Mammal Society joins Global Coalition "United for Biodiversity"

The Mammal Society is delighted to announce that we have joined the Global Coalition #UnitedforBiodiversity.

The Coalition was launched by the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, last year and calls on the world’s wildlife and nature organisations, museums, zoos, aquariums, protected areas, botanic gardens, research centres and universities to raise their voice for nature and to urge world leaders to be ambitious and commit to specific targets. 

Through this campaign the Commission is calling for stronger mobilisation in raising awareness about the need to protect biodiversity, ahead of the crucial CoP15 meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in China in October this year. 

Virginijus Sinkevičius said “All species, from bacteria to mammals, plants to insects, are pieces of the big puzzle of life. They are all connected and depend on each other. Yet one species, our species, is now responsible for the climate crisis and the nature crisis, causing massive biodiversity loss. By destroying Earth ecosystems, we humans are jeopardizing our food, our health, our economy and our own future.”  

One million species are currently at risk of extinction across the globe with Britain’s wildlife among the most depleted of all.

As a centre of excellence for research into Britain’s mammals, the Mammal Society conducts vital investigations into the conservation status of our wild animals which underpin actions taken to protect and restore it. Our Red List of Britain’s Mammals identified the species at imminent risk of extinction which represent one quarter of Britain’s native mammal species.  These include animals such as the Scottish wildcat, beaver, red squirrel, water vole, hedgehog and no fewer than six different species of bat.

In joining the Coalition, we wish to add our voice to the informed consensus that urgent action is needed, and we hope in doing so we will inspire other British wildlife organisations to play their part.

Mammal Society Chair, Dr Stephanie Wray, said “We are at a turning point in history, where genuine transformative change is needed to secure the quality of life for future generations that we currently enjoy.  Too often we see ourselves as separate from nature – rather like we say we are ‘stuck in traffic’ rather than realising we are traffic.  But we are biodiversity.  We need biodiversity.  And biodiversity needs us.  Now.”

We are stronger together -  we hope that other organisations in Britain and beyond will  speak up for nature by endorsing the Coalition’s common pledge and will consider joining the movement here.  You can learn more about the Coalition,  the importance of biodiversity and the CoP15 on social media by following the hashtags #UnitedforBiodiversity #CoP15 #ForNature

Mammal Society – 19.05.2021