There was a lot of publicity before Christmas about the COP 29 Climate Change conference held in November in Baku, Azerbaijan. Many Thanet residents may not know that there’s also been a COP (Conference Of the Parties) Global Biodiversity Summit, number 16, which kicked off in Colombia, South America in October 2024.
‘What’s that got to do with me?’, you may think. The reality is that wildlife populations have crashed by 73% in just half a century. Entire species are vanishing before us, and the life support systems we rely on are vanishing.
Every day, forests, wetlands, and other wild ecosystems are wiped out. We rely on these ecosystems for things like clean air, water, and food. Politicians are talking more about prevention in health, and nature is hugely important in achieving this.
Biodiversity is often seen as a side issue by government, but it’s a foolish approach. All the modern hi-tech we think is so great, cannot and should not be perceived as being able to replace the wonder, beauty and life-affirming support nature gives us for free.
In Thanet we are privileged with a wonderful coastline, but we are devoid of trees. We have the lowest percentage in Kent, with few and fragmented woodlands, and few diverse meadows or ponds, mostly surrounded by housing or intensive farmland. The interconnections between remaining habitats – for example woods, meadows, ponds, scrubby areas etc - are often severely fragmented. Happily, many community groups work hard here to enhance our remaining habitats.
However, we so need joined-up thinking in policy with Councils, landowners, farmers, community participation and support in developing an interconnected spider’s web of wildlife corridors that allow plants, animals and insects to recover. Communities benefit by having access to green spaces full of life rather than relatively sterile spaces of mown grass or even concrete.
It’s encouraging to see tree initiatives to continue to develop in Thanet but this needs to include the creation of diverse meadows, ponds etc.
Kent County Council has developed a Nature Recovery Strategy (
https://kentnature.org.uk/nature-recovery/local-nature-recovery-strategy/) and Thanet District Council are developing one too.. I hope this will boost a more collaborative approach to achieve the network of habitats we need and a clear timetable for achieving results.
We need more green corridors through housing developments, for example, with wildlife interconnection in mind.
One hopes local farmers will engage in this process and recognise they too can benefit by re-evaluating some aspects of their farm management – for example by seriously looking at regenerative farming techniques.
I look forward to reading Thanet District Council’s draft Local Nature Recovery Plan.