A Wander on the Wildside: The People's Walk for Wildlife

As August went by I started to read and hear more about an event that was to be held in order to protest against the lack of support towards the wildlife and nature in the UK. It was to be at Hyde Park in London, led by Chris Packham and other naturalists from around Britain, on the 22nd September. The ‘Peoples Walk for Wildlife’ looked to be a huge event, and after infotainment at the park a march to 10 Downing Street was to follow, to hand ‘A Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife,’ with a number of proposals.

My mum said I wouldn’t be able to go as it was busy at home but when members from Morden Hall Park were going to go, I got permission to go, though I had to leave just before the walk started at 1pm. It was an unwilling compromise, which I nearly managed to avoid!

Some younger naturalists- thanks to Alex W for the pic

On the day, I turned up at Morden at 08:30am, and found nobody there. So after some quick planning, my dad gave me routes to reach Hyde Park Corner.

I arrived at just before 10am, where 3 Meadow Pipit flew over the park, and numbers of people were already starting to pick up. I walked around for a bit, talking to some people and looking at the stalls, until Kabir and his brother Aryan arrived. We continued to stroll around, and it was great to talk to some people – the London National Park City map is great. As it got closer to 11am Lucy Cooke began to interview young naturalists, and while I convinced Kabir to go and talk his previously non-birding brother Aryan decided to become a birder, which helped Kabir follow and they both talked about conservation for a good while, doing well to talk on the stage.

Dara speaking at the walk - thanks to him for the picture as well!

With 30 mins until the speeches began, it was nice to meet some young people in real life having only seen them online, such as Alex W, Mya B and James M. After Alex L found us in the crowd, we got a quick picture with Bill Oddie, birding legend, and spoke to numerous others before gathering in front of the screen.

Chris Packham started the speeches, introducing all those talking; all the talks were great, and all speakers spoke about their topics with passion and knowledge. Young naturalists included Bella Lack, Mya Rose, Georgia Locock and Dara McAnulty were terrific - meanwhile speakers like Ruth Tingay and Dominic Dyer also spoke, with Dominic Dyer’s speech one of my favourite. It was pleasing that diversity was discussed, as from within the crowd only a tiny minority were of a varied ethnicity. Kabir, Aryan and I felt like rarities there!
After over an hour of the speeches, despite missing birders that I’d hoped to speak to, everyone prepared to start walking towards Downing Street. As we walked, birdsong was played by many, while others held up banners to represent various, suffering British species. It was a fantastic start, and over 10,000 people marched for wildlife in the streets of London. 10,000 people, a small proportion of those who could come to protest from around the UK, turned up to show why wildlife is so important. It was hope.

Though I had to leave while we were walking I tried to get updates, and I was delighted to hear how successful it was all the way. It was great to hear that Alex L had been invited to go to Downing Street with the other young conservationists and Chris Packham to present the manifesto.

Hopefully, these protests for wildlife can continue until a real change can be seen, and birdsong of some species such as Skylark can be heard more again. Thanks to Chris for making this event a success, and with luck it will make a difference.