across the Lower Ouse Valley
I have recently taken up an interesting role with the People’s Park for Nature, based around the catchment of the Lower Ouse here in East Sussex, primarily focussed – for now – on the county town of Lewes in the centre. The idea is that it links the community with green spaces AND, crucially, also with skilled people and new initiatives to make the most of these two resources. What caught my eye about the organisation was the commitment to provide links and connectivity so that instead of saying to people “look there’s some green space you can utilise”, the PPN is committed to generating and facilitating the connection between community and nature. By inviting people to incorporate their land – of any size – to the People’s Park, it creates a sense of belonging and integration, and the local advisors, newsletters and events help solidify this sense of involvement. There are tangible benefits to becoming a member (and it is free to join) such as accessing advice and free stuff fro your plot, and having the chance to meet up with like-minded people who are also part of the Park, to share ideas and be part of a vision. In the current sociopolitical atmosphere of division and isolation, I felt really inspired to sign up.
I am slightly out of the catchment so can’t pledge our garden to the PPN, but given I grew up the area covered by the Park, I feel well-qualified to offer my services. I am one of the Wild Advisors, but in the last few weeks I have joined the Core Team to represent the voice of Nature in meetings. Faith in Nature, the sustainable and refillable body care brand pioneered the concept of “What Would Nature Say?” by putting Nature on their Board of Directors, and as a new organisation, the PPN Team wanted to ensure that any decisions were considered from an impact-on-nature perspective, and this is much easier to do, or rather, much less easy to ignore when Nature has a human representative right there in the room. So, with this in mind, I will be joining the meetings and evaluating any proposals as if Nature were able to contribute to the discussion in real time. It will be really interesting, and I think my background across so many aspects of landscape, wildlife, and ecology as well as an ability to think creatively should stand me in good stead.
If you live in East Sussex, do sign up for the newsletter, and even if you’re further afield, it might give ideas on how you can connect nature and community in your own area.
Meanwhile, as well as the first release of free-roaming beavers in Cornwall, there has been renewed talk of reintroducing Dalmatian Pelicans to various spots in Britain: the Norfolk Broads, Somerset Levels, and Essex Marshes are sites being considered for these huge birds.
