Take action for nature this winter

Take action for nature this winter

Whether you are a school, community group, business, or simply looking to help wildlife at home, check out these fantastic ways you can help nature right now

Take action for insects
Join this national Wildlife Trusts campaign and claim your free Action for Insects guide: https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/take-action/action-insects

Pledge for Nature
Become a nature champion with the North Devon Biosphere who have a list of activities you can do this season, like installing a bird box, making a hedgehog highway or letting a garden corner grow wild.

Register for the Big Garden Birdwatch
Registration for this RSPB national event opens on 9^th December – get ready to claim your free pack and practice your bird identification.

Upcoming events

Many of you have already been in touch and are keen to take action to support nature across Plymouth! Find out more about getting involved with Green Minds, at these 3 free online events:

Tuesday 17^th November, 6pm – 7pm, Action for Insects Webinar
Join Plymouth City Council & Devon Wildlife Trust to find out how to be an insect champion! Register your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/127349705397

Wednesday 9^th December, 6pm – 7pm, Take Action for Wildlife in Plymouth
Join this online workshop - help us develop nature-based volunteer opportunities across Plymouth and let us know how you would like to get involved!
Register your interest here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/127353388413

Wednesday 16^th December, 6pm – 7pm, Plymouth Rewilding Network
Are you part of a rewilding activity, would like to start one or find out how to take action? We know there are many individuals, businesses and groups already taking action for wildlife across the city. Join this online workshop to help us map, connect and expand this activity to create a rewilding network for Plymouth!
Register your interest here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/127356279059

Central Park

As part of the Green Minds Living Lab, University of Plymouth has installed a weather station and a range of sensors in Central Park in order to collect and share environmental data on the park. On 17^th October, we held a Living Lab event in Central Park where we showed people how to use augmented reality and everyone had the opportunity to follow a QR code nature trail, which allowed them to scan codes to see what wildlife had been recorded on specific spots in the park (led by University of Plymouth). During the event, the Green Minds team were out and about talking to people finding out what Central Park means to them. The Central Park Ponds Project website also went live in October – find out about how nature is addressing flooding and enhancing wildlife in the park.

Derriford Community Park

The time has come for the much anticipated arrival of the Eurasian beaver to Derriford Community Park! The team have been beavering away building their 5-hectare enclosure surrounding the Lower Bircham Valley, complete with wildlife passes to allow animals such as otters, badgers and deer to move between habitats. The University of Exeter will complete 3 years of hydrological and beaver activity monitoring on the Bircham stream, supported by Green Minds partners University of Plymouth and Devon Wildlife Trust to evidence the impact of these ecosystem engineers. Potential effects include the benefits of natural flood management, improved river levels during drought and creation of wet woodland habitat.

Social enterprise in Stonehouse & Devonport

Real Ideas Organisation welcomed community businesses to Green Minds through their Eco-Biz webinar. These groups will be helping to restore nature, support communities and the local economy in Stonehouse and Devonport through a Green Minds grant.

We’re looking forward to working with Stoke Stars, Cliik, Snapdragons, Pollenize, Stiltskin, Be Unique and Food Plymouth through Green Minds! Find out more about our award winners here.

Biodiversity monitoring

Devon Biodiversity Records Centre (DBRC) have been busy recording baseline data for Central Park and Derriford Community Park where there are a variety of habitats, including wildflower meadows, wetlands and woodland. This includes identifying key indicators species to help track biodiversity gains. The 2020 records include bees, butterflies, birds, plants, trees and mammals. You can help DBRC by sending in your wildlife sightings from across the city at https://www.dbrc.org.uk/wildlife-sightings/

Devon Wildlife Trust have now recruited their Urban Ranger, who will join the Green Minds team at the end of November. Keep an eye out for them in Plymouth’s green and blue spaces soon! Devon Wildlife Trust, along with Wildlife Trusts across the UK, have just announced their ’30 by 30’ campaign, pushing for 30% of land and sea to be managed/restored for nature-rich habitat across the UK by 2030. Find out more here: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30-30-30

Coming soon

We’re planning more webinars, including updates from some of our key project sites, as well as creating self-led trails you can do at Central Park!

Find out more at https://greenmindsplymouth.com/, keep up to date by following @NaturePlymouth on Facebook and @GreenMindsPlym on Twitter, and help the spread the word with #greenmindsplymouth!

In other news

Check out what else the Green Minds team are interested in:

• The Investing in Nature for Health Hub and Forum has launched. This project is part of the South West Partnership for Environmental and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP), an initiative bringing together academics, policymakers and businesses to solve environmental problems whilst providing economic and social benefits in the South West. Find out more here: https://sweep.ac.uk/portfolios/investing-in-nature-for-health/

• What best explains children’s connection with nature? This article looks into which factors affect how children connect with greenspaces: https://findingnature.org.uk/2020/11/01/what-best-explains-childrens-connection-with-nature/

• If you attended our Rebel Botanists Webinar, you will have heard ‘plant blindness’ mentioned. Find out about what it means in this short video and find out if you are suffering from ‘plant blindness’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/could-you-be-suffering-from-plant-blindness/p08rnbd0?playlist=made-in-partnership-with-the-open-university

• Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) has launched a Crowdfunder to raise £25,000 for a year of free creative climate action activities in Plymouth and the far Southwest. Moths to a Flame is a mass participation art and energy project. Its aim is to take your voice to World Leaders at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, 2021. Make a pledge on Crowdfunder – adopt a solar panel and join Plymouth’s own ‘solar system’ or spread the word on social media with #MothsToAFlame.