Letter Writing Party: Tell your MS you support strong protection for nature (in person)

We know that Wales is facing a nature crisis: a new piece of legislation for Wales, the Environment Bill* could turn things around. This has the potential to be a really powerful bit of law that holds the Welsh Government accountable for protecting and restoring our landscapes and wildlife.

The new bill is exciting… but right now it’s not strong enough. A letter writing party is a chance for anyone who wants to speak up for nature to come together, learn about the legislation, and support each other to take an incredibly powerful action: writing to our Member of the Senedd.

* or the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets)(Wales) Bill to give it it’s fancy name

A bit more background...

There's a lot to celebrate in the proposed bill but there are also areas that just aren't strong enough

• It’s too vague about which areas of policy need to consider the environment - we believe that nature should be considered in all areas of policy, from health care to education, because nature affects, and is affected by, everything we do

• The bill would see a new body being set up, the Office for Environmental Governance Wales, to make sure environmental laws are being followed. However the bill doesn’t do enough to protect the independence of this body and make sure it's funded properly.

• The bill doesn’t make clear how ordinary people can speak up for nature if they don’t think environmental law is being followed properly.

• The bill needs stronger biodiversity targets as well as short term targets to get nature back on the road to recovery right away.

The RSPB have put together a great short explainer video about the bill, take a look here. 

The bill is being debated on November 11th. Before that date It’s really important that we let our representatives in the Senedd know that…

1. We care about this Bill

2. We want it to be strong and we want it to be bold

3. We want to make sure it is passed into law before the May 2026 Senedd elections - this is not guaranteed which could see the bill abandoned! The bill must pass by April 2026 if it is not to fall.

Getting our heads around legislation and putting what we want to say about it into words isn’t always easy, and it's the kind of thing that can drop to the bottom of our 'to do' list - that’s why on October 22nd we’re throwing a letter writing party at Railway Gardens. We’ll have cake, snacks, drinks, postcards and letter paper plus plenty of simple guidance on the bill to help you craft a letter to your Member of the Senedd - we’ll then gather everyone's messages up and post them off - easy! If you want to send something a little more personal we’ll have a collage station set up too so you can create your own card to send. 

Good to know…

• Can’t make it? We’re holding an online session the day after, October 23rd. Sorry, that session is 'bring your own cake'...

• We meet in a warm, cosy, and wheelchair accessible room

• You can stay for as little or as long as you like

• If you’ve never written to your MS before, don’t worry - we’ll be sharing as much or as little guidance as you need to write your message with confidence.

• If you’re happy to bring a device to write on you can obviously send an email rather than a physical letter

• You can write as little or as much as you like

• Not sure who your MS is? No problem, we’ll work it out together

• This event is free although donations towards stamps are very welcome!

• This session is aimed at adults but children are welcome to come along with you and get involved.