I Stand Beside (a charity to help our fellow creatures)
Professor Nathalie Seddon is an ecologist who is kind of England’s top conservationist expert, using her science knowledge to work quietly behind the scenes at Oxford University to stop our native species going extinct.
She directs a leadership team for nature recovery and is co-founder of the charity I Stand Beside which encourages everyone to take small actions, which includes the lovely idea of ‘turning up at your local council’s meeting to ‘speak up on your being’s behalf’ (whether that’s a dog, badger or bird):
We Stand Beside the overlooked and forgotten beings,
The voiceless heroes of our Earth and its miraculous Web of Life.
We empower each other to champion species and form deep connections,
Turning passion into action, through artistic celebration and creative advocacy.
Together we catalyse a positive shift in our relationship with Nature,
Inspiring a global movement of advocates for the flourishing of all life.
This is such a lovely idea. Instead of ‘animal activism’, her take is that other creatures are ‘beings’. And we are their ‘besiders’. Does not that feel more hopeful and empowering?
Trained as an evolutionary ecologist at Cambridge University, she’s an expert on animal communication and biodiversity. Her key passion is how societies might renew cultures of care for the living world.
The statistics for native wildlife in the UK are alarming:
- One in six species is at risk of extinction
- Nightingale populations have declined by 92% since 1970.
- Hedgehog numbers have declined by 50% since 2000.
- Turtle dove populations have decreased by 98% since 1970.
- Common toads have declined by 68% in the last 30 years.
Yet with Natalie on your side (your chief ‘besider!’) there’s a chance that we can save them all. Because if you get stuck, she has the scientific knowledge and resources on the site to fight your case locally.
