The Big One (A volunteer newsletter update)

At the end of April, London’s streets came alive as tens of thousands of people united for ‘The Big One’. Speakers, musicians, activists, families and dogs gathered around Westminster for a 4-day event raising awareness about climate change and biodiversity loss. The event was organised by Extinction Rebellion, with over 200 organisations supporting and attending the movement. A contagious sea of laughter, smiles, music and colour spread across the city as people flocked to the capital to take part in the action.

The scenes around Westminster were euphoric and joyful-a contrast, with the streets closed off around the area, children were free to play and people basked in the spring sunshine, letting the beat of the samba bands wash over them as they shared stories and food.

Saturday the 22nd of April saw a vibrant celebration of Earth Day, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets for a family-friendly biodiversity march. To anyone in London that day who didn’t know what was going on, it must have been very confusing seeing people dressed up as badgers, plants, puffins and frogs! One of AWT’s staff members dressed up as a pond ecosystem, and got asked if they were attending a jack and the beanstalk party by a curious child on the train! The biodiversity march culminated in a staged ‘mass die-in’, a symbolic spectacle where everyone lay down on the floor in silence. This was a powerful representation of global species loss and the mass extinctions that will take place if we fail to take action on climate change and biodiversity loss.

This was a weekend filled with hope, solidarity and unity. It left a powerful message to the government and the world that people want change. Urgent action is needed to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises; only by working together can we safeguard the future of our planet and it’s wonderful biodiversity for generations to come.

By Emma Fennell-Hodson