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Artists inspired by Scotland’s messages to COP26

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A set of nine artworks depict why the people of Scotland care about the climate and nature emergency. This is part of a climate change campaign that has gathered support from people around Scotland to send a message to leaders attending COP26 in Glasgow.

Climate Scotland has collected over 7,000 voices from across the nation, to show that the people of Scotland want meaningful action to protect the things they love, and create a better future for people everywhere. 

Nine new mural artworks have been created to depict the messages of the people of Scotland gathered so far, and are on display at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens during COP26. 

Ida Henrich with her mural responding to Health and Wellbeing

The UN climate summit COP26 is a major opportunity to re-energise efforts to tackle the climate emergency. 

Through this campaign, everyone in Scotland has the opportunity to show how much they care about the climate and nature emergencies. The messages gathered online have been shared in the COP26 Green Zone and at the Scottish Government space at The Lighthouse, Glasgow.

Individuals visiting the Climate Scotland website are able to add their voice to the campaign by selecting a theme that is most relevant to them or by writing their own reason. The themes cover a broad range of perspectives, which are depicted in the artwork:

  • Flourishing communities 
  • Future generations
  • Greener, fairer livelihoods
  • Wildlife and nature
  • Sustainable food systems 
  • Protecting the world’s resources
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Beautiful places
  • Solidarity with global neighbours.

Ida Henrich, a freelance illustrator and mural artist based in Glasgow, said: 

“Alongside Kaitlin Mechan and Indrė Šimkutė, I am thrilled to have created these artworks for Climate Scotland. I believe that murals start conversations, and chats about topics we care about, often reveal that other people also care. I’m proud of the artworks we have created and can’t wait to share them with the public.” 

Indrė Šimkutė with her artwork that represents ‘Wildlife and Nature’

Over 40 non-profit organisations, including WWF Scotland, RSPB Scotland, Christian Aid Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), have come together to create the Climate Scotland campaign.

Anna Fowlie, chief executive at SCVO, said: 

“Thousands of Scots have spoken out about why climate change matters to them. They recognise that strong action is essential for Scotland’s nature, our health and wellbeing, and for future generations. SCVO is proud to be part of Climate Scotland, showcasing these messages in Glasgow during COP26 and demanding climate justice now.”

Aedán Smith, Head of Policy and Advocacy RSPB Scotland, said:

“1 in 9 species in Scotland is at risk of extinction. We must address this by protecting and restoring nature, increasing access to nature for everyone and making decisions that support nature, our climate and people. The Climate Scotland campaign is a way for people in Scotland to show how much they care about these things.” 

Sally Foster-Fulton, Head of Christian Aid Scotland, said:

“The Climate Scotland campaign is a fantastic opportunity for people in Scotland to show leaders and decision-makers that they care about our global neighbours. We stand together against the climate crisis, raising our voice as one to create lasting change and to ensure that communities are equipped to adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change.”

To add your voice to the campaign, visit climatescotland.org.

Transforming Your Garden into a Frog Paradise.

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(Many thanks to Jennifer Dawson for this guest blog!) 

According to a recent survey, the number of frogs spotted in domestic gardens has fallen by 17% since 2012.  Frogs consume a large amount of insects, in particular mosquitoes, which can transmit illness to humans, and frogs also keep garden pests under control. Frogs (including their eggs and tadpoles) in turn are a source of food to other wildlife, such as birds, beetles and dragonflies – they are an essential animal in our precious ecosystem. Providing a space for frogs in your garden will help them to thrive. With the right planting, and of course a pond or water source, your garden can become a safe haven for frogs. 

Grasses and lawn 

Your lawn may look nice clipped back short, but by leaving your grass longer, it can provide frogs with the perfect place for foraging and shelter. Creating a nature-friendly lawn is easy – don’t mow the grass so often and encourage the wild flowers. It is also extremely important that you don’t use any pesticides or fertilizers that have harmful chemicals in them. Commercial weed killers will kill off the insects and pollinators that are not only essential to the environment, but also provide a valuable food source to frogs. Mixing up several different species of grass seed will help to cultivate a variety of flowers, attracting many different creatures. 

Frog shelters

During the day, frogs stay out of harsh sunlight to avoid becoming dehydrated. At this time they will retreat to the shady and damp areas of your garden. You can help them by creating shelters around your garden for them to hide in. An upturned terracotta flower pot propped open with a stone, makes the perfect frog housing. You could also arrange a pile of stones into a small cave, and cut back the bottoms of any bushes or hedges so that frogs can find shelter underneath. 

