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SEEN
Somerset Environmental
and Ecological News
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Welcome to our September issue. We start with our reaction to the recent government announcement to delay some of the UK’s net-zero policies - our new Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change Dixie Darch has written to the Net Zero Minister.
Dixie has taken over from Sarah Dyke who is now MP for Somerton and Frome. We thank Sarah for all she has done to champion green initiatives across Somerset and give a big welcome Dixie who is already fully immersed in driving the council's green priorities for a greener more sustainable Somerset.
We’ll also be binging you up to date with community news and Somerset Council green projects as well as tips for an eco Halloween and telling you about some great new events and grants and funding opportunities.
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Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Climate and Environment has voiced her frustration at recent national policy changes which she fears could “seriously jeopardise Somerset’s and the UK’s ability to reach Net Zero.”
Cllr Darch, today advised Full Council that the letter had been sent. In it she said Somerset was at the “sharp end” of the effects of climate change and urged a rethink to the changes which included a delay to the ban of new non-electric vehicles and a removal of the need for landlords to make properties energy efficient.
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This month, we're delighted to welcome Craig Daters to the Climate Team to take on the new role of Community Empowerment Officer. Craig’s role will initially involve developing plans to enable Somerset communities and landowners to become an active and self-sufficient part of the Somerset Tree Strategy.
Craig began his career with the RSPB working on reserves across southern England and undertaking species and habitat surveys in Scotland. He then moved to Hants & IOW Wildlife Trust to develop youth engagement projects and opportunities, followed by leading teams at New Forest National Park and South Downs National Park, which focussed on stakeholder engagement around positive land management.
On joining the team Craig said:
“I am particularly excited about developing an online ‘Somerset-centric’ information platform for communities and landowners, to share advice, funding opportunities, and real stories to inspire, enable, and facilitate tree planting. The aim is to enhance the levels of engagement and enjoyment of tree planting and woodland management across our varied communities and landscapes and grow Somerset’s tree canopy cover with the right trees in the right places.”
Last month James Chapman our Tree Project Officer, told us which late summer tree seeds we should gather for germination next spring, and as we move into October he’s encouraging us to gather acorns from our two native oak trees.
After two poor seasons, 2023 is a mast year for the oak tree, and the current conditions are perfect. A mast year is often followed by poor seasons for acorns, so we need to seize the opportunity.
Ripe acorns can be gathered and sown immediately in seed trays or small pots and left outside in a sheltered spot. Larger acorns have better food reserves so tend to grow into stronger saplings. Cover with a sand/compost mix. Make sure the seeds are not green and also that they don’t have holes in them.
A good way of testing viability is to put them in a bucket of water. If they float they are not viable. They must not be allowed to dry and need to be protected from mice and squirrels. Some will germinate next spring, but others need to be left for two years – be patient and remember that your little seedling could live for 1000 years!
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 The Mendip Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Service is proud that its project to build new homes for adders won the Bowland Award at the National AONB Conference.
Adders are Britain's only venomous snake and are considered a 'threatened' species, which is one of the reasons the Mendip Hills AONB Service has chosen it as one of the 'champion species' to focus their conservation work on. The hibernaculum project was funded through a grant from Natural England's Species Recovery Fund.
The coveted Bowland Award, which recognises outstanding contributions to the work of AONBs is voted on by all 34 AONBs and presented at the annual conference. The conference this year was in Bath and included a field trip to see one of the adder hibernacula.
For further information, download the Hibernaculum Design Guide 2023 and visit the Mendip ANOB website.
This summer saw Somerset’s largest Big Bat Count to date in Frome. Frome Town Council, the Wild Bunch and over 50 local volunteers took part in the community event and recorded a whopping 169 bats - the most bats recorded in a night for a Somerset Bat Group!
Using equipment provided by Somerset Bat Group, who assisted the group with using the recording devices, the bat spotters headed out to various locations around town. As in the Big Bat Count that took place in May, Soprano and Common Pipistrelle were again the most commonly recorded species. However, this time saw nearly as many of the Noctule species along with a good number of Serotine, another larger bat species.
There may also have been an unrecorded flyby of a Greater Horseshoe bat as well as several recordings of the rarer species which will be confirmed following analysis later this year. To take a look at the full results, head to iNaturalist, the Community Wildlife Mapping Platform.
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 The Langport Transport Group was formed by the local community with expertise in transport and environmental solutions, to campaign for a new railway station for Langport and Somerton.
