outdoors – Georgia Locock

My worry, my future, but not my choice

Posted on June 26, 2016June 26, 2016 by Georgia Locock

My future has been decided but by a seven month gap, I had no say. I had no say on what my future would hold regarding the direction the country I live in will go, and what that will mean and result in.

Above everything the thing I feel the most passionate and now worried about is our natural environment. Everyday I observe it, record it, enjoy it and it brings me such happiness. Going out onto my patch and exploring what’s about; swifts flying high, chiffchaffs singing, buzzards squawking overhead, badgers tumbling over and sneaking over fields at the dead of night. Campaigning and doing whatever I can to give those species that are on the brink or entangled into the poor decisions and disregard of humans; from hen harriers and turtle doves to badgers and foxes. Trying to spread why our natural world is so wonderful and what we can do to help it has just got harder. Harder in a way that we’ve put 70% of UK environmental safeguards at risk, but we need to make sure this isn’t lost. In a world where nature is not a top priority, this is going to be beyond tough but vital for the future of everything simple in our country which brings us life everyday.

The combination of shock and worry makes this post difficult to write, and I really didn’t think I’d have too. Yet again I was too ignorant to think that as a country we’d vote for a future, and one with peace in mind. No longer are we a continent of unity, which I believe being a member of the EU represented. By the looks of things, we will no longer be a country of unity either as the results have split us a part. When I woke up yesterday morning, I felt numb from the shock. So much so I had to check if Friday had actually happened, it didn’t feel realistic. Fortunately this morning I seem to have come to terms with the matter but still terribly unsure of whats happened. A reason why I feel ‘better’ this morning was after yesterday and the satisfaction I got from speaking my thoughts a loud, effectively getting it off my chest.

It was the launch of National Badger Week at Lush, Oxford Street and I was very privileged to go along and talk. After what had happened in the last 48 hours it wasn’t just badgers I was going to talk about. Regarding the results I spoke about what this could mean for nature as well as the voice of young people. I further discussed this with Dominic Dyer and MP Kerry McCarthy. Both were unsure of what’s to come, and that at the moment there are no answers. Two interesting points were that farmers have lost 65% of there subsides, which came from the EU, meaning due to the extortionate costs of the badger cull it could be put off this year. Not that’s any reason for us to have voted leave as food prices are likely to go up and this will only be short term, but in the mean time it gives us an opportunity to fight against the cull. The point was also made about the high percentage of young people who voted to remain. Obviously when they voted they were looking to the future; their future jobs, future economy, what their country will look like in the future which I believe included the environment. More precisely issues which are growing in awareness such as climate change. Something we need to work together on small and large scales to tackle, and if nothing is done soon enough it will catch up with us in the future. Instead, older populations decided our future.

Based on what has happened already since the results, the uncertainty, and shock, I have never felt so worried. On Friday morning I felt ashamed and embarrassed to be English. Embarrassed by what our neighbours must think and ashamed because of what we’ve lost. We all worry in life; for myself that may be if I’m going to get some homework in on time, whether I’m going to have time to go and put my trail camera at my local badgers sett later, or whether I’ve got the grades I need to get into the University I want and later a job. However I’ve never felt so worried, this decision effects all this and the thing I care about above everything; nature. I know I’m being very bleak at the moment and (I hope) I’m exaggerating what the situation may be. Of course I don’t want a bad outcome for my country. The uncertainty is making it a lot worse though, I feel physically and emotionally exhausted – what’s to come? After all that blabber from the Leave campaign saying we’ll ‘take back control’, well it feels as-though we have no control now.

We had backing and support from the EU, including in relation to the natural world. From nature directives and environmental laws to a community that could work together to fight climate change and work for progress. We’re out on the other side now though and unfortunately it looks bleak. However bad it looks though and perhaps how bad it’s going to get, then the stronger we have to fight and collaborate for the sake of our natural heritage. That’s what I’m going to do, for the sake of wildlife do whatever I can and more. Making sure that its protection continues but also progresses, through increasing species numbers, richer habitats and for it to be safe to thrive and future generations to enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2015December 24, 2015 by Georgia Locock

It would be rude of me to miss wishing all my wonderful followers a Merry Christmas!

It’s been a really exciting year with lots going on, some more positive than other. On Christmas Eve and Day last year I decided to go, as I normally would, for a walk on one of my local patches for an hour or so. I don’t think it’s something everyone would consider as it’s that idea of staying at home with family, food, presents etc on the big days. But going for a walk was a great way to escape from the hustle and bustle. As well as this, it was so quiet. Hardly a soul about.

