» Listings for 2022

1. Devon and Cornwall: Greener Lives on Saturday 7th May 2022 at 8:15pm on Channel 4

   Posted on 6:00pm Saturday 7th May 2022

   There's a programme on the UK's Channel 4 at 8:15pm on Saturday 7th May 2022 called Devon and Cornwall:  Greener Lives.

   The programme meets locals living in this beautiful part of the UK (it's in the south west) who are working to bring balance back to both land and sea and working hard to protect nature.

   A farmer, Cyril, in Devon is returning to traditional hay meadows
   Previously he was depleting them through intensive farming during the 1960s.  As the programme points out, during and after the war, a nation needed feeding, regardless of the impact the push for growing food had on wildlife and nature.  The farmer wants to put something back to the land and let nature do the work.  He makes hay meadows.  The seeds from the hay meadows are spread quickly in fields on other farms.  Like other farmers, Cyril is returning hay meadows to Devon - and with those come wildlife such as voles and barn owls - and Cyril is looking after the wildlife as well now!

   Volunteers paddle to coves to clear plastic from the beach. 
   For instance, Steve and his beautiful dog Rosie are thinking global but working to make a difference locally.  At times Rosie jumps off Steve's boat to collect rubbish and bring it back to the boat!  And Steve has a band of volunteers helping him, navigating in and out of the coves to collect rubbish.  He is determined to clear beaches of rubbish and to leave the planet in a cleaner place when he leaves it.  You can join a beach clean organised by the Marine Conservation Society.  

   David, Mertle and Bill the horse are busy clearing bracken

   
    The beautiful island of Lundy, where the National Trust,
   RSPB, English Nature (now Natural England) and Landmark Trust
   have been working to help the Manx Shearwater.

   And Dean, the warden on Lundy Island, watches for the puffin to reappear. 
   As well as puffins, the Manx Shearwater has made a big comeback to the island - find out more from the National Trust.
   
   

   

   The book "RSPB Spotlight: Puffins" is available from the RSPB's online shop

   Beavers are back in the River Otter!
   Beavers have been very busy here, building a dam and maintaining it.  And a fox has been spotted checking out the beavers too!  The Devon Wildlife Trust is working with landowners to make sure the beavers don't cause any problems e.g. interfere in cider making!  
   
   

   Visit Devon Wildlife Trust and Cornwall Wildlife Trust to see how you can help - even from a distance!  And you can find your local  Wildlife Trust in the UK here - there are 46 of them.
   
   Don't miss it - it would be a great way to be inspired by other people taking action and also to pick up ways to get involved and make a difference! 

   The more people we can all get involved, the better!

