Appeal from Friends of the Earth

I see these appeals quite frequently and sometimes I respond by making a donation ( small) or by sharing them on Facebook or in other ways. It would be interesting to me ,at least, to get a comment from anyone reading my blog. So over to you!!  I assume you can visit Friends of the Earth yourself if you want more information!!! This is just a part of their message. ................................................................................................................................

Dear David Our natural world is crying out for stronger protection. But the government’s fundamentally flawed Environment Bill just doesn’t go far enough, fast enough – and the environment’s in grave danger. If we don’t act now, nature will pay the price.  I'm Kierra and my team’s been campaigning to strengthen this legislation for the last 3 years. This environmental law was meant to be world leading. It was meant to restore and protect nature and give us hope for a greener, cleaner world. But right now, the bill does none of that. It’s just a token gesture.  We need your help with what comes next. This law will dictate the future of our natural world. And it's due to be passed this autumn, so it’s crunch time. This is our last chance to prevent the devastation that ecological breakdown will bring. So we need to push the government to:  Properly safeguard nature by closing the bill’s many loopholes.  Introduce strong protections – from curbing plastic pollution to cleaning up toxic air.  Bring in an independent watchdog fierce enough to make sure the rules are followed.

Nature- based solution for Climate Change.

GOV.UK

A new post, “Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change at the Landscape Scale: a new £12.5m pilot programme” has just been published on the Natural England blog.  Natural habitats, such as peatlands, forests, saltmarsh and grasslands contain large amounts of carbon and will play an important part in reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions.  There are two aspects to this: stopping emissions from damaged habitats and starting … Read the new post: https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/23/nature-based-solutions-for-climate-change-at-the-landscape-scale-a-new-12-5m-pilot-programme/ You’re getting this email because you subscribed to updates from the Natural England blog.

Rewilding! Europe with or without UK is making progress!

Extract from "rewilding Europe"

Rewilding is a progressive approach to conservation. It’s about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife’s natural rhythms create wilder, more 

biodiverse habitats.

Nature’s own ways

Nature knows best when it comes to survival and self-governance.

We can give it a helping hand by creating the right conditions – by removing dykes and dams to free up rivers, by reducing active management of wildlife populations, by allowing natural forest regeneration, and by reintroducing species that have disappeared as a result of man’s actions.

Then we should step back and let nature manage itself.

Poplar Hawkmoth

  A friend recently sent this photo which is easily identified, I hope, as a Poplar Hawkemoth. It looks a bit damaged perhaps but there might be a another explanation for its shape? Comments welcome. We are having a Moth trapping evening to day and we might even find another specimen! If the rain stays away I hope to post news of our efforts!

Natural England: Restoration of peatlands!

Somerset Wildlife Trust is very concerned with this issue since much of the "Levels" have been used for years for the extraction of peat often close to nature reserves. A first reading of the latest publication by Natural England is encouraging and can be read on the Gov web site on this link: 

https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/07/peatland-discovery-grant-launched-to-support-the-next-waves-of-peatland-restoration/

 OPAL news!

We had our first meeting of this new gathering of local groups who are all interested in outdoor activities.

I'm waiting for a note of our discussions and comments. About 20 local groups were present covering a very wide range of interests. I was representing our local group of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

More soon I hope

Update! No news so far, the meeting was I considered a success in attracting so many interested parties but I have not so far even received a list of the parties present. An ominous indication that as I expected problems in coordinating and leading such a group and communicating with them all would be a problem!

Wild Orchids in Somerset

 Messages in Facebook : Orchids of the UK. 

Every year we wait to see our usual crop of wild Orchids in gardens and local meadows and they havent let us down again.  This year we have seen two quite rare White Pyramidal's

There are many interesting reports concerning Orchids in the UK  but this one is exceptional!!

Angela Rawlins

RARE ORCHIDS FOUND IN CITY OF LONDON BANK'S ROOFTOP GARDEN

A colony of rare orchids has been discovered growing on the rooftop of an office building in the City of London.

It is the first time the small-flowered tongue-orchid has been seen in the UK since arriving in Cornwall in 1989. It is generally found in the Mediterranean basin and Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal.

