THE worldwide Extinction Rebellion protest spread to the Forest last week as climate change campaigners paraded with banners outside the local MP’s constituency office, and later marched in a ‘funeral procession’ through a local beauty spot.

Protestors had hoped to raise their concerns about global warming directly with Forest MP Mark Harper after several requests for a response in previous weeks had been ingored.

But although claiming he was “in the constituency” during last Wednesday (April 17) morning’s protest up and down Cinderford High Street, he was not at his office to meet them when campaigners called.

A staff member for the Conservative MP’s office made a note of their three demands to avert ‘climate catastrophe’ and reportedly said he would try and arrange a meeting in future.

With two weeks of organised ER protests taking place in cities and towns across the world, the Forest branch says it already has around 100 members and the movement is “growing rapidly.”

They claim that unless governments act immediately to reverse climate change, “our forests will burn, the Severn estaury and many other coastal areas will flood and our grandchildren will die of hunger.”

Other “unprecedented disruption in our lifetime” will include the loss of pollinating insects, the extinction of species, more violent storms and heat waves, and a rise in deaths from air pollution, they add.

Group member Richard Henson from Clearwell said: “The ER action is taking place to focus the attention of everyone, and particularly governments, on the fact that the clock is ticking and we need urgent action.

“We handed in three demands to the MP’s office. Firstly, that the Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens.

“Secondly, we’re calling on the Government to enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and cut consumption levels.

“And thirdly, we want a national ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy that’s fit for purpose.

“The climate change emergency has been massively undereported, but most scientists are saying we’ve got little time left to turn things round. We need to adopt policies to radically reduce carbon emissions now.”

Mr Henson, who was part of a 20-strong protest in Cinderford, said: “It’s a state of emergency and we need urgency. We are here today to raise awareness and to try to get the MP on board.

“Disappointingly, Mr Harper hasn’t responded to our letters or phone calls asking for a meeting, which is discourteous, and he’s not here today when it’s the most pressing matter there is. Not even Brexit comes close.

“We’ve been getting cars honking and thumbs up all morning, a very good response, because most people know there’s a problem. But we still need governments around the world, including ours, to take this seriously and act.

“Make no mistake, this movement will grow and grow. I was in London for the start of the worldwide campaign, and the atmosphere was very positive. It was people coming together and cooperating and generating a very positive response.”

Sid Phelps from Ruspidge, who handed the group’s three demands into the MP’s office, said: “We wrote to him five weeks ago and we understand he’s in the constituency today, but he couldn’t even see us for five minutes.

“We told his staff we want to speak to him before the Parliamentary recess ends and they said they would try and do all they could.”

Fellow campaigner Jackie Dale from Yorkley added: “This is a respectful and peaceful non-political rebellion. We might cause some disruption, like stopping traffic, but we just want people and governments to listen, because we are all part of the problem.”

Another protestor, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It’s vital that action is taken, but the media is just saying how many people have been arrested in the cities, not what the campaign is about.”

On Saturday (April 20), group members also held a ‘funeral procession’ from Cannop Ponds to Beechenhurst “to mourn the species we have already lost and those that we will lose unless we act now.”

And on Easter Monday (April 22), they were at Coleford’s Festival of Transport, where they handed out leaflets about their campaign.