Mark Cocker ends his review in The Spectator of Matthew Oates’ new book with this comment on a key argument that the book sets out: “Most impressive of all is his concluding chapter, aptly entitled ‘Towards Some Meaning’, where he diagnoses why conservation has so often failed to protect these quintessential inhabitants of ecological transience. He also seeks to answer his…
The RSPB has launched a campaign to encourage spend a night outside in a bid to ‘reconnect children with nature’. It is asking people to sleep outside this weekend to get closer to nature as part of its Big Wild Sleepout. RSPB thinks that children these days have too little contact with the natural world and wildlife, and…
NAEE’s 2015 AGM is on October 24th this year. It’s being held at the imposing Birmingham and Midland Institute in the centre of Birmingham. It starts at 1030, and we hope to see you there. More details much nearer the time.
The next Transition Network international conference takes place in Devon from September 18th-20th. This will explore Transition as an important worldwide grassroots activist network, focused on finding local solutions to global issues, and the new stories that are emerging from this shift. Hundreds of Transitioners from across 30+ countries are expected to attend and many…
The Royal Society of Biology [RSB] hopes you do because then you’ll be able to take part in its national poll to find the nation’s favourite insect. Its website says: “Insects are vital for human life on earth but are often overlooked. There are over 20,000 insect species found in the UK, but which…
The NAEE web team thinks that it’s the environment on planet earth, and our dependency on it for the quality of our lives, that should be our most pressing concerns, given its parlous state. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t think about what’s going on outside the biosphere. Here’s an animation from the European Space Agency illustrating Andreas Mogensen’s…
On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 August, Martineau Gardens is hosting an outdoor production of Hamlet by Folksy Theatre; it starts at 1830. The production will be filled with live folk music and visitors are welcome to bring picnics, blankets and folding chairs. Clearly, when Hamlet says: “Fie on’t! ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, that grows…
With a great destination at the end of the journey It’s five years since I wrote about our first granddaughter Lily scooting to school. Time seems to move on so quickly but she still uses the scooter as her fast transport. Looking further back to several more years I can clearly remember on a day…
Allison Price, with contributions from Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Conservation Education Committee, asks: How can we mobilize a national network for improved conservation education? Imagine you have a network of educators distributed at more than 225 zoos and aquariums throughout North America. It’s a pretty diligent group that serves more than 400,000 teachers and reaches 15…
Project Dirt asks: do you live in Redditch? If so, you can join Sustrans volunteers to celebrate the National Cycle Network’s 20th birthday with a ride and picnic in Redditch, starting from the Arrow Park Visitor Centre. Here is a map. And you can read more about the 20 year cycle network celebrations if you…