Extinction Rebellion Wimborne joins Chris Packham in march

Starting in Park Lane and ending at Parliament Square, 30 members of Extinction Rebellion Wimborne (XRW) attended the march which took place on June 22 and was supported by hundreds of environmental groups. 

The Wimborne group joined others in pushing for governmental action while bringing representation to Wimborne and Dorset which sees its wildlife threatened.

Professor James Bullock, Extinction Rebellion campaigner, said: "The march was planned long before the election was called so it is non-party political saying to anyone who gets into power, you need to take urgent action. 

"We assume Labour will get into power and their manifesto is not looking great for nature but even if there's a sudden upset and the Conservatives got back in, there's still the same message for them.

"We've had Labour governments, Tory governments, coalitions and none of those have done enough for nature."

Alongside XRW, Wimborne War on Waste, Planet Wimborne and Friends of the Earth East Dorset were also in attendance to give the town the biggest representation from Dorset at the march. 

While the area is known for its natural beauty and green spaces, James said change is abundant in the natural world even at home referring to the 'shifting baseline syndrome'.

He said: "I'm an ecologist and I've studied what happening to nature in Dorset and we have seen massive losses over the last few decades. 

"We've lost 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows, 56 per cent of our heathlands are gone and our woodlands have declined.

"We live in one of the better parts of the UK for nature but because of something called shifting baseline syndrome, we only see what is around us.

"You don't realise how much we've lost unless you look back."

As a scientist, James was one of many in the crowd in a white lab coat who went into crowds and answered questions and said all were 'very concerned' about environmental changes.