Over the Easter weekend we made one of our regular pilgrimages to Washington Wildfowl & Wetland Trust. Added to the exciting wild birds (we saw lesser redpoll, avocet and jack snipe), and the ‘captive’ bird collection, there was a Lego special with nine enormous models of birds including the iconic Nene or Hawaiian Goose (see pic).

The Nene is a wonderful conservation success story – and a powerful reason why we shouldn’t be squeamish about zoos. The population was down to 30 in the 1960s, but is now at 2500 in the wild, with another 1000 or so at locations like Washington.

Bouncing back from such a critically low level is an inspiration to all of us working in the sustainability. OK, it’s just one bird species, but it shows that we can make a difference if we really try. Issues like climate change may require considerably more effort to tackle, but a ‘can do’ attitude is the only way we’re going to get close.

Let’s do it.