Shaftesbury hedgehog news; Tree planting & care ... or not; Shaftesbury & COP26; A presence in the town? Other news & requests 

Shaftesbury's Trees 

From hedgehogs to hedgerows? The 2nd phase of the town's 5-year planting plan was agreed by the Town Council last month.  As well as supplementing last year's planting around the town, this year there will be significant planting at Wincombe Rec. Once delivery dates for new trees are known, volunteer diggers & planters will be invited to a meeting to agree dates for work parties. It's hoped that planting will be able to start before end of November. For more details, including how to get onto the volunteer list, see the website here.

Shaftesbury's first tree festival in late September included events offered by many different individuals and local organisations, delighting Beth Lewis who had hoped her ideas for a festival would have this wide appeal. Tean Mitchell joined in by offering sessions on tree propagation and she writes: "... kindly add my thanks to the group for the wonderful Tree Festival event. Thoroughly enjoyed and so glad to participate. So glad to be involved with such a lovely group of talented and thoughtful people." From the celebratory concert that launched the festival to the picnic that closed it, events proved popular - see a photographic record and online exhibits here. The 2021/22 tree-planting plans were publicised during the festival and additional volunteers were recruited for planting or for looking after the young trees and hedgerow plants. Members of Shaftesbury's tree group have described the festival as 'brilliant'. The public were generous with donations which more than covered costs. Beth told the latest Planet Shaftesbury meeting that the surplus will fund additional tree planting at Shaftesbury Primary and that she welcomes the suggestion of the festival being an annual event at least throughout the town's 5-year tree planting initiative. We know how to do it now so next year will be easier! The Woodland Trust and Semley's Big Tree Climbing Company have already said they'd like to join us for 2022 - looks as if the tree festival has taken root?

LIDL, Dorset Highways, planners, town council, Shaftesbury locals ... collectively we failed to protect memorial beech trees on Christy's Lane some of which have now been felled. Participants in Shaftesbury's tree group highlighted potential issues at an early stage of the planning process but these were overlooked. Their anger and frustration is now being channeled into a report detailing the failings whilst the group also aims to prevent any additional damage and ensure that remediation measures are appropriate. At our meeting on 21st October suggestions made included both a protest to LIDL and the suggestion that rooftop solar panels (not insisted upon in their original planning consent) should now be a requirement. LIDL face penalties for deviating from their planning conditions and the issue is likely to arise at the town council meeting on 26th October.

Shaftesbury and COP26

The global climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow from 1st-12th November has prompted a number of local events:

October 23rd-31st: Planet Shaftesbury has an exhibition 'Care for the Future' at Gold Hill Museum, Open 10.30-4.30 daily. Pop in. Engage with other visitors. This is half term week so we may attract local families as well as people from beyond the town.

October 30th: At 6pm churches across the country will ring their bells to send a clear message to COP26. Afterwards at 6.30pm at St Peter's Church we'll remember those who've already had their lives cut short by climate and ecological devastation through a contemplative performance of the Miserere. To be followed by singing, as will choirs up and down the country, 'What a Wonderful World' - all welcome. 

October 31st: Join the 'Walk 2 COP26' in spirit on the day they'll arrive in Glasgow, along with other walkers around the world, by joining local activists who will walk from Tisbury (leave at 11am) to Semley (lunchtime) then Shaftesbury. See details in the Forum post here.

November 4th: Planet Shaftesbury's online meeting (7.30pm) will provide an opportunity to compare notes on the news from Glasgow. Find the link via the website.

November 6th: mid-way through the conference. Very many green groups around the world are taking climate actions today. Planet Shaftesbury is supporting a tree information and activity stall which you'll find when walking into Duncliffe Wood from the car-park (mid morning till dusk).  Come and say 'hello'!

For those of us who won't be in Glasgow, there are very many resources online to help us keep abreast of the issues facing COP26 and extent of progress being made. These two particularly appealed to your newsletter editor!

• The Word Forest Organisation is an inspiring Dorset-based group working mainly in Kenya planting trees, facilitating education and releasing a poem a day throughout COP26. Their live-feed dedicated to bringing news from the conference is here.
• This site offers wonderful visuals presenting climate justice maps (contribution v vulnerability). 

November 18th: Planet Shaftesbury's next in-person meeting at the Town Hall (7.30pm) will include a short talk and discussion about COP26 outcomes with Sarah Watt, a locally-based professional commentator on climate and sustainability issues.

