Ms Anne Jones:

We learned an awful lot as citizens in the course of all of the talks, lectures, people's stories and community activities. It certainly made us far more aware. I do not think I was ever as aware, and I would be conscious of most things that are going on. Certainly, the citizens' assembly discussions really brought that to the fore. As I said in the beginning piece, one of the biggest difficulties is changing ingrained mindsets. Changing mindsets that have been working in the same way over the years and the decades is a difficult thing to do. It is in all of us who come from a rural background. How to turn that around into something different is a real challenge in terms of public information and awareness campaigns.

I do not think there is any choice. It has to be done because time is not on our side. One thinks of programmes in primary schools like Green Schools and education at student level but by the time that all of that comes to making a difference, we do not have that time on our hands. It will help by all means but it will not change in the immediate term. What we have to focus on is how to change that, and on getting out of the mindset that we have done these things in this particular way all through the years, so why should we change now for biodiversity, or whatever. The importance of it cannot be overstated because we just will not have a planet. We look at all the things that are happening in the world from forest fires to droughts and floods, and even the damage that is doing in itself in the context of climate change. We have a phenomenal task ahead of us but like the document says, it is possible to do many things. Some of the actions that we have pointed to will help in that regard.