» Listings for 2018

1. Seahorses get safety from boats

   Posted on 8:00am Saturday 9th Jun 2018

   Boat owners are going to have anchoring restrictions to protect rare seahorses and marine life. There are plans for 41 new marine conservation zones around the coast.   One of those that will receive protection is Studland Bay in Dorset.   It will be protected from yachts and motorboats that moor there.  In Kent, Goodwin Sands (a 10 mile sandbank) will receive similar protection. The Camel Estuary (Cornwall) and the Orford Inshore (off Suffolk) will be protected too. In 2008, the Seahorse Trust found 40 seahorses in Studland Bay.  In 2018, (last month in fact), the Seahorse Trust found 0 seahorses in Studland Bay.  That’s zero. Heavy anchors and their metal chains destroy seagrass, the normal habitat for seahorses.  And the Seahorse Trust says that seahorses should recolonise the area after the seagrass had recovered.  The charity says that while serious yachts people don’t anchor on the sea grass, plenty of boat users do. Boating enthusiasts protested but the government fortunately over-ruled them.  Needless to say, the Royal Yachting Association has said it will impose restrictions, believing that seahorses and recreational boating activities can "reasonably co-exist". "Reasonably exist" isn’t good enough.    If, over 10 years, the number of seahorses in Studland Bay has plummeted from a find of 40 to 0, there must be a very good reason. It’s high time government stepped in, did the right thing and protected wildlife habitat.  A good move by the British Government.   Now, more protection for wildlife, please! Give wildlife the space and right habitat to thrive, they will.    Visit the Seahorse Trust and find out how you can help here

    

   Seahorses get safety from boats

    

   Boat owners are going to have anchoring restrictions to protect rare seahorses and marine life.

    

   There are plans for 41 new marine conservation zones around the coast.   One of those that will receive protection is Studland Bay in Dorset.   It will be protected from yachts and motorboats that moor there.  In Kent, Goodwin Sands (a 10 mile sandbank) will receive similar protection. The Camel Estuary (Cornwall) and the Orford Inshore (off Suffolk) will be protected too.

    

   In 2008, the Seahorse Trust found 40 seahorses in Sutland Bay. 

    

   In 2018, (last month in fact), the Seahorse Trust found 0 seahorses in Studland Bay.  That’s zero.

    

   Heavy anchors and their metal chains destroy seagrass, the normal habitat for seahorses.  And the Seahorse Trust says that seahorses should recolonise the area after the seagrass had recovered. 

    

   The charity says that while serious yachts people don’t anchor on the sea grass, plenty of boat users do.

    

   Boating enthusiasts protested but the government came to their senses and took no notice of them 

    

   Needless to say, the Royal Yachting Association has said it will impose restrictions, believing that seahorses and recreational boating activities can "reasonably co-exist".

    

   "Reasonably exist" isn’t good enough.   This is yet another example of wildlife suffering from the human race and our activities.  

    

   It isn’t as if leisure boating was an essential activity.  (I should know, because we are boat owners.)  Surviving is.  

    

   If, over 10 years, the number of seahorses in Studland Bay has plummeted from a find of 40 to 0, there must be a very good reason.

    

   And with so many people just not caring at all about nature (and it’s not just boat owners, of course) or even thinking about what they are doing and the impact they are having, it’s high time government stepped in, did the right thing and protected wildlife habitat.

    

   A good move by the British Government.   Now, more protection, please!

    

   Give wildlife the space and right habitat to thrive, they will. 

    

    

    

    

2. It's National Gardening Week - Garden Campaigns

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 2nd May 2018

   
   
   

