This blog article is from AST member Charlotte Griffin: Positive Action You Can Take!
"Thank you for stating the group’s (AST - Ancient and Sacred Trees) continued support in opposing HS2. Some background & what you can do?
Our government continues to show complete disregard for the environment – HS2 will damage or destroy 108 ancient woodlands, 33 #SSSIs and 693 local wildlife sites, as well as countless #habitats such as hedgerows, streams, green lanes and veteran trees, whilst being a net contributor to carbon emissions for 120 years. The decision also shows callous disregard for the lives of communities all along the route – from farmers, home owners and business owners evicted from their land (in many cases, land that has been in the same family for generations) to the millions of people whose lives will be blighted for years by the HS2’s construction and who will lose access to precious green space.
Although the green light is given the project still awaits Notice to Proceed & needs to satisfy 3 requirements:
1) Management capability 2) Business case 3) Affordability of contracts
There’s also a possible legal challenge!
With this in mind it is important to do all we can to protect the threatened #AncientWoodlands (AW) in the meantime & to record #birdnesting & #wildlife activity, to ensure the law & correct procedures are followed & they are not disturbed; our experiences with HS2 along the route have consistently been to the contrary. If in or visiting affected sites please log, film, record any activity to help ensure procedures correctly adhered to, as this is evidence if a wildlife crime then occurs.
You can also read up on the alternatives, on Lord Berkeley’s report. Inform others. Write to your MP.
There is a huge weight of opposition to this on many levels, crucially on #environmental grounds, with this the largest deforestation since WW1 & the reverse of how we should be acting in this #climateemergency! Please seek out & support local action groups and spread the word. It is important, vital to make others understand the link between HS2 & the climate emergency. It is also important to share this for people to know & understand that like the crisis, extreme weather, flooding etc this is something which affects & impacts on ALL of us not just those on the route.
If things are proceeding then ensuring mitigation is optimised is crucial; another discussion. In the meantime I leave you with these two quotes:
Boris Johnson‘s COP26 launch quote: ‘We must reverse the appalling loss of habitats and species, it's only by repairing the damage to the natural world and restoring the balance between humanity and nature, that is now so grotesquely out of kilter, we can address the problem of climate change’.
Chris Packham’s response to Boris’ quote: ‘How on earth does Boris think he's going to 'reverse the appalling loss of habitats and species' when HS2 means the loss of almost 700 precious wildlife sites, including over 100 ancient woodlands; a construction project that won't be climate neutral for well-over a century, so completely incompatible with any Net Zero emissions goal; enabling the large-scale expansion of airports. It's utter madness, especially in the face of COP26. Boris will become the laughing stock of the world and the only Net Zero goal he’ll achieve will be in the credibility stakes given the Climate and Ecological Emergency we all face'.
Crowd funding link re legal case: https://www.facebook.com/218711018144616/posts/3248906968458324/?d=n
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https://standforthetrees.org/?fbclid=IwAR1dZ1QsI9N9FjC8hG5BjU_wuaAVzd2RDhmHM16rR9-sz9eeUDojUlrPQuo "
As the founder of #AncientandSacredTrees I am totally against the monstrous white elephant that is HS2. I founded AST in January 2014. It was set up to celebrate the beauty and inspiration of trees thus encouraging people to conect with and protect them. The group is very clear in its mission to promote love, care and protection for trees across the world and we have several groups on Facebook for this purpose. By far the largest group is our British one which now has almost 45,000 members and rising.
We are completely independent and receive no grants. This means we are a completely independent voice being run by tree lovers for tree lovers for trees. We celebrate #PositiviTree for #CommuniTree, for #people and #planet. We have an expanding website with blog, direcTree, resources, positive newsletter and more.
While we understand some people may have negative opinions against certain people, politics and organisations, we applaud ALL efforts to save our trees and mother nature. We should all remember that for example, it was Labour that introduced #HS2 and now the Conservatives are continuing it. Human self interest is of no relevance when faced with importance of managing our #biosphere correctly in a #sustainable manner for the children of all species.
We need comprehensive #CultureChange and we need it now. #Nature is NOT an infinite resource to be exploited by humans as they see fit. This is an unsustainable standpoint. This is why AST aims to be a Cultural Change Maker celebrating our Ancient and Sacred connections with nature through our love of trees.
Thank you to member Charlotte Griffin for the above HS2 information.
Remember AST is about Positive Action and Celebration. AST will continue to support all positive actions to save our #GreatBritishCountryside from #HS2.
Blessings from
Amanda Claire
AST is a grass roots open access group and it is Free to join us and always will be. You can join us via signing into this blog. Do you want to share what you are passionate about? Blog articles are welcome from AST members.