We couldn’t send out this month’s edition without mentioning the devastating heat waves currently being experienced across Europe and other parts of the world. Last month was the hottest June on record and multiple countries are experiencing record-breaking temperatures over 40^oC. We are seeing more wildfires across the continent which will become more commonplace as our climate changes. Just more evidence of the climate emergency and the urgent action needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to the increasing heat and its associated risks to homes, buildings, infrastructure and all life.

August is almost upon us, and from the 7 August we are marking National Allotments Week to champion the benefits of growing your own food, the health and wellbeing improvements and most of all how they help our environment by reducing food miles and waste and how they create habitats for wildlife to name just a few. 

Best eco wishes.

The Climate Team

Ragwort is often regarded as a menace but is one of the UK’s most ecologically valuable wildflowers. It supports a wide range of wildlife, including the declining cinnabar moth population, and its flower is one of the finest nectar sources for many other insects.

Ragwort has been persecuted for its assumed link to horse deaths through its low toxicity levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can cause liver damage. This is also present in Comfrey and Butterbur.  However, it is not an accumulative poison, and it would take consumption of around 5-25% of the animal’s body weight to cause death. Due to its bitter taste animals avoid eating live plants, so the removal of live ragwort is unnecessary unless its present in grasses being cut for horse hay to be eaten dry in the winter months. We are losing a significant amount of our insects though poison and loss of their habitat and food, which is then affecting the rest of the ecosystem from pollinating plants to birds, so we must change the way we view Ragwort and only remove when it could be consumed by horses in a dried form.

A big well done to the students at Queens College Taunton Prep School Eco Club who won the regional round of the Rotary Young Environmentalist Competition 2023 and have gone on to come second place in the National competition.

The 5 and 6 year students winning project showcased their years of work promoting biodiversity and supporting their local environment. The school also received £200 towards future environmental projects. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Exmoor National Park (ENP) wants to conserve what is special about Exmoor, help visitors have the best experience and support the people who live and work there.  ENP would like to hear from residents and visitors for their thoughts on what they consider are key issues, is most important to them and what they think the National Park Authority and its partners should focus on over the next five years.

Glastonbury Town Council is expected to have cut its carbon footprint by nearly 40% in two years, saving over £4,000 per year in running costs. Over the past two years, they have been working to meet their commitment to have carbon neutral operations by 2030. Three actions have had a significant effect already, and by the end of 2023 their carbon footprint is expected to have dropped by 39%. These are:

• Switching to a renewable energy supplier has reduced their electricity carbon emissions by 100%
• Replacing an old diesel van with a second-hand electric van has reduced their vehicle emissions by 49%
• Replacing the old gas boiler with an energy efficient model reduced heating emissions by 36%

If you want to know more and find out about their next steps to reduce their carbon footprint visit the Glastonbury Town Council Website.

We're delighted to share that Monkton Heathfield's Community Fridge is one year old. Over 500 hours of volunteering has supported the community fridge scheme, saving over 15,000kg of food from going to waste - that's the equivalent weight of 5 African Elephants. Thank you to all the volunteers who help keep this project running as well as Co-Op at Monkton Heathfield, Priorswood and Cheddon; Aldi; Monkton Elm Garden Centre and the stores donating food via the Fairshare scheme.

Check out the HUBBUB website to find a community fridge near you.

Working with Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset, Dunster Beach Holidays have installed a fishing line recycling bin in their main car park.

As part of the Anglers National Recycling Scheme, the aim is to keep discarded fishing line and fishing debris off the beach which would otherwise harm the wonderful wildlife and visitors.

In December 2022, the former Mendip District Council enabled a pilot scheme that offered up areas of land to local environmental groups to increase the benefits of nature.

One of these was a piece of land along Tor Hill Lane, Wells, which is now managed by the group Sustainable Wells.  This space is now reaping rewards and becoming a haven for wildlife and a place for local people to get closer to nature. A recent survey by our biodiversity officer Barbra revealed a wonderful selection of plants along the lane as well as interesting insects, birds, and butterflies, including black oil beetles, a creature named as a target species by the Mendip Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

Somerset Council is welcoming a new Assistant Countryside Ranger at Ham Hill Country Park.

The post is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Geoff Rowland will help deliver a wide range of improvements and activities.

The appointment will help deliver the £1.6m ‘Uncovering Ham Hill’s Past for its Future’ project which will preserve the heritage-rich landscape, conserve habitats and species and include the realisation of a brand-new purpose-built visitor centre, an exciting four-year activity plan of public events, community group workshops and school visits.

He will join site rangers, Paul McNeill, and James Boyland for a three-year contract. His main role will be to deliver the landscape and habitat management works, although his deep understanding of the geology of the site means he is able to help tell the story of Ham Hill’s geological importance. You can read more about this on the council newsroom web pages.