The 15 plants growing in Nomura International's 11th-floor garden represent the entire known wild UK colony of the species. The joy of the previous colony's discovery, at Rame Head in Cornwall in 1989, was in sharp contrast to the pain felt when it disappeared 20 years later. At this point, the small-flowered tongue-orchid was thought to have become extinct as a wild plant in the UK.

Nomura's ecologist Mark Patterson, who manages the roof garden, discovered the orchids during a monthly survey. How the plants came to be in the Japanese investment bank's roof garden remains unknown, although as Mr Patterson points out, it’s seeds can travel great distances by wind.

"The plants could have originated on the continent and been brought over the Channel on southerly winds which frequently bring Saharan dust deposits to the capital," he said.

"Once settled on the Nomura roof, the seeds would have formed a symbiosis with a mycorrhizal fungus enabling them to germinate and grow. While possible, the odds are astronomical."

Another new initiative!! OPAL!!!?

Extract from a message from Langport Town Council!!

I am writing to invite you or a representative of your group/organisation to attend the first meeting of a new local networking group:

OPAL – Outdoor Pursuits Around Langport

"The purpose of OPAL is to form a group dedicated to developing and promoting outdoor pursuits in the Langport area for the benefit of residents, visitors and the local economy.

The area is clearly emerging as a centre for outdoor activities in the county and beyond.

This first meeting will

·         focus on introducing each organisation and the activities it offers

·         suggestions of other organisations to include

·         agree terms of reference

·         share information

·         collect organisations meeting and event dates to produce  a calendar for publication on local websites and digital board etc.

·         arrangements for next meeting – host and date

 

Please find a draft Terms of Reference attached. 

 

Please could you let me know if you will attending this meeting or if a representative from your organisation/group will be attending."

I have offered to attend mainly to find out what this is all about!?  I am representing our local Wildlife Group but I have a range of interests if I get a chance to raise them!!

And now this initiative!! It sounds interesting I need some advice!

Last autumn, Somerset County Council launched a £1 million Climate Emergency Community Fund, for local councils to bid for money to fund projects to reduce carbon emissions and increase resilience to the effects of climate change.

Curry Rivel Parish Council submitted four bids, and are pleased to announce that two of them have been awarded in full or in part. These are to run a feasibility study for a cycle path between Curry Rivel and Langport (see the story on page 13), and a project to launch initiatives to encourage the switch to heating from sustainable sources.

Curry Rivel does not have mains gas, so most houses in the village are heated with oil, which is a major source of both carbon dioxide and air pollution. It is expensive and likely to get more so.

The first task is to get professional advice on what will work in Curry Rivel, using experience from around the country and nearer. We aim to work closely with other localcouncils nearby. This advice will include information about sources of funding for implementing sustainable heating schemes.

We will work with villagers and the bodies running public buildings in the village, such as the Village Hall and the school. Once a good set of initiatives has been identified, we will promote them through open meetings, the village website, Curry Rivel News, etc.

We need to assemble a small and dedicated team to progress this exciting project.

Any comments about this project will be passed on to our Council

This notice was published in our local community newspaper!

Nature Conservation

Amazing what you can find ! I regularly visit my local Oxfam used book shop in Taunton. I found a collection of Annual Reports which I bought for a few pounds. They were annual reports for the Trust which became the Somerset Wildlife Trust, SWT. Barbara Gibson was a Trustee and a distant relative of mine. She worked as an educational Advisor for Somerset County Council. So especially interesting to me. I'm now a member of SWT. I have sent a copy of this report published in 1971, a long time ago. The message is still valid 50 years later.

B. M. GIBSON. 

The Somerset Trust for Nature Conservation.

7 th Annual Report.

October 1971

 

 

CONSERVATION AND CHILDREN

Great changes are taking place all around us and at no time in the history of the world has change in the countryside been so rapid or so pervasive than at the present. What is happening in our own locality — an approaching motorway, a new housing estate, another school, a caravan site, an uprooted hedgerow, a felled tree, another machine on road or farm - and what else? Changes and additions to meet the needs of the seventies - but all making impact on our lives and on our landscape. No doubt planning, research and often sacrifice preceded every change - but did we give thought or realise the effect till viewed in reality.  Improvement or spoliation did it happen overnight?  This is only part of the report, I may publish the rest if its of interest! I sent the entire report to SWT which is about to publish a new 10 year policy document.