About the event

Described by the RSPB as ‘a voice for nature’, Hannah Bourne-Taylor, author and bird conservationist, has written the extraordinary story of how she created a national campaign to help save swifts from extinction.

Her aim was to try and change the law, to make ‘swift bricks’ (bricks that sit flush to the wall and provide a cavity nesting habitat for 8 species of urban birds) compulsory in new builds across the UK. This meant obtaining the requisite 100,000 signatures within six months of launching her petition to trigger a parliamentary debate, an almost impossible target but one Hannah was determined to somehow meet.

In this talk, Hannah will describe how, in November 2022, armed only with her own tenacity, passion, integrity and humour, she launched her ‘swift brick’ campaign from scratch without any financial backing, contacts or experience. She'll recount how she launched her campaign by walking naked painted in swift feathers and how she navigated both the politics of conservation and the reactions of those at Westminster whilst drawing inspiration from others along the way.

After the talk, guests will have the chance to buy a signed copy of Hannah’s new book ‘Nature Needs You!’

About the speaker

Hannah Bourne-Taylor is a nature author and bird conservationist who has spent much of the last decade living in rural Ghana raising and rehabilitating birds whilst also working in pangolin conservation. As recounted in her 2022 debut nature memoir, 'Fledgling' (described by The Observer as ‘intelligent, poetic and moving’), Hannah raised a mannikin finch for 84 days in her hair and on her return to England in 2021, rescued and rehabilitated five crows before launching her national campaign to save swifts. In 2024 she was named in the top 10 UK campaigners on the coveted ENDS Report Power List.

Hannah originally trained as a photographer at the London College of Fashion before working as a model. She is now an editor and ghostwriter, writing Lady Glenconner’s 2019 award winning memoir 'Lady in Waiting', as well as working with public figures such as the Duke of Beaufort and Jo Wood. She is a Trustee of the Farmland Bird Aid Network and founder of 'The Feather Speech Consultancy CIC' whose aim is to engage housebuilders in conservation measures such as the use of swift bricks.

Hannah now lives in Oxfordshire with her husband, a former Olympic rower, and the two dogs they rescued whilst living in Ghana.

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