King Canute was a good king, according to Wikipedia. He led wisely, bringing peace, wealth and stability to his new realm. He pacified the Church. But he could not command the sea and his attempt to do so is now so clouded in fable, it is difficult to distinguish the facts, if ever there were any. Guy Smith, a farmer in Essex, has his own fable, which he used last week to publicly lambast the RSPB’s plans for Wallasea Island, close to the site of Canute’s battleground victory. The story, published in Farmers Guardian, went that we had bought Wallasea already, that Defra had contributed a mighty £8 million to the purchase and, to top our poisoning of this large area of productive farmland, we’d be bringing malaria too! Quite an achievement in such a short time. Our proposal, to buy Wallasea and turn it into one of the most innovative and forward-looking wildlife reserves there are, was announced last October. The plan was hatched because of the enormous threat being posed by climate change. If it bears life, the scheme will create a coastline of saltmarsh, mudflats and other tidal habitats fit for many declining species, and improve coastal defences for those living inland. These species include redshanks, lapwings and curlew, which could use the site to feed and/or breed. Kentish plovers could be lured back to the UK after a 50-year absence, together with the exotic spoonbill and black-winged stilt, and the knot, a small wading bird named after the King. Specialist plants and saltwater fish could also reappear and the island would become a huge store for carbon. So it’s a great plan. The true cost of the scheme is upward of £12 million, however, and we have received nothing from the government towards that sum.
We are as determined as we can be to see the scheme through but raising that sort of money is highly ambitious and it is far from certain that we will.
One thing that is certain is that we won't be bringing malaria to the UK. Malaria is a tropical disease and, even with forecast rises in temperature of 3C, conditions will still be closer to those of Southern Europe, where the incidence and transfer of malaria to people is exceptionally rare.
Read more about our Wallasea plans here
And if you too are thrilled by the prospect of stilts, spoonbills and much other wildlife establishing a stronghold in the UK, and wish to contribute, click here