Thinking about it, nature is a big part of Christmas time. The robins on our Christmas cards, the trees in our homes, the evergreen wreaths of ivy and holly, how we rely on the weather to bring us that Christmas spirit and also most of the verses in The Twelve Days of Christmas; partridges, turtle doves, calling birds and swimming swans.

I’m really looking forward to 2016 after meeting so many brilliant people this year who have inspired me, given me superb opportunities, advice and so much more.

Merry Christmas and, if I don’t get the chance to do a blog before, Happy New Year!

Thanks Mr Gibb but nature is important

Posted on August 27, 2015November 2, 2015 by Georgia Locock

I’m a strong believer that outdoor education, actually being taught outside and learning about the natural world around, needs to be something that’s taught in every school. Throughout the whole of my education nature is something that I was never really taught about in school. Thinking back to primary school, I’m trying to remember what we did which was wildlife related. I’m really struggling to think of anything. I mean we went on days away, one trip was five days up to the Lake District and we went out walking a few of the days but I don’t remember much a part from some sight-seeing. One thing I do remember from primary school though was that I felt like my interest was not encouraged. Thinking back, it wasn’t that bad but at the time I was only about eight or nine. What I remember is going to York for a day trip and the Headmaster had said ‘Has anyone been to Yorkshire before?’ and the weekend before I’d been to Bempton Cliffs so I shot my hand straight up and told him a bit about it. His reply was a mutter and that was about it really.

In primary school I was known to be a bit mad and everyone seemed to think I knew everything about wildlife, this was obviously because they knew not much at all. I remember the teacher visiting a website on the big board in front of where we all sat and the banner of the site displayed a lake with a large bird of prey. The teacher asked me if I knew what it was, I replied with stating it was an osprey and everyone seemed amazed.

These are just a few of my own memories. I also decided to ask my brother what he remembers, he’s two years younger, and he told me that the only nature based thing he remembers was dissecting pellets the one time. That was it.

There’s two reasons why I’m doubting my old primary school, well the curriculum in general, for the lack of nature themed lessons. In a world like today when we’re distracted by new incredibilities like gadgets, we all need to be aware of what is the truest to us all. What we all come from and what, without, we wouldn’t be here. Also, with the huge plummet of species, rise in climate change, more consumption etc, we need to understand what we can do to help and the fact we need more people then ever coming through to help in these situations.

As I mention, with more and more distractions about like gadgets and parents not always pushing their children to go outside. Whether that be because it’s easier to give them a phone, they think it’s too dangerous with the scare of the media nowadays or they just don’t think of that as an option. This reconnection needs to happen somewhere.

There are still parents who encourage their children, like families going out for afternoon walks, but still there’s that danger stigma or the fact times have moved on. Yes, that’s right, obviously times have moved on but we still rely on the natural world.

There’s also fantastic organisations and charities, whether national or independent, that open their doors to children for weekly or school holiday wildplay events. I’m a leader of a Wildlife Watch group at the National Memorial Arboretum and once a month we have sessions where we’ll do a range of activities. As much as it’s great for those kids that do turn up, sadly it’s the same kids every month. No matter how much advertising it’s not very often we get a different face.

Could this be the case with some other groups like this? Are these the kids with parents who do encourage them? My point is, not every child is fortunate enough to join groups like this and get encouragement this way. Whether their parents don’t have time to take them, they don’t find out or they don’t see much of a point. These are some of the exact reasons why I think more needs to be done in schools so EVERY child is given the opportunity too.

An example that made me realise this was from some of the outdoor education things I have done in schools. A project, that I’m very involved with, approached a local school and they were interested. We normally spend a day or the afternoon rotating around the classes. When I was speaking to a group of children the other week at an afternoon event, one lad was telling me how much he enjoyed it all and that he’d never done it before. This also backs up that every child has that connection there and love for nature, but are they exposed to it and are they aloud to let this flourish?

By saying ‘education’, it can sometimes make it seem like it’s made really serious and perhaps boring. Obviously this isn’t something that should be happening and I think actually getting outdoors could take this away and have many more benefits. By the getting outside part, it does make you remember as it’s hands on and practical. I was speaking to someone just a few days ago and they said when they think back to school, one thing they remember is going pond dipping. This was interesting seen as they’re probably about mid-60s and have had a life long career in conservation. It’s that sort of stuff that inspires people. But a one off outdoor lesson or a one off module learning about the food chain in Year 2 isn’t something that entices the child even more. With regular lessons they are given time to develop, learn more and see other opportunities. Perhaps nag their own parents and go along to groups and sessions.

