You can help Restore Nature Now!
How much do you love nature? Join Born Free and speak out for the wild at a peaceful but passionate protest on 22 June in London, calling for greater protection for the UK’s natural world and for politicians to act now.
The next generation deserves a world free from the threat of climate catastrophe and where nature is thriving.
Born Free invites you to join us in London this June, to stand shoulder to shoulder with 80+ of the UK’s nature, environmental and wildlife organisations and local groups, and anyone who cares about our country’s nature, from up and down the country. Together, through a peaceful march and rally, we will tell the government to Restore Nature Now and act now for nature, climate, and communities.
Join us: Saturday 22nd June at 12 midday, the march will start at 1pm, and the rally will start at 2.15pm at Parliament Square (see full details of the event at the bottom of this page).
A simple demand, and so important to all of us. Can you help us deliver this message to Parliament?
The State of Nature reports are published annually by over 60 partners. They document a downward trajectory for so many species, and an increasingly bleak picture every year. The latest report, released in September 2023 (State of Nature 2023), highlighted that 19% of all 753 monitored terrestrial and freshwater UK species have declined since 1970, that pollinators like bees have declined by 18% in abundance, and that 16% of over 10,000 assessed species are now at risk of extinction in the UK. Since 1970 we have lost more than half of our flowering plants. The numbers of 13 species of seabird have fallen by an average of 24% since 1986. In England, Scotland, and Wales, almost 1,500 species are now at risk of being completely lost, while in Northern Ireland 281 face a similar fate.
Restore Nature Now!
When did you last see a hedgehog? Or hear the purring song of a turtle dove? And all this at a time when the world finds itself amid a climate emergency, with average global temperatures rising because of carbon emissions largely through burning of fossil fuels. Wildlife and natural habitats are our cheapest and most effective tool to mitigate climate breakdown, yet they are being allowed to fall into precipitous decline.
Do you also wonder how the UK – a highly developed nation with the fifth largest economy in the world – can be destroying its beautiful and valuable natural riches day on day? Does this anger you too? Chances are, it does. A recent YouGov survey of 8,000 people found that 81% of UK adults believe wildlife and the environment are under threat and that more needs to be done urgently to protect and restore them. If you feel this way, you’re not alone.
The UK’s many nature and environmental NGOs are also angry and bewildered. Collectively, they have spent decades campaigning, advocating, and working hard on the ground for the country’s wildlife and wild spaces, and yet the nature around us continues to be destroyed. But we are not giving up – quite the opposite. In response to this incessantly worsening situation in the UK, we are building on a small but critical rally that was held outside DEFRA’s offices in London last year, the day after the State of Nature 2023 report was released. Nature organisations, from the largest to the smallest, will be uniting in London, with all their individual passions and messages, and all with one collective, simple and urgent demand for our government: that we must Restore Nature Now.
Will you help us?
This event could be historic. We are counting on you to help us make this big and bold. As a loyal and caring supporter of our work, as a nature lover, as someone who likes to spend time in green spaces, maybe listening to birdsong or walking your dog in the woods, or maybe as someone who is simply content knowing that we share our ‘green and pleasant land’ with a multitude of fascinating, amazing species and you cannot imagine a world without them – we are urging you to join us.
On Saturday 22nd June, Born Free will stand alongside RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Friends of the Earth and the National Trust, and many other organisations and local groups, to march across central London, as one. We are calling on YOU, to march alongside us. The rally will be creative, beautiful, and engaging. It will be family-friendly, safe, lively, and inspiring. Let’s make it a game-changer.
We will be demanding our politicians to show strong leadership, both globally and here at home, by giving nature a pay rise through increasing support for climate-friendly farming and making more space for nature to thrive, by making polluters pay, by protecting our rights to a healthy environment, and by leading on fair and effective climate action. Whether your passion is for birds, or your love is for trees, or you’re fascinated by furry critters, this is the event for you.
Working together and with a shared mission, this campaign demands the prioritisation, implementation, and enforcement of strong environmental measures by our government in its policies around farming, forestry, and fisheries. None of this is impossible. We have the knowledge, the will of wildlife and environmental groups and millions of committed individuals up and down the UK, and the urgent need to Restore Nature Now.
Together with UK nature NGOs and our amazing supporters, this is not something that can go unnoticed; we will not be ignored.
FIND OUT MORE & REGISTER YOUR INTEREST
Please share (@RestoreNatureNow), talk, invite, rally around, spread the word, drum up support, bring your family and friends, bring your neighbours and local groups, bring your dog, and bring any colourful and creative banners, costumes, and messages that you like!
RESTORE NATURE NOW: EVENT DETAILS
A march for nature that will show unity across the whole nature and climate sector and all its supporters, that will deliver an unequivocal and unmissable message to political leaders and the media – that we must #RestoreNatureNow.
Assembling at 12 midday at Park Lane, we will march through central London, to Westminster and Whitehall, finishing in Parliament Square where there will be performances, singing, activities, and speeches by representatives of many organisations, activists, entertainers, and conservationists.
Saturday 22nd June at 12 midday, the march will start at 1 p.m., and the rally will start at 2.15 p.m. at Parliament Square.
Nature in the UK is in long-term decline and without radical change we’re set to miss legal targets to restore nature and reduce emissions – so the time for action is now! This will be a high-profile, one-of-a-kind, large-scale, peaceful but passionate event that cannot be ignored by decision makers. We want to send a clear message to political parties in this critical election year that we want action for nature and climate, NOW.