somethingswearegettingright#3
Dr. Pete Jeffs ??
Helping horses & humans holistically / The Healing Circle / Wilding for Horses - Rewilding Britain Network / Western European Atlantic Coastal BioRegion / Holistic biology educator / Children's author.
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WELCOME to Number #3 somthingswearegettingright
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Welcome to our?third newsletter?somthingswearegettingright – offering a brief digest of?7 inspirational posts from this week's environmental news. So much that is positive that is taking place so – some things we are (clearly) getting right!
In this week's edition:
What we are doing needs to be celebrated. We need to remember all the hundreds of projects and successes, large and small. It may be wilding a hedge, or planting a pond. It might be a more ambitious re-introduction of species like the Bison (see below, dear reader). Whatever it is, it is part of the momentum that we are creating, with thousands upon thousands of committed individuals all over the world. This weekly space is to serve two goals. One is highlighting a handful of amazing projects that I have found inspiring. And the other is helping to remind us that we are making progress together in this collective endeavor for our planet.
Please take action by subscribing to?somethingswearegettingright. There is so much amazing environmental work going on out there and this deserves to be celebrated! This week. Next week. And every week!
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Thursday 17th August
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The success of Bison reintroductions in the Southern Carpathians Information kindly reproduced from a LinkedIn post, with the kind permission of Frans Schepers , Cofounder and Executive Director of Rewilding Europe
Thanks to a long-standing reintroduction programme, the?#Europeanbison ?population in the?#SouthernCarpathians ?rewilding landscape in Romania ???? is now growing rapidly. As it expands, rewilding efforts are shifting their focus towards coexistence and ecological impact. Some of the amazing results:
???Between 2014 and 2021,?Rewilding Europe ?and?WWF-Romania ?translocated 105 bison in 16 different releases to the ?arcu Mountains – a part of the Southern Carpathians rewilding landscape where no wild?European bison?had roamed free for at least 250 years.
???Out of the 152 bison that currently roam free in the landscape, almost half have been born in the wild. For a bison population to become genetically viable, it needs to reach 150 mature individuals, which means a total population of around 350 to 400 animals.?
???In 2022, a genetic study was carried out on the bison population in the ?arcu Mountains by the WWF Romania field team, involving the collection of 292 scat samples.
???Based on?all available?data, the current bison population in the ?arcu Mountains is thought to number around 152 individuals, 70% of them being female. We estimate that half of them were born in the wild.
???If the population continues expanding at a similar rate,?we?would expect it to number between 350 – 450 individuals by 2030, although this is a ballpark figure.
???Some animals, which are tracked using GPS collars,?have been seen to reach elevations as high as 2100 metres, which is also a record for the species.
???The range of the population is also steadily growing,?currently estimated to be around 230 square kilometres, representing the largest range expansion of any reintroduced European bison herd to date.
?? This can be partly attributed to the fact that the animals receive no supplementary feeding, as is the case with a number of other free-roaming European bison populations.
Bravo Rewilding Europe!?
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Wednesday 16th August
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A judge heard the US’s?first constitutional climate trial?earlier this year ruling in favor of young plaintiffs who accused state officials in Montana of?violating their right?to a healthy environment.?
"On Monday, Judge Kathy Seeley said that by prohibiting government agencies from considering climate impacts when deciding whether or not to permit energy projects, Montana is contributing to the climate crisis and stopping the state from addressing that crisis. In a case that made headlines around the US and internationally, 16 plaintiffs, aged five to 22, had alleged the state government’s pro-fossil fuel policies contributed to climate change. [...] A judge who heard the US’s?first constitutional climate trial?earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of?violating their right?to a healthy environment. The challengers’ lawyers described the first-of-its-kind ruling as a “game-changer” and a “sweeping win” which campaigners hope will give a boost to similar cases tackling the climate crisis".
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Tuesday 15th August
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Celebrating the Groundswell Festival in June.
Although this took place on the 26th and 27th of June, this year, it is worth reminding of it, because they have created a substantial library of videos on their YouTube Channel.
The Groundswell Festival provides a forum for farmers, growers, or anyone interested in food production and the environment to learn about the theory and practical applications of regenerative farming systems.
Subjects on the YouTube channel include Soil Regeneration, the Creation of Recovery Corridors, Measuring on Farm Sustainability, Woodland creation, Agroecology from farm to fork... and much more. Check out the Youtube channel to watch videos from the various sessions.
The next Groundswell Festival takes place on the 26th & 27th of June 2024. Groundswell, The Regenerative Agriculture Festival, takes place at Lannock Manor Farm, Hertfordshire, SG4 7EE, UK
#groundswell ?#regenerativeagriculture ?#woodlands ?#agroecology ?#sustainability ?#soilregeneration
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Monday 14th August
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A spotlight from the Guardian on regenerative Agriculture in the UK.
