Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group
William Wordsworth, ‘Lines Written in Early Spring‘.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure…
Love Life!
As we all know, many populations of our precious wildlife, be they birds, bumblebees, butterflies, hedgehogs or other animals are in steep decline. Yet our survival and mental health depends on the sights and sounds of nature thriving and climate anxiety is increased when there is a lack of nature space– nor can we do without the vital ‘services’ that nature provides.
Whatever the size of garden or farm we own, making room for nature not just to feed but breed, shelter and overwinter in the out of sight or unproductive areas plays a vital and positive part; you might allow the the grass to grow and wild flowers to bloom in a corner; some logs or branches or a pile of leaves to decay naturally, and so provide breeding places and shelter for insects and food for birds, bats and hedgehogs. The breeding success of Swallows is directly related to insect numbers. Say no to plastic grass and any further hard standing; that way we’ll stay cooler in heatwaves and soften the impacts of downpours too. Pesticides are indiscriminate; they kill all insects not just the one species that’s being a pest and we all need the beneficial insects for our fruit trees and crops. Jake Fiennes, working for the Holkham Estate in Norfolk, has shown how productivity is increased when some land is set aside for nature; because less pesticide and fertiliser is used, costs go down; and yields increase, with more help from nature, so profits go up. Similarly, in the USA, by converting 10% of cropland to native prairie, farmers have reduced soil loss by 95%, total phosphorous loss by 90%, and total nitrogen loss by 85% and provided myriad benefits to themselves, the ecosystem, and surrounding community.
Here’s One New Thing To Do for our Future
Love life? Go pesticide free in our gardens! But beware and dispose of our pesticides safely! They need to be handed in at our local waste and recycling centre. (Not down the drain or into the soil). France is ahead of us here and has banned the use of pesticides in gardens.
Thursday April 13th 7.30pm Town Hall MPCAN meeting. All welcome.
Thursday April 27th 7.30pm Town Hall Hear from Kim Creswell of the Queen Thorne Nature Watch Group
about the loss of their local wildlife and how they are investigating and planning to remedy it.
UN climate campaign to help individuals
It’s scarily crystal clear from the UN IPCC synthesis report on climate change released on `March 20th that we are not doing nearly enough to curb emissions and avoid dangerous impacts; we have left acting so late that “deep and immediate” cuts in carbon emissions are now required of each individual, corporation and government of developed countries to keep us safe. The impacts are very serious: they directly affect our health, our food sources, our water, supply systems, nature and much more. Every bit of warming matters as the warmer the planet gets, the more widespread and pronounced the changes in both average climate and climate and weather extremes become. Our choices matter and the faster we act, the better off we will all be. Many of the solutions are already at hand. Around two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to private households.
What to do? The United Nations has a Climate Action social media campaign for individual action on climate change and sustainability. Google or Ecosia (they plant trees) UN Climate Action Campaign to find out more and for the link to receive information on Whatsapp.
At this point, the only question is: what are we waiting for?