Springwatch presenter Chris Packham has warned that Britain is presiding over an 'ecological apocalypse', with the countryside increasingly becoming a 'green and unpleasant land'. The naturalist and broadcaster is urging the public to join him on a 10-day 'bioblitz' next month to record wildlife across road verges, farmland, parks, allotments, and community nature reserves.
Packham said that people have normalised a 'national catastrophe', seeing wildlife only in nature reserves while the wider countryside is bereft of life. He described reserves as 'natural art installations' where people feel good after seeing a bittern or orchids, but on the journey home there is 'nothing – only wood pigeons and non-native pheasants and dead badgers on the side of the road'.
Speaking from the Springwatch set at the National Trust's Sherborne estate in the Cotswolds, Packham lamented the lack of wildflowers. 'How many wildflowers can we see? None. Where's the pink of ragged robin? Where's the yellow of flag iris? The other colours are not there. It's not green and pleasant – it's green and unpleasant.'
Packham's recent tweets about the absence of insects at his home in the New Forest went viral. He reported seeing no butterflies in his garden and rarely finding craneflies or moths in his room, whereas they were commonplace in his childhood. Since 1970, Britain has lost 90 million wild birds, with turtle doves declining by 95% since 1990. The State of Nature 2016 report found Britain to be 'among the most nature-depleted countries in the world', with 40% of species in decline.
Birdwatchers have noted a particular lack of swifts this year, with sightings dropping from 38% to 31% of logged records. Next week, Britain will become the first country to dedicate a national week to helping swifts. Packham called for a 'peaceful public uprising' to demand action, criticising conservation charities for not doing enough to stop pesticides and bird persecution.
