3 minute read

Each speaker has an area of expertise in relation to the question and we loved hearing their take on this important issue.

You can watch the full discussion on YouTube.

If you don’t have an hour to sit still, why not listen to it while you’re on the go? Head to The Wild Cornwall Podcast.

Or, if you’re really running low on time, here are six highlights from the event…

1. “An emphatic ‘No’”

Kevin Gaston (Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation, Exeter University) reframed the question, asking whether we can we afford not to undertake such restoration. He answered with an emphatic ‘No’: we simply don’t have a credible alternative plan. The level of depletion in nature has been severe: while there’s plenty of ‘green’ in Cornwall, we have lost most of our wildlife.

A statistic to focus the mind: there is now only just over one pair of breeding birds per person in Britain.

‘We really are dealing with very little nature being left,’ said Kevin.

2. “We all have a big part to play.”

Wesley Smyth (Area Manager, Natural England) challenged us to think about the role we can all play in society. While we often think of governments as promising the earth but delivering little, their role is actually to reflect what people in this country want.

So, when we think about whether ‘30 by 30’ is possible, we all have a big part to play.

It’s not just about governments failing to deliver on promises, it’s also about how we as a society choose to emphasise the importance of nature.

3. “Can we deliver it? Yes… but…”

Cheryl Marriott (Head of Conservation, Cornwall Wildlife Trust) raised a hopeful note. ‘Is it possible?’ she asked. She thinks it is! But there are some big ‘ifs’…

We need more people to get involved (‘we’re all part of the problem; we can all be part of the solution’), we need to step up a gear (or two or three!), and we need to be bolder in what we’re doing. Cheryl believes that Cornwall Wildlife Trust is trying to do exactly this.

Finally, we can’t sit and wait: we need to take action now.

4. “The farmer’s voice needs to be heard.”

Local farmer and trustee of Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Louise Thomas, argued that farming and conservation shouldn’t be thought of in isolation to one another. Farmers are not always great self-publicists, but their voice needs to be heard.

There are lots of options to build biodiversity on farms (for example, focusing on the organic matter of soil or taking care over hedgerow management). Farming isn’t a bad thing: it can be done hand in hand with environmental concern.

Louise said that we need to look at food production and conservation as one. Farmers have a lot to learn from conservationists, but conservationists need to learn from farmers, too. Increasing biodiversity cannot come at the expense of our food security.

5.  “We’ve got to look at the ecosystem as a whole.”

Ruth Williams (Marine Conservation Manager, Cornwall Wildlife Trust) said, ‘We need to give nature at sea the space and time to thrive and survive… and to recover.’

But there’s a big challenge: we don’t own the seabed. We can’t fence off areas, like we do with nature reserves, and manage it for recovery. The sea is used by many as a common resource.

The problem is that many Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated for specific features only, which means that only certain activities which impact those are prohibited. For recovery – for the whole interlinked ecosystem to work – we’ve got to look at that ecosystem as a whole and manage the site as a whole. This is essential for achieving ‘30 by 30’.

We haven’t got time to waste. Our current MPA network isn’t properly protected, so we need to accelerate things to ensure that we’ve got that effective management.

6. “You can help us buy more land for nature recovery…’

Cheryl Marriott highlighted one of Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s key contributions to nature recovery to make ‘30 by 30’ a reality. ‘We can’t say where it is yet,’ she said, ‘but we’re looking at buying some more land right next to one of our largest nature reserves.’ Increasing the size of this will mean this nature reserve could fulfil its potential for wildlife. 

Keep an eye for more news about this land purchase! In the meantime, if you would like to support Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s work to ensure 30% of our land and seas are managed well for wildlife, join us or donate today.