DorsetCAN Newsletter 5 ~ June 2021
June has been wild (though we'd like it wilder) with news and developments on the climate and nature emergency. Heartbreakingly, every other farm seems to have lost its swallows this year, but your efforts across the county to cut carbon emissions and restore and regenerate wildlife are astonishing and life-affirming. Read on for campaigns to join, local ideas and examples to follow, events to attend and help organise, suggestions to consider and your dose of climate news (inter)nationally. This Newsletter brings DorsetCAN news and updates (blue), relevant campaigns (green) (some led by DorsetCAN, some by other organisations), plus (Inter)National News (red) and case studies (teal) with ideas which we think could be an inspiration for other towns and villages in the county. There's also Funding, Ideas and Inspiration (earthy brown), forthcoming events (in tasteful black) and magnificent purple stuff.
Do look out for us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (links below) and send in news items. If you’re part of a group that should be listed on our website, please let us know that (or anything else) at: DorsetCAN.news@gmail.com
If you're moved by anything you read or see here to join in, visit the Teams page on our website and contact the coordinator for information on how you can help/take part.
We have a dream for Dorset: a Dorset with clean rivers, fantastic public transport, chemical free fields, carbon neutral homes for everyone, not just the rich, regenerating wildlife, locally-grown food, resilient town and village communities AND the Great Dorset Hedge. If you share it, please sign up to it.
Do look out for us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (links below) and send in news items. If you’re part of a group that should be listed on our website, please let us know that (or anything else) at: DorsetCAN.news@gmail.com
If you're moved by anything you read or see here to join in, visit the Teams page on our website and contact the coordinator for information on how you can help/take part.
We have a dream for Dorset: a Dorset with clean rivers, fantastic public transport, chemical free fields, carbon neutral homes for everyone, not just the rich, regenerating wildlife, locally-grown food, resilient town and village communities AND the Great Dorset Hedge. If you share it, please sign up to it.
*** Dorset CAN news and updates***
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Vision, Mission, Aims: We're meeting to discuss and agree Dorset CAN's vision, mission and aims at 7pm on Monday 28th June - TOMORROW. This is important and we'll be taking our recommendations to the wider membership. But if you're interested and want to be involved in these discussions, contact DorsetCAN for details of Monday's meeting, important homework and joining instructions.
Dorset CAN Land Use Team:
The Team has decided to compile a database of all Dorset farms, large and small, operating to good ecological practice (GEP !) i.e organic, permaculture, agroforestry, scrubland grazing, etc. This will link into the Lifelines and other projects. The Team also has the idea of looking at mapping areas (ultimately the whole of Dorset) to create a skeleton strategy for where planting and other biodiversity interventions would be most beneficial. If you're interested in either project, have skills or time to help, or just want to know more, contact the Land Use Team. If you can, Please come to the Land Use TEAM MEETING on Zoom at 7.30pm on 8th July. There are two great speakers: Candida Blaker from Bridport Food Matters and Rakesh Rootsman Rak who runs Roots n Permaculture For news about developments with this and the other DorsetCAN teams (energy, media, transport, advocacy, events, facilitation...) please see the Teams Update page.
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DorsetCAN goes social
1. Virtually social: We're live on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please find us, follow us, like us, join us. 2. Virtually sociable: Founder Members' Zoom Gathering Join us on 21 July for our founder members event. We'll:
3. Really social: You're invited to The Dorset CAN Summer Social. Fri 9th July 11am - 3pm ~ Hawkers Farm, Stour Provost, SP8 5LZ. Huge thanks to Jenny Morisetti for hosting this event. Info: www.hawkersfarm.org Booking essential. We need to manage numbers :) All Dorset CAN members & supporters and families are invited. Please bring your own food and drink (COVID restrictions) plus optional musical instruments and games/ activities. If you can, come early (from 10am) to help set up. Please confirm you're coming by email to Rob ASAP. |
Update on the Dorset Local Plan - DorsetCAN meet the planners...
The draft Local Plan for the whole of Dorset, published in January, has aroused concern across the county because of the sheer scale of proposed development – over 39,000 new houses between now and 2038, new industrial estates, roads and other infrastructure. In Dorset CAN’s formal response, submitted in March, we pointed to the impact which this would have on the landscape and natural resources of the County, encroaching on the Green Belt and the AONB and making heavy use of greenfield land, including a proposed estate of 3,500 homes on the north side of Dorchester. We called on Dorset Council to ‘Re-think the Plan’, cut the number of new houses to 20,000, avoid encroachment on the Green Belt, avoid heavy use of greenfield land, and use more ‘brownfield’ land in the towns.