I could go on about this subject all day long, it’s something I’m passionate about. Young people are the future and from a first hand experience of being surrounded by people my age who have no interest it’s very worrying. I feel as though they’ll just be a bunch of us in about 30 years time fighting against everything, especially with declines, extinctions, climate change and problems like this ever getting worse and worse. They don’t listen now so what makes sure they’ll listen in the future when there may well be even less people speaking out.

Obviously it isn’t all doom and gloom. Sometimes people in power do realise, let’s hope it’s not before it’s too late, but more importantly there are some great young people out there fighting for the cause of the natural world. There’s also some great communities and support out there too.

I’ve gone on a lot more then I wanted to now. The purpose of writing this blog was to share that I’d had another reply re my idea and thoughts on outdoor education in schools. A few months back I decided to meet with my MP, Michael Fabricant. He told me to write down all my points and thoughts then to send them to him and he’d forward them onto the Minister of State for Schools, Nick Gibb. After finally summing it all up into less then about five pages, I sent it off and got a reply today.

Before I got really involved and before meeting my MP etc, I decided to do a bit of research into what is actually on the curriculum today. However my reply proves there wasn’t much point as this is basically what Nick Gibb has stated in his letter.

In the first paragraph he agrees with my point ‘about the importance of outdoor education’. He then goes onto say that the new National Curriculum provides the ‘opportunity to acquire a core of essential knowledge in key subjects’. My first thought to that was nature is a key subject but he points out that nature and interaction outside the classroom is only included. He states that this is ‘across the curriculum, in particular, in geography and science which aim for children to learn about the natural world’. He has a good point there, it is included but this is against what I said in the first place. Lessons like this aren’t regular. They’re topic based and it varies from year to year throughout school. As I mention before, throughout my primary school experience I remember science lessons but not many about nature at all.

In my letter to him I also state that declines in recent years are scary and the low figures that show young people aren’t connected match this. More nature education in school could help reverse the amount of children not connected for obvious reasons but he does not mention this in his reply. A part from what’s happening at the moment. The new curriculum, from last September, is very similar to the one before.

So, I’m sorry Mr Gibb but your reply only states what the curriculum states at the moment. Nature is more important. It’s the same as any other subject. Take History. We’ll always have that ability to look into the past with professions like Historians and evidence. The past never goes but if we don’t encourage primary school children (the next generation) to explore, enjoy and look after their natural surroundings then they’ll be no future for it. Whether that be people doing there bit as an individual or people going into the profession of conservation, natural science etc. It’s disappearing before our eyes now, we can’t let this carry on.

I plan to write back to him within the next week.

‘For the Love of’ rally

Posted on June 20, 2015June 20, 2015 by Georgia Locock

Climate change affects every single one of us, no exceptions. Whether you live in a suburban estate in the UK, a slum in Cape Town, or a village in the Himalayas climate change will affect you in different ways. That could be the things you enjoy like sport or being out surrounded by nature or the food we eat and places we live. It really is a world wide problem and one none of us can ignore.

We can’t afford to turn a blind eye to climate change any more, we’re heading to complete destruction of our planet due to problems like climate change. Fortunately though it’s not too late and there is a possibility that we can start to reverse this ongoing.

What is climate change?

Above I’ve spoke about how it affects everyone but what actually is it? Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns or average temperatures. Due to this climate patterns change it means more extreme and unpredictable weather across the world. Since the last ice age, which ended about 11,000 years ago, Earth’s climate has been relatively stable at about 14 °C. However, in recent years, the average temperature has been increasing. Seven main sources of evidence for climate change include the rising of temperature, changes of rainfall, changes in nature, rising sea levels, retreating glaciers, decline of sea ice and the shrinking of ice sheets.

In the past century the planet has warmed by an average of nearly 1°C. This may not sound a lot but on a global scale this is a huge increase and it’s creating big problems for both people and wildlife.

What are the causes of climate change?

There are many causes of climate change. Some are things we all do and some are things which happen on a world wide scale. First of all, burning fossil fuels. Burning any carbon based fuel converts carbon to carbon dioxide. Unless it is captured and stored, this carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon that was removed from the atmosphere millions of years ago by animals and plants. Another example of a cause of climate change is the breeding of cattle and deforestation. Industrialised nations have been breeding vast numbers of methane producing life stock and cutting down the forests that naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The trapped carbon dioxide results in trapping more of the suns heat. By doing this it is raising the global temperature. The speed of this change has happened faster then any natural process therefore faster then any natural system can adapt.

Years ago, before any type of modern human activity, carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere. Some people may say why wasn’t climate change happening then? This is because we’ve produced more greenhouse gases over the past century and at the same time we’ve been destroying things, like forests, which would naturally take the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Due to this offset of balance CO₂ levels are rising.