Plants and water sources

Frogs don’t drink through their mouths, unlike many animals. Instead they absorb moisture through their skin. This is why it is essential that they have a permanent water source in your garden. A small wildlife pond is always a good option. You could also place several smaller containers of water in the shady areas of your garden for frogs to sit in. Submerged plants in your pond make additional shelter and will attract frogs, The plants also absorb excess phosphorus and nitrogen. Water Violet, Rigid Hornwort and Spiked Water Milfoil are good choices for a garden pond and require little assistance in growing. Marginal plants like Water Mint will provide an access point for frogs to enter the water. 

The number of frogs found in gardens has fallen and will continue to do so if we don’t provide them with suitable habitat. If we want them to survive, we need to help frogs by creating a safe haven for them in our gardens. 

 

Inspired by Nature: Dyke’s Side

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Becca in a pondInspired by Nature is a themed Croak to entertain you with art and creative writing based on nature and the outdoors.  We hope it will stimulate you to get creative and produce something yourself. If you do and would like to share them with us, please post them on our Facebook page, Twitter account, or email us at info@froglife.org

This months feature has been written by Rebecca Neal our Conservation Youth Worker on the Peterborough Green Pathways project, funded by BBC Children in Need.

I love the poet John Clare. Not only does he make my region famous (his home was only a few miles from the Froglife office), but he also wrote a lot about the outdoors. He was inspired by a landscape that still looks similar to what I see on my weekend strolls in the fens.

I came across this fantastic poem by Clare when searching for inspiration for this column. It’s a sonnet, which mean it is written in iambic pentameter (ten syllables with a stress on alternate words: de dum, de dum, de dum, de dum, de dum) and has fourteen lines. It has a non-traditional rhyming scheme for a sonnet whereby pairs of lines rhyme at the end, called “rhyming couplets”. Shakespeare and other famous sonnet writers used a more complex rhyming pattern.

Dyke’s Side

The frog croaks loud and maidens dare not pass

But fear the noisome toad and shun the grass:

And on the sunny banks they dare not go

Where hissing snakes run to the floods below.

The nuthatch noises loud in wood and wild,

Like women turning skreeking to a child.

The schoolboy hears and brushes through the trees

And runs about till drabbled to the knees.

The old hawk winnows round the old crow’s nest:

The schoolboy hears and wonder fills his breast.

He throws his basket down to climb the tree

And wonders what the red blotched eggs can be:

The green woodpecker bounces from the view

And hollos as he buzzes by “kew kew”

John Clare 1793-1864                     © Eric Robinson (2016)

I love the fact that this poem has frogs, toads and snakes in it (perhaps I am biased!), and talks about the interaction between nature and people. This loss of this interaction is what Froglife’s education work is trying to address. Even when the interaction is one of fear, at least there is a connection. I also love the language; noisome is a great word, I am now going to try to use more often in everyday conversations! Here is the definitions of some of the more archaic words:

Drabbled: become wet and dirty by movement through muddy water

Skreeking: a high-pitched screeching noise

Winnow: to fan or beat the air with wings

I was inspired by these words to write a short story for my creative writing evening class with as many strange sounding old words as I could fit in. If you are also inspired by John Clare and want to share what you write, please get in touch.

 

Green Pathways comes to Glasgow!

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We are excited to announce the launch of our Green Pathways project in Glasgow. Thanks to successful funding from Young Start and The Robertson’s Trust, this fantastic new project will offer exciting opportunities for vulnerable young people to enjoy wildlife and be involved in outdoor activities.

YS logo       Robertson Trust logo

Outdoor education is proven to positively influence the behaviour and self-discipline of young people and also enhances emotional development. Contact with nature has also been linked to reduced crime and aggression, and improved community integration and mental health. Green Pathways will use both of these tools to help young people with difficult lives work together to improve their communities and their own futures.

Jenny Leon, our Learning Coordinator at Froglife says:

“I am so pleased we are able to offer this opportunity to Glasgow’s young people. It’s really important that they get the opportunity to have positive experiences in the great outdoors. The benefits are huge to the young people themselves and it also helps us protect local wildlife and habitats- everyone wins!”