On 14 June, a team from Dorset CAN had a Zoom meeting with Hilary Jordan, Service Manager for Spatial Planning and Terry Sneller, Strategic Planning Manager. This meeting was candid and friendly. The officers advised that, in their experience, we could not claim 'exceptional circumstances' to get dispensation from central government guidelines, but said there might be room for reduction in the number of houses, in the face of public reaction and of continuing studies by the Environment Agency and others. So, we plan to launch a vigorous campaign in late July, following a meeting on 13th July of county-level and local organisations. If you or your organisation want to take part in the 13 July meeting or in the campaign, please contact Giles Watts at wattsgft@gmail.com. (Read the full DorsetCAN Advocacy Team statement and see the W. Dorset Environmental Alliance's briefing paper to Chris Loder MP on the Local Plan.)
In the same vein, Michael Dower of DorsetCAN will shortly be meeting Anthony Littlechild, the Dorset Council officer mainly responsible for the drafting of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy and Action Plan, in order to understand the way ahead in amending, approving and implementing those documents. Watch this space for news...
On 14 June, a team from Dorset CAN had a Zoom meeting with Hilary Jordan, Service Manager for Spatial Planning and Terry Sneller, Strategic Planning Manager. This meeting was candid and friendly. The officers advised that, in their experience, we could not claim 'exceptional circumstances' to get dispensation from central government guidelines, but said there might be room for reduction in the number of houses, in the face of public reaction and of continuing studies by the Environment Agency and others. So, we plan to launch a vigorous campaign in late July, following a meeting on 13th July of county-level and local organisations. If you or your organisation want to take part in the 13 July meeting or in the campaign, please contact Giles Watts at wattsgft@gmail.com. (Read the full DorsetCAN Advocacy Team statement and see the W. Dorset Environmental Alliance's briefing paper to Chris Loder MP on the Local Plan.)
In the same vein, Michael Dower of DorsetCAN will shortly be meeting Anthony Littlechild, the Dorset Council officer mainly responsible for the drafting of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy and Action Plan, in order to understand the way ahead in amending, approving and implementing those documents. Watch this space for news...
What can I do?
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1) Become a business climate leader
The government has launched a new UK Business Climate Hub to help small businesses take practical steps to cut their emissions in half by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. The hub has practical tools, resources and advice about emissions and developing a plan to tackle them. See details here. If you make the commitment, please let us know - then, in time, we will add a businesses page on our website and list Dorset businesses who have made the pledge. |
2) Join the GIKI Challenge (scroll down)
3) Start or join a local project If you're interested in energy, transport, wildlife, talking to Dorset/BCP Council, social events, media... contact the coordinator of any of the DorsetCAN teams listed here. 4) Join DorsetCAN as a founder member and make your voice heard and your opinions count. Sign up here. |
*** CAMPAIGNS ***
*** CAMPAIGN by Power for People***
Help get the Local Electricity Bill passed (YES we can!)
The Local Electricity Bill would give small-scale renewable energy a massive boost by empowering communities to sell their energy directly to local people. It's been featured in previous issues of this newsletter. There's a high-profile, 90-minute Parliamentary debate titled ‘Enabling Community Energy’ on Thursday 1st July and they're asking everyone to write to their MP to ask them to attend the debate and speak in favour. Here's the link to their 'Email your MP' page.
*** CAMPAIGN by Giki ***
Help set the Guinness World Record for climate action + cut your own carbon footprint
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We've featured GIKI.earth before. They work with communities, individuals and organisations to help people measure and reduce their carbon footprint and live more sustainably. If you don't know them, find out more.
Now they're trying to set a new Guinness World Record for the most people pledging climate action in one month. They need 140,001 people to commit to take climate action between 18 June and 17 July. This is a month-long effort and it's doubly important: winning the Guinness Record would get great publicity AND, in the process, thousands of people will commit to reducing their carbon footprint - making more of a difference together in a month than we can hope to make on our own in a lifetime. Go to zero.giki.earth, sign in or join (it's free), then go to the your planner page and commit to a new step. |
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*** CAMPAIGN by Dorset CAN*** |
Want to get things going locally? |
Open Greener HomesThis September, homes across Dorset will open to showcase ways of living greener. Open Greener Homes 25/26 Sept & 2/3 Oct: is a Dorset-wide event where homes open to visitors. Some involve technical approaches, with heat pumps, solar panels, ventilation systems; or electric cars/ charging points. Some are retrofits where insulation, renewable energy or heating systems have cut fuel bills. Others are low tech: reducing waste, saving rainwater, home-made double glazing, growing vegetables.