Why is Carbon Dioxide a problem?

Carbon dioxide is one of a number of gases that are transparent to the visible light falling on the Earth from the Sun but it absorbs heat emitted by the warm surface of the Earth. During geological history of the Earth the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has varied considerably and this has had an impact on the global temperature. All of the global ecosystems and species have adapted to a lower level of atmospheric carbon dioxide and critically, human civilisation has also grown since that period. Since the industrial revolution humans have been burning sequestered carbon dioxide in the form of coal, oil and natural gas which has the result of releasing energy but also carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Other greenhouse gases include methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour.

Impacts of climate change

As I mentioned before, climate change affects everyone so it has a lot of impacts. It impacts humans as well as animals. The climate plays a major part in our planet’s environmental system, even minor changes have impacts that are large and complex. Climate change isn’t something that’s recently been discovered or something that’s happened over night, scientists were first alerted about the dangers of it 30 years ago. It isn’t something that’s cheap either, the insurance industries estimate the impact of global warming is costing hundreds of billions of pounds each year.

Water – As you will know lakes and rivers supply drinking water for people and animals. As well as this it’s vital for agriculture and industry. Our oceans and seas provide food and supplies for billions of people. Unfortunately climate change is and will have more mayor and unpredictable affects on the worlds water systems which includes an increase in droughts and floods. This impact of droughts and flooding will become more common, causing many problems. Also less fresh water means less agriculture, food and income.

Food and agriculture – Agriculture is highly dependent on specific climate conditions. Increases in temperature and carbon dioxide levels can be beneficial for some crops in some places whereas changes in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods could pose challenges for farmers. Climate change will have a significant impact on food availability and food accessibility in many parts of the world. It poses a significant risk of increased crop failure, loss of livestock and will have an impact on food security. This will affect human livelihood and health, also natural plants which grow could also be affected by the changes in climate. These plants may be a main food source for many species.

Forests – Forests do everything for us. They purify the air, improve water quality, keep soils intact, provide us with food, wood products and medicines, as well as being home to many wildlife species. It is estimated that 1.6 billion people worldwide depend on forests for their livelihoods, including 60 million people who rely on them for their substances. As well as this they also help protect the planet from climate change by absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide. However they’re being destroyed and damaged at an alarming rate by logging and burning to clear land for agriculture and livestock. These activities are releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This problem is so bad that scientists predict 20 percent of global carbon emissions come from deforestation. This is greater then every car, truck and plane emission on the planet combined.

Wildlife – Ecosystems are made up of very delicate balances that can easily be interfered with or destroyed. This balance is more delicate at different parts of the world where climates are different, e.g. the Artic has very delicate balances. When something changes everything can collapse and species can decline. This is one main reason why wildlife is declining due to climate change. There are many different ecological impacts which include change in habitats, shifts in timings, range shifts, spreading of pests and diseases, and many more. Species are adapting to temperature rises by increasingly shifting their range towards the cooler poles or higher altitudes. Species that already inhabit the upper limit of their habitat, like polar bears, snow leopards and dotterels, literally have nowhere else to go. Other species include the British comma butterfly which has moved 137 miles northward in the past two decades along with the dartford warbler that has been steadily moving northward in the UK. Seasonal shifts are another impact, examples include migratory birds like whitethroat, reed warbler and song thrush which are arriving earlier and species like the edible dormouse have been emerging from hibernation earlier by an average of eight days per a decade. Species are also being squeezed out. For example the mountain pygmy possum of Australia is being affected by the warmer winters, emerging from hibernation before its prey, the bogong moth, and often starving to death.

What’s next for the planet?

Here we can go one way or another. We can turn a blind eye to it all and carry on how we are or we can actually take action and take notice. The right way to go is to not ignore it as by doing that we will dig ourselves into a bigger hole and there will be no going back. In some parts of the world it is being taken seriously.

If we do decide to carry on the way we’re going temperatures could carry on rising and we would carry on destroying our only planet. A rise of just 2 degrees would mean severe storms and floods, droughts, seas becoming becoming more acidic, coral and krill dying, food chains destroyed, little or no Artic sea ice in Summer which would not only be bad news for the species there but it would also mean that the global climate would warm faster. Beyond 2 degrees and we could start to see rainforests dying, increased melting of the ancient ice sheets, dramatic sea levels rising, all resulting in people and animals suffering along the way.

Scientists predict that if we don’t act now in the next century temperatures could rise up to 6 degrees.