Green Pathways will reach out to disadvantaged or vulnerable 10-15 year olds in the Glasgow area – with scope to work to a lesser degree with other ages – who may be exhibiting challenging behaviour, lacking in confidence or could simply benefit from extra help to achieve their full potential. The target audience is wide ranging and could cover, for example, teenagers living in deprived areas, those not in mainstream education or with a difficult home life, young carers or refugees. We will be working with these young people as part of our integrated approach to youth work in the city; we already run a successful Green Pathways project in Peterborough, working with young offenders and people not in employment, education or training.

130205 Chase from Ken Stimpson in a puddle on Hampton NR

Each young person will work with Froglife for 2 hours a week for 6 to 12 weeks on a project that could involve anything from surveying for amphibians to clearing scrub or making a wildlife garden. The scheme will increase the confidence of participants by involving them in the planning and design of their project and encouraging them to work as a team. In conjunction with these longer term projects, Green Pathways will also be offering drop in sessions after school and during the holidays as well as outreach sessions where we will go out to local green spaces and parks, into schools and youth centres to deliver practical or classroom based sessions.

Our new team member and Conservation Youth Worker, Lauren Lochrie says:

“What a fantastic project to be involved in! I have been busy developing local partnerships and educational activities, now I’m keen to start delivering these fun and interactive sessions in order to benefit and enhance the lives of Glasgow’s disadvantaged youths”

The project will be working to improve green spaces for wildlife and people across the city for the next 2 years. If you are interested in getting involved or just want to find out more, please visit www.froglife.org/greenpathways or contact Lauren Lochrie on 0141 339 0737 or lauren.lochrie@froglife.org

 

Bullet points on Young Start

Young Start is a grants programme that distributes money from dormant bank accounts. It aims to create opportunities for children and young people aged between 8 and 24 to help them realise their potential.

The programme is delivered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Vote Froglife!

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130205

We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted in the Octavia Hill Awards 2014 ‘Wild Organisation’ category. It is now down to a public vote to decide the winner. Please show your support for our work with young people by voting here.

The Octavia Hill Awards are organised by the National Trust, the Wild Network and BBC Countryfile Magazine and celebrate people who work to protect and enhance green spaces for wildlife and local communities.

“This year, the Octavia Hill Awards are looking for heroes who have helped children and young adults connect with the outdoors and wildlife – passing on their own experience, enthusiasm and love of nature. We want to celebrate the people who have made a real difference to the youngsters around them – helping to inspire a life-long love of the outdoors and wildlife.

The Wild Organisation award is for a group or organisation, large or small, that have championed the importance of reconnecting children with nature. Voting closes midday Sunday 31st August.” (taken from the Countryfile website)

Why should you vote for us?
Froglife is a conservation organisation whose work is instrumental to the conservation and protection of native amphibians and reptiles. Over its time, the organisation has initiated a whole host of regional and national projects and has been highly successful in its attempts to reconnect children with nature. Most notably, through its Green Pathway project, funded by the BBC Children in Need, Froglife provides young disadvantaged people with opportunities that inspire and empower them to partake in positive wildlife orientated activities. Their work “clearly demonstrates that it is championing the importance of reconnecting children with nature, and moreover they are focusing on those children and young people that wouldn’t normally access these opportunities because of social, cultural or financial barriers”, says a nominator.

For more information about our Learning Projects please click here

We need your vote so please show your support by voting here

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Inspired by Nature: Nonsense Poems

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Inspired by Nature is a themed Croak to entertain you with some of my own and my favourite famous poems written about nature and the outdoors. I hope it will stimulate you to get creative with words and write something yourself. If you do and would like to share them with us, please post them on our facebook page.

Becca, Conservation Youth Worker: Green Pathways Project

 

Nonsense Poems

You’d think these would be easy, but it is more difficult than you might imagine to write utter nonsense.
You all know a nonsense poem; Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussy Cat or even the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle. These are rhyming verse written for children which often use made-up words or are utterly meaningless. It’s a good way to have fun with language that even young children can take part in.
If you have never read Dr Seuss, then please do, no matter how old you are. He is the master of nonsense. It’s not technically nonsense, but his book The Lorax is a brilliant fable on the impact of greed and overexploitation on the environment. I love it.

Write a piece of nonsense and post it on our facebook page!

My Desk: Nonsense but to me
“Lets twist!” said the cheese with a sparkly sneeze,
To the naked clay froad in the road.
“Stop” stared the hawk whilst the starling went “squawk”
And the card underneath was bowed
By a box of hoppers on top of the loppers,
Near to the soft roll of bed,
The abandoned chair and the children of Claire
And the handsome lieutenant I’d wed.

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