2. National Gardening Week is Monday 2 May to Sunday 8 May 2022

   Posted on 11:00am Saturday 26th Mar 2022

   National Gardening Week takes place from Monday 2 May to Sunday 8  May, 2022. This year, the theme is the  "the joy of gardening".  I'm about to head out and do some weeding and digging, with a hot cup of coffee by my side, and there's nothing like doing some gardening to have a feel good factor. I remember the last time I saw my auntie Joan before she passed away.  She absolutely adored her garden, and really missed it when she had to move into a care home but she had a couple of plants in her room.  The last time I saw her we did some "indoor gardening", weeding the plants slowly as we talked, and it was wonderful - a memory I'll always treasure as we put the world to rights over a coffee and weeding. National Gardening Week aims to celebrate gardening and raises awareness of the difference that gardens and gardening can make to the lives of everyone in the UK. It inspires more people, particularly the next generation of gardeners, to experience the joy of growing and creating beautiful green spaces. Gardening gives you space to think, to be... Gardening is a great way to boost the mood and there’s nothing like feeling the earth between your fingers to connect with the world.  Plants, flowers, bushes and trees all make for great company;  they give you space to think about things, and life, and drift in your thoughts; they give your mind a chance to rest and relax and immerse yourself in the moment and forget what’s going on in the world.  They don’t interrupt your train of thought. They just let you be…. These stocks are from Thompson & Morgan - they have lots of plants for pollinators to help wildlife So what's happening during National Gardening Week? The RHS is opening the garden gates to four new green spaces on RHS Garden Day which is on Monday 2 May.  These will be an inclusive, welcoming green space to enjoy.  Get out into your garden or visit a garden or local park and just enjoy gardens!  Why not share your photos on social media with the hashtag #nationalgardeningweek Activities will be taking place at the five RHS Gardens. Visit RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey, Bridgewater in Salford, Harlow Carr in Yorkshire, Hyde Hall in Essex and Rosemoor in Devon #nationalgardeningweek  Bring gardening into your home You don’t need a garden, either – you could bring nature into your home with a houseplant, herbs on a window sill, perhaps in the kitchen, watching gardening videos, and “visiting” many famous gardens online! The RHS website has a huge Grow Your Own advice section, with help on growing fruit, growing vegetables and growing herbs.   Go potty in the garden! I LOVE pots!  I’ve put a couple of strawberry plants into small pots and so far I’ve counted 5 strawberries coming on one, and 2 on another.  I keep going out into the garden and talking to them to encourage them.  My husband thinks I’ve gone mad, but I love it.  We’ve also got a dwarf blueberry bush in a pot on the patio, a dwarf raspberry bush, also in a pot, and a peach tree.   Grow your own fruit, or give a fruit tree or bush to a loved one as a gift! Tree2mydoor.com send trees and plants as gifts   Fill your garden with colour And don’t forget flowers – they are lovely for making you feel brighter.  Last year, I sowed some freesias in several little pots and this year, much to my surprise, they have all come up into beautiful flowers and I’ve got a gorgeous scent coming from them.  Red, yellow and dark pink freesias are really giving me something to smile about.  Feel a sense of achievement Gardening gives you the chance to create and enjoy your own beautiful green space, whether in the house or in the garden, or both!  There’s nothing like the feeling of achievement it gives you, and the joy you have looking at the fruits of your labours!   Enjoy learning! Visit the RHS and check out their advice section – you’ll find so much information to help you!  It’s not all reading, either – they have videos you can watch as well J   Share your garden Wildlife need our gardens, especially as we are taking so much of their homes off them.  They need hedgerows, trees and bushes to nest in, to rest in, to shelter in from the wind, rain and sun.  Provide them with access to water in a pond or a bird bath (those can be small as well), put up bird feeders, stick a pile of logs in a corner and leave it all a bit messy there, and you will have your own nature show to enjoy, full of beautiful sounds.  Get the kids busy and their hands dirty! Hands can easily be cleaned – get the kids out into the garden and give them the chance to discover all about the outside world by getting their hands dirty, their t-shirts all covered in muddy earth, their feet wet… there’s nothing like it.  All that fresh air and activity will hopefully wear them out! Immerse yourself in gardens when you sit down. There are lots of gardening programmes  - watch Monty Don on iplayer,  you could also subscribe to a gardening magazine for a few months or more, read gardening books, watch gardening videos (RHS on You Tube for instance), treat yourself to a garden experience, take a gardening course (you can get online ones from Red Letter Days now).  So there’s plenty to do to bring gardening into your life.  Happy National Gardening Week!

3. It's the Great British Spring Clean from 25 March to 10 April 2022

   Posted on 10:00pm Friday 25th Mar 2022

   Get involved in the Great British Spring Clean 2022!
   
   

   PLEDGE HERE to join the #BigBagChallenge

   The Great British Spring Clean is in its 7th year in 2022 and this year, you can join in the #BigBagChallenge and pledge to pick up as much litter as you can during the campaign. 

   This is something you could do as an individual, as a couple of people, as a family, a group of friends, a club - whatever you want.  Why not do it at work, and make it a team group activity?  

   There's lots of advice and tips on the website to help you including covering aspects of health and safety, insurance and disposing of your litter and recycling.

   You can pick up litter when you're walking your dog, walking to work or school, even jogging.
   
   

   

   
   And the great thing about litter picking is that you know you are making a difference.   New research from YouGov in conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy, 60% of children aged 6 to 17 feel happier when taking eco-action outside, such as picking up litter.  You can pledge as a school, to get involved.

   And it can give you a feeling of taking control and doing something positive for our environment.  Cut litter, end waste and help protect wildlife - far too many get injured or killed because of our litter, so you will be protecting them at the same time!