The event is coordinated by DorsetCAN and involves Turn Lyme Green, Transition Town Bridport, Planet Purbeck, Planet Shaftesbury, Green Martinstown, Beaminster Area ECO Group (see below) and other communities. Could you host an open day yourself? Sam Wilberforce from DorsetCAN is calling for new hosts to talk about their journey to sustainable living: "If you've lowered your carbon footprint and are willing to share your experience, please email us. Your house doesn't have to be perfect or highly sophisticated, as long as you can inspire others to cut their resource use. And if you know someone who might be interested we are happy to talk to them". (In/near Shaftesbury, contact Planet Shaftesbury.) The scheme also covers churches, schools and public buildings. |
Try doing the Beaminster Walk
9th June saw the first meeting of the Beaminster ECO Committee, which brings together the Town Council and many other interests in the town to shape and pursue a programme of action focused on climate change, enrichment of wildlife and the long-term resilience of the community. This meeting was the climax of two years of debate in the town, following the Town Council’s declaration of climate emergency, following which Beaminster Area Eco Group persuaded the Town Council to set up a multi-sector Working Group to analyse challenges facing the town. The Group's report recommended the creation of the new ECO Committee, which has representatives from over 20 organisations in the town and is supported by a growing ECO Network of townspeople. The Committee will receive proposals for action from individuals and groups who are keen to make things happen, and will sustain the momentum of an overall programme, with pump-priming finance from the Town Council and active search for external funds. For details, email Michael Dower |
- In September, communities across the UK will join together for Great Big Green Week - a national week of events celebrating action on climate change. Our Open Greener Homes event (above) is timed to start during Great Big Green Week, as is Shaftesbury's Great Big Tree Festival 23-26th September: The Tree Festival includes events celebrating local mature trees, the tree planting that took place last winter, and the tree planting yet to come. Find out more and join in with the Tree Festival here.
*** TWO CAMPAIGNS by Greenpeace***
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30x30 campaign
Greenpeace has launched its 30 x 30 campaign – to turn 30% of our oceans into Marine Protected Areas by 2030. This will allow communities dependent on fishing and fish to survive and prosper and allow marine life in our oceans to recover. It’s a gradual approach that targets industrial fishing, respects the rights of local and indigenous communities and is ambitious and urgent enough to give nearly all species a chance to regenerate. For more information, watch the video here or download the full report here. |
Campaign for action on plastic recycling
Recently, Greenpeace reported that British plastic waste is being dumped and burned in Turkey, following their report on what really happens to our recycling. Since then, Turkey has banned most UK plastic waste imports from 2nd July. Greenpeace are calling on politicians across the political spectrum to pledge to show support for proper government action to fix our plastic crisis. They want you to you email your MP and ask them to support proper plastic action. Visit their 'Email your MP' page. |
*** CAMPAIGN by Dorset Action***
DORSET ACTION Campaign to get Dorset County Pension Fund (covering Dorset Council and BCP) to stop investing directly in fossil fuels and invest in sustainable alternatives
Local council pension funds in England together hold around £8 billion in fossil fuel shares, a new analysis has found. Around 75% of councils in the UK have declared a climate emergency, and an investigation by DeSmog says local councils have committed over £2 million to tackling climate change in response to these declarations. But the quickest way to address climate change -- divesting from fossil fuel investments -- is not being tried.
Divestment has become a mainstream tactic to address institutional links with fossil fuels. Globally, 1,200 institutions representing $15 trillion have made divestment commitments; 12% of these are pension funds. The MPs' pension fund has also begun to divest. Some 45 UK divestment groups are campaigning for their councillors to divest from fossil fuels.
DorsetCAN News comment: Our Questions Team has been working to support this campaign by DorsetAction. You can read a full report on the Questions submitted to Dorset Council's Pension Fund Committee on 15th June. The report highlights recent comments by Alok Sharma (President of COP26 and former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), who this month explicitly urged all financial institutions to exit coal finance. Given that a Cabinet Member (Sharma) is calling for divestment, it's odd to find a Conservative Council sidelining public questions on the subject (the DC Pension Fund Committee refused to read out or answer public questions at the meeting in spite of a commitment to do so on its website). As we publish this newsletter, written answers have still not been supplied, as promised.
