Do you find yourself wishing there was more you could be doing locally to improve the environment and the planet? Here in Westcott there are others who are thinking just like you. Whether it’s repairing those broken items (rather than sending them to landfill) or planting more bee and butterfly-friendly flowers in your garden, using less plastic, or walking to school or work instead of driving – as a major supermarket would say, “every little helps”.
Arguably, we’re all doing our bit, so why should we do anything else? We live in the beautiful Surrey Hills – do we need to think about our environment when there is plenty of wildlife around us and nature is busying herself right on our doorstep? Sadly the fact is that, although we are all trying really hard to reduce our impact, it is not quite enough!
UK Red List Species
Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.
There are currently 67 birds in the UK which appear on the Red List. According to the RSPB, many of our most beautiful songbirds are now in danger. These include nightingales, skylarks and cuckoos. More familiar garden species are red-listed too: starlings; song thrushes; and house sparrows.
It’s not just the birds which are struggling. According to the Mammal Society, one quarter of native mammals in the UK are now endangered and 47 are at imminent risk of extinction! Among those species listed as being at risk of extinction are the water vole, hedgehog, hazel dormouse, wildcat and the grey long-eared bat.
So, if you thought that things were ticking along just fine – think again.
We can each make a difference individually, but if we come together and pool our resources, we can definitely make a bigger impact.
Ever heard of an ‘eco-village’?
This might conjure up images of hippies with flowers in their hair, dancing round open fires, eating chickpeas and lentils and spouting words of love and peace! However, if that’s what you think an ‘eco village’ is, think again!
Although the hippies of the 60s and 70s may have been onto something when they tried to ensure their lives had less impact on the earth, the actual definition of an eco village (according to the Global Ecovillage Network) is an “intentional or traditional community, using local participatory process to holistically integrate ecological, economic, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability in order to regenerate social and natural environments”.
That’s certainly one way to describe it! I think what they are actually trying to say is that eco villages are communities which strive to make the smallest possible negative impact on the natural environment, by intentional physical design ideas, combined with residents’ behaviour.
What about the neighbours?
A number of like-minded residents in Westcott have come together with some wonderful ideas about how to begin helping Westcott become a more environmentally-friendly place. And it’s not just Westcott that are feeling it – our neighbours in Betchworth have also begun their own plans to rewild parts of their village to encourage pollinators, and other mammals dependent on them, as well as developing other green ideas.
So what can we do?
Firstly, if you are already doing green things in Westcott that we don’t know about, please do get in touch. We would love to pool resources with you and bounce ideas around.
Secondly, if you have been looking for ways to live more sustainably and would like to be involved in making Westcott a greener place, please let us know. We are keen to make this happen and the more of us involved, the more we can change!