Where I live…

Giveaway (of sorts). AI. Because I have skin in the game.

Where I live…

Both the publisher and myself chose WildAid for the organisation to donate to as part of our contract to publish Quint. I had a choice of groups but chose WildAid in particular because of Wendy Benchley’s connection. That made sense.

When hearing about conservation you often find it seems to focus on far flung lands and eco systems in jungles and tundras or the oceans as those are the places usually with little voices that need others to speak up for, but recently I find, on my own doorstep, something akin to these causes which is important locally and I’m sure, if you looked, you could find one right under your very nose which affects your locale.

Where I live is a bay which has been designated as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) as well as a Marine Special Area of Conservation (MSAC). Sounds important but actually it’s small and secluded and is part of the Pembrokeshire National Park. So you’d think it would be an area where if you wanted to operate a tourism business the answer would be a straight up ‘no’.

So I find that a coasteering company, that travels to the bay with small groups, and has done for years, is looking to expand its operations to include a hub in the village which will allow larger and more frequent groups. That sounds great for them and the people who want to kayak around the coast and I don’t think anyone would mind if you wanted to take your kayak out and go for a paddle around our coastline. But if you decided to take thirty of your friends along with you all week that might be a different matter. Why? You probably know why but it has to do with those designations I mentioned up top there.

The reason Ceibwr Bay is a site of specific scientific importance and marine conservation is because it’s a nesting place for grey seals and seabirds and other marine life. It’s a habitat. The area is wild and lonely for a purpose.

Seals choose it because it’s secluded, a safe beach to rest their pups, the birds choose it for the cliffs and their nooks and crannies to safely hide their eggs and raise their brood.

Bringing more people into the bay would only be a detriment, it would only not go well. There is no upside for the nature that lives and nests there, no contribution, none. It would only be a negative impact, even a deadly one. A very tiny, fragile eco-system going unnoticed by the world would be destroyed. The nature of the bay would be song-less, deprived of wings, barren of birth and life. There would be nothing to see, no reason to come and view. Because there would be nothing you would be able to see. It would not be secluded. It would be dead.

The worst thing about this type of development (and it’s the same one that affects those far-flung places) is that its success relies in the truth that the animals it directly affects have no voice to object. It’s this no voice that developers always rely on.

As it stands, this development will be decided upon in September, next month, as I write. Currently more than 80% of the locals object (the ones who can speak for themselves) but seeing as we are only a small hamlet I don’t know how well that will be heard.

There is nothing positive in this. It’s only purpose is to increase an individual business. That’s it. No jobs to be created, no benefit to the community. Just a heavier purse for one.

If you’d like to support WildAid along with me or learn more about this development I’ll leave the links here.