Dorset Action comment: Following the Flood of Questions on the 15 June, Dorset Action organised a Stop/Go Procession through Dorchester, saying that the time has come to Stop putting money into fossil fuels and Go on putting money into green industries to build us a sustainable future. This summer Dorset Action will step up the campaign -- because every £££ invested in fossil fuel releases more CO2 into the atmosphere, causing an increase in global temperatures -- with a series of events in Dorset and the South West (Dorset Pension Fund is in an 'investment club' with 8 other councils in the region). To folow/join the campaign, or if you want to write to Dorset Pensions Committee and express your views, then visit the Dorset Action website. If you have friends or colleagues in the Dorset Pension fund, please pass on this information to them.
Local council pension funds in England together hold around £8 billion in fossil fuel shares, a new analysis has found. Around 75% of councils in the UK have declared a climate emergency, and an investigation by DeSmog says local councils have committed over £2 million to tackling climate change in response to these declarations. But the quickest way to address climate change -- divesting from fossil fuel investments -- is not being tried.
Divestment has become a mainstream tactic to address institutional links with fossil fuels. Globally, 1,200 institutions representing $15 trillion have made divestment commitments; 12% of these are pension funds. The MPs' pension fund has also begun to divest. Some 45 UK divestment groups are campaigning for their councillors to divest from fossil fuels.
DorsetCAN News comment: Our Questions Team has been working to support this campaign by DorsetAction. You can read a full report on the Questions submitted to Dorset Council's Pension Fund Committee on 15th June. The report highlights recent comments by Alok Sharma (President of COP26 and former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), who this month explicitly urged all financial institutions to exit coal finance. Given that a Cabinet Member (Sharma) is calling for divestment, it's odd to find a Conservative Council sidelining public questions on the subject (the DC Pension Fund Committee refused to read out or answer public questions at the meeting in spite of a commitment to do so on its website). As we publish this newsletter, written answers have still not been supplied, as promised.
Dorset Action comment: Following the Flood of Questions on the 15 June, Dorset Action organised a Stop/Go Procession through Dorchester, saying that the time has come to Stop putting money into fossil fuels and Go on putting money into green industries to build us a sustainable future. This summer Dorset Action will step up the campaign -- because every £££ invested in fossil fuel releases more CO2 into the atmosphere, causing an increase in global temperatures -- with a series of events in Dorset and the South West (Dorset Pension Fund is in an 'investment club' with 8 other councils in the region). To folow/join the campaign, or if you want to write to Dorset Pensions Committee and express your views, then visit the Dorset Action website. If you have friends or colleagues in the Dorset Pension fund, please pass on this information to them.
(Inter)NATIONAL NEWS
Two items of massive importance this month.
1) David King's new Advisory Group will give governments worldwide objective and impartial evidence (in addition to the damning reports out this month from the existing Climate Change Committee).
2) If ecocide were added to the list of crimes handled by the International Criminal Court, that would be a legal game-changer. Multinational corporations, national and even local governments could then be prosecuted in the ICC.
1) David King's new Advisory Group will give governments worldwide objective and impartial evidence (in addition to the damning reports out this month from the existing Climate Change Committee).
2) If ecocide were added to the list of crimes handled by the International Criminal Court, that would be a legal game-changer. Multinational corporations, national and even local governments could then be prosecuted in the ICC.
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.New Climate Advisory Group
14 leading climate scientists launched an expert group this week to advise, warn and criticise global policymakers about the climate and nature crises. The Climate Crisis Advisory Group (which had a Twitter account running before it had a website and aims to be "media-savvy and nimble") consists of 14 experts from 10 nations and aims to give the global public analysis of efforts to tackle the climate & biodiversity crises. Headed by former UK chief scientific adviser Sir David King, the new group will issue monthly updates: “We hope that by putting expertise directly into the public domain we are reaching into policymakers’ decision processes, and into the financial sector and how they invest in our future,” King said. “We are not just going to say ‘this is the state of the global climate’, but also what should the global response be from governments and companies … What we do in the next five years will determine the future of humanity for the next millennium.” Details [See also: European court orders countries to respond to lawsuit from young climate activists.] Meanwhile, the UK’s own independent adviser on tackling climate change (the Climate Change Committee) reports that progress in adapting to climate change is not keeping up with the increasing risks facing the UK. Only 5 of 34 sectors show notable progress in the past two years. We are not prepared for even a 2ºC rise in global temperature, let alone higher levels of warming. See our full briefing on the CCC's latest report and then read the report itself. |
Ecocide
An Independent Expert Panel has proposed that the crime of Ecocide be added to the other crimes listed under the Rome Statute as within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. (Existing crimes include War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide). Here's the small print: 1. “ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts. Further small print defines each of those keywords. You can find the full text of the definition with accompanying commentary HERE and on the newly launched Ecocide Law website. Separately, there's a Resurgence Talk by Philippe Sands (a member of the expert panel on Ecocide) on Wednesday 30th June. Tickets here. Highly recommended. DorsetCAN News comment: Please read the definition, write about it, talk about it, and pressurise your elected representatives about it at all levels. And as press stories begin to emerge, please help to share them widely. Disappointing news that the people of Switzerland voted against banning artificial pesticides in a recent referendum.
