Announcing our award for the most nature-friendly park

We will be presenting an award to the most nature-friendly park in the city this summer.  The ‘Save our Wild Isles’ campaign, launched alongside David Attenborough’s new Wild Isles documentary series, encourages everyone to ‘go wild once a week’. We will be highlighting wildlife to visit on our doorsteps in Leicester.

There is so much excellent work happening in Leicester’s parks to encourage wildlife and we want to celebrate that. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and more than one in seven of our native species is facing extinction. It is therefore more important than ever that we make space for nature in our cities. We need to allow wildlife to thrive alongside us. 

We will be looking at parks between 8 and 20 hectares, to ensure that we are not trying to compare the smallest and largest parks in the city and to make the process as fair as possible. We are creating an assessment scheme, working with local botanists, birdwatchers and ecologists, to determine how to choose the most nature-friendly park. We will look at the types of habitats in each park, from ponds to meadows to trees. We will visit each park twice, at different times of day, and try to record the species that they see and hear. (If you want to get involved in this work, please get in touch!)

We have also created a survey for park users, to collect their views on the space for nature in their local park and what else they would like to see. After the award has been presented, we will share the survey data with the City Council. 

When we visit each park, we will keep notes on the wildlife that we have seen and share them here on our blog and social media afterwards. We hope that this will encourage people to learn more about the biodiversity on their doorstep. It is widely recognised that feeling more connected to nature is beneficial for our mental health. We are also more likely to protect what we love. Where better to start learning more about nature than in your local park?

Green Book Reviews: The Third Plate by Dan Barber

The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber

As a permaculturist, the main message of this book made complete sense to me. Dan Barber argues that, rather than continuing to follow our current diet and striving to produce that food more sustainably, we should instead look at what food we can produce while supporting the health of our soils and ecosystems and then learn to cook well with that. Happily, food that is produced by flourishing ecosystems is always more nutritious and tastes better too. 

The book is divided into four parts: soil, land, sea and seed. Having been vegetarian and then vegan for a number of years, I found the land and sea sections more difficult to read than those that focussed on soil and seed. In particular, I was quite disgusted when the author admitted that he had known about the animal welfare concerns around foie gras for some time but had carried on using it in his kitchen anyway, due to the exceptional taste. To me, no taste can justify what amounts to torturing an animal. However, most of the discussion around eating meat and fish felt more balanced. The author admits that we need to eat much less meat and that we should eat the whole animal, rather than wasting much of it. The farms he applauds all treat their animals much better than ‘conventional’ industrial agriculture, allowing them to live a more natural life. If some people are going to continue to eat meat, the farms he visits provide a good model for how those animals can be reared. 

The soil section fitted perfectly with what I have learnt through permaculture about how to care for the soil. It provided a useful reminder of the importance of rotations and covering the soil as much as possible. Healthy soil always produces tastier food, as well as giving plants more resistance to pests and diseases. The seed section looks in detail at plant breeding (not to be confused with genetic modification) and warns that we should not be obsessed with fixed, heritage varieties but rather we should continue to encourage plant diversity and breed new varieties of vegetables and grains that are better adapted to our changing climate and that taste better. With more and more seed companies focussing on F1 seeds (the first generation of a hybrid cross, bred to be highly uniform), this was a useful message for gardeners: we should all be seeking out open pollinated seeds. 

The one thing that really lets this book down is the length. It felt to me like the author had obscured his message by providing too many anecdotes and repeating some of his points several times, which can be exasperating for the reader. In a few chapters, he introduces so many people (and describes so many meals!) that I found I’d lost the thread several times. This book could have had more impact if it were shorter.

Going peat free

 As the snowdrops break out in bloom, the daffodil shoots show and the seed catalogues drop on the mat our thoughts are turning to spring, that is just around the corner.  What will we grow?  What seeds do we need?  What compost will we grow them in?

This is the last year of retail sales of peat, with a ban on retail peat sales coming in 2024.  At last you may say!  Peat accumulates in waterlogged bogs at the rate of about 1mm per year, so it takes a 1,000 years to grow a metres depth of peat and yet we are getting through 3 million cubic metres of peat a year (DEFRA figure), nearly two-thirds of that being through retail sales of peat.  Peat holds more carbon than all the other carbon stores combined.  They are also a biodiversity hot-spot too, providing a home to countless types of plants and animal species

Why not make this year you only buy peat free compost?  There are an increasing number of peat free composts available as retailers prepare for the coming ban.  If you have a Which? subscription you will have access to the latest best buy guides that have just been published.