A new railway station in the Langport-Somerton area of Somerset offers an opportunity to restore lost connectivity to the rail network for the clusters of population in a wide area of South Somerset, which will help to reduce local air pollution and traffic congestion.
St George's Wilton Community Fridge has now opened! Set up with support from the charity Hubbub UK, it has since received sponsorship from Taunton Town Council in a growing effort to tackle food waste.
Located at St George’s Wilton Church Hall, the fridge will be open every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9.30am to 5pm for residents, allotment owners and businesses to share surplus food.
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 Reimagining the Levels is a Community Benefit Society formed just after the devastating floods on the Somerset Levels of 2013/14. Partnering with Somerset Rivers Authority, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group SW, Woodland Trust, and the Green Scythe Fair, its aim is to ensure support for planting the right trees in the right place.
To date they have enabled over 85,000 mostly native trees and shrubs to be added to the Somerset landscape along with approximately four miles of hedgerows.
As the 2023/24 tree planting season approaches, they are keen to hear from community groups and individuals with land to plant.
Parish Councils may have pockets of land that could be enhanced; schools might need a hedgerow or copse planted or renovated. If you are a landowner with a plot of land, you might have a corner or a larger area which you have been thinking of planting. They would love to hear from you and can discuss how we can make it happen.
Working with Somerset Council and the Angling Trust, Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset have installed a fishing recycling bin located at the West Pier in Watchet. As part of the Anglers National Recycling Scheme, the aim is to keep discarded fishing line and fishing debris off our beach so it does not harm wildlife and visitors.
To learn more or to get involved, visit litterfreecoastandsea.co.uk/somerset.
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Every piece of plastic we've collected from households and via the recycling sites last year was sent to UK re-processors.
The 6,500 tonnes of plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and trays all went to UK companies to be turned into new products and packaging – everything from plastic wrapping and compost bins to fleece jackets.
The figure is up from 99.4% the previous year and features in our annual Recycling Tracker. The tracker shows what happens to every tonne of household waste - where it goes, the companies involved and the likely use.
Other headlines from this year’s tracker include Somerset’s highest ever recycling rate and a near halving of waste going to landfill.
The popular thermal imaging camera loan scheme is being relaunched across Somerset Libraries from the 2 October as part of the 'Go Green at Your Library' initiative.
This winter, our libraries will be offering thermal imaging camera attachments for smart phones and tablets for loan. Initially launched last winter in the South Somerset area, the loan of thermal imaging cameras enables homeowners to take special infrared photos of their homes that highlighted areas of excessive heat loss, which could be improved through draft proofing and insulation and other ways through retrofit support at Retrofit Somerset.
Contact your local library for details on how to borrow the thermal camera attachments for smart phones.
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The medieval village of Dunster has become the latest location to benefit from our rollout of electric vehicle charging points.
The fast charge point located in Dunster Steep car park is the latest of 305 publicly accessible charge points in Somerset, a figure that has increased 40.5% from 217 in June 2022.
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Plans for a refurbished and greener Wellington Sports Centre have cleared an important hurdle.
The proposals include a suite of ‘decarbonisation’ improvements funded by a government grant as well as maintenance works needed to keep the building fit for purpose.
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Work to expand Yeovil's cycling network continues as a new cycling route along Yeovil’s Lyde Road is being delivered by our Highways team.
The first stage in creating a dedicated cycling route along the road as part of a growing cycling network in the town commenced this week and will take about five weeks to complete.
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As part of our bus service improvement plan for the county, we've stepped in to support four bus services with low passenger numbers to ensure they can continue normally until the end of March.
The services all require additional financial support which we can provide temporarily thanks to the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus funding (BSIP Plus) and to make the routes sustainable for the long-term, we're asking more people to Bus It.
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Somerset’s Tree strategy was formally launched to community groups at Monk’s Yard last month with the introduction of two new staff who will drive the ambitious plan forward.
James Chapman and Craig Daters were introduced to nearly 100 representatives from community groups and other interested parties at a launch event last week.
Attendees at the launch event near Ilminster, included community groups and partners, who came together to discuss planning for increasing Somerset’s woodland coverage.
