I meet with Val, a long-term volunteer for BBOWT, to discuss her volunteer work both in the Planning, Policy and Advocacy team and separately as a Wildlife Ambassador. As we both do the 21^st century dance of getting microphones and cameras working for our online meeting, we reflect on how this style of online meeting has become a strange new normal. 

A strange new normal for nature has emerged in the last few decades too. So much of the natural world has declined in her lifetime she explains, “for those of us who are old enough to remember, the lack of nature has become the new normal… in my very own backyard I have seen the decline of nature. When I first moved to my current home 20 years ago, I regularly saw deer, frogs, hedgehogs, hares, house martins, owls and more.” All that seems to be disappearing at a quickening rate – she adds, “I could see this with my own eyes”.

Already a BBOWT member for over 20 years and newly motivated by the noticeable changes she was observing in the natural world, together with the increase of anti-environmental messaging on social media and from governments, Val had come to the realisation “I wanted to get involved in new things; further my interest in nature and make an impact locally”. 

This coincided with an advertisement from BBOWT for a volunteer at the time of the 2017 general election. “All the political stuff was new, but the technical stuff wasn’t” she says. 

When she first began at BBOWT as a volunteer she says she “was helping to build a [political] candidate database and asking the candidates what they were going to do for nature. Every time there has been an election campaign we have asked candidates to make a pledge for nature. I did this in the 2017 general election and then in subsequent local elections. My main role has been keeping a register of contacts up to date so that we can …” Pausing, smiling and perhaps thinking of how the modern technological world has changed she adds “…nowadays email them”.  

Val has also met with MPs and plays a vital role in supporting BBOWT’s direct lobbying efforts. “I track what our MPs are doing and saying and how they are responding to the natural world” she says.

Reflecting on some of the challenges of working in this domain, Val explains that she perceives there to be many influential voices who are promoting harmful narratives about nature, that run counter to the evidence.  

Wondering out loud she exhales, “you think, is anything good really every going to happen?”. With hope, a moment later, she responds to her own thought “there’s a quote: bad things happen when good men do nothing … or something along those lines”. 

It’s the knowledge that working with this team at the local level to push for nature to become a “political priority … [that] makes me feel as though I am making a small contribution to something bigger”. 

In addition to supporting the development of BBOWT's campaigns, Val is also a committed Wildlife Ambassador. Wildlife Ambassadors are a growing group of over 1000 volunteers who are engaged with our campaigns. 

As a Wildlife Ambassador she says she “writes to MPs and draws attention to nature related issues on social media”. She observes that many people feel reluctant to contact their MP because “it’s very difficult when you’ve never met policy makers before”. 

But, she clarifies, with the 'new' cohort of MPs, there is “an opportunity to see what these MPs are made of – there is an opportunity for renewed energy”; noting that this is perhaps why we’ve had a large uptick in the number of people engaging with our campaigns. 

The world can sometimes feel as though it is becoming more polarised, where positive thoughts get snowed under by a mix of mistruths and fabrications. 

She mentions that she’d recently seen some statistics about individuals’ beliefs about environmental issues: an overwhelming majority of people are concerned about nature and the environment, but more than half feel unable to discuss their beliefs because they think of themselves to be in the minority. 

“Becoming a Wildlife Ambassador, gives you the motivation to be more involved and more active because you realise there are many more like-minded people”. 

Despite not having a background in biology or ecology, her engagement in the political side of the environmental sector has been valuable in other local environmental groups that she has worked with. “This gives you more opportunities to exchange ideas and share with people” she adds.  

Talk of what this work means for the future and for future generations enters our conversation, “it gets me so angry when I hear some people say that the older generation don’t care. But we do care about the legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren.” 

She makes it clear that people across generations share her beliefs and values about the environment - gently saying “my advice is to try it [political advocacy]; see what it is like and don’t be afraid to come forward because there are a lot of people who think in a similar way”.

I ask her what these shared values are. They are, she explains, “concerns for the environment and concerns for ourselves”. In a second breath these two are tied together “We are part of nature. Too often we forget this”.

Joe Humpage, Policy Assistant

Become a Wildlife Ambassador

As a wildlife ambassador BBOWT will contact you about current campaigns and political issues, and ways that you can help the Wildlife Trust to lobby policy makers. 

We will contact you with actions you can take such as signing letters, adding your name to petitions, or meeting your MP about a particular topic. Often, we will provide advice about the style and content of your communications. 

Find out more 

Volunteer for BBOWT

If, like Val, you feel motivated to take action locally for nature and volunteer with BBOWT. Whether that is assisting in office-based work or out on reserve you can find more here.