In contrast to the previous update in which I discovered I upset around 10% of the signatories of this petition, here is something with which we might have a greater accord!
World Wildlife Day, today, 3rd March (03032020 - if you like number games) was instigated seven years ago by the United Nations General Assembly. The date is to commemorate the signing of CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - back in 1973.
Why are these days important? Because they give us a chance to 'shout above the noise' of everything else. Though the other noise is particularly deafening today - news filled with corona virus, Home Secretaries and US elections has pushed wildlife right down the agenda.
I was moved to write this by a comment I heard on the radio this morning - it was not a direct quote from the PM - but the journalist said that Johnson would be 'putting us on a war-footing' to combat the threat this new virus presents us with. Now, I am not belittling the threat - I suffer from low-level asthma, and more worryingly have elderly and frail relatives and friends. But ...
Is this virus the existential threat we should be fearing most? When I look at the work we do to help hedgehogs I am struck by how people change up a gear, or two, when they become aware of the serious decline our favourite animal is suffering. And with wider wildlife and environmental issues too - there is a change. In fact a report published just today by Climate Outreach that has revealed this to be the case.
How do we get Nature treated with the same level of concern as our health - or banks - or wars for that matter? It seems a serious blind spot of nearly all politicians - who fail to consider the reality that is every single thing that keeps us alive, safe and happy is dependent on a healthy ecosystem.
I suppose the blind spot is obvious if you think about it - the virus is 'other' but we are the threat to nature. And it would take a brave politician to step up to the plate with that as a position.
The solution? We need to work with our friends, neighbours and representatives to impress upon them the importance of treating wildlife with respect. Now - this can be tricky - 'nature' is nebulous as a concept. So - we lure them in using the one species we can all agree upon - the hedgehog.
This work - the petition - it is just a start. Once you have made a change for one species it is all the more likely you will accept and welcome the chance to help more species ... so ... talk to people - spread hedgehog love far and wide and let's make every day a wildlife day.