   It’s National Gardening Week, and this is a great chance to raise awareness of opportunities to get gardening! Did you know that there are a number of different gardening campaigns to get people gardening? A couple of my favourite are from the RHS, that’s the Royal Horticultural Society – Britain’s main gardening charity.   The RHS is known for its world famous RHS  flower shows such as RHS Chelsea, RHS Hampton Court and RHS Tatton Park; and also for campaigns such as Britain in Bloom which helps build local communities.   But there’s also a couple of others which I think are really important from the RHS and other gardening charities so here there are: Greening Grey Britain As Britain gets more and more concrete, and there’s more and more building, so it’s really important to look after and create new green spaces.   Gardens are crucial, and they are also an essential way to help wildlife.  Wildlife are losing more and more habitat to human activity.  What’s more, the more land we concrete over, the more risk at flooding we are and the more we damage the environment and our health. So the RHS is running a campaign to encourage people to get Greening Grey Britain.   You could for example: Plant a tree Plant a shrub Plant a flower bed Plant a window box or a container Plant a climber Do something else The RHS are hoping that 6,000 people will join in this campaign – so far over 2,800 people have done just that.   Wild About Gardens Wild About Gardens is a joint initiative by the RHS and The Wildlife Trusts to get more people growing for wildlife.  This year, the theme is Go Wild For Worms – they are essential to life and a gardener’s best friend.  They are also essential food for wildlife.  Campaign for School Gardening Young people are clearly the gardeners of tomorrow but more importantly I think they are going to be the guardians of our planet.   Frankly, and this is just a personal view, I hope they do a better job of it than my generation have done.  The RHS Campaign for School Gardening inspires and supports schools to give children with gardening opportunities to enhance their skills and boost their development.  Children love gardening and it does them so much good.   Horticulture Matters The RHS is looking to tackle the crisis in the horticultural industry in the UK which is suffering from a growing skills crisis.   It’s working to improve the perception of careers in the sector, to support schools in the delivery of horticultural qualifications and to work with the Government to secure funding for plant-science research. It’s your Neighbourhood Over 2,000 community groups participate in this gardening campaign – caring for parks, greening street corners, revamping alleyways and basically creating greener, safer places for everyone to live with a fresh community spirit. Pots for Pollinators This campaign is run by Butterfly Conservation and it’s asking people to Plant a pot for a pollinator – butterflies, bees etc.  Just Add Water Just Add Water is a national campaign to encourage the public to dig wildlife ponds, especially in urban environments.  There's been a huge loss of countryside ponds in recent years so hopefully this will help local frogs and newts and other wildlife to survive and thrive.  Efforts locally can make a big difference and Froglife have created the Just Add Water campaign to help give advice and tips.

    

3. Snow Leopard Trust says thank you

   Posted on 10:00pm Tuesday 1st May 2018

   The Snow Leopard Trust works to protect this endangered cat through community-based conservation projects. The Snow Leopard Trust have dedicated 1 May 2018 as a Spot-tacular!   It’s an online day to thanking its supporters and recognising them as an integral part of their team. To celebrate, they are sharing their annual Impact Report.  The support the Trust’s supporters have provided have meant that….. 400 women earned vital income in 2017 through the Snow Leopard Enterprises conservation handicrafts programme 100 families followed sustainable livestock herding practices.  This is a part of a new Snow Leopard Friendly Cashmere programme 11,600 livestock were insured through the community run Livestock Insurance Programmes.  This gives herders compensation for livestock losses There’s more information here but it’s great to hear from a charity of the impact support has.  Visit the Snow Leopard Trust’s website to see how you can make a difference to these magnificent animals here. Spring into Action The Snow Leopard Trust  is currently working to raise $60,000 to expand their programmes and they are running appeals for a couple of projects: One to support wildlife rangers - Help equip and pay two rangers who patrol the Shamshy Wildlife Sanctuary in Kyrgyzstan to prevent illegal hunting and monitor wildlife populations Counting the cats – they are looking to come up with a solid estimate of the snow leopard population in Himachal Pradesh, one of five Indian states which have snow leopards Adopt a Snow Leopard

    

