So much has happened lately that doesn’t bode well for our biodiversity, I’m honestly at a loss on where to start.
First of all the firestarters are at it again with environmental arson attacks that are leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.
We’ve had a gorse fire in the Belfast Hills and two sizeable burns in the Mourne Mountains.
Read more: Confirmed: Some supermarkets to hike carrier bag charge above new levy
NIFRS national wildfire lead, Mark Smyth told me he thinks all three were started deliberately.
I’m not saying it was farmers burning land to make for better grazing because I don’t I know that. But farmers and vandals are often cited the culprits when flames take hold in the mountains, ruining everything in their path.
Despite that, and his big proclamations last year after flames surrounded Newcastle, Edwin Poots was nowhere to be seen. He was instead announcing the mass killing of badgers in Northern Ireland because of bovine TB.
I know it’s been a busy year for him with being DUP leader, and then not, getting pipped to the post by Clare Bailey with her Climate Bill and then scrambling to catch up with his own.
Flying over to COP26 to tell everyone he cares about the environment and then planting trees to offset flights, announcing an agricultural policy so complicated its hard to see how any of if will help the environment and so many strategies - you can’t see the wood - or any tangible benefits - for the trees.
In his time as environment minister I have never heard so much about trees in my life. Planting this one and that one and pledges for millions more in the next decade.
But I also discovered his Forest Service cares very little when people report alleged illegal tree felling and then appear to go out of their way to frustrate any efforts to highlight alleged wildlife crimes.
Did you know that even though people have to have a tree felling license to cut down more than half an acre of woodland - this list isn’t made public so people can see it.
Nor does the department take any real action if landowners don’t quite follow the rules in place to protect biodiversity and nature from the many vandals out there.
They just give them what they want and let them continue desecrating nature.
And what’s worse, people know that, so they do what they want because they know there’ll be no real consequences.
Take pollution fines for example - they’re an absolute joke.
What about farmers who put their animals through hell? Even when convicted their sentences are laughable.
I wrote very recently about concerns Northern Ireland’s planning system is “professionally corrupt” following evidence expert Dean Blackwood gave Stormont’s Public Accounts Committee.
Committee chair William Humphrey said this week MLAs were “alarmed and appalled” at the performance of the system which their resulting report found is not fit for purpose.
I’d now like to see a similar look at how our government is failing to protect our environment and biodiversity because much of what I’ve seen from our environment minister during his term in office can only be described as greenwashing.
Our air still stinks and our waterways are polluted, we still don’t have the independent environment agency promised in New Decade New Approach.
He successfully split our net-zero climate targets and now, thanks to him, thousands of badgers that are supposed to be protected face certain death if a judicial review aimed at stopping him isn’t successful.
It shouldn’t be like this.
We should be able to trust that our leaders will protect nature, the environment, biodiversity and us. But I certainly don’t.
Poots gets 10 out of 10 for being a farming minister after all the millions spent on agriculture and how much he has done to preserve the status quo in our biggest polluting sector.
On the environment, I give him 2. He did plant a few trees after all.
Beep beep - the future is coming
OUR first electric and hydrogen buses will be on the streets of Belfast on Monday and that my friends is really something to celebrate.
Nichola Mallon made the announcement up on the Hill this week on the same day she announced her cycle network plans.
While some have slated the later as not going far enough - I think it’s a great starting point for something we are really bad at.
I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to a city centre where the air is not filled with fumed and safe cycle ways that we can all use.
While there’s still a huge job to do with bringing planning up to scratch, I think Ms Mallon can finish term feeling at proud of at least these two things.
It can’t have been easy to get the car-mad department on board with either.
Some tree planters are more believable than others
Over 54,000 trees have been planted across Belfast this year.
I know we’ve all heard the stories about those cut down and the efforts to save them.
While I know many will be barely past sapling stage - it’s a good start on the one million trees campaign.
And hats off to Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl who has shown she really cares about the environment during her time as Mayor with her series on monthly challenges.
She said: “The progress being made with the One Million Trees initiative is inspiring and I am delighted to learn that over 54,000 trees have already been planted in the city and city regions since the project began back in 2020.”
Ditch the peat compost
When you are planting or potting this Spring, do me a favour and ditch the compost with peat in it.
Why you ask? It’s because our peat and peat from all around the world needs to stay where it is to help us soak up all the greenhouse gas emissions we keep pumping into the air.
Peatlands you see are what’s know as carbon sinks - they can store all that bad stuff - but as soon as we drain and start digging them up everything in their just adds to what’s already in the atmosphere.
So go peat free in your compost this spring and do your bit.
Belfast City Council is even giving some of the good stuff away to schools and community groups. The one tonne bags of rich potting material has come from food and garden waste collected around the city.
We love a bit of circular economy.
Read more: Plastic bag levy rise in Northern Ireland prompts plea to reuse bags
Read more: Puffins return to Rathlin Island
Follow us in the coming weeks as we set out solutions to the climate crisis through our Reach For Zero campaign on the website here or on Twitter @BelfastLive, Facebook @BelfastLiveOnline, Instagram @belfastlive and TikTok @belfastlive.
If you have a story you'd like to share as part of this campaign please contact our environment correspondent at shauna.corr@reachplc.com or @ShaunaReports