As one of our priorities to create a greener, more sustainable Somerset, the strategy recognises our role in helping tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
If you have areas of land suitable for tree planting, or a tree nursery, or would like sign up to support your local community group you can email us at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk
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The rangers at Ham Hill Country Park have recorded 89 slow worms over the past four weeks, since installing a reptile fence to protect them from straying in to the new development area. These have been safely moved to other areas of the park.
Underneath the mats revealed a mixture of females, males and juveniles which suggests a healthy mixed population. The team will continue to survey them over the next few weeks before the temperature cools and the slowworms start to hibernate for winter.
The picture shows a feisty female who did not want her photo taken according to our Head ranger Paul McNeill!
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Click the events calendar below to find out about the brilliant eco events happening across Somerset; from Sustainable Fashion events in Frome, to an open day at Tinkers Bubble to learn about how they live off grid.
Please also let us know about your eco events at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk so we can share in SEEN.
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Are you free for a few hours to help at these events?
Donating a few hours of your time to help as an event marshal or collector, will result in substantial donations to support the work of the Somerset Wildlife Trust to protect and restore wildlife and wild places here in Somerset.
This is a really fun, one-off, volunteering role, though many volunteers come back time and time again.
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Event
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Day/Date
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Taunton Carnival
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Saturday 21 October
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Wells Carnival
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Friday 17 November
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Glastonbury Carnival
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Saturday 18 November
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Nunney Street Fayre
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Summer 2024
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Gain your wings with Butterfly Conservation!
Closing date: 17 November 2023
Hours: Flexible. Transect walk up to 2 hours + travel time
Butterfly Conservation are looking for volunteers to walk a regular route on a nominated site across Exmoor once a week counting butterflies. This is an ideal opportunity to contribute to a major national recording scheme. Enthusiasm for butterflies and willingness to develop identification skills if you don't already have them.
Visit Exmoor National Park's Butterfly Transect Walker vacancy page for further details and to download the role description.
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Are you looking to make your woodland resilient to climate change?
Take a look at Forest Research’s new Climate Change Hub – a comprehensive online resource that centralises and distils climate change adaptation advice for forest and woodland owners and managers in the UK.
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 Visit our Grants and funding page to see what see what opportunities are available for your community environmental project.
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Britain’s Ancient Forest: Legacy and Lore, presents an alternative scenario to the commonly held view that Britain was blanketed in dense woodland.
Instead, it presents Britain as a patchwork mosaic not only of thick woods, but of open grazed wood-pasture, grass, heath, marsh and plain.
Julian Hight is a Somerset author and a highly regarded specialist on the subject of trees. He travels widely, camera in hand, to document historic ancient trees and present regular talks, including an appearance as a judge on Channel 4’s Tree of the Year.
Chair of Wessex Ancient Tree Forum and verifier for the Ancient Tree Inventory, Julian launched Reviving Selwood Forest (covering Frome, Bruton to Warminster) and campaigns for ancient trees and woodland.
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 Watch an interactive 360° video tour of the beaver enclosure at the National Trust Holnicote Estate in Somerset. As you explore this wetland habitat, you'll see the beavers getting on with their daily lives and learn more about how they are transforming the landscape.
In January 2020, the adult pair of Eurasian beavers (Yogi and Grills) were released at the Holnicote Estate in Somerset to improve flood management and support the health of rivers and streams. They are helping to restore biodiversity loss, slow the flow of water and manage the effects of climate change.
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Café culture is almost as popular in the UK as it is in France, and we all use disposable cups without much thought.
In the UK we use 7 million disposable cups on a daily basis, and it is estimated that 500,000 of those are dropped on the floor. Every year that amounts to 2.5 billion cups.
You can do your part to help stop disposal cups polluting the environment by using a reusable alternative on 4 October 2023. Once you see how easy it is to stop using disposable cups for one day, you can consider stopping for good.
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Have a green Halloween
According to a Hubbub study, 83% of Halloween costumes are made using non-recyclable oil-based plastics; meaning they’re set for landfill. So, for just one day close to 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated – the equivalent of 83 million plastic bottles. Yikes!
There is a better way to have an eerie-sistible time without buying off-shelf and scaring our environment. With the half-term school holiday before the big day, it’s a great opportunity to get creative.
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 This is your newsletter, and we want to hear about the great environmental work happening where you live, or what you do to make a difference every day with your brilliant eco hacks and tips.
You can make suggestions about what you would like to see more of in future editions of SEEN and have your say on previous stories and topics.
We would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at climateemergency@somerset.gov.uk.
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