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/