Regional Audit: Understanding clubs and associations capacity to deliver major events

The campaign to protect the environment and slow the decline of biodiversity is here to stay. The Environment Act of 2021 is the UK’s framework of environmental protection. The Act also established an environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which holds the UK Government and other public bodies to account.

The Environment Act set out brought into force legally binding environmental targets including one which halts the decline of species abundance by 2030. This is the last Parliament to be able to meet this and we are not currently on track. This and more information are available from a number of sources and should you wish to read more about it ClientEarth is a good place to start.  

It is therefore not difficult to draw the conclusion that efforts to protect the environment and biodiversity will be accelerated. We have already seen changes to Policy which will create more opportunities for renewable energy and the October Budget allocation for DEFRA has clear priorities of sustainable farming, food security and environmental restoration. DEFRA pays subsidies to landowners and their current scheme is Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS). These are made up of The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery. Enhancing biodiversity features in all of the schemes available to landowners.  

Image below: Wild birds in a nest.

What does this mean for orienteering?

The very nature (pun intended) of the sport of Orienteering is to traverse landscapes (natural or built) and Find Your Way (as our recent and successful project was entitled). Bird nesting season is now considered to stretch from February to August each year and this will lengthen as our climate continues to warm. In the UK we have just had the two warmest years on record (2022 and 2023) and we await the data for 2024. The Climate Project’s sphagnum moss planting season runs from August to the end of March. Sea Eagle reintroduction projects are being planned across the Country including in Cumbria and Exmoor. With a little help species are adapting and we need to adapt too. 

How we can help by adapting

It is possible to work ahead with agencies. Motorsport UK have worked with Forestry England (FE) to plot in their major competitions for the next three years. They asked FE which of their sites they could have access to and when, and between them they have permissions drawn up (subject to the usual conditions) for the next three years. This means that FE can plan their forestry management around the events and the local clubs do not need to navigate the permissions system. How does that sound?

We too could do this; we have developed excellent working relationships with FE over the last eighteen months. But to be clear we would need to adapt to make room for nature.

Next steps

We will shortly be sending out a Regional Audit to understand the capacity amongst clubs and associations to deliver major events. From discussions we understand that for several reasons (environmental issues being one of them), major events are becoming much more challenging to deliver. We want the challenge to be the courses not the stress of event planning.

Please use the audit to tell us if you feel your area lacks the capacity, for whatever reason, to deliver a major event in the near future. We want to work with you, we just need to understand the picture and where we might need to adapt. 

Together, we need to take the lead in how our Major Events will look over the next decade and where and how we can work with landowners, organisations and national bodies to ensure (simply) they survive.  Legislation will be passed regardless of the impact it will have on our sport – or any sport to be frank – and we need to be pro-active with understanding how we can all work together rather than bury heads in the sand, as it has ‘always been done that way’.

We have seen across the UK – where landowners and agencies can work with us, they will, however as a sport – it is time for an important period of reflection, and however uncomfortable it may be – a change?