What’s on? Upcoming events
Meeting & walkabout
Sunday 17 March, 11.30am, Trethewey Farm, St Martin TR12 6EG
How to make the most of a wildlife friendly space, big or small? For anyone interested in joining a small group in Wildlife Groundswell to develop wildlife friendly management of whatever land we have. There will be tea, coffee, biscuits and a bowl of soup for a snack lunch. If anyone wants to bring something to eat to share, that would be great.
At this first meeting, we’ll have a look at Caroline’s ventures in stimulating wildlife – bat boxes, bird boxes, a bug hotel, tree planting (including a small area of wood pasture and the beginnings of a food forest), a bit of mob grazing, wildflower patches, a tree hive for bees, mixed hedge planting and a herbal ley.
We’ll also discuss plans for the group – including having people to talk about different ways of helping the land, applying for grants for wildflower meadow development, and any other ideas.
Please let us know if you can make it. Reply to kie-rich@hotmail.co.uk and abelju@yahoo.co.uk so that we can get a rough idea of numbers.
Autumn conference committee meeting
Thursday 4 April, 7pm Wagon Barn, Rosuick Farm TR12 6DZ
Anyone interested in helping with the success of this year’s Wildlife Groundswell conference please come. We’ll be updating progress on plans for speakers, workshops and fringe events, and looking at what else needs doing to make our fourth conference the best yet!
National Meadows Day Safari
Saturday 6 July, multiple locations TBC
Save the date – and read our blog from last year’s event to find out more about what to expect. If anyone has a meadow they would be pleased to show a group to mark this day, please write to wildlifegroundswell@gmail.com.
Wildlife Groundswell autumn conference
Save the date! Line-up to be announced soon, but we’re delighted to share that Patrick Holden, director of the Sustainable Food Alliance, will be one of our speakers.
Ongoing Wildlife Groundswell projects
Anyone interested in joining in with any of these projects please get in touch:
Swift, Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin Group
We’ve made over 100 swift boxes, thanks to our wonderful volunteers and sponsorship from the Cornwall National Landscape’s Monumental Improvement Project. Now we need to place them before the swifts arrive in late April and May.
Please join us if you would like to help us to do this. We’ll be targeting places where there are swift colonies already, with the idea of augmenting the number of nests.
Bat group
We have planned some bat walks and talks, specific dates to be confirmed. Read about our last bat walk (part of last year’s Air & Fire conference fringe events week) over on our blog.
Any Size Landowners Group
See above for our first meeting on Sunday 17 March at Trethewey Farm.
Streams and River Testing Group
If you’d like to join the small army of volunteers testing the health of our streams monthly as part of the Westcountry Rivers Trust Citizen Science Investigation, we’d be delighted!
Community events
Fal and Helford Charter of the Sea, Community Workshop
Thursday 7 March 5.30-8pm, Falmouth Maritime Museum
How can YOU contribute to the Fal and Helford’s local marine conservation effort? What is already happening and how can we do more? The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Marine and Coastal Partnership are running a free community focussed workshop to help us create a Fal and Helford Charter of the Sea. Whether you work in the sector or are a passionate resident, everyone is welcome.
Agroforestry: Farming with Trees in Cornwall
Thursday 14 March, 10am – 3pm, Rosuick Farm St Martin TR12 6DZ
Are you interested in farming with trees or already planning a project? Come and hear how we can support you and get inspirational advice and experience from the national agroforestry leads for the Forestry Commission and Natural England, as well as talks from local farm agroforestry projects who will share their experiences and learning. There will also be a focus on funding, including current and future funding. This will be followed by a guided walk around the latest planting for agroforestry at Rosuick Farm.
Seeding Change Together: Restoring Cornwall’s seagrass meadows
Talk by Sophie Pipe Cornwall Wildlife Trust at Helford Voluntary Marine Conservative Group (following AGM)
Saturday 16 March, 12 – 3pm
The Helford had intertidal seagrass until it disappeared in the 1990s – would you like to see it restored? Seeding Change Together is a 3-year funded project funded by Seasalt Clothing, to conduct small-scale seagrass restoration trials on intertidal Zostera noltii to assess and identify viable low cost restoration methods. The long term objective is to identify an effective low cost, replicable restoration method that can be used to scale up intertidal noltii restoration over time using local marine groups to restore historical beds around Cornwall.
Pasties and other refreshments provided. Tickets £10 single, £15 family – to include membership and pasty. Under 18s free. Book your pasty stating preference for steak, vegetarian or vegan:
Nature and Climate Hustings, St Ives Constituency
Friday 22 March, 6 – 8pm, Helston Community College
The upcoming general election will be the most important election of our lifetimes in terms of the nature and climate emergencies. With local, national and international targets focused on restoring nature by 2030, the next government will be in power for most of that time. This is the moment to show how much we care about the environment.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust has arranged county-wide hustings for all political party candidates. Parliamentary candidates will address nature and climate issues at this event – and you’ll have the chance to put questions to them.
Cornwall Butterfly Conservation Field Trips 2024
- Saturday 8 June, 11am, Goonhilly Downs National Nature Reserve, Dry Tree car park
- Thursday 22 August (8pm) / Friday 23 August (9am) Windmill Farm Nature Reserve Moth Event
These field trips are fun and friendly and open to all – including accompanied children – whatever level of experience you have and whether or not you’re a member of Cornwall Butterfly Conservation. There are a good selection of these including the above two on the Lizard. Contact Sue Allen on 0788 4974528.
Reading and Listening list
Fire Weather by John Vaillant
This is a fascinating read – click the link to find out more below. You can also listen to the serial audio on BBC Radio 4 BBC Sounds.
God is an Octopus by Ben Goldsmith
Exploring love, immense loss and the quest for solace, Ben Goldsmith’s deeply moving memoir about coming to terms with the sudden and tragic death of his 15-year-old daughter is a resounding tribute to the healing power of nature.
Podcast – Rewilding the World with Ben Goldsmith
Next edition: April 2024. Any blogs, photos, articles and book recommendations most welcome – please email us by 3 April
| Copyright © 2024 Wildlife Groundswell, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website or have been to one of our events. Our mailing address is: Wildlife Groundswell, Roaring Stile, St. Keverne, Helston, Cornwall, TR12 6RQ United Kingdom |