Page 14 - Out Birding Issue 109 Winter 2022

View from the Chair
This is my last ‘view from’ and I’d like to re- flect on a couple of themes that are very rele- vant at the moment – the heath and wellbe- ing benefits of nature and the need for gov- ernment to do more to help nature recovery.
We all get lots of pleasure and enjoyment
from birding, either socially with friends and
family or out on our own, connec􏰀ng one to
one with birds as they go about their daily rou􏰀nes. Birds and nature provide us with therapy, relaxa􏰀on, excitement, joy, and occasional frustra􏰀on! When the going gets tough for us in our personal lives it is even more important to make 􏰀me to spend 􏰀me in nature - it can help us relax, recover, rebuild our resilience, and help us move forward.
I try to build a li􏰁le birding and photography 􏰀me into my daily rou􏰀ne, perhaps visi􏰀ng a local patch for an hour or just spending 􏰀me in the garden. Almost always I feel more relaxed and reinvigorated a􏰂erwards - the excep􏰀on being when I see needless or reckless damage to habitats, which does make me angry and frustrat- ed. As an ecologist and conserva􏰀onist, I am very aware of the seeping away of nature in my local area around Banbury in north Oxfordshire, where fields, hedges and woodland are making way for homes, distribu􏰀on centres and high-speed rail. It is very sad to witness, and some􏰀mes I need to remind myself that there are good things happening to restore nature in other parts of the county and more widely.
We are in pre􏰁y turbulent 􏰀mes poli􏰀cally and economically, and with the govern- ment focussed on economic growth through tax cuts and de-regula􏰀on, nature is being seen as obstruc􏰀ng ‘progress’ rather than being the source of our prosperity and our life support system. Conserva􏰀on chari􏰀es are more alarmed than I can ever remember by the proposed loss of protec􏰀on to important sites and a poten- 􏰀al retreat from plans to pay farmers for restoring nature on their land. If we want to help birds and nature recover from decades of decline, we need to make sure poli􏰀cians put the right policies in place. At the next general elec􏰀on, which is less than two years away, I’d encourage you to vote wisely for the party that has the most ambi􏰀ous policies for nature recovery and can be trusted to deliver them.
Finally, I’d like to wish our new chair, Andy, and the rest of our wonderful com- mi􏰁ee, all the very best for the future. We are so lucky to have such a great group of people running the club and I would definitely encourage you to join them if you feel the urge!
Mike
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