A petition launched by the Organic Trade Board (OTB), Soil Association (SA), Ecotone, Ethical Food Company and RBOrganic in August has reached more than 45,000 signatures – almost half of what is required for the Government to consider the issue for debate in Parliament.
The petition aims to give wildlife such as earthworms and ladybirds ‘a voice for the first time’ and calls upon new Prime Minister Liz Truss to ‘take action and save nature’ in her first 100 days in office.
On behalf of nature, the group is asking the PM to commit to protecting wildlife in any policies signed off under her Government and to represent the UK at the ‘crucially important UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December’.
At an organic farm in England’s north east during Organic September, a miniature protest was held on behalf of nature’s keyworkers. Standing up for the rights of insects, at Bays Leap organic farm in Newcastle (certified since 2018) farmer Chris McDonald was pictured holding up small placards bearing messages such as ‘There is no planet B’, ‘Save us, don’t spray us’ and Don’t spoil our soil’.
Each year McDonald works with a local beekeeper to deploy bees into his fields to help pollinate the flowers within his herbal leys.
“The human race is here because of nature; let’s work with it. We’ve tried fighting it before and it doesn’t like it. If we want harmony, we need to give nature a chance. My forages work in harmony with the pollinators – they’re crucial in the balance of keeping my farm successful.”
“If wildlife such as bees, earthworms and ladybirds had a voice they would want all farming to be organic to help keep the delicate ecosystem in balance,” adds the OTB.
To add your name to the petition visit https://www.change.org/NatureProtest
