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Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. This is a place for us to update you on what we are doing at South Hams District Council and what things are going on around the District.
It will tell you what's going on nationally and things you, our residents and businesses can be doing to reduce your carbon footprint and manage your land to improve the environment and its biodiversity.
If you have anything you would like to include in this newsletter, contact our Climate Change Specialist by email here
Council Updates
Funding agreed to decarbonise Follaton House
On 19 September, the Council's Executive Committee agreed a package of funding to help to decarbonise the main offices of South Hams District Council.
£150,000 will be made available to increase the solar PV capacity at Follaton House. This will reduce electricity consumption of up to 64,000 kWh/year (a 20% reduction) and save 10 tCO2e per year.
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Carbon Footprint Study for Salcombe Harbour
We have been working with The Carbon Trust to create a ‘toolkit’ that will enable us to measure the carbon footprint for all boat users in Salcombe Harbour.
This includes recreational boat residents and visitors, as well as our own Council fleet, and commercial boat users engaged in fishing, ferry transport and boat hire.
This work will allow us to measure the impact of our clean marine activities a regular basis. It will also help to identify ‘carbon hotspots’ within Salcombe Harbour, so that we can focus our support more effectively on how best to achieve carbon emission savings.
In 2023/24, total emissions for Salcombe Harbour boat users were estimated to be almost 215,000 kgCO2e.
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Electric propulsion survey
As part of our marine decarbonisation work, this summer we have been speaking to the South Hams marine community about electric propulsion.
We have partnered with RYA Green Blue and Round Britain eRIB Challenge on an Electric Propulsion Survey.
The survey was developed to help us understand more about existing recreational boating fuel use and requirements, as well as find out about boat users’ attitudes to electric propulsion as an alternative to conventional petrol and diesel engines.
The results from the survey will help us to focus on potential solutions that can help us support our own South Hams recreational boating community in their transition to clean marine propulsion.
There is still time to have your say through our joint survey, which closes on 30 October - click here to have your say.
Funded by the Department for Education (DfE), the Climate Ambassadors scheme helps education institutions in the UK take action to become more environmentally sustainable and climate resilient – and to better prepare young people to live in a world with a changing climate.
The scheme provides free expertise and support to nurseries, schools and colleges to develop and deliver impactful climate action plans.
The scheme is recruiting volunteers to put their sustainability expertise to work. All volunteers will receive training on climate action plans and advice on applying their knowledge and skills in an education setting.
Click here to find out more.
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Seaquest - Various Saturdays and Sundays between October and March at Wembury
Devon Wildlife Trust's Marine Engagement Team are kicking off monthly sea watches at Wembury Point. Join them on a Saturday or Sunday each month through to March 2025, to learn all about Devon's marine megafauna and search the seas from Wembury Point.
The team will be joined by enthusiastic local volunteers and sea watch expert Paul Burley, who will show participants how to search for cetaceans and sea birds from the land, as well as teaching about their behaviour and fascinating lives at sea.
Those taking part will be collecting vital data during the sessions, aligning with Seaquest Southwest, a citizen science project run by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
The project aims to engage people with the marine environment, to collect data on marine wildlife; and to better understand and conserve marine wildlife.
This event is free of charge, although donations to Devon Wildlife Trust are gratefully accepted.
Select dates from the list below for full details on Eventbrite and to register attendance. Events are weather dependent so please check your emails close to the day in case of cancellation.
Parking spaces are very limited at Wembury Point National Trust car park. You can reach Wembury Point via a 30 minute walk along the South West Coast Path from Wembury Beach National Trust car park (Church Road, PL9 0HP).
Contact Coral Smith for any queries (email: info@wemburymarinecentre.org / call 01752 862538).
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Net Zero and Climate Change: Getting Started as Individuals and Enterprises
Various dates - Online
Net zero, carbon footprint, greenhouse gases, scope 3 emissions.
Gain the knowledge and confidence to navigate these concepts and find out how you can take positive climate action in a three-hour online workshop offered by the University of Plymouth.
Net Zero and Climate Change: Getting Started as Individuals and Enterprises guides you through why our climate is changing, what that means for us and our planet, and how we can combat it as individuals and enterprises.
No prior knowledge is required, so whether you are a student, professional, policymaker, or simply someone who wants to find out more about why we need to reach net zero carbon emissions, you can register for free.
Click here to find out more and register.
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Panel discussion: 'Operationalising climate policy for global net zero emissions'
89% of the world’s population live in a country with a national net zero target, but these targets need to be implemented effectively in policy and regulation if the goals of the Paris Agreement are to be achieved.
Too often, this is still not happening.