4. National Gardening Week - I love my garden!

   Posted on 8:00am Tuesday 1st May 2018

   It’s National Gardening Week this week (April 30th to May 6th 2018). This year, the theme of this annual event is to encourage gardeners to share their love of gardening, so I thought I’d share with you why I love it. There’s an awful lot that’s been written about the physical and mental benefits of gardening, so I thought I would tell you why I find it beneficial and why I love it.   I know gardening does me good.  I love being out there, digging, weeding, planting, planning, watering – it gives me a peace and it’s doing nature good at the same time. So here are the benefits I’ve enjoyed from my love of gardens and gardening… Gardening and a love of gardens helps you connect to people.   Give me a garden centre over a shopping centre any day.  At a garden centre, you can swiftly get chatting and comparing notes over the cucumber plants or the rose bushes.   You can compare failures, successes, things that have worked for you, things that haven’t worked for you.    You don’t have to travel anywhere to get what you need for your garden.  You can just do everything from home.  There’s an enormous number of online retailers who will happily deliver to you - though of course there are delivery costs.   You can get lost in a new world with gardening magazines which give me great joy – there’s nothing like leafing through pages of a magazine and jotting down ideas of things to try.   You don’t need acres and acres of garden, either.  A few square feet will do.  You can enjoy the pleasure of watching things you’ve planted grow.  I’ve stuck in a blueberry bush – it’s a dwarf one and it’s gone into a pot.  It’s started to flower and I’m looking forward to tucking into the blueberries. (To be honest, I’m amazed when anything I plant grows…. I’m a “plant and hope they come up” gardener.) Grow your own fruit and veg and salads, and you’ll have food you can enjoy from home – and there’s nothing like it!   My grandfather in Wales used to do this and I loved the mint from his garden, the peas, the potatoes etc.   My little sister and I spent many a happy hour with him outside, “helping”, and it was a great way to do something together You can enjoy the winter months planning for next year – looking through pictures of beautiful gardens can lift the spirits.  Even in the depths of winter, you know spring is on the way and you can look out for signs – the first primrose, a bluebell, a daffodil, a snowdrop…(not necessarily in that order).  You can plan to try out different things and move plants, pots, and so on around.  If it doesn’t work in one spot, it may work in another.    Bring your garden indoors with house plants!  Plus you can enjoy lots of things with a garden theme to cheer up a home – pictures, mugs, household items – check out Emma Bridgewater who has an amazing range of mugs with a garden theme for the home. Emma Bridgewater has a wonderful range of mugs etc for the home This is Purple Pansy It’s a great way to work off frustration and stress.   Plants and flowers are gentle – they don’t argue back (unless you’re trying to pull them out of the ground and they’ve been there a long time)…..   You can create your own wildlife haven – and then sit back and enjoy watching the birds, butterflies, bees, and more visit and tuck in!  You could end up with your own nature show! You can really get into it as an interest, going on courses, reading books and magazines, attending gardening shows and events.   You can get as involved as you want.    I feel refreshed from being in the garden – tired, yes, of course sometimes.   But I feel refreshed and as though I’ve had a real break from the digital world, the TV etc. I love to take a mug of hot coffee out, and indulge in it while I’m gardening;  and because I’m burning calories (more than I would be if I were sitting down watching TV), that slice of cake tastes all the better afterwards – it’s well deserved!   Gardening can bring people together as can be seen through campaigns such as Britain in Bloom, run by the RHS; who are also running a campaign Greening Grey Britain in the RHS is trying to turn Britain from being in grey concrete to green grass and flowers, plants and trees. You can enliven your senses with the result – every sense can enjoy the garden, from the sights of birds enjoying a bird bath, the sound of buzzing bees, the taste of the food you’ve grown, the feel of different sorts of leaves, the scent of flowers.   It makes you feel alive.    Garden gift vouchers.  They are fantastic gifts for anyone who loves their gardens.  It’s another excuse to trot off to the garden centre and have a pleasant few hours browsing, contemplating, chatting (see no 1 above), enjoying the café if there is one, and shopping.    My garden makes me feel happy.  Gardening makes me feel happy.  I love listening to and watching the wildlife because it’s their home too.    You don’t need a large space to help wildlife.  In fact, you don’t need a garden at all.  You can get window feeders for the birds.  Garden Wildlife Direct have a range of window feeders You can take part in surveys and really feel you’re doing something to make a difference.  The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, the Great British Bee Count, the Big Butterfly Count, surveys of amphibians and reptiles – they all make a difference.     You can indulge in bird watching and identifying – there are lots of resources available and online to help you.  Get the children involved – they love wildlife and it gives them a great feel good factor to know which bird is which.  You can buy the RSPB's Children's Guide to Birdwatching from Foyles Last year, I made it my goal to turn my garden into a wildlife friendly one.  Now, if it isn’t wildlife friendly, it doesn’t go in.   And the results are starting to show.  And that makes me feel very happy as well.  And the feel good factor I have really lasts.  I feel joy in my heart every time I think of it!  So there you are.  My 20 reasons why I love gardening and being in the garden.  I haven’t even touched on the physical and mental benefits of it yet!

    

5. 2,500 acres of tropical rainforest saved in Guatemala

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 25th Apr 2018

   World Land Trust supporters raised a staggering £625,000 for the Treasure Chest Appeal. The appeal was raising the money to save 2500 acres of tropical rainforest in the mountains of Sierra Santa Cruz in Guatemala. The appeal got off to an amazing start in the first week of the World Land Trust’s Big Match Fortnight.  In fact, £100,000 was raised during this time.   And after that, support flew in from all over the world. One eight year old girl tripled her £100 target to help save rainforest by completing  a mini-triathlon. Artists dedicated their work of Guatemala’s wildlife, including a specially commissioned Chinamococh Stream Frog ornament by Jess Smith.  The frog is a critically endangered species that can only be found in the mountains of Sierra Santa Cruz.   There was also an oil painting of Scarlet Macaws by Glyn Macey and a watercolour of a Blackburnian Warbler by Dan Bradbury who works for the World Land Trust. The appeal also received tremendous contributions from The Body Shop and Humble Bundle. The money goes now to the World Land Trust’s local partner in Guatemala – the Foundation for Ecodevelopment and Conservation (FUNDAECO) and they work through the process of buying the land and protecting it to safeguard it for the wildlife living in the mountains. Inspired?  You can support the World Land Trust's new appeal to save 400 acres in the Amazonian Andes.