The bad news is that a ban on the use of peat by the horticultural industry is not expected until about 2030, so plants being sold in garden centres will often be grown in peat.  Peat is not fertile, it is only made fertile through the addition of fertiliser after it is harvested.  It is just a growing medium, so the creation of an alternative growing medium, with added fertiliser, is perfectly possible.  Peat use is more about cost (it’s cheap) than its performance comparted to peat free alternatives.

When buying plants this year why not check to see what compost they are grown in?  One of our most powerful campaigning tools is to decide how we spend our money.  It’s time to start checking the small print on that plant label and if it isn’t there start asking the retailer how the plants are grown. The power to change the horticulture industry over to peat free alternative composts is in our hands.

Lastly have you ever considered what compost our food is grown in?  It may surprise you to know that some foods, e.g. mushrooms, are grown on peat based compost. Where possible why not try and find out how your food is grown and steer clear of peat grown food?

Green Book Reviews: Wild Fell by Lee Schofield

Two members of our Green Book Group share their thoughts on our last Green Book of 2022.

By Anne Scott

In this inspirational book, Lee Schofield (site manager at RSPB Haweswater in the Lake District) takes us on a journey of discovery as he looks to see the return of the eagles to this wonderful habitat. The surprise is that in order to restore the king of the sky, his attention needs to be on the health of the soil.

The project he embarks upon seeks to accommodate his aim to restore wilderness, alongside the thriving farming economy and traditions of the local area. He finds himself wrestling with a common mind-set of privately owned land which needs to be farmed in order to support the local economy and individual farmers, whilst also viewing the services which the land provides as vital to all life: air, water, climate regulation and wildlife habitat.

Through the first part of the book, Schofield gives space for real lament as he discovers and describes species depletion within his sphere of influence: his grief is keenly felt as he writes, “The more I read, the more robbed I felt.” (p.100) The blame for much of the loss of flora and fauna is placed within the context of intensive farming and the failure of government policies to protect the land whilst trying to feed an increasing population. He also feels the hardship of trying to communicate his findings to other community stakeholders.

Schofield then takes us on a world-wide tour to gather hope and inspiration from other countries with similar climates. As he observes areas of flourishing wildflowers and lush grassland, he learns about how to use the land carefully, working with livestock, protecting areas from over-grazing and using other naturalised resources, such as rivers and fells, to stimulate an increased biodiversity. As he described the wonder of the wildflowers on the mountainsides, I sat with a wildflower book beside me so that I could join in the wonder with him: it was an education as well as a celebration.

The final section of the book returns us to northern England where we see plans put into action. With a renewed vision and stronger sense of team, we are invited to see the possibilities that are being actioned stemming from the learning that’s been accumulated. There is hope at the end of the book as he describes a possible future which he dreams as a possibility with the actions he is enabling to repair and restore RSPB Haweswater.

I loved Schofield’s passion and love of the space he lives and works within and it challenges me to consider how I can better care for the area I live and work within. “As I walk back… I remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to call this work. It’s not a privilege I wear lightly, and everyday I am striving to be worthy of this place and the stewardship I’ve been entrusted with.” (p.5)

By Melanie Wakley

I enjoyed reading Lee Schofield’s book about his restoration work of the site at RSPB Haweswater as he tries to ‘breathe life back into 3,000 hectares of sprawling upland habitat’.  I loved his exploration of the wild fells of Norway and the pristine meadows of the Alps, although I find it worrying/disappointing that other countries have managed their wild areas so much better than we have as a nation. Schofield tries to bring back the lessons he has learnt from other places and hopes to introduce some of the ideas at Haweswater – for instance, changing the way we graze the land to help with the recovery of nature. However, he writes about his battle with authorities to introduce his conservation ideas and also the opposition he encounters from local farmers.

I read the book while we were on holiday in Scotland and it is interesting how it made me look at our pastoral land differently. Instead of looking at the fields and thinking they are good for nature I realised that a lot of them are over grazed, over sprayed with pesticides and lack hedgerows, trees, and therefore become barren of wildlife.

