Northern Ireland people want stronger protections for nature according to a new LucidTalk poll commissioned by RSPB NI.
That includes an independent environment agency and new legislation to make authorities work to restore nature and prevent biodiversity collapse.
John Martin, Head of Policy and Advocacy at RSPB NI, told us Stormont failed to meet the majority of targets in its last biodiversity strategy.
Read more: Child's tears ignite mum's fight to save historic site where nature thrives
Yet despite knowing how collapsing ecosystems will impact our own lives the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs didn’t deliver the new strategy due in 2020.
In a bid to highlight the changes needed, the charity has launched its new Nature Positive NI campaign ahead of the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal.
The global conference, delivered by China and Canada, will see leaders unite to negotiate agreements on a new Global Plan for Nature to reverse its decline by 2030.
But right here in Northern Ireland, RSPB NI is calling on Stormont politicians to get back to work and deliver biodiversity policies that will hold themselves and others to account on potentially the biggest crisis of our time.
Mr Martin said: “Northern Ireland has been ranked as the twelfth worst region in the world for biodiversity loss, we cannot allow this to continue.
“They [DAERA] don’t have a Biodiversity Strategy which was supposed to be delivered in 2020 and the last one failed on the majority of its targets. The biodiversity strategy should be the basis for all our decision making and I suppose that’s the point of this campaign.
“We want to put biodiversity and nature in the centre of all decision making to make sure as we are trying to progress things as a society biodiversity is not an afterthought when it often is.
“At the end of the day, that is the thing that sustains us,” he added.
“It is very easy for politicians to go - ‘yeah, yeah it’s very important, yeah, yeah’ but... the building blocks to create change starts with good policy, good legislation, finance and delivery.
“The Assembly being down makes it more difficult.
“We are asking for targets to be put in law - that they have to meet - because at the minute we are not meeting the targets and there’s no consequences other than what the next generation is going to have to deal with.
“Environmental governance in Northern Ireland has been really poor and continues to be really poor... that’s a huge threat.
“There’s no disincentive for people not to impact the environment because the penalties are so small when it does happen, if they are even caught. “This is our chance now to reset the baseline and say ‘are we going to have an ambitious biodiversity strategy or not?’
“The environment is moving up the issues that are important to people,” he said.
“The more we can get behind public opinion and the more public opinion can get behind the things we want to see change - it gives it more credence.”
The poll, which took place online between November 4-7 saw 69% vote for an independent environment agency to be created to ensure businesses and individuals adhere to environmental law.
Some 84% of those who took part support maintaining and strengthening the network of protected areas for birds and habitats in Northern Ireland.
Of the 4,498 who took part, 71% also want targets in law to restore nature and 60% thought payments to farmers should be “conditional on taking measures to help tackle nature and the climate crisis”.
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