Having a presence in the town

The meeting at the Town Hall on 21st October included a number of ideas for Planet Shaftesbury becoming more evident. We'll return to these in November.

• Is there a PS equivalent in our twin towns? Could we twin with a location currently affected by global heating phenomena?
• Permanent, regularly updated, PS noticeboard in central location - possibilities being investigated.
• We're exploring a regular presence outside the Town Hall and any linked posters/banners.
• 'Coffee mornings' in range of venues - to answer questions or for informal chats around climate breakdown.
• Talks on climate topics, to be family friendly (how to answer your children's questions etc), again at different venues.
• We noted that 'sandwich boards' and handing out colourful and informative fliers can be very effective (not the same as leaving piles of fliers around to get out of date!).
• We could promote further 'forest bathing' sessions, and use of a carbon calculator (WWF or Giki) 

More details of what's likely to arise at future meetings is given in the events listings.

IN BRIEF

Bonfires & Hedgehogs: Log piles can provide a hedgehog with the ideal habitat for hibernation which they'll be starting to do as the temperature drops. Hibernating hedgehogs take several hours to awaken. To avoid harming them, if you're gathering wood and fallen leaves for a bonfire please assemble in one place then move to the bonfire site immediately before you light it.

Soil health: a national security profile - report published this week by the Food & Global Security Network founded by local consultant, ffinlo Costain who said ‘The right to affordable nutrition underpins peace and civil stability, but the impacts of climate disruption and biodiversity loss are already affecting food production.  If we see a 2C rise in global temperatures, which now seems increasingly likely, we could experience extreme disruption in global food supplies.  When food is scarce, prices rise, inequality increases and simmering resentments can turn rapidly into conflict and even war.  Healthy soil and a balanced ecosystem are critical for food sovereignty and a peaceful society.’ ffinlo has also recently promoted a roadmap for regenerative dairy farming.  See more on the Farmwel website here.

Socially Connecting Shaftesbury is a funded mental health & wellbeing drop-in project which will be offering a cuppa and a chat at the Town Hall starting on 25th October from 10.30am to 3.30pm and on additional days & various times through to 19th November and possibly beyond. There are opportunities to help out. Is there an overlap with coffee morning climate chats? If you might like to help please request more detail and connect with others in PS who're also interested by emailing planetshaftesbury@gmail.com. 

Greener Homes: Many of the people who took advantage of the recent Dorset-wide open greener homes event were keen to hear about the experience of householders with air source heat pumps as well as of making other 'green' life-style changes. Both visitors and hosts enjoyed these interactions. Our local hosts are all keen to participate again and we'd like to hear from additional people willing to share experiences through next year's event. Email Rachel at planetshaftesbury@gmail.com. 

Biodiversity loss & COP15: A team from the Natural History Museum has studied biodiversity loss around the world through a Biodiversity Intactness Index which is mapped here. Britain has done particularly badly. From October 25th-31st the Wildlife Trusts have a Big Wild Walk event  for nature lovers to support the restoration & protection of 30% of land and seas for wildlife by 2030. Join in the Wiltshire challenge and fundraiser here.  The 30x30 target has become one of the prime targets for next year's global Convention on Biological Diversity, aka COP15, which will be hosted by China. Latest news updates on COP15 are here. 

Christmas: Many of us are rethinking Christmas to reduce 'stuff'.  Friends of the Earth are promoting a special bee saver kit in return for a donation. Salisbury Hospice raise funds through their Christmas Tree collection and recycling service and will be collecting in the SP7 area for the first time this year. Register on their website from mid-November onwards, make a donation, and have your tree collected between January 8th & 10th. www.salisburyhospicecharity.org.uk 

Dorset CAN: Recent meetings arranged by Dorset's climate action network have inspired those of us who participated, and they've also enabled teams to come together to work on issues around energy, land use and transport - benefitting us all. Dorset CAN has a dream for Dorset: a Dorset with clean rivers, fantastic public transport, chemical free fields, carbon neutral homes for everyone, not just the rich, regenerating wildlife, locally-grown food, resilient town and village communities AND the Girt Dorset Hedge. If you share the dream please join and to keep in touch sign up for the newsletter. There will be a special COP26 edition. 

The next monthly newsletter will be distributed in the 3rd week of November. If you have news to share please send it to planetshaftesbury@gmail.com