We must do what we can to protect Kettering's biodiversity, say councillors

Kettering councillors will discuss the town's biodiversity and how to protect, restore and enhance its natural environment tomorrow (Wednesday).

The Kettering Town Council motion, put forward by Green councillor James Towns, comes just two weeks before COP26 - the 26th UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow.

Cllr Towns has proposed a motion to “protect, restore and enhance” local biodiversity that will be discussed when the council meets tomorrow night.

The father-of-two said: "Being a father, I’m acutely aware of this steep downward trend of biodiversity loss, and the impacts this is already having and will have on our future generations.

"I fear for the future of our world and what it might look like for my daughters. If we don’t protect and restore as much as we can now, our children will not have a natural world to grow up in.

”The world has crashed through the safe limit for humanity with biodiversity loss. The UK has lost 53 per cent of its biodiversity, well below the world average.

"We cannot rely on our leaders to stop and reverse this trend, we all have to act at whatever level we can to protect and repair our natural world before the ecosystems we depend on collapse."

The motion states: “With COP26 fast approaching, we want to acknowledge the strength of public feeling about protecting our natural world and celebrate how lucky we are in Kettering to have such great green spaces, from our popular parks and street trees, the wonderful woods and water courses on our doorstep to our valued nature reserves and formal and informal recreational spaces. Within the remit of Kettering Town Council, we will strive to protect, restore and enhance our local biodiversity and the natural world that surrounds us and of which we are all a part."

Fellow Green councillor, Cllr Sarah Tubbs, has seconded the motion.

She said: “Studying marine biodiversity has shown me quite how drastic our biodiversity loss is worldwide, but when compared to what we’re seeing in the UK, it’s unprecedented. If we carry on as though it’s business as usual and don’t put local biodiversity at the centre, we’re setting ourselves up to go down a road from which we can’t come back.”

The UK has failed to hit 17 of the 20 UN biodiversity targets in the past decade.

On Saturday November 6, members of the COP26 Coalition will stage a march as part of a national day of action organised by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. They will meet at 2pm at the Umbrella Fair at the Racecourse Pavilion, Kettering Rd, Northampton.