It may be as recently as a year ago I’d never heard of a social media thunderclap. What it is, is this.
If you have an account on social media (eg Twitter) you can send out messages which might be seen by all the people that ‘follow’ you. A social media thunderclap is where lots of people get together to send out the same message to all their followers at the very same time. Bang! it’s a lot of messages all at the same time – feel the earth move?
Next Sunday, at 10am, on Hen Harrier Day, this very simple message will go out to, at present, over 1.3million people:
“We’re missing our Hen Harriers – show your support for #HenHarrierDay http://thndr.it/1A74gQk”
It’s easy, it’s uncontentious, it’s free, it’s simple – it is simply publicising the plight of the Hen Harrier.
Who wouldn’t sign up to that?
This thunderclap is supported by Sea Wild Earth (who contributed 162k followers), the RSPB (114k), Chris Packham (104k), the Green Party (66k), the Wildlife Trusts (36k – and several individual county trusts as well), the League Against Cruel Sports (24k) and over a thousand individuals across the world. It’s growing all the time too.
If you are on social media, if you care about wildlife crime, and if you can spare just a couple of minutes – please sign up to the thunderclap now.
Here are some organisations who ought to be keen to sign up:
Political parties – the Green Party is way ahead of the rest of you. There is a general election nine months away. Are you on the side of threatened wildlife or on the side of the criminals who kill them? We are waiting to see what you do, or don’t do.
Shooting organisations – nobody supports wildlife crime, everyone says that they love the Hen Harrier. What could be a better, easier, way of showing your public support than signing up to this thunderclap? To their credit, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, have already led the way but where are the National Gamekeepers Organisation, BASC and (can’t imagine it ever happening but might as well ask) the Countryside Alliance? Oh yes, and The Shooting Times and The Field.
Landowners – the Moorland Association, CLA, NFU?
Our upland National Parks which should be the home to the Hen Harrier – the Peak District, the North York Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland and the Forest of Bowland AONB and North Pennines AONB. You can’t find anything to object to here, really, can you? Whose side are you on?
Retailers -Marks and Spenser did the right thing by taking Red Grouse off their shelves because they couldn’t be sure they were produced sustainably and legally. How about showing that was because you cared about wildlife by joining the thunderclap – or will one of your competitors get there first?
You – everybody’s voice counts
Join the Hen Harrier Day thunderclap here – now – please.
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This is all so brilliant! Hats off to you Mark, and everyone.
And Lush? I understand they are offering support and coverage of hen harriers too. For me this is a happy and unexpected conjunction between two glorious, life enhancing and all too rare parts of my life to be received with delight and celebration. I trust this breakthrough will be covered here in due course. I would love to see a horde of birders beating a path to Lush’s doors …
This reminds me that the only thing I have have ever read on this blog that has REALLY annoyed me was the surmise (based, I have to say, on absolutely no evidence,) that female readership was low because we don’t like birds of prey. Pshaw! Loving up Lush would help to make amends.
Done. And I will do rather more in the coming days…
Time to dust off an old friend and see what he has to say.
I’ve shared the thunderclap. Hoping that the event goes well. Will see you there.