Nigel Pearce's Letter

To my small grandchildren, one just two years old and one about to be born,

Dear Aphra and "Button" (we don't know your name yet!),

I hope you will be reading this in a country and climate that are still habitable. I hope you will be surrounded by recovering nature, even if it is becoming more "Mediterranean".

My generation and other earlier generations have let you down, I'm afraid, by not doing enough to address the climate and ecology crises. But I hope there is still time to turn things round, because of what we are doing now as individuals in our own lives, and because of what we are campaigning for by way of changes to local and national government policy.

One day, you may read the book that I have been reading by a wise American writer called Wendell Berry. This is what he says, and I am sure it will still be relevant by the time you read my letter:

Our situation is extremely bad, but we have the ability to change it. First, we need to keep hoping and not sink into despair. Second, we need to be honest and set out exactly the extent of the problem that is facing us. And third, we should not seek "solutions commensurate with our problems . . . great problems call for many small solutions".

I hope that when you read this, many of those small solutions will be in place, enabling you to carry on in the same vein and live in a healthy, abundant and rewarding natural environment.

With my love to you both,

Papa