Whilst doing a bit of research into climate change and Wednesdays rally I found this WWF questionnaire which works out your carbon footprint. I’m a ashamed to say that my result said that if everyone lived like me we’d need 2.3 planets. Now I would of expected it to be a lot lower than this as I do try and do as much as I can. I’m vegan, so don’t eat any animal products, I’ve never travelled anywhere by plane, I tend to use public transport or walk a lot more than just asking my parents for a lift and also I like to think I do my part by making sure I turn lights off etc. To me this shows that even when you do your bit and what you can it is still very difficult. Therefore it’s very important that we lobby, put our point across and try our hardest to show that something needs to be done all around the world to help stop climate change and reduce our Footprint.

‘For the Love of’ rally

When you read and hear about the risk and dangers of climate change, in my opinion, you can’t help but feel helpless. A few weeks back I heard about a rally that would be taking part in London where you could lobby MPs. I’ve been on a few rally/protest things recently and I really enjoy going on them therefore I decided to go along. Not only did I go because I enjoy going to things like this but because I wanted to speak up about climate change. The aim of the rally was for different people who are affected by climate change in different ways to get together and speak up.

Instead of going down on the train like I normally do to events like this, I managed to get myself a seat on a coach. This was much different to going on the train and on the way it was really great to speak to other like-minded people about climate change and their different takes on it. For example, even though I stick up for all impacts of climate change my main one is to do with the natural world. Others on the coach had different takes again so it was really interesting to share arguments and thoughts.

The coach ride was much more enjoyable then going on the train too as when we stopped off at the Oxford service station, on the M40, there was a red kite flying right above my head! I’ve seen red kites lots of times but never that close so it was pretty amazing! When we got on our way again I saw at least another 6 kites down the M40 which was very exciting and really brightened the journey.

Once in London I had a walk around where all the different things were going on before going to find where my constituency was. The event was held around Westminster, after all this is where the MPs are. Throughout the day there was different things going on at different places but unfortunately I didn’t have time to go to all of these as I was waiting around for my MP for a while. All constituencies were lined up along the Millbank, over the bridge and down the other side opposite Parliament. When I arrived at where my constituency was I met two others from Lichfield who were trying to get hold of the MP for Lichfield, Michael Fabricant. We’d all emailed him as the event approached but he never got back to us. It had said on the website he was coming but not what time. In the end we managed to get hold of his secretary and I sent him a few tweets but we were told he was ‘too busy’. By this point there was a few of us from Lichfield which was really great and I had a good chat with all of them. I also spent a few hours talking to people from constituencies close to Lichfield who were all like-minded people and it was great to share our thoughts and feelings on climate change. By speaking to all these people it really gave me a feel of how passionate people feel about it and how it really does affect everyone. It was also great to meet and have a chat with AFON Creative Director, Lucy McRobert.

As well as this there were lots of people there from different religions. I’m not a religious person but again it was really interesting to hear their different takes and what they think needs to be done. Two main religious organisations which attended the event were CAFOD and Christian Aid. Along with lots of other organisations including the Wildlife Trust, RSPB, WWF, Oxfam, Greenpeace, WI and many more.

The theme of the day was to make bunting which I spent all day Tuesday doing. I was very pleased with my bunting and I held it up high during the rally. The rally took place at 4.30. The main ‘stage’,which was an open top double decker bus, was along the Millbank then the crowds of people went all the way down to the Houses of Parliament. The rally was hosted by Arthur Smith and there was a variety of guests. From sportsmen who spoke about how they were affected to young children, farmers, gardeners and many more. There was also three people who spoke from different religious organisations. After a fantastic line up of great and inspiration speakers the rally was finished off perfectly with the band Stornoway playing two of their songs.

One thing Wednesday showed me was how climate change links to everything and it really is a massive problem that needs to be dealt with. However what worries me is are some of the most powerful people in the world actually going to take it seriously. For example my local MP was ‘too busy’ to meet me, I’m not sure why but how can he be too busy to chat and hear opinions from his constituents one of the worlds biggest problems? Maybe not in there life time or my life time we will see profound affects of climate change but we are seeing definite affects of climate change now and if we don’t act now then it will be too late. Some only care about their life time and not the life of those that are yet to be born or the species which are yet to become extinct.

Also one negative point from the day was the lack of media reports as sadly I saw nothing about it on the news. With so many people attending and caring about such a big issue this should have been compulsory.

Here’s a link to the ‘For the Love of’ and the Climate Coalition websites where you can find out more and what you can do.

http://fortheloveof.org.uk/speakup/

http://www.theclimatecoalition.org/

It was a really superb day and I was really pleased to be a part of it. Overall 9,000 people attended and 330 MPs came out and spoke to constituents. Let’s hope some of those MPs took note and take action!

It’s vital we stop destroying this amazing planet.