Wildlife Circus

  Docks along the Mersey    My friend Marg has sent the letter below to her M.P. and whilst it it refers to the River Mersey, the names within our river catchment could just as easily be substituted (Thames, Hogsmill, Wandle, Queens Promenade, Teddington Lock etc.). Lack of preparation and rising water levels in the Thames, are becoming an increasingly urgent concern, yet preparation has lagged behind the pace of change. More frequent and intense rainfall, higher tides, and climate-driven sea-level rise are putting additional pressure on aging flood-defence systems.  “From 2035, sea level rise and changes to the Thames Barrier operation will result in higher water levels in the River Thames. In areas between Richmond and Sunbury, these increases could range from over one metre to as little as a few centimetres during frequent flood events that we expect to see most winters. Sea level rise will progressively increase flood levels in West London throughout the rest of ...

Climate change is a problem because it drives extinction. What some of us forget even acknowledging this truth, is that climate change is thereby a source of fathomless suffering.......... Sentiments in Dr. Leadbeater's planning statement to the Luton Airport Inquiry (27.9.22)  have become a universal language amongst those concerned about our land and its use. He asks the question, 'how can our woodland possibly survive in a rapidly and radically changing world'? This resonates in the night sweats regarding our own local plots, whether it be the hedgehogs on the allotment, the wax caps in the cemetery, or the bats flying along the river. His introduction and statement are reproduced below and Margo is pictured above. All photos are from Simon and Toni's Sacred Grove.   He begins, 'I am going to speak to rather than read from my submitted statement (Ref. IP-06). I am taking this approach in order to contextualise, to personalise, based on the off-grid life my wif...