Tackling the nature and climate emergency

Our role in protecting the planet for future generations

How we are tackling the nature and climate emergency

To meet the challenge of climate change and bring wildlife back from the brink we need a resilient and thriving natural environment. From woodlands storing carbon, to floodplains protecting urban areas from floods, the natural world can slow the progress of climate change and protect people and wildlife from its impacts. Our conservation efforts to reintroduce species and create more, bigger, better and joined up landscapes can also be effective at stemming biodiversity loss if we act now and at scale.

At BBOWT, we work tirelessly to protect our natural world. By doing so we can also address the nature and climate emergency head on. Our work includes:

• Protecting our most special wild places, our nature reserves. These wildlife havens are vital islands of biodiversity from which we can speed nature’s recovery in the wider landscape. We closely monitor our nature reserves, adapting our management approach as necessary to respond to the impacts of climate change to ensure they remain good places for wildlife to thrive.
• Working with others to bring about nature’s recovery. Our Nature Recovery Network maps joined-up areas across our three counties that are important for wildlife - beyond our own nature reserves and Living Landscape areas. We are linking nature-rich areas together, creating bigger, better and more joined up habitats. A healthier natural environment is better positioned to serve as a buffer against the worst impacts of climate change.
• Campaigning for robust legislation. Through our campaigns, we are seeking to strengthen legislation to protect nature and create resilient ecosystems.
• Reconnecting people with nature. We bring people closer to wildlife so that they can appreciate how vital a healthy natural world is to everyone’s wellbeing. Our exciting Team Wilder project encourages everyone to get involved. Welcoming nature back into our towns and cities can inspire a love and respect of nature among urban residents, and our Wild Banbury and Wild Oxford projects are helping to make these urban areas greener.
• Fighting unsustainable and destructive development proposals. We are not afraid to speak up when the government proposes transport and infrastructure projects that disregard the natural world.
• Creating a nature recovery network that joins wild places together and makes them more resilient.

We are facing a nature and climate emergency. The world has warmed 1°C since pre-industrial times and we are already seeing the impacts on wildlife, from severe damage to habitats due to extreme weather, changes in wildlife distribution, to lifecycles becoming out of sync. At the same time the natural world on which we depend is under intense pressure. Wildlife is in decline and species are going extinct at an alarming rate.

These twin emergencies are inextricably linked and it is now clear we cannot tackle the climate crisis without tackling the nature crisis. The good news is that nature-based solutions could be our most powerful tool, delivering more than 30% of the emissions reductions needed by 2030.

As a local conservation charity BBOWT is at the forefront of helping to make that happen, both through our work on the ground and in persuading government and decision-makers to facilitate the changes required.

Nature’s fantastic ability to trap carbon safely and provide other essential benefits to wildlife and people is proven, but there is no time to lose. We must act immediately.

What you can do

There is plenty we can do as individuals to reduce our environmental impact and bring about a meaningful response to the nature and climate emergency. From supporting the work of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, to making changes to how we live, the way we shop and how we garden, our actions quickly add up. What will you do to address the crisis?