A good read, with lots of information but made me sad once more for our loss of natural habitat – let’s hope Schofield keeps on working at his restoration!

Say no to consumerism on Black Friday

We joined members of Leicester Animal Rights group and Extinction Rebellion Leicester on so-called Black Friday, to stand outside the shopping centre and remind people that consumerism is costing the Earth. The sign prompted some interesting conversations with passersby, many of whom were supportive and agreed that the way we are using and wasting resources is out of control. 

Highfields Centre garden refresh

To mark Great Big Green Week, we went back to the little garden we created at the Highfields Centre and did some maintenance to spruce it up. We picked up litter, weeded and mulched. We also planted a few more strawberries. The herbs we planted in the spring have mostly survived the summer drought and are starting to look well established. Next year, there should be enough to pick some for cooking and herbal teas!

Before...

After...

Some of the gardeners!

Leicester's parks go glyphosate-free!

We were recently very excited to hear that the City Council have decided to stop using glyphosate in parks and green spaces from January 2023!

As you know if you've been following us, we have been campaigning for the city’s parks to go pesticide-free since 2021. We contacted the City Council to express our concerns about the use of this poison and pointed out that exposure to pesticides has been linked to many health issues, including cancers, Alzheimer’s and infertility. We also shared research showing that glyphosate harms bees’ digestive systems and damages their ability to keep their colonies cool, which can be devastating in our increasingly hot summers.

We spent several months on the streets explaining our concerns to the public and gathering support. In July, we presented a petition of 1057 signatures asking the City Council to stop using pesticides in parks and green spaces. We then attended the Neighbourhoods Services Scrutiny Commission meeting in August and asked the councillors and officers to reconsider their spraying policy.

The City Council have now responded to the petition, confirming that they will stop using glyphosate in parks and green spaces from January 2023, on a trial basis. They are working with Pesticide Action Network to develop a pesticide action plan. 

We would like to thank Adam Clarke and the council officers in the parks department for listening to our concerns. The vast majority of people we spoke to during our campaign were opposed to the use of pesticides in the city. Many parents in particular will be relieved that they don’t have to avoid sprayed areas when taking their children to the park.

Leicester has always rightly been proud of its status as the UK’s First Environment City and the Biodiversity Action Plan states that the Council aim to 'make sure that local biodiversity thrives'. We congratulate the Council on taking an important step towards that aim. We hope that they will take this opportunity to leave more wild edges in the city’s green spaces. There has been a catastrophic decline in insect and wild plant species in the UK, so we need to make space for nature in cities. We also hope that they will reconsider the use of glyphosate in other places, like school grounds and pavements.

This story was covered by the BBC and the Leicester Mercury. We celebrated the campaign win at our September meeting with tea and cookies!

August social

As many people are on holiday in August, we decided to have a picnic in Victoria Park instead of our usual meeting. We invited other environmental groups in Leicester and were happy to chat to people from Extinction Rebellion, Climate Action, Stoneygate Baptist Church and the Quakers. Thank you to everyone who came along! 

Green Book Reviews: On Gallows Down by Nicola Chester

On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging by Nicola Chester is a personal story, recording the writer’s extraordinary journey through life, as her love of nature develops and she chooses her goals.

Nicola Chester spent her childhood with parents and grandparents ‘who knew the importance of outdoors; of walks, weather and picnics, time alone, freedom and dirt.’ Her parents moved around as Nicola grew up but wherever she moved, the nature on her doorstep was always the first thing she looked for and explored. Her parents settled in Newbury and it was here, as she became a teenager, that she realised how much she felt a part of her local landscape. It was also in Newbury that her life-long battle to protect nature began, with the campaign against the Newbury bypass.

Reading Chester’s account of the building work, you need to be of a strong constitution – I wasn’t - not to weep at the account of the nine-mile route ‘smashing through heathland, ancient oak and ash woods, water meadows and chalk streams…’  The construction destroying ‘10,000 mature trees…4 sites of special scientific Interest, several local nature reserves….’ The list goes on.

