What is the Big Switch?

Across the South West the Wildlife Trusts have joined together to raise awareness of ways in which we can make simple changes to our lifestyle and help to save the planet.

Meanwhile, in our local area there's been a huge amount of media interest in the Big Switch campaign.

Tim McGrath, Head of Nature Reserves, was interviewed by several journalists during June - and tackled climate change from the local angle

Tim McGrath

Climate change is here and it's happening - the evidence is all around us: melting ice caps, drought, violent storms, retreating glaciers... But isn't it futile to think that we, as individuals, can do anything about this global phenomenon?

Absolutely not, says Tim. If every one of us does our bit, the difference we can make to the natural environment - the delicate ecosystem of which we are all a part - is huge. This month the Trust launches its Big Switch campaign, aimed at driving its message home.

The government's chief scientist, Sir David King, has issued a wake-up call, claiming that climate change could cause devastating consequences. What's your view on his forecast?

The problem- and he would acknowledge this - is that there are so many scenarios on climate change. It's impossible to know which will dominate. A 3ºC rise in temperature, which is his worst-case prediction, may not seem that radical but just a subtle change of 0.5ºC over 100 years has an enormous impact on species surviving.

How could we see our climate changing here in the west?

It's difficult to predict and locally people will experience different things. The south facing slopes of the Mendips will probably be warmer and drier. The north facing slopes will be wetter, as more rain falls on the leeward side of the hills. This will lead to more water on the flood plains of the Severn Vale and North Somerset levels. In turn, increased water will move through the area to the lower land, which will increase the flood risk. Overall, a 3ºC rise in temperature would lead to incredibly warm continental weather in summer and wild, wet winters. Sea levels would rise, threatening coastal areas, but inland the immediate effect would be water resource loss.

And what impact is climate change already having on our native species?

I've noticed far more invertebrates than would have come in the past. The hummingbird hawk moth, painted lady butterfly and rush veneer moth in particular. Just before Easter I saw a hummingbird hawk moth outside our office. This is a summer species that should have come here from Europe in mid to late summer. But here it was, in Bristol, in April. It must have been warm enough for it to spend winter here.

Bird-wise, just 20 years ago the little egret, a small heron, was a rarity and now there are 400 breeding pairs in the South West. They've responded to some changing condition - possibly warmer winters - and now established as breeding bird in the UK.

A key area is competition between species, especially with the holm oak and turkey oak, which are Mediterranean species with a native range around southern Europe where it's very arid. They are starting to thrive on our limestone grasslands and species like rock rose, yellow-wort and autumn ladies' tresses) are being threatened by this competition. Areas are turning from grassland into non native woodlands.

Has all this made you change your thinking on the role of conservation?

Yes. Historically, wildlife organisations managed the 'here and now'. They'd buy a small field and protect its interests. Now that's changed and we are looking at large scale interests. For example, on some sites locally we have had to control the march of the holm and turkey oak species in order to preserve our native species.

What's the Big Switch all about? And how can our actions as individuals possibly help wildlife?

The campaign is all about changing attitudes and making ourselves aware that we can make a difference. It's easy to be complacent - climate change is happening on such a grand scale - but that's wrong. You can save water, save energy and recycle and it has both ecological and economical benefits.

It's really important for us to do this. We're a natural part of the life system on this planet - yet we have an opportunity to be responsible. We have the ability to do things and make a difference, which is something other species that live around us haven't.

How can we all join in?

There are many ways you can make a difference. Wildlife Trusts across the region are running campaigns to make people aware of these - they'll look at issues like transport, food, water, energy and waste. For example, with transport - try working from home or walking or cycling to work. If it's possible, take the kids to school on bikes. With water - do you need to use that hosepipe? With energy - Gordon Brown recently said not to leave your TV on standby - don't! It's using energy, turn it off. With waste - recycle all your vegetable waste and make a compost heap.

We hope the campaign will start a lot of people off. We want them to carry on though and we'll be working with partner organisations so we can continue to encourage people - especially through our education programme. We want to encourage children to adopt these attitudes as part of their way of life.

Tim McGrath Q&A - Folio magazine - June issue

Did you know …

• A return flight from Bristol to Bordeaux produces 0.4 tonnes of CO2
• Driving 10,000 miles in a year in a typical petrol-driven car produces 3.5 tonnes of CO2 for the year
• Loft insulation can save half a tonne of output
• One less weekly journey by car can reduce total carbon output by 5%

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