An Open Letter to Theresa May

Dear Mrs May

Firstly, congratulations on almost being voted in. I wonder how you are feeling right now. I hope you have a sense of the massive responsibility you have; and not just a responsibility for the next 5 years, but for the impact your decisions will have for many, many years to come.  As I am only 15, I couldn't vote this time, but the decisions you make will still have a big impact on my generation. I would not have voted Conservative by the way, as I do not think your party sees the world in the same way I do.

It must be a huge task to prioritise what to focus on, with everything seeming to be so important when you look at it in isolation. Brexit, NHS, Global Conflict, Education, Economy, Energy etc will undoubtedly take up your time and be talked about the most and in the news the most. And not to forget of course dealing with the aftermath of the hung parliament result.

We live in a very complicated world now, with so many different layers of "stuff"! And by stuff I mean everything that the human race has created; laws, business, manufacturing, transport networks, communication systems, housing, energy supply, farming....the list is endless.  But there is a massive cost to all of this, and I do not mean a financial cost.  The cost is to our planet.

Even though evidence clearly shows what we are doing to this planet, looking after the natural world seems to be the lowest of all the government's priorities when you look back in time.  I have said it so many times before, and sadly I will have to say it many times again, but we really are living in a "take culture".  The odds are very much stacked against the natural world, as we keep on taking more than we ever give back. Not just in the UK of course, but globally.

Given the way the election has just gone, I am sure that the environment, climate change and the natural world in general will be way down your priority list, but they cannot keep being pushed to one side.

I am sure you will have sleepless nights over Brexit facts and figures, but here is a figure that keeps me awake at night:

"world wildlife falls by 58% in 40 years"

Just pause and think about that for a minute. Over half the world's wildlife lost in just 40 years. This is mass extinction on a global scale. Look closer to home, our native animals, birds and invertebrates are struggling. Here are just a few simple facts that show the negative impact we are having:

Hedgehogs

"We appear to have lost around 30% of the population since 2002 and therefore it seems likely that there are now fewer than a million hedgehogs left in the UK"

Our native wildlife is fading in front of our eyes. Each species plays an vital part in eco-systems, so if one is struggling, then others that rely on them will be too.

Birds

Only 3 pairs of hen harrier bred in England last year, when the uplands could support over 300 pairs.  A massive cause here stems from greed and persecution to allow a select few people to shoot for pleasure. Greed. Other bird species, especially migratory birds, are also showing us that global warming is happening, with breeding patterns changing as the planet warms up.

Butterflies
Overall, 76% of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterfly species declined in either abundance or occurrence (or both) over the past four decades.
One out of every three bites of food we eat is made possible by a pollinator, we cannot survive without them.

So let's park the complications of the man-made world we are living in and simplify things a bit. Here are two basic facts that no-one can argue with:

• The human race is responsible for devastating the environment/natural world.
• The human race cannot survive without the natural world.

It really is that simple. Peel away all the complicated layers of "stuff" and this is what we are left with.  We have to reverse the destructive cycle, and we have to do it now.

The free fall of species declines is desperately upsetting and your new government must not to be vapid about these serious issues. According to WWF statistics, up to 10,000 species go extinct every year, and almost all of this is down to one species, mankind.

The natural world is not an inheritance to be taxed or taken from, it is something to be nurtured, respected and safeguarded. Politicians must think further ahead than just a 5 year term. Engage with my generation, let us in, we have a freshness of ideas and a desire for change.

So please, please for the sake of all the generations to come, please have the environment/natural world at the heart of every single decision you make.  For example, don't let leaving the EU weaken our environmental protection laws, instead use it as an opportunity to strengthen them further.

Don't have environmental issues as a stand alone policy. Instead make sure they are built into every decision making process to ensure that negative impacts on the natural world are avoided. Put the environment in to every school curriculum, as part of every subject, and make sure that we are teaching each generation about the importance of our responsibilities to the natural world.

Think 500 years ahead, not just a political 5 year term.  Tackle the big issues like over population, global warming and greed. And yes, greed is a massive issue; it is the route cause of the position the natural world is in today.

I don't expect you to reply, I fear that your priorities are already set, but I hope at the very least that this message reaches you and that you will think of the generations to come.

Kind regards

Findlay Wilde