DorsetCAN News comment: It'll come. Let's campaign for it nearer to home and make it a reality in our own gardens, communities and parishes. |
News In Brief
Farming in Protected LandscapesThe UK Government is launching a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme to provide funding to help farmers/land managers in National Parks or AONBs improve the natural environment and public access, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and support nature-friendly farming. Projects can include creating ponds or wetland; conserving historic farm features; or reducing carbon emissions or use of plastics on farms. Details here.
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Call for Royal Re-wildingRewilding campaign group Wild Card sent a letter from 120 leading academics, experts and public figures to the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William to urge them to re-wild some of their own land. They call for the Royal family to prioritise biodiversity in their land management and allow restoration of ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, heathlands, swamps and rivers - both as vital wildlife habitats and important carbon sinks.
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LOCAL NEWS
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Dorset National Park??
As we prepare this newsletter, there's confusion about the Dorset National Park. A press release from the Dorset National Park team says: "Dorset National Park proposal to be considered later this year. The Dorset National Park Team notes the immediate priorities Natural England (NE) has established to meet the Government’s aim that 30% of the country should be protected and improved for nature by 2030. The Team ... has accepted an invitation from NE to be involved in the further assessment of the Dorset proposal which has been shortlisted for further evaluation later this year." See the full press release But, according to Lyme Online, Chris Loder MP has "welcomed news that Dorset will not be designated a National Park. Natural England has confirmed that Dorset will not face the prospect of National Park designation this year." See the full news report Our enquiries show that Natural England has made no recent public announcement about the Dorset National Park (only talking about four AONBs here). DorsetCAN News comment: Shurely some mistake? |
Deposit & Return - Message in a Bottle
Dorset Litter Free, and many local groups around the County, have - during the last three years - contributed data about the number of bottles and cans that they have collected during litter drives, to evidence gathered by CPRE at national level. This evidence is being used by CPRE to support a campaign to persuade the government to introduce a deposit and return scheme (DRS) for bottles and other containers. On 19 June, Boris Johnson’s birthday, CPRE delivered to 10 Downing Street a symbolic bottle containing a message from 32,908 people calling for the introduction of a national DRS by 2023. Read the full message here. 
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FUNDING, IDEAS AND INSPIRATON
Funding for large community projectsThe National Lottery Community Fund's Growing Great Ideas programme has a focus on transformational and long-term change. They look for visionary initiatives that focus on ecologies, platforms, ecosystems and networks. They "invest in different combinations of people, communities, networks and organisations that demonstrate an ability to seed and grow alternative systems, accelerate the deep transition of 21st-century civil society, and to learn and adapt as they go."
The minimum grant size is £150,000 for two years. Funding can be available for up to 10 years. They expect to have £25 million available for this programme until March 2022. And more funding beyond that. Details of the fund. |
Dorset Council funding to help re-launch community groups & activitiesDo you run, lead or host an organisation or activity which plays a key role in your community? Are you a voluntary sector club or venue which has been paused during the pandemic? Apply now (closes 25th July 2021) for funds (£500-£2,000) from the Dorset Community Restart Grant Programme.
Read more and apply for the grant programme. [We're assembling details of other funding opportunities on the DorsetCAN website. If you know of other sources, please send details to us here.]
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LOCAL INSPIRATION: Hedgehogs, Bees, Fridges
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Hedgehog Sanctuary
The tragic loss of wildlife, even in our green county, is symbolised for many by the disappearance of hedgehogs. Habitat loss and industrial farming have contributed to their demise. Hedgehogs are now listed as "vulnerable to extinction" on the Red List for British mammals. Dorset Wildlife Trust and others have urged us to cut 5-inch square holes in our garden fences and provide log piles or other shelter for them, but their numbers remain stubbornly low. Helping to reverse this trend is Oliver Helmsley of Hollis Mead organic dairy farm at Hooke in West Dorset, who has planted over 17 km of hedges on the farm, bans herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and artificial fertilisers, and delays mowing fields until after the nesting season. He was approached by a charity and agreed to provide a home for 43 wounded hedehogs on the farm. After sheltering in boxes for a few weeks, the animals have now scattered through and beyond the farm. www.hollismeadorganicdairy.co.uk And talking of hedgehogs...
