Country diary: Claxton, Norfolk: Wonderfully commonplace, the house sparrow is a worthy environmental icon

It might not be the environmental icon we usually associate with India, but this Thursday has been designated World Sparrow Day by the Pune-based Nature Forever Society. The hugely imaginative project began four years ago, and it has quickly spread to eight countries on three continents. What's most wonderful about the scheme is that it is predicated not on the sparrow's imminent extinction in the Indian subcontinent but on its superabundance. Unlike in the UK, India's house sparrows are ubiquitous, and that is the point Nature Forever Society wishes to make. It wants to focus on the part of nature that is all around because it thinks that's the best way to remind people of the role that other species play in our everyday lives. Sparrows wake us at dawn with their exuberant chatter. They nest in the roofs above our heads. They join us for crumbs once our daily bread is done. They're the bright subliminal extras in almost every human context. House sparrows also highlight, by contrast, the problem with choosing the tiger as the key flagship species. Or something similarly super-rare, like the bittern or large blue butterfly. All these wonderful creatures are in need of our love, but by selecting them as our best way to talk about nature we reinforce the idea that nature is remote and somehow inherently vulnerable. Worst of all, this model of public engagement leaves no room for highlighting the central value of natural abundance, when, in fact, we are often most moved when life teems all about us. It is surely our contact with all its bio-luxuriance that makes spring so fulfilling. We are reminded of the mystery and power of life in all its limitless capacity. Mercifully, sparrows are still common in our village despite the national 90% decline. On Thursday I shall break the morning bread and share it with these wonderful and wonderfully commonplace creatures. (Twitter: @MarkCocker2)