrial and warehouse sites- go ignored. The green sites are, obviously, in far more scenic places and that attracts more investors' money -no need to landscape so it saves cash and therefore a bigger profit.
The campaigners to keep Bristol's open and green spaces as such do great work but always need to be vigilant because the City Council has a long history (Conservative or Labour) of making promises and then twisting out of them or even agreeing to things but carrying on with their plans. Bristol Airport and its expansion, which no one locally wants, has just been approved a second time and that will have a big effect on wildlife and natural habitats.
So, in what is quite literally a war in which you lose a lot of battles and win a few what can you do?
Firstly, when it comes to local council elections you demand that the right candidate is chose by getting a written declaration about their stance on protecting the environment and green spaces and re-assessing the use of pesticides and rodenticides it uses. That commitment is made widely known and if and when the candidate attempts to squeeze out of it you hit them with as much negative press as you can. Their job is "an earner" for them and persons attracting negative publicity do not get as much intertest shown in them by businesses etc.
That is the single most important thing you can do: the right person who will do their best to fulfill their promises.
The second thing you can do (this is where I get accused of being an "environmental activist" again) is campaign. Kick up a stink about green spaces being targeted on local TV, radio and newspapers. Launch a letter/email campaign aimed at Bristol City Council to commit to keeping Green spaces safe and not selling off land to private developers unless locals have any such thing put to them to vote on (I swear I am NOT a communist!). Protests outside "City Hall" attract press and media and that is what you want and here is a lesson I learnt from past experience: you do not accept a promise or claimed change of direction and then think "we won!" and sit back. That is the mistake people keep making. You keep pushing until you see actual solid, real world actions fulfilling those promises.
Friends of the Western Slopes and other groups do a great deal and need far more local support; after all locals live there and it's no good saying "They're building right on the field -there goes the area!" if you did nothing to protest or make your views known.
We have the biggest urban fox population outside of London and we also have feral cats. Even big U.S. cities such as Boston, Baltimore, etc have stopped using rodenticides and encouraged feral cats and even moved them into high rat population areas. Foxes and even coyotes are moving back into urban areas ands rats are declining.
We have very well established badger colonies (we try to keep secret) because as Bristol grew and took in villages it also built around those badger setts. We have otters (another little well kept secret until they were publicised a few years back).
There is not much we can do to protect these animals from cars and other vehicles that claim so many -or is there? In Europe, Canada and other countries road under and overpasses are built as standard or even put in place when there are too many animal deaths on certain roads. "Leading the environmental challenge" one might assume that Bristol City Council would consider such wildlife corridors with hedgehogs, otters and badgers dying in numbers but for them these are great publicity points that 'they' are doing such a great job that we have these animals in our 'green' city but it is the work of others helping keep these animals safe and monitoring them -Bristol City council has wanted nothing to do with any of this work (dare I mention the use of rodenticides on certain council allotments that some tenants became concerned with and were given the Council runaround and then ignored?).
A lot of us have put a great deal into trying to attract wildlife -mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects- into our gardens and area. "A Tree Per Child" sounds great -but not when other trees and green spaces are being eroded. A City Council with Councillors who are serious about the environment and will actually do something about preserving it is what we need.
Sitting back and letting others do all the work when they really need YOUR support leads to more lost battles. Think of your children and grandchildren.
Soap Box being put away.