One important gap in climate policy is that it often focuses on domestic emission reductions, but does not prevent states from contributing substantially to emissions outside of their borders, for instance by remaining a major fossil fuel exporter.
This event will interrogate the consequences of climate policies that fail to look beyond national borders, and discuss best practice from around the world for curbing emissions at home as well as abroad.
Professor Wetzer will introduce the work of the recently established Oxford Martin Programme on Net Zero Regulation and Policy, and explain what the Programme aims to achieve.
Panel:
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Professor Thom Wetzer, Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Net Zero Regulation & Policy (Chair)
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Professor David Karoly, Visiting Fellow, Oxford Martin Programme on Net Zero Regulation & Policy
- More to follow
Click here to find out more and register.
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Agroforestry Research and the REFOREST Project - 28 October, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Join Tom Staton of Reading University and Will Simonson of the Organic Research Centre for a review of the latest findings from the REFOREST project, a four-year European-wide project looking at interventions to improve the uptake of agroforestry on farms.
We'll hear about agroforestry's potential contribution to net zero, its knowledge infrastructure and how it has evolved over recent decades.
Tom and Will will also describe the ReForest UK living lab, including the application of the FarmTree tool to model agroforestry performance, and assessments of the sustainability of agroforestry using the Public Goods Tool.
This event is made possible thanks to the UKRI Agri-food for Net Zero Network+
Click here to register.
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Herbal Ley Webinar - 4 November 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Join the Soil Association and Pasture for Life for a webinar on herbal leys, featuring expert guest speakers Siobhan Griffin from Next Level Grazing, and Sam Lane from Cotswolds Seeds.
Siobhan and Sam will take us through how to select the correct mix for your context, proper establishment, and crucially, ongoing grazing management to maximise the positive outcomes herbal leys can deliver. This webinar is particularly focused at both arable and dairy farmers who are interested in using herbal leys as part of their rotation or across the grazing rotation on their platform, and for those looking to integrate livestock into an arable system.
Siobhain Griffin is a dairy farmer and coach with 30 years of experience farming, with more than 14 years in regenerative systems. Next Level Grazing offers guidance and support to help farmers create a more productive and drought resistant farm so they can keep farming for generations to come.
Sam Lane is Director of Seeds and Technical at Cotswolds Seeds.
This event is made possible thanks to the UKRI Agri-food for Net Zero Network+.
Click here to register.
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The National Garden Scheme (NGS) provides small grants to help community gardening projects.
Community groups, registered charities and Community Interest Companies (CICs) can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 for gardening projects in their community. Projects should use sustainable gardening methods and have short- and long-term benefits for the community.
The funding can be used towards plants, containers, landscaping materials, polytunnels, sheds, seating, tools and materials for providing refreshments.
Please note that funding is not available through this scheme for schools or local authorities (including parish councils).
Click here to find out more and apply.
The Nineveh Charitable Trust supports a broad range of UK-based projects and activities, with an emphasis on promoting better understanding of the environment and countryside.
The trust also has an interest in encouraging schools’ interactions with the countryside and farming as a part of their STEM curriculum.
Grants are available to registered charities and Community Interest Companies but other organisations, including schools, can also be funded if there are clear outcomes, in line with the aims of the Trust which are to promote:
- The health, welfare and education of the general public
- The study and appreciation of agriculture, silviculture, ecology and land management
- The study and appreciation of land and estate management that encourages conservation of the countryside.
Most grants are in the range of £2,000 to £5,000. Click here to find out more and apply.
According to Butterfly Conservation, we've seen butterfly numbers fall across the UK in 2024.
80% of butterflies have declined since the 1970s and a third of moth numbers have fallen in that same period.
Butterfly Conservation's annual Big Butterfly Count has been going since 2010.
The event asks people in the UK to tally the number of butterflies and day moths they see over a period between July and August, a time where butterfly activity and abundance peaks.
More than 140,000 counts were recorded in 2024. 9,000 of those counts recorded no butterflies at all.
You can watch a short video from Butterfly Conservation here.
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In 2021, the IPCC concluded with high confidence that global mean sea level is rising at rates unprecedented in at least the last 3,000 years due to human-induced global warming.
In August 2024, the IPCC published a technical brief on the subject which provides a summary of the latest science on sea-level rise and its present-day and projected impacts — including coastal flooding — at a global and regional level, with a focus on major coastal cities in the Group of Twenty (G20) countries and the Pacific Small Island Developing States.
The findings demonstrate that sea-level rise is affecting the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities and low-lying island nations around the world today, and it is accelerating.
The climate actions and decisions taken by political leaders and policymakers in the coming months and years will determine how devastating these impacts become and how quickly they worsen.
Click here to read the report.
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