   COVID Advice for those taking part

4. Earth Hour 2022 is on 26 March 2022 at 8:30pm local time

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 24th Mar 2022

   
   Earth Hour is back, and this time it is on Saturday 26 March 2022 at 8:30pm local time to you! 

   This is a great chance to switch everything off.

   Earth Hour started back in 2007 by WWF and partners in Sydney to raise awareness of climate change and it's a huge grassroots movement for the enviornment.  Every year people in over 190 countries and territories take part and take action.   

   You can simply switch off your lights - why not enjoy the night sky for an hour?  Or take part in an event, or hold your own event and find out more about climate change and  habitat loss. 
   
   

   
   Twitter:  @EarthHour
   Facebook: @EarthHour
   Instagram:  @EarthHourOfficial

   You could share your stories online of what you personally are doing to take action and join groups who are making a difference.  

   Why not make a start by calculating your own footprint on the planet?  You can do this on the WWF website and then it has suggestions of what you can do to reduce it.  Give it a go!

   Above all, you can go beyond the hour - and see what you can do to change your lifestyle to reduce your impact on climate change, and to put pressure on goverments and companies to make the right decisions, for people, for the planet and of course for wildlife.

   Visit the website here

5. International Day of Forests is on 21 March 2022

   Posted on 11:20am Sunday 20th Mar 2022

   Back in 2012, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the 21 March to be International Day of Forests.

   The idea behind the day is "to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests."  The UN wants countries to undertake efforts at a local, national and international level to organise activities which include forests and trees - tree planting campaigns is just one example.  

   However, I thought this year I would raise awareness of five appeals for forests or ways to help which you could share and/or donate to and/or find out more about.

   1. The Woodland Trust
   
   The UK's Woodland Trust has 3 appeals at the time of writing, one in Norfolk and two in Scotland in the West Highlands (the Couldoran appeal, next to Ben Shildaig) and the Loch Arkaig Pine Forest appeal in the Scottish Highlands. 

   2. Trees for Life
   
   Trees for Life is turning  bleak landscapes of grass which has been overgrazed back to forest that's bursting with wildlife. You can donate, plant a tree, volunteer, or shop with them and businesses can get involved as well.  You can also plant a grove of trees, (which might be a great thing to do for a big birthday so that you can ask friends and family to plant a tree for you.)

   3. The Rainforest Trust

   Rainforest Trust has a mission - it "saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement and donor support."  Find out the ways you can support them  - why not take their Hug 100 Trees challenge?   Many of their urgent requests for help carry 3x or 2x matches (e.g. if it's a 2x match, if you donate £10 it becomes £20 without any cost to you, thanks to someone who is matching your donation).  Amongst their urgent projects are ones working to create wildlife corridors for tigers in Thailand, to save a bird island sanctuary in Indonesia, to save a Mozambique butterfly forest, and two appeals in the Democratic Republic for the Congo, one to save bonobos carbon-rich swamp forest and the other to save the Grauers gorilla.

    4.  The World Land Trust

   WLT has a mission  (or challenge) for young people at school:  to measure your school playground or school or a space of some sort there and raise funds to save the same size area in Brazil!  You can help save some of the last of Brazil's Atlantic Forest and preserve carbon-munching rainforest at the same time.  Hundreds of species of animals are relying on you and your school to get involved in Operation Ocelot - find out more here

   5.  Rainforest Rescue 
   
   Rainforest Rescue is "actively committed to preserving rainforests, protecting their inhabitants, and furthering social reforms."   It is active in many countries around the world and it supports its partners on the ground in tropical countries.  I've signed many of their petitions myself putting pressure on companies and governments  and they have plenty of news and updates
   
   

   Useful resources:
   
   International Day of Forests website - this is the UN offical website for the day
   
   Coalition for Rainforest Nations has a mission "to help tropical govenrments, communities and peoples responsibility manage their rainforests.

   Global Forest Watch has the latest data and technology and tools that empower people to take action.  Take a look at their Topics section - it has information on fires and water which personally I found really hit home.
   
   Queen's Commonwealth Canopy -  this has been set up to create a pan-Commonwealth network of forest conservation projects, to enable forests to thrive and conserve indigenous forests for future generations.  See the projects here