National Parks and the National Trust in the uplands

There have been two stories recently in the media regarding the uplands and peat.

National Parks have expressed major concerns about how the changes in funding to farmers is threatening livelihoods and will have a disastrous impact on nature, tourism, water supplies and even climate. These comments follow on from a report published by Exeter University on Hill Farming Systems in South West England: economic viability and the delivery of public good commissioned by Dartmoor & Exmoor National Park Authorities.

If agricultural collapses in the uplands there is a large concern that we will be unable to manage our peatlands which are acting as massive carbon stores and sinks.

Fred Worrall, a leading peat researcher based at Durham University, said the ideal carbon moorland sink is a pristine lawn of sphagnum moss untouched by sheep or cattle or horses. But as areas like Dartmoor have been grazed for thousands of years, such landscapes are very rare.

If sheep or cattle were removed from all upland, Worrall said, perfect moss would not suddenly appear. Instead shrubby vegetation and birch woods would spring up. This has already happened in some parts of Dartmoor. Such vegetation would make the peat dry out – and lose its effectiveness as a carbon sink.

So Worrall says that the grazing of some sheep and cattle is a good thing. But the problem is nobody knows quite how many sheep or cattle would be ideal.

Secondly the National Trust have just celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the acquisition of Hafod y Llan, a 4,000 acres hill farm in Snowdonia, following a hugely successful fundraising appeal.

Iwan Huws Director in Wales for the National Trust said 'The uplands are particularly rich in natural resources and much loved by the public. But the role of hill farms in managing these assets is largely unrecognised. With the right investment, these farms could be rewarded for their important contribution to our wildlife as well as the management of the finite resources such as water and soil, which will benefit us all.'

He continued 'Ten years ago any notion that hill farmers would farm for water or for carbon would have been dismissed as fantasy. But with the pressures of a changing climate and the need to protect and value our natural capital, the future of hill farming will focus on a mixture of food production and providing wider environmental benefits for society.'

Peak oil and Local Authorities

Oil Depletion Analysis Centre and the Post carbon Institute have produced a useful booklet entitled Prearing for Peak oil: local authorities and the energy crisis. It can be download free of charge from here.

The book has been reviewed by Rob Hopkins on the Transition Culture website.

350

350 is a US based campaign to get our CO2 emissions to 350 ppm - the level this campaign feels will ensure a sustainable life on earth.

Read thier website - can you disagree?

We are currently at 387ppm - politicians state that 450 ppm will be OK.

Current global economic policies if unchanged will take us to 800ppm.

Irreversible climate change is likely to occur between 35--450-550 ppm.

The precautionary principle? or Russian Roulette? Its up to us.

Happy 2nd birthday Bovey Climate Action

Congratulations to Bovey Climate Action on their second birthday. Held tonight in the Parish Church this was a well attended do with around 200 people present.

Two prominent speakers gave presentations: Rosie Boycott, (former Editor of the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and the Daily Express), the recently appointed London Food Czar an Somerset farmer and Tim Smit Chief Executive and driving force behind the Eden Project (Heligan gardener, song writer and record producer.

Both gave deeply personal accounts of their commitment to the environment - an evening not to be be missed. It followed on from a very impressive First Birthday Party where Jonathon Porritt and Mark Lynas were guest speakers. Both also sent good luck messages for tonight's celebrations.

BCA has made good progress on a number of fronts: energy, food, transport and engagement - it is a model transition town initiative.

If you live in Bovey Tracey - get involved - if you don't get involved in something local to you.

I work for the National Trust in Bovey Tracey at Parke and we are developing a new partnership project with BCA over the management and community use of the Trust's currently unused Walled Garden. It was really heartening tonight that when it was announced that this partnership had been formalised a spontaneous round of applause rang out around the Church - thanks BCA.

Next year BCA is going to focus its attention on lobbying - particularly the 350 campaign. Get involved and support - lobbying isn't party political - its about our future - so go for it

Methane levels up -but why?

There is a useful information article on the Carbon Commentary web site on rising methane levels.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and recent research has shown that it is rising in concentration in the atmosphere.

Research from Royal Holloway College indicated that methane levels were higher over the Arctic leading to the hypothesis that the rising levels were being caused by rotting biological matter in the tundra arising from melting ice.

However more recent work from MIT has shown that methane levels have rising across the globe and not just in the Arctic.

This is important because methane plays a key role in the climate change models and at the moment we don't know exactly why concentrations are increasing. Lets hope its not the start of the positive feedback loop - rising temperatures melt the tundra which releases methane and the eruption of methane from the deep oceans (the clathrate gun hypothesis)

For more details see here. Methane graph copyright of the NOAA

Save paper - don't press PRINT

Adharanand Finn in today's Guardian gives some tips on saving paper in the office and home - including the useful 'don't press the print button'.

In addition he mentions a computer programme Greenprint which analyses the document you are about to print and eliminates any unwanted or wasted pages.

In addition he champions the use of pdf files - these produce tidy presentable files that can be read on screen without the need to print them out. Abode Acrobat is the market leader obviously, but Cutepdf is a free alternative.

The Oil Crunch

The Oil Crunch is a report just published by 8 of the UK's leading companies (Virgin, Scottish and Southern Energy, Stagecoach, Arup, Foster and partners, Yahoo, First and Solarcentury).

In essence they believe that we face an imminent crisis arising from oil supply in the UK - this might occur as early as 2011. This is a quote from the Executive summary.

Currently, it seems to us, the government places climate change as first priority for policy making, followed by energy security, with peak oil (if it is viewed as a problem at all) in last place. In our view the more serious short-term climate-change impacts – substantial as they will be – will not be the first to wash over our economy. Peak-oil impacts are more likely to arrive first, with 2011-13 being a worryingly early candidate window based on the evidence in Opinion A. The core priorities we think the country faces are the reverse of the government’s current thinking.

This is a serious report with a foreword by Lord Oxburgh, former chair of Shell -

Currently, it seems to us, the government places climate change as first priority for policy making, followed by energy security, with peak oil(if it is viewed as a problem at all) in last place. In our view the more serious short-term climate-change impacts – substantial as they will be – will not be the first to wash over our economy. Peak-oil impacts are more likely to arrive first, with 2011-13 being a worryingly early candidate window based on the evidence in Opinion A. The core priorities we think the country faces are the reverse of the government’s current thinking.

The full report can be downloaded here. A summary from the Arp website can e viewed here and media report is contained in the Guardian.

For me this is one of the most worrying reports I have read - it is not written by environmentalists but by industrialists. They are basically saying that we have ignored the issue of peak oil and in all likelihood the inpacts will be felt in Britain within 5 years - we will be unprepared for the consequences.