Planet Shaftesbury is back at the Town Hall on 22nd July for a talk, Hedgehogs in Shaftesbury. See Events below. |
Even talking bees...
Planet Shaftesbury, or Dynamo Shaftesbury as we know them, ·have put their pollinator talks by Brigit Strawbridge Howard online. See her talks on: honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees and bee decline. Meet Dynamo Shaftesbury at the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show - 18/19th August. Read the latest Dynamo Shaftesbury newsletter here. Blandford Community Fridge
The number of community fridges is growing. The latest was opened on 19 May in Blandford Community Centre. The aim is to empower the community to reduce food waste. In its first phase, the Blandford fridge will be open on Wednesday mornings for anyone to help themselves to quality food from Tesco that would otherwise be wasted. Funding for the fridge came from Dorset Council and Blandford Forum Town Council, plus the Carnival Committee and a local firm. Advice and support for community fridge organisers: hubbub.org.uk/communityfridgenetwork |
Lyme Regis Car Club - could you do something similar in your town?
The Lyme Regis Car club will start a 6-month trial with a Co-Cars electric car as soon as the town council's electric charging points are installed. The car will be available for hire to club members for as little as £4 an hour or £29 a day (+18p per mile) and will be based in the Woodmead car park in the town centre. Research shows that most of us only use our cars 8% of the time so a car club membership is a great alternative for infrequent car users.
During the trial, the long-term prospects for a permanent car club will be assessed as well as the opportunities to install electric bike rental hubs in Lyme, neighbouring towns and villages to provide another flexible, environmentally-friendly way to enjoy our countryside and visit other places. Contact Belinda Bawden on belindabawden@gmail.com for details.
The Lyme Regis Car club will start a 6-month trial with a Co-Cars electric car as soon as the town council's electric charging points are installed. The car will be available for hire to club members for as little as £4 an hour or £29 a day (+18p per mile) and will be based in the Woodmead car park in the town centre. Research shows that most of us only use our cars 8% of the time so a car club membership is a great alternative for infrequent car users.
During the trial, the long-term prospects for a permanent car club will be assessed as well as the opportunities to install electric bike rental hubs in Lyme, neighbouring towns and villages to provide another flexible, environmentally-friendly way to enjoy our countryside and visit other places. Contact Belinda Bawden on belindabawden@gmail.com for details.
THINKING ALLOWED: Are You A Climate Warrior or A Climate Weaver? |
THINKING ALLOWED: Understanding What's Happening to our Rivers |
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Here's a thought-provoking piece for anyone interested in the different reactions that can be aroused by the climate crisis. Deep Adaptation (DA) is a movement that starts by accepting that we are already past the climate change tipping point and are bound to slip quite quickly into societal disruption and collapse. DA focuses on preparing for that collapse and adapting to the massive changes that will follow. Extinction Rebellion (XR) by contrast believes we can prevent that kind of collapse if we act urgently enough. Others believe we can make gradual changes over the next 30 years to avoid more serious change later. This is not the place to debate those alternatives. But in Are You A Climate Warrior or A Climate Weaver? Because We Need Both, Michael Kimball describes how a Twitter tiff with climate scientist Michael Mann helped him rethink climate activism. He argues that there are "two interdependent, climate crisis-spawned cultures" and, whether you're a Weaver or a Warrior, we need to collaborate for humanity's long-term survival. Read the full article
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Tony Whitehead has written a powerful piece about the situation on the Somerset Levels - but it's highly relevant elsewhere in the West Country, especially where there is intensive dairy farming in river valleys. He explains the issues and sets out what the government must do if it is serious about ‘leaving the environment in a better state’:
1) in its forthcoming review of the habitats regulations it must make them even more fit for purpose, and not attempt – as some fear – to weaken them by building in loopholes. 2) it needs to make sure its post-Brexit agriculture policy supports the farming community to do more for nature. 3) it needs to fund the Environment Agency and Natural England properly to act against those breaking the law. 4) it needs to provide stronger legislative protections and encouragements in the forthcoming Environment Bill. "If the government does not do this, there is no way it is going to turn its rhetoric on nature into reality. Thirty percent of land for nature by 2030 will remain nothing but empty words." Read the full article |
THE PURPLE STUFF
HOPE: A Wilder Dorset |
Can we ban glyphosate? |
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Reclaiming intensively farmed land near Bere Regis
Dorset Wildlife Trust has bought 170 hectares of land near Bere Regis "...to help give our fantastic wildlife the space it needs to regenerate, spread and thrive". Read more here (DWT) and here (Dorset View). DWT say, "In an effort to tackle the climate and ecological crises, this site, which is around the size of 230 football pitches, will showcase sustainable change in land use. Conservation experts will immediately begin exploring the possibility of natural recovery solutions such as rewilding and creating new wetland habitat." BCP Council have awarded over £2 million to this project because it is said to "offset" the extra nitrate and phosphate pollution of Poole Harbour produced by sewage from new housing and tourism developments. DorsetCAN Comment: Another great step towards a wilder Dorset, but we need to watch for 'offsetting' being used as a justification for actions that seriously damage the environment. |
Towns and cities including Glastonbury, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Shaftesbury and Lyme Regis have banned the use of glyphosate weedkillers in the last couple of years.
The Pesticide Action Network has a list of recent success stories here. So it can be done! Cllr Ray Bryan at Dorset Council, who's in charge of the Council's Climate & Ecological Emergency (CEE) Strategy, has publicly stated his ambition to make Dorset "the greenest county in England". But his CEE strategy includes no plan to ban glyphosate or other chemical pesticides and herbicides - only promising a ' review' of chemical use. Let's press him now to make Dorset Council the first county/unitary council in England to ban glyphosate. DorsetCAN Comment: If you're interested in starting or joining a campaign like this, get in touch with us or one of DorsetCAN Teams and let's get started. We're Stronger Together. |
Despair Ends / Tactics Begin – David Brown is on holiday in St Ives
Dave Brown, a founder member of DorsetCAN, has tips on planning a holiday in 2021 and inspiration for anyone who can no longer bear to stand idly by... He writes:
This is a crucial year for life on our planet. That’s no exaggeration; if anything it is a colossal understatement. The decisions we make as a species this decade will determine the scale of catastrophe faced by us, our youth and the next generation. We knew that before Covid-19. This year we need to resist the temptation of relapsing into the short-term thinking that the pandemic forced us from. Otherwise we are collectively doomed.
With this in mind, my wife and I wonder what on earth a holiday looks like against such a depressing backdrop. Flying for pleasure seems suicidal, ungrateful for this island’s natural beauty and as unlikely to bring pleasure as a glass of wine with an extinguished cigarette floating in it. I am 100% behind tests, quarantines and last-minute cancellations but that does not make them fun.
Two events loom large on our shared calendar: the G7 Summit and COP26. We're tired of hearing about critical events like these on the news and accepting the disappointment that nothing has changed afterwards. We want to show up, to make our interest and attention visible. To signal to friends and relatives that it has come to this, and that this is something they can do too. And that it’s fun!
The G7 summit is a no-brainer. It’s in Cornwall in the summer and neither of us has explored there much before. We both take time off work, pass a lateral flow test and set off for St Ives. We stop off on the way to break up the journey and to share our mission with the people we care about – for us this is parents, an uncle, and a school friend who I haven’t seen in 10 years. Excellent times all round. (read the rest of his account here...)
This is a crucial year for life on our planet. That’s no exaggeration; if anything it is a colossal understatement. The decisions we make as a species this decade will determine the scale of catastrophe faced by us, our youth and the next generation. We knew that before Covid-19. This year we need to resist the temptation of relapsing into the short-term thinking that the pandemic forced us from. Otherwise we are collectively doomed.
With this in mind, my wife and I wonder what on earth a holiday looks like against such a depressing backdrop. Flying for pleasure seems suicidal, ungrateful for this island’s natural beauty and as unlikely to bring pleasure as a glass of wine with an extinguished cigarette floating in it. I am 100% behind tests, quarantines and last-minute cancellations but that does not make them fun.
Two events loom large on our shared calendar: the G7 Summit and COP26. We're tired of hearing about critical events like these on the news and accepting the disappointment that nothing has changed afterwards. We want to show up, to make our interest and attention visible. To signal to friends and relatives that it has come to this, and that this is something they can do too. And that it’s fun!
The G7 summit is a no-brainer. It’s in Cornwall in the summer and neither of us has explored there much before. We both take time off work, pass a lateral flow test and set off for St Ives. We stop off on the way to break up the journey and to share our mission with the people we care about – for us this is parents, an uncle, and a school friend who I haven’t seen in 10 years. Excellent times all round. (read the rest of his account here...)
%%% FORTHCOMING EVENTS %%%
28 JUNE: VISION, MISSION, AIMS: We're meeting to discuss and agree Dorset CAN's vision, mission and aims at 7pm on Monday 28th June - If you're interested and want to be involved in these discussions, contact DorsetCAN for details
29 JUNE: West Dorset Friends of the Earth on Zoom at 7pm. Subjects to include what is happening with Plastic Free, where FoE are with COP 26, and a letter writing campaign to the Lords. Contact West Dorset FoE
4 JULY: Plastic Free Picnic 12-4 at Millennium Green, Bridport. Everyone will have the experience of buying some food, wrapping it up and bringing it without using single-use plastic. Contact West Dorset FoE
8 JULY: Land Use Team Meeting on Zoom at 7.30pm. There are two great speakers: Candida Blaker from Bridport Food Matters and Rakesh Rootsman Rak who trains in Food Forestry and runs Roots n Permaculture Zoom link
9 JULY: The Dorset CAN Summer Social. 11am - 3pm ~ Hawkers Farm, Stour Provost, SP8 5LZ. www.hawkersfarm.org/ Booking essential. All Dorset CAN members & supporters and their families are invited. Please bring your own food and drink (COVID restrictions) + optional musical instruments and games/activities. If you can, come from 10am to help set up. Please confirm you're coming by email to Rob ASAP.
13 JULY: Meeting of county-level and local organisations to discuss the campaign to get Dorset Council to amend the draft Local Plan (see article above). To take part, please contact Giles Watts at wattsgft@gmail.com.
16 JULY: Members of various campaign groups in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch will be commemorating the Second Anniversary of BCP Council's declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency - and asking "What Happened?" (contact is if you can't find local details)
21 JULY: Founder Members' Zoom Gathering. We'll update you on Dorset CAN’s achievements so far and share our big ideas for the future, present our Core Values and agree our Mission/Vision, Strategic Aims and constitution. There will be a special screening of 'Trees Are the Key'. Details here.
22 JULY: Planet Shaftesbury has a talk, Hedgehogs in Shaftesbury, by Susy Varndell of the Dorset Mammal Group. Susy is helping towns & villages become hedgehog-friendly. Find out how to make their life easier. 7.30pm. Admission free, but please register on Eventbrite to help them plan
03 AUGUST: #HOP (HELP OUR PLANET) TALK No. 3. Prof Tom Brereton on Whales and Dolphins in Lyme Bay. Talk at the Marine Theatre Lyme Regis, 7pm. More details.
18 - 26 SEPT GREAT BIG GREEN WEEK. A national week of events celebrating action on climate change. Details
23 - 26 SEPT Shaftesbury's Great Big Tree Festival
25 - 26 Sept & 2 - 3 OCT: Open Greener Homes across Dorset (see feature above)
CASE STUDY
Our 'Look and Learn' case study this month is from Bridport.
‘Seeding our Future’ tells the story of the town's inspiring efforts to start a Community Food Security Project to address our lack of food self-sufficiency, to encourage local growers, to reduce food miles, to adapt to climate change and to build community resilience. The project, started in early 2020 (alongside Covid) has already generated:
If you missed previous case studies (How to Build a Community Farm ~ Creating a Community Orchard ~ Cleaning up a river ~ Running a Tree Planting Campaign) just go to the list on our Newsletters Page
‘Seeding our Future’ tells the story of the town's inspiring efforts to start a Community Food Security Project to address our lack of food self-sufficiency, to encourage local growers, to reduce food miles, to adapt to climate change and to build community resilience. The project, started in early 2020 (alongside Covid) has already generated:
- Several well-attended events and 5 issues of an E-newsletter to over 100 subscribers.
- Wider awareness of climate change threats among local organisations and individuals.
- Ideas for a local ‘food hub’ with information resources and education as entertainment, including cookery classes.
- Ambassador Allotments set up: people using and trialling climate-adaptive methods and crops, and willing to share their experience.
- A regular surplus food stall, which began with an allotment ‘glut’ stall last summer.
- Our website, with info, contacts and resources, helped by a grant from the Town Council.
- Encourage home growing with open allotment/ veg garden events.
- Implement the ‘Food Hub’ concept.
- Increase local fruit and veg production.
If you missed previous case studies (How to Build a Community Farm ~ Creating a Community Orchard ~ Cleaning up a river ~ Running a Tree Planting Campaign) just go to the list on our Newsletters Page