Somerset Council is working with the Centre for Sustainable Energy in a new multi-partnership research project, which will investigate how to improve the uptake and performance of low-carbon technologies (LCT) in the homes of vulnerable and low-income customers on the electricity network in the south of England.

You can find out more about the Guidelight project at the Centre for Sustainable Energy website 

We've updated our Electric Vehicle Infrastructure webpage. To find an electric vehicle charging station or charging point near you, or learn about future funding to support more to being installed, head over to our new page.

Congratulations to the Somerset parks who have received the Keep Britain Tidy Green Flag award.

This award is a sign to the public that the green space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained, and has excellent visitor facilities.  

The parks and greenspaces awarded Green Flag status are:

Ham Hill Country Park near Yeovil, Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve

Yeovil Country Park, Apex Park and Marine Cove in Burnham on Sea, Swains Lane Nature Reserve near Wellington, Wellington Park, Vivary Park in Taunton and Blenheim Gardens in Minehead. 

Both Ham Hill Country Park and Wellington Park also keep their Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England, for the management of their historic features. Ham Hill is an ancient Iron Age hillfort and Wellington Park is a grade II listed former Edwardian Park established in 1927.

Congratulations also go to Somerset Council’s grounds management team, who look after Victoria Park, French Weir, and Comeytrowe Park for Taunton Town Council, who also receive Green Flag Awards.

Big thanks go out to staff, volunteers and friends’ groups who all do so much to keep the parks tip top.

At this time of year Ash Dieback is becoming more apparent as leaves start to dye back early due to the affects of the disease. Now is a good time to start looking for this fungal disease that is a serious threat to the common ash tree. If you are a homeowner or landowner and have Ash trees on your land, this  Tree Council Guide will help you spot the signs of ash dieback and what to do about it, the impacts of ash dieback, learn to spot what ash-die back looks like and understand your responsibilities and management options as removal is not necessarily compulsory.

One of the most important things we can all do is talk about climate change in our daily lives – climate conversations play a huge role in creating social change.

We are all influenced by the conversations we have with our friends and family, and talking about climate change plays a crucial part in making change happen in way we make choices about our lifestyle behaviours.

Lifestyle changes

The way we travel, the food we eat and the way we use energy at home are some of the everyday behaviours critical to reducing our carbon emissions. To date these behaviours have proven to be resistant to change. Engaging with the world around us and talking about climate change with our family and peers can influence how we make those changes to live kinder lives that have a lesser impact on our world.

For more information around how to mainstream low-carbon lifestyles and how to have meaningful climate conversations with your peers - a key part of social change, you can read a summary of key insights from work undertaken on lifestyle changes by Climate Outreach.

The Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) are looking for volunteers to help monitor Honeygar in the heart of the Avalon Marshes. Rangers will help evidence change and nature’s recovery at Honeygar by extensively monitoring the site for a wide range of species and environmental variables, supporting SWT staff and their specialist recorder groups. Most of the training for this role will be provided by specialist group members.

Marginal improvements to agricultural soils around the world would store enough carbon to keep the world within 1.5C of global heating, new research suggests. Farming techniques that improve long-term fertility and yields can also help to store more carbon in soils but are often ignored in favour of intensive techniques using large amounts of artificial fertiliser, much of it wasted, that can increase greenhouse gas emissions.

The Book of Wilding is a handbook on how we can all help restore nature. It is ambitious, visionary, and pragmatic. The book has grown out of Isabella and Charlie's mission to help rewild Britain, Europe, and the rest of the world by sharing knowledge from their pioneering project at Knepp in Sussex. It is inspired by the requests they receive from people wanting to learn how to rewild everything from unprofitable farms, landed estates and rivers, to ponds, allotments, churchyards, urban parks, gardens, window boxes and public spaces.

Have you signed up to Sorted!? It’s the go-to monthly e-newsletter that keeps you up to date on the latest Somerset Waste news, along with great advice on how we can all waste less and live better. You can read the latest issue here and sign up.  Sorted newsletter - July 2023 (govdelivery.com)

Cycling is good for our health and wellbeing but while it’s giving us a boost it’s also helping the environment.

According to research an average person who changes to using a bike as their ‘main method of travel’ reduced their emissions by 7.1kg CO2/day than mainly using a car or van.

Switching to a cycle for shorter journeys saves an average of 3.2kg CO2/day and could do us all the world of good.

If you don’t already, why not give it a try? Cycling UK have some great tips on making it a smooth ride

Need a bike? The UK Government Bike2Work scheme allows employees to access a salary sacrifice scheme to buy a bike or e-bike.

If you're in the Frome area why not check out the Frome Community Bike Project, a new bike recycling centre and community cycle hub for Frome making cycling more accessible to all. They are offering free events over the summer thanks to the National Lottery Together Fund. Events include free bike checks, bike maintenance classes, cycle training and group rides.