This article received coverage from the LinkedIn News network and a lot of sharing on LinkedIn.
Many things are changing in agriculture in the UK. This article from the Guardian focuses on the work of two farmers on the Isle of Wight. Nunwell home farm, which sits alongside land that Hollie Fallick and Francesca Cooper manage for the Wildlife Trust, is part of a movement to bring tired and depleted soil back to life – and boost food security. The farm produces meat and eggs for their direct-to-consumer business. Chickens peck away alongside belted Galloway cows. Nomadic pigs graze on grass as well as kale and bean “cover crops” that are sown to boost nutrients in the soil.
The idea is that by following the?basic principles?of regen ag – not disturbing the soil, keeping it covered, maintaining living roots, growing a diverse range of crops, and the use of grazing animals – they can regenerate tired and depleted soil and produce nutritious food. They argue that this work is urgent. Up to?40% of the world’s land is now degraded?by a combination of industrial and harmful farming methods, according to the UN.
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Sunday 13th August
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‘Citizen scientists make a vital difference': the locals who proved the River Wye was polluted
A few times a week, a group of volunteers dotted along the Yazor Brook, which rises in a rural catchment and flows into the River Wye at Hereford, brave the brambles and muddy banks to take samples of the gently flowing water.
They conduct the tests on at least four sites along the brook and upload their results online. They are now among more than 200?citizen scientists ?who regularly test the River Wye from its source in the Cambrian mountains to the Severn estuary, compared with the sporadic testing by regulators.
“We recognise the role phosphates play in the river’s deterioration and are committed to ensuring our supply chain contributes no excess phosphates in the catchment area by 2025, through our roadmap.”
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) now acknowledges that poultry litter has caused pollution in the face of overwhelming evidence gathered by the citizen scientists, supported by university research. Gavin Bown of NRW said: “Our understanding of these issues is improving as we undertake more monitoring and analysis. NRW is committed to play our full part in improving water quality in the River Wye.”
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Saturday 12th August
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A reminder that the 12th August was World Elephant Day – an annual observance day celebrated every August 12 – to raise awareness of the need to protect elephants and their habitats. It was founded in 2011 by Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and the?Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand. The day is also known as International Elephant Day.
The theme for World Elephant Day 2023 is “Elephants: Key to a Healthy Planet.” This theme highlights the importance of elephants to the environment and to human society. Elephants are keystone species, which means they play a vital role in their ecosystems. They help to disperse seeds, fertilize the soil, and control populations of other animals. Elephants are also a source of pride and inspiration for many people worldwide.
There are ten times as many African elephants (Loxodonta africana) as Asian elephants in the world. That makes them seem abundant. But their numbers are a tiny fraction of what they were in the past. African elephant populations have shrunk by 98% since 1500. In 1500, there were over 25 million elephants in Africa. By 1900 this had fallen to around 10 million, and by 1979 down to 1.3 million. There was a rapid decline in population size over the 1970s and 1980s such that by the mid-1990s numbers had fallen below 300,000. Over the following decades, conservation efforts across some countries managed to restore populations to over 470,000 in 2008. But increased poaching rates over the past decade have sent numbers back into decline. This and other detailed data come from the "our-world-in-data" website.?https://lnkd.in/ekFDaX6j
Vigilance is more than ever necessary to support the elephants of the earth.
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Friday 10th August
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Brilliant news as two Exmoor ponies get stuck into vital conservation work on the Isle of Wight.?
Logan and Luther are the first two grazers to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s rewilding project at Wilder Little Duxmore and arrived by ferry thanks to support from Wightlink.?Their task is simple – nibble, browse and graze the land to encourage habitat restoration and help nature’s recovery. It’s the first time that the Trust has used ponies to help with rewilding and they join the existing cohort of conservation grazing livestock, including native breeds of cattle and sheep.
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THANKYOU FOR READING OUR THIRD EDITION!
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This is already our 3rd?newsletter!?If you have enjoyed these brief notes, please do let me know in the comments, and please share the newsletter. I hope we can build positive impact through this newsletter, and send encouragement to all those who are already doing so much to protect our planet and support the plants and animals with whom we share this marvelous earth.
If you are involved in positive impact projects that you would like to see highlighted, please do reach out and DM me. My aim is always to remind us that SOMETHINGSWEAREGETTINGRIGHT
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WITH MY WELL-WISHES UNTIL NEXT WEEK AND EDITION #4
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Thanks so much for reading. Please subscribe, share, and support!
Aho!