She writes about the thousands of protestors battling, with regular skirmishes, to stop the contractors but to no avail. She reflects on the brevity of joy and life itself as a poplar wood is felled ‘as they lay with the leafy tresses in the water…., seeming to bleed redly into the water.’ It was this last battle that ignited in the author the knowledge of what she wanted to do with her ‘one wild and precious life’, as Mary Oliver put it: she intended to ‘save, champion and celebrate the wildness in any way an ordinary girl could.’

The rest of the novel follows the author as she marries, has a family and lives in rural tied accommodation, usually on big estates with her husband. She teaches her children to love nature as much as she does by taking them on wild walks, badger watching and listening for the cuckoo and nightingale. She struggles to bring up her family in a rural setting on a very low income and writes about her journey of ‘protest, change and hope’ as she strives to save the nature she loves whenever and wherever she can, trying to influence the people at the ‘big house’ to also protect nature.

Chester writes ‘We are writing for our very lives and for those wild lives we share this one, lonely planet with.’

A very emotional read full of poignant moments that hopefully will inspire other people to explore and love nature as much as Nicola Chester does.

Melanie Wakley

 

 

Pesticides petition presented to City Council

We presented our petition asking the City Council to stop using pesticides in parks and green spaces last night (Thursday 7th July), to the full council meeting. Between the paper and online petitions, we had a total of 1057 signatures, of which 690 were verified as having city postcodes. Unfortunately, this left us short of our target of 750 verified signatures, which would have required a senior officer to respond to a public meeting. However, the Council still have to respond and we will be able to continue the conversation with them.

We had been told before the meeting that we would be able to speak for 5 minutes in lieu of reading the petition text, so we had prepared some key points to explain our campaign. We were then told at the meeting that we could only read the petition text. However, as we had already prepared our speech, we have emailed it to all the councillors instead. You can read our summary below.

We'll update you here and on our social media when we get a response!

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On behalf of Leicester Friends of the Earth, I wish to present our petition as printed on the script, asking the City Council to stop using pesticides in parks and green spaces. The City Council say that you are minimising the use of the herbicide glyphosate but we still see unnecessary spraying around trees, fences and even rocks in the city’s parks.

 

There have been a number of studies linking glyphosate to cancers in people, particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This research was collated in a meta-analysis published in the academic journal Mutation Research in 2019 and I can provide the link to that for anyone who would like to read it. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of pesticides, because their skin absorbs chemicals more easily and because they are more likely to be playing on the ground. And yet when we visited Humberstone Park recently, glyphosate had been used principally around the children’s play area.

 

The evidence for the ill-effects of glyphosate on bees and other wildlife has also been mounting over the last few years. It is now known that glyphosate harms bees’ digestive systems, for example, affecting their ability to absorb food. Councillors may also have read the recent article in the Guardian about glyphosate damaging the ability of wild bees to regulate the temperature of their colonies. We were therefore particularly disappointed to see that the seeded section of the 'Bee Road' meadow strip on Goodwood Road has recently been sprayed with glyphosate. The RSPB’s Pesticides and Wildlife Report explains that the combination of chemicals that all living creatures are exposed to, known as the cocktail effect, can cause more harm than any single chemical. The cocktail effect is not tested as part of the approval process for pesticides but research is now starting to reveal the extremely harmful effects of combinations of these chemicals.

 

We have been out on the streets collecting signatures for this petition over the past few months. The vast majority of people we have spoken to are opposed to the use of pesticides in the city and many have expressed surprise and dismay that they are still being used. Leicester has always rightly been proud of its status as the UK’s First Environment City, but on this issue, we are not leading. Forty-three local authorities in the UK have already banned all pesticides or committed to phasing them out in the near future. Cambridge, for example, banned the use of herbicides in the parks and green spaces in 2019 and are aiming to stop all herbicide spraying in the city by the end of this year.

 

The City Council’s Biodiversity Action Plan states that the Council aim to 'make sure that local biodiversity thrives'. We applaud that aim – with the catastrophic decline in insect and wild plant species in the UK, it is absolutely necessary to make space for nature in cities. However, biodiversity cannot thrive in places that have been sprayed with poison. 

We ask the City Council to reconsider their policy. Thank you.  

Exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides and risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A meta-analysis and supporting evidence - ScienceDirect

Glyphosate weedkiller damages wild bee colonies, study reveals | Bees | The Guardian

Information for local authorities - Pesticide Action Network UK (pan-uk.org)