The climate emergency is a trade union issue
Prospect rep Paul Stewart writes about his work on the frontline of the climate emergency with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and argues that protecting the environment is a vital trade union issue.
Castle Espie Wetland Centre (photo courtesy WWT)
I manage Castle Espie wetland centre on behalf of the conservation charity the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The centre is situated on the shores of the stunning Strangford Lough1 in County Down where almost the world’s entire population of Light-bellied Brent Geese resides during the winter months.
The site here at Castle Espie incorporates habitat such as open water lakes, saltmarsh saline lagoon, shallow seasonally flooded wetlands, strandline flora, limestone grassland and we manage under lease 400 hectares of intertidal habitat.
As well as managing part of this important ecosystem there are hides, woodland, scheduled monuments and archaeological artefacts, a sustainable garden, nature walks and, as part of our education and conservation programme, a living collection of hand tamed endangered birds from around the world.
The visitor centre embraces the latest in sustainable technology and includes a restaurant, shop, art gallery and lecture theatres. Castle Espie is one of 10 WWT wetland centres throughout the UK.2
The charity was founded in 1946 by Sir Peter Scott, son of Captain Scott of Antarctic fame, to protect wetlands for wildlife and people. We provide education on the importance of wetlands, we act as a centre for excellence in conservation science, experts in wetland management and creation and have pioneered saving threatened wetland wildlife across the planet. As a charity we are reliant on membership, donations and income generated at our wetland centres.
Why wetlands are vital
Wetlands are the most effective carbon sinks on the planet. Often referred to as blue carbon ecosystems, they lock up more carbon than the world’s forests combined, despite covering only a fraction of the area that forests do.
As much as 40% of life on earth depends on freshwater wetlands yet these habitats have declined dramatically. In the UK much of this loss has occurred since the Industrial Revolution with 100,000 hectares per year drained between 1840 and 1880 alone; and the destruction continues, since 1970 we have lost 35% of this habitat in the UK.
This is a very perilous situation. If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, then wetlands are the lifeblood. There are many different types of wetlands. All sequester massive amounts of carbon. A recent study found that the Sundarban costal mangrove forest in India sequestered an amount of carbon equivalent to 98% of that emitted by the nearby coal-based power plant in Kolaghat in one year.
It is dangerous to rely on carbon offsetting as it doesn’t address the root cause, but it does demonstrate how powerful a weapon our wetlands are in rebalancing the effects of anthropogenic climate change.
Closer to home, peat bogs are a common form of wetland in the UK covering 12% of the UK’s landmass. They act as a carbon sponge, soaking up the carbon in the air and locking it in the ground.
When the peat bog vegetation dies, it doesn’t release its carbon but becomes compressed locking an enormous amount in the ground. Deep peat bogs in the UK provide a store of at least 3000 million tonnes of carbon, which is 20 times as much carbon stored in the whole of the UK’s forest biomass.
Destruction of these habitats across the globe is not only inhibiting the planet’s ability to sequester carbon but could be adding to emissions as degraded and damaged peat bogs can release thousands of years of stored carbon back into the atmosphere, thereby actually accelerating climate change.
In short, conservation of our wetlands is essential to life on Earth.
Of course, it’s not just wetlands and the species that depend on them. It’s about people too. Our wetland centres are specially designed to balance accessible, safe, up-close wildlife encounters and maximal wildlife biodiversity.
Castle Espie Wetland Centre (photo courtesy WWT)
They’re places to relax and engage with the nature. Our centres attract 1 million visitors every year and are a boon for job creation, tourism and the local economy, in turn helping fund our conservation work in a virtuous circle.
Having wetland nature nearby has an important role to play in our future towns and cities. We want to put it back where it has been lost and create new and innovative urban wetlands that benefit wildlife and urban dwellers alike, and in more ways than just their health and wellbeing.
Global projects
Elsewhere the, WWT lead on integrated community-based conservation projects across the globe.3
For example, Madagascar is home to an abundance of unique species but poverty and climate change have resulted in environmental degradation. Since 1960, over 60% of Madagascar’s wetlands are estimated to have been lost and what remains are under threat.
This has devastating consequences for plants and animals, and also for local people, many of whom are poor and depend on healthy natural systems for their basic provisions and livelihoods.
At WWT, we are doing all we can to help communities to protect and restore their freshwater wetlands, to support a resilient future for people and the amazing biodiversity of the country.
Huge improvements have already been made around lake Sophia in Madagascar by establishing community-based management associations. The introduction of sustainable rice farming techniques has increased rice yields by 300%. All fishers now use legal nets and initial surveys suggest their daily income has increased more than two-fold and there’s been an 80% reduction in the use of pesticides across the whole catchment.
We’ve built a boat landing platform to give fishers safe access to the water where it won’t disturb other areas of natural marsh and we hope to have saved perhaps the world’s rarest bird, the Madagascar pochard from the edge of extinction and released captive bred ducklings back into the wild.
A blue recovery and the role of trade unions
Paul Stewart
Post-pandemic we need to build back better with a green recovery. We know that wetlands have a unique role to play in this recovery. That is why we are proposing a Blue Recovery, creating 100,000 hectares of wetlands to function as essential blue infrastructure.
I believe that the concerns of people and planet are not divisible. Our civilisation is only sustainable if our environment is sustainable. Much of the devastation wrought has been born out of greed and inequality, the result of which often leads to further inequality, as in Madagascar.
I have been an active member of the trade union movement for most of my working life.
Trade unions are committed to the advancement of its members and Prospect has a strong membership in the environmental sector, but unions also have a productive influence in broader civil society that isn’t always entirely understood.
It is my personal view that a union like Prospect that works across the political spectrum is perfectly placed to represent not only the individual needs of its members but the importance of the conservation and environmental work they undertake and the benefit to the whole of society.
Collective power is something trade unions understand well. Protecting the environment for the collective good of humanity is a union issue.
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the WWT.
More information:
- Twitter: WWTCastleEspie
- Facebook: WWTCastleEspie
- Website: Castle Espie Wetland Centre
1 Strangford Lough is an area of international wildlife importance and is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA), Ramsar site, Marine Nature Reserve (MNR), Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), National Nature Reserve (NNR), and Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
2 Arundel West Sussex, Caerlaverock Dumfriesshire, Scotland, Castle Espie, Co Down Northern Ireland, Llanelli Carmarthenshire, Wales, London, Martin Mere Lancashire, Slimbridge Gloucestershire, Steart Marshes Somerset, Washington Tyne and Wear, Welney Norfolk.
3 Internationally, projects such as those in Madagascar, Cambodia and Sri Lanka are working to diversify local livelihood options, such as ecotourism.to ensure that local communities are better able to adapt to future change.
