Ok, so you've signed the Letter to the Future and you've forwarded it to all your friends - brilliant work, and thank you!
Now you can go the extra mile (well, the extra clicks on your keypad...) to make sure Government really get the message to spare nature the axe.
Please write your own letter to Defra (the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs) to press home the message about which areas of their spending are most vital for wildlife and must be saved. Your letter could make a big difference.
You'd be surprised how many species - from butterflies to lapwings - need rich habitats in the countryside to survive and thrive. Much of this fabulous wildlife benefits from our agri-environment schemes, money the Government gives farmers for improving the habitats on their land (hedgerows, ponds, wildflower areas and more), or from even more targeted programmes to help particularly vulnerable species get the conditions they need. Think of cirl buntings, a bird on the UK's list of conservation concern, which has only been able to maintain and expand its numbers in southwest England because of schemes that protect it and help it survive.
This funding for the countryside, along with public money for protected areas and programmes to stop species' extinctions, are areas of public spending the RSPB says must be spared from cuts.
Don't get us wrong. Private funds can go a long way and the RSPB - with its members' money - undertakes some incredible work to protect and restore habitats and the vulnerable wildlife in them. But the RSPB can't do it all. And indeed, the cirl bunting recovery scheme shows just how well the RSPB can work together with Government agencies to get results.
Government spending on environmental protection is absolutely critical. And the louder Government gets that message, the better!
So please take a few minutes of your day to write to Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman. Tell her to protect spending on protected areas and the countryside, and government funding to stop species going extinct forever.
To celebrate your love for nature, we asked you to add your Spring photos to our Love Nature Flickr group.
The quality and quantity of your images was overwhelming so thank you for all your contributions!
View the full slideshow here.
We love nature and want to do all we can to protect it. Please help us by signing the RSPB's Letter to the Future.
Tough times lie ahead. We're facing massive cuts in public spending and earlier this week the Chancellor made it very clear that it's not going to be easy.
Many Government departments will be forced to cut their budgets by at least 25%. As part of the Spending Review, to be finalised in the Autumn, they have until 16 July to recommend where they believe savings can be made. Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is one of these non-protected Departments that has very big decisions to be made in the coming weeks.
Increasingly, the word on the street is that agri-environment schemes (funding that encourages farmers to adopt wildlife-friendly farming practices) will be hardest hit. Devastating news for the skylarks, corncrakes, lapwings, butterflies and wildflowers that have benefited so greatly from this support in recent years.
Whilst we recognise cuts are essential, surely there are alternative solutions that won't undo all the great work wildlife-conscious farmers have achieved for our countryside?
Now is the time to act. If, like us, you care deeply for our countryside and want to ensure all measures are taken to protect it, please take the time to sign our Letter to the Future.
For those of you that have already signed, please help us by enlisting your friends and family too.
The Inde's Mike McCarthy sums it up nicely here.
It's clear that the fight for nature has reached a new level of urgency.
We'll be doing all we can in the coming months to ensure the damage is kept to a minimum and you can help.
Sign the RSPB's Letter to the Future or, if you've already signed, why not ask your friends and family to join the fight?
Please take action now and help us save nature for the future.