Martlesham Climate Emergency Summit Saturday 25 September
St Michaels Church, Martlesham Heath
Helping nature as the climate changes
As our climate slowly but inexorably changes as a result of our greenhouse gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide), we can all try to help nature adapt. One initiative that Martlesham Climate Action is promoting is for residents to re-wild some of any land they own.
I now have two ponds in my garden (contact us if you need help or advice) and it is a continual source of interest, especially as it comes alive in spring. I’ll never forget my first sight in early April of a caddis fly larva crawling out of the depths with its ‘backpack’ of pond debris. Weird! My homemade hedgehog house also has a resident who has been busily nesting with leaves so I’m crossing my fingers for little ones soon. It’s easy to make one out of odd bits of wood had lying around the garage (check out designs on the internet). I have ensured holes to exit the garden and put out dry hedgehog food (apparently cat food is fine) and a bowl of water that she visits nightly. I have also dug up bits of lawn and planted wildflower seeds and ‘weeds’ from other parts of the garden and stopped mowing most of it. If you are like me, you have been brought up to think of weeds as something to get rid of and a nice uniform lawn as a thing to aspire to. It’s like fashion and I hope it is changing!
Volunteers have recently put four swift boxes up on the Richards Room. These and the associated calling system to alert returning swifts of their location were funded by Suffolk Coasts and Heaths AONB and distributed by Save Our Suffolk Swifts. If you pass them early in the morning or at teatime you may hear the calling system that will be active until the end of July and helps attract returning swifts looking for nest sites. The younger swifts will then hopefully choose the boxes next year to nest (they don’t nest until year four and then come back to the same site every year). Thanks to Jane and the team who made it all happen.
Sunny April
Finally, if you have a solar panel and battery system, April was an excellent month. I was off grid for most of April, which helps to reduce my carbon footprint (the grid average was around 250g of carbon per unit of electricity in April). If you want to talk to someone who has these systems about how to choose an electricity (green) tariff that maximises your cost savings, contact us or make sure you come along to the climate summit on September 25. You will be able to talk to residents who have real-world experience of running them and get advice on sizing for your house. We are also hoping to have a couple of local suppliers you can talk to.
Dave Green, Co-chair of Martlesham Climate Action. A working group of Martlesham Parish Council
www.martleshamclimateaction.onesuffolk.net
E: martleshamclimateaction@btinternet.com
Twitter: @martleshamclim1