Thirty years ago nature conservation bodies, local government and farming groups pioneered a Nature Conservation Strategy for Oxfordshire. It was the first of its kind in the UK, facilitating a common language for nature and the environment in Oxfordshire, and resulting in the creation of the ground breaking Oxford Nature Conservation Forum (ONCF).
Back in 1993, the world was a different place. The world wide web and digital technology were on the horizon, there was no social media, and information was shared in person, via the post or by telephone. Biodiversity had only just become a ‘word’ after the first Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Rio in 1992. This led to the creation of species and habitat targets for the UK. Not long after, payments to farmers were linked to areas with a low level of environmental cross-compliance, but with additional funds available through agri-environment schemes for those who wished to enhance nature.
The original Nature Conservation Strategy was absolutely crucial at this point as it identified several key objectives and established a strategic framework for nature conservation in the county, which still underpins much of Wild Oxfordshire’s ongoing work today.
Our functions have evolved over time to ensure we bring more people together and catalyse change in the most effective way. In 2012, we changed our name from ONCF to Wild Oxfordshire, subsequently expanding our work to include our Community Ecology Programme, landscape-scale delivery partnerships (Evenlode Catchment, Yellow Wagtail and Curlew), and county-wide strategic plans and partnerships. The future may hold major challenges for all of us from climate change and biodiversity loss, but we are looking forwards to addressing them together with our partners.
Since Wild Oxfordshire’s inception as Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum over 30 years ago, we have always had the core purpose of bringing people together for nature.
Unlike many nature organisations, Wild Oxfordshire owns and manages no land in the county, and therefore forming partnerships is truly essential to our work. We as a charity cannot achieve our vison of bringing about nature's recovery at all without partnership working - whether that be a resident making a hedgehog highway after following our best practice advice, or a landowner creating new wetlands on a landscape scale through our Evenlode catchment work.
In her British Wildlife article ‘A chumocracy for nature’, biologist and writer Amy-Jane Beer states, “we won’t connect nature without first connecting people” and eloquently outlined a possible solution, which is exactly what Wild Oxfordshire does: “forging and maintaining connections, to prevent opportunities sliding through the cracks... a point of contact, a proactive voice for nature, an asker of questions, a source or conduit of ecological advice and information”[1]
[1] Amy-Jane Beer (2021) Wild Story: A Chumocracy for Nature. British Wildlife https://www.britishwildlife.com/
