To protect nature in the UK, petitions usually require 100,000 signatures.
We have over a million members of the RSPB and 800,000 members of the Wildlife Trusts in the UK. We also have another 20 or so amazing wildlife organisations with good membership (see our home page to find them).
The sad fact is though, that when it comes to voting, only 0.02% of the UK rises to protect nature. Only 16,000 voted to stop destruction of ecosystems across Europe. Perhaps the most shocking of all is that, after 11 months only 8,000 have signed the petition to introduce licensing, that would protect our rare and beautiful upland birds of prey from illegal persecution.
(PLEASE SIGN HERE: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46473 )
Last week, wildlife groups were accused of having "imaginary friends" by someone that wants HS2 to be destroy large swathes of our countryside ( More information here courtesy of The Wildlife Trusts http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/HS2 ). The facts would suggest he is right - BUT LET'S PROVE HIM WRONG!!!
We have a new approach which utilises the power of Social-media.
We have been using and exploring the power of Twitter for a while now.
Recently we have used Twitter to support campaigns on CAP reform, the protection of Sanctuary LNR in Derby and to add votes to end "Ecocide" across Europe.
200 followers took time out to reach over 1 million of their own followers, to support the RSPB on CAP reform. In a 4 hour campaign on Ecocide, a small band of followers helped increase the total UK vote to end Ecocide by 800 - a 5% increase in the total vote in just 4 hours. Only 300 voted during the 24 hours after our campaign and France, who were leading the voters chart only added 30 votes while we were at work!
Last week we set up @MMNNActionUK on Twitter. After just one week, we are pleased to announce that we have over 700 followers. These include The Wildlife Trusts, The Woodland Trust, Plantlife UK, CPRE (who recently changed there stance and are now opposed to HS2), Hawk and Owl Trust, Green Party and Friends of the Earth groups, RSPB (London & South Stack - plus directors) and Bristol Zoo Gardens. We also have Badger Groups, STOP HS2 groups, local Wildlife Groups and many others who are passionate about nature.
To fully harness the power of Twitter, and support wildlife organisations and campaigns, we have established the following CODE, if you like, to use, which can potentially create a "boom" when it comes to campaigning. Thank you for taking the time to understand and apply the following:
1. Find us on twitter: search for @MMNNActionUK
2. Send out your own tweet asking your followers to follow @MMNNAction & add their voice to help protect #nature & #greenspaces in the UK
3. If you have a campaign that you want us to support, please tweet details and a link with @MMNNAction at the end so that we can see it and act on it.
4. If we tweet for a campaign, WE will add a hashtag #MMNNLive so that it can be found by others. We can then ask our followers to search the hashtag and find campaigns to support. You will also be able to look here yourself at any time. This prevents tweets being lost on Twitter feeds, which is a shame if it is someone who is passionate about nature that would have read it!
5. From time to time we will send out a test tweet to measure the power ( or "boom" as we like to call it, with the beautiful bird - the Bittern in mind! (Which incidentally doesn't "tweet" if you see what I mean!)). The tweet will carry the hashtag #MMNNTest so that again it can be found. Over time we hope that the strength of our "boom" will increase to let those in power see that nature really is a key issue in the UK when it comes to voting.
We are applying two key rules initially to help this initiative succeed:
1. Be prepared! Please spread the word and help us reach 10,000 followers. A voice of this size will really help make changes for nature and a sustainable world.
2. Teamwork! Support each other and ALL wildlife causes. If it looks good for nature and our children's world then as long as you agree with it, please RT! Depending on your followers it is like posting it through hundreds of letter boxes. Over time it will create change and also reach those that may gain interest!
There are so many major issues affecting nature in the UK. We will use "ActionUK" to raise awareness of all them. This is quite hard for us because we are volunteers and Moving Mountains is only six months old. Our own voice is only just starting to rise (Over 5,300 followers of our networks on Twitter).
We will be launching a special Action UK site online, dedicated to nature campaigns across the country. We will also be working with ALL our amazing wildlife organisations to set up "nature explorer stations" in Schools, hospitals, libraries and council buildings across the UK. I myself shall be organising charity walks to help raise the necessary funding for this initiative.
I really need your help:
1. Please vote for licensing upland grouse moors and gamekeepers. Your voice will protect our Birds of Prey (Like the Hen Harriers and Golden Eagles seen on BBC Winterwatch). We WANT 100,000 signatures BEFORE the deadline on 27/2/2014 to prove that nature has real and not imaginary friends! We can change policies in the UK, BUT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. The link again to vote is http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46473
2. Tell everyone you know who loves nature about @MMNNActionUK on Twitter. We already know from our tests with the above #MMNNLive hash-tag that if we have 10,000 followers on twitter we will get around 250 retweets of our campaign tweets, reaching 675,000 followers, most of which will have an interest in nature!!!
3. Use our home page to find UK wildlife organisations, and visit their websites. Look at their campaigns and see how you can help and get involved.
If we can get 0.2% of the UK using their voice for nature instead of 0.02% we can oppose ANYTHING that threatens Mother Nature. Surely we can do that for her? She provides our air, water and food, as well as the beauty that we see in the wildlife and landscapes of the UK.
If you have read the above and are about to start using your voice for nature, please feel proud! You are about to start protecting the earth for our children!
Thank you so much for taking time to read all this. We hope that it all helps to move mountains for nature!
The ground-breaking 2013 State of Nature Report highlights the need for a team-work approach to collating and sharing information about the U.K's wildlife, so that we can understand why our plants and animals are vanishing at such an alarming rate. The aim of this initiative is to create strong local networks around our parks, "patches" and nature reserves in order to conduct co-ordinated surveying,increase participation, and promote education and fund-raising.
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