Let's hear it for plants!

Last Wednesday I went to a Parliamentary reception where Plantlife launched an excellent document – the Ghost Orchid declaration – calling for greater investment in plant conservation.

It was a good evening with lots of MPs and peers – with a preponderance of Tories.  It was almost as though only Conservatives like flowers – that can’t be true, can it? 

We got a bit of (mostly) gentle ribbing about how much money goes into bird conservation compared with how much goes into plants, especially fungi.  The contrast is quite stark on the face of it.  However, if you see the most recent RSPB reserves review document you will find that 74% of British vascular plant species are found on RSPB nature, not bird, reserves so we are doing our bit. 

I’d love there to be more resources put into nature conservation as a whole – and I’d like to go bird-watching on a whole string of Plantlife nature reserves in the future.

I am a member of Plantlife and think they are a really good conservation organisation.  We work closely with them on a range of issues and hope to work even closer in the future.  We find that the way they think almost always fits with our analysis of an issue and so that makes it easy to collaborate.  So, providing your RSPB membership is fully up to date why not think of  supporting Plantlife too?

As I was heading towards the event last week I was walking through St James’s Park when two greylag geese flew over me and, what can I say? left something behind.  I had to rush back to get a clean shirt after being bombed by those birds.  I really think that nicely behaved plants need our support!