Nearly 200 Wildlife Trust representatives from across the UK attended The Wave climate change march on 5 December, adding a voice for our natural environment to the 50,000 strong group.

The Wildlife Trusts met in Berkeley Square, where Carlo Laurenzi, Chief Executive of London Wildlife Trust, gave a speech to welcome marchers to London. He said:

“Welcome to London and Berkeley Square on this auspicious and internationally important day.

“Berkeley Square was made famous by the 1940’s song ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’. You would need to head over to the east end to see them now.

“Why are we here? To send a strong message to our Government not to falter at the forthcoming negotiations in Copenhagen – we must have legally binding agreements that will keep temperature rises within two degrees Celsius.”

Brian Eversham, Chief Executive of Beds, Cambs, Northants and Peterborough Wildlife Trust added:

“In the context of global drought, war and starvation, I almost feel guilty talking about wildlife - but natural ecosystems matter to people - and they are also part of the climate change answer. Bluebell woods store carbon. Britain’s peat bogs are even better carbon sinks, as long as they remain active and well managed. Damage them, and both CO2 and methane could exacerbate climate change.

“Bluebells are one of several thousand losers to climate change. A 2 degree temperature rise will drive many species further north and west, and force mountain hares out of England, and Snow Buntings and Ptarmigan to extinction in Scotland too.

“We can expect summer droughts, unseasonable floods and storms, more fires on heaths. At 4 degrees, I suspect the fires will also become regular in grasslands and even woodlands - most ferns will disappear from lowland England. Wintering geese, swans and waders will desert our wetlands, and our mountain butterflies and dragonflies will disappear.

“I’ve not mentioned the 6 degree option. It’s too scary and unpredictable. At that level, I don’t think our successors will be talking about wildlife. They will be talking about drought and starvation in Europe, about food production - digging for survival. We just can’t let that happen.

“So - we need to get the message home to our politicians: a 40% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020 is the necessary beginning. Adaptation is needed as well as mitigation, and the natural environment has to be part of the solution.”

Directly after the march, Gary Mantle, Director of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, and Brian Eversham, attended a Q&A session with Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband.

The session was fairly informal. Questions ranged from finance & support for developing nations, to getting the UK to agree to over a 40% reduction in CO2 by 2020, to the role of UK companies in overseas deforestation & mining, to the need for urgency, to giving local councils a carbon budget as a means of stimulating better public transport.

Gary Mantle said: “I asked how the Government was preparing for the actions that would be needed after Copenhagen. Miliband’s reply reflected earlier comments about it not being the role of Government to dictate to people what they should do, but to offer information and encouragement, showing how going green can improve quality of life. He recognised there was a big challenge to address public transport and the existing housing stock.

“He saw his biggest job in the immediate future was to get the EU to move from its present commitment of a 20% cut in CO2 to 30%. This was, he felt, essential.”

See The Wildlife Trusts featured on The Wave website

You can view The Wildlife Trusts' images from the day on our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildlifetrusts/