Steve Backshall leads London march with Oxfordshire people

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust is urging people to support the 'Restore Nature Now' march in London on Saturday, June 22.

Thousands, including the trust's president Steve Backshall, are expected to unite to show UK leaders the vast public support for action on nature and climate issues before the general election on July 4.

BBOWT president Steve Backshall will take part in the march and speak at the event (Image: BBOWT)

The march is backed by more than 300 nature, wildlife, and climate groups such as The Wildlife Trusts, and high-profile campaigners like Chris Packham, Liz Bonnin, and Dr Amir Khan.

Mr Backshall said: "With many UK species on the path to extinction, our rivers becoming a pollution highway, and the future of our climate at a crucial crossroads, the next government needs to put the UK on the right track for the natural world.

"The Restore Nature Now march and its thousands of supporters sends a clear signal to all politicians that this general election must be a nature and climate election.

"The public wants it, UK wildlife needs it, and the next generation deserves it."

The demonstration will assemble in Park Lane at midday and by 1pm will march towards a rally in Parliament Square, where Steve Backshall is expected to speak.

The march is planned to be legal, peaceful, and inclusive, with family-friendly performance art, sculptures, and singing.

The trust's acting conservation strategy director, Matthew Stanton, said: "With over 50,000 members and 1,700 volunteers across our three counties, we know that our communities are deeply invested in supporting nature."

The trusts says the general election will make 2024 a crucial year for nature's recovery, as the next government will determine whether or not the 2030 targets of halting nature’s decline and protecting 30 per cent of land and sea are met.

The trust is calling on all political parties to adopt five priorities for restoring nature.

Theses are to focus on bringing back the UK’s lost wildlife, ending river pollution and water scarcity, funding wildlife-friendly farming, enabling healthy communities, and tackling the climate emergency

A poll by The Wildlife Trusts found 39 per cent will vote based on environmental policies, and 59 per cent are considering these issues as important as other national issues.

TV broadcaster and wildlife campaigner, Chris Packham, said: "As conservationists and environmental groups, we have to accept that the dire state of nature – both in the UK and globally – has happened on our watch.

"So, now's the time for bolder action, stronger demands, braver tactics and a new way of working… together."