Lewisham is home to over 300,000 people but for millions of its non-human residence life can be a daily struggle.

I'm counting on your support to request Lewisham Council and Mayor Damien Egan to create the position of 'Animal Mayor'. We hope that this attention grabbing initiative will make Lewisham the most environmentally aware borough in London.

Why now?
I believe that if we had a more respectful and empathetic view of Lewisham's non-human residents, we would try harder to protect the environment. There are already some great things happening in the community and this election campaign would help to highlight this. Issues like the destruction of the Tidemill Gardens and Lewisham's work to their Biodiversity Action Plan. Your animal mayor would be the figure head and forum to bring everyone together.

Who would stand?
I would hope for interested community groups or individuals to apply with an animal champion to add to the ballot. The animal they choose would be related to their cause. It could be a Squirrel for Tidemill or a Black Redstart for the rewilding of Convoys Wharf.

Who would vote?
The campaign would be run online and open to every resident of Lewisham aged 5 and above. 

Sounds expensive?
While it is true that local authorities are facing huge cuts to their funding, this campaign could be run economically through social media galvanising the activities of existing groups.

Want to know more?
You can check out the test campaign to make Tony Pigeon mayor of Lewisham. It's only speculative at the moment as I need this petition to work in order to create the position. Visit the website zooisham.org. Watch the campaign video here. Keep up to date on twitter.com/zooisham