Wild About Lympstone (WAL) ‘Stronger Together’ evening for environmental action, 30th January. We had a wonderful turn out for this event at the village hall community room. 13 groups came together from the village, all of whom work in some way to celebrate, protect and enhance our local natural environmental and wildlife. Devon Wild Trust (DWT), Lympstone Parish Council (LPC) and a few WAL friends were also there to support us. The evening was about acknowledging and celebrating the efforts and achievements of these amazing groups. It also provided a great opportunity to get to know each other better and explore our interest and energy around ‘Stronger Together’ – working more collaboratively together to look after Lympstone’s local natural environment and wildlife. Community togetherness feels especially important at this time as we face increasing threats to our natural environment.
The evening kick started with a few talks from WAL, LPC and DWT that reflected on the power of Hope. The Hope that comes from joined up thinking and the creation of one voice for action, leading to greater, longer lasting impact. And the Hope that comes from community cohesion, strength and resilience. There was a theme of interconnectedness and responsibility, knowing that we all impact the natural ecosystems on which we depend for clean air, water, healthy soils, food, flood resilience and health and wellbeing. Susie Culhane, Lead Councillor for Environment and Joint Lead Councillor for Planning at Lympstone Parish Council, thanked and encouraged the groups and reassured us that the Council is ‘committed to safeguarding as much green space as possible, despite Government directives, for future generations to enjoy, and to the nature, wildlife and ecological network of the Parish”
There was a wonderful buzz in the room as the groups mingled. New conversations were sparked as people connected and shared information and ideas. Participant feedback captured rich ideas around our potential common vision and goals. These ranged from creating Mini Forests, wildlife corridors and local wetland sites, to setting up a village hub of expertise and knowledge for ‘nature consultancy’ and coordinating responses to developments, to greater community veg growing and wildlife friendly gardening, linking human health and wellbeing work and boosting Lympstone’s biodiversity by being more pro- active and around sites for Biodiversity Net Gain and creating a parish biodiversity baseline to better support monitoring and impact. Enthusiasm was high, reflected in statements such as ‘Lympstone has the potential to be a shining example of community strength and a thriving nature and natural landscape. Lympstone can lead the way on the Exe’. Katie Wilkinson, Wilder Communities Team Leader at Devon Wildlife Trust, told us “it was wonderful to see such a diverse range of groups and organisations coming together to think about a future for Lympstone where people and nature can thrive. There was a real buzz in the room and I look forward to seeing what happens next in this community’’.
So what’s next? Once collated, we will share the full feedback more widely with the whole community so everyone has a chance to comment. We’ll then start to think about how we might take forward some of these ideas together. We expect some of this will feed into the community environmental action day we’re facilitating, taking place in the church and front meadow – Saturday 17th May – a date for your diaries! This day will involve another Allotment Group-led Plant Giveaway event, based on last year’s great success, supported by a variety of other nature-based talks, walks, displays and hands-on activities around nature, health and wellbeing, wildlife surveys, water quality, swifts, nature-art, enhancing village green spaces for wildlife. More details to follow, but please get in touch if you’d like to know more or get involved in some way.
WAL email: wildaboutlympstone@gmail.com
Website: https://www.lympstone.org/clubssocities/wild-about-lympstone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildAboutLympstone
