Sheffield environmental groups come together to declare a nature emergency – and want your help

Nature Recovery Sheffield is made up of Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, Sheffield Green Parents, Sheffield Climate Alliance, Diocese of Sheffield, Sheffield Greenpeace, Sheffield Friends of the Earth, Owlthorpe Fields Action Group and Kids Plant Trees.

Owlthorpe Fields Action Group ran a two year campaign to try to stop a housing estate from being built on a wildlife haven but a planning inspector ruled in favour of developers Avant Homes.

And in February, Sheffield Green Parents handed a 1,000-name petition in to Sheffield Council asking it to declare an ecological emergency.

Over the coming weeks, Nature Recovery Sheffield will ask organisations, businesses, families and individuals across the city to declare a nature emergency on Friday, May 21.

Claire Baker, from Owlthorpe Fields Action Group, said: “We realise the declaration is the first step. It isn’t the answer – it’s the start of finding solutions for many long-term and complex problems.

“We can, however, start looking at quick-wins and short-term goals, and we see the declaration as the kick-starter for this.

“We are talking to Sheffield Council about our plans and hope they will declare an emergency soon. The council is vital to the success of our plan.

“The council declared a climate emergency in January 2019 and we hope it will declare a nature emergency soon and work with us to find solutions that address both the climate and ecological crisis.”

Nature Recovery Sheffield says it will set up a consultation for businesses, politicians, individuals, funding bodies and organisations who wish to be involved and expects this initial meeting to be in June.

Claire added: “We aim to act locally and think globally, linking what we do in Sheffield with actions around the UK and world.

“We are calling on people to sign up and we would also like people to send pictures, videos and reasons why they’ve joined for us to share.”

For more details on how to get involved, email [email protected] and read the plan here