2023 Archive

Below are notes from a selection of the talks, that could be of relevance for Eco Churches to know about and possibly engage with.

Butterfly Conservation

Mike Slater and Keith Warmington have written a book ‘Conserving Butterflies – the Warwickshire Approach’. This might be useful to anyone planning to manage land for Butterflies.

Insects of Abbey Fields, Kenilworth

Steven Falk spoke about the Insect Survey that he did in Abbey Fields during 2021. 

Warwickshire Bat Group

They have bat detectors that are put in place for 7-10 days. This has helped to identify some interesting bats. They would be interested in hearing from anyone who lives in north or south east Warwickshire who would be willing to allow one of these trackers in their home or other premise. Website - https://www.warksbats.co.uk/aboutus/home.aspx

Warwickshire Mammal Group

Interested in any owl pellets that people can collect. Send to them with a grid reference of where it is found. 

• Email: warksmammalgroup@gmail.com
• Website: https://warksmammalgroup.wixsite.com/warks-mammal-group

Foundry Wood in Leamington Spa

They have obtained a 15 lease on some extra land which is old sidings. The area is not open to the public for free access in order not to disturb the wildlife, but can be visited on open days etc.

Warwickshire Fungus group

Now have a website. A series of field meetings take place, mainly in the autumn and winter on Sunday mornings. Beginners are welcome.

Bird recording

Please use the Birdtrack app to record birds.

City Nature Challenge

From Friday 28th April – Monday 1st May, Coventry took part in City Nature Challenge, inviting everyone to share their wildlife sightings from windows, gardens, local parks, city streets - wherever you were in the country, all data collected contributed towards conservation and monitoring efforts both in your local area and on a national-scale.

You did not have to be an expert or even know the name of the species you’ve seen to take part! You cpould simply download the free iNaturalist app, take a photo of the nature you find, upload and share. The app helps you identify what you’ve found, and a community of wildlife experts will work together to confirm the exact species.

It’s more important than ever that we know what wildlife is living in the UK and where it is located – and what species are missing from the map. By recording nature sightings in your neighbourhood during the City Nature Challenge, you could provide important data to help tackle the ecological emergency that is threatening species across the UK.

City Nature Challenge Coventry was organised by a collaboration of groups who care about recording nature, from the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Warwick and Coventry University, The City Council Parks and Ecology teams, and the Canal and River Trust. We’re also working closely with Warwickshire Biological Records Centre who are leading the  Warwickshire and Solihull City Nature Challenge!

Take part in our events

For an up to date list of our events please check out our iNaturalist website blog. You can also sign up to our iNaturalist project page for updates.

School strike for the Climate

Why was Greta Thunberg, a Swedish school girl, on strike about Climate Change? See her TED talk.

Churches Count on Nature

For Churches Count on Nature 2023, visit https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/love-your-burial-ground-week/.

For information about what happened in CCoN, look at the following:

• Information page https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/love-your-burial-ground-week/
• Events that took place in Warwickshire, see  https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/submissioncounty/warwickshire/ and in Coventry, at Stoke St Michael's and St Laurence's, see https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/submissioncounty/west-midlands/
• FAQs: https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/love-your-burial-ground-week/churches-count-on-nature-faqs/
• Resources: https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/resources-for-love-your-burial-ground-churches-count-on-nature-week/
• Press release: Parishes prepare for mass ‘citizen science’ biodiversity events after huge success of last year’s Churches Count on Nature | The Church of England
• Come to the CofE webinars, "'Knowing your ant from your elder' Why and how to record during Churches Count on Nature". Recordings of these and other 2022 webinars, together with the CCoN 2021 webinars can be found at: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/webinars-land-and-nature-churches-count-nature

Eco Church News

A Rocha UK held a webinar on Tuesday 21st November to celebrate its Big Green Week. Visit the Big Green Week site to find out more about this, to view the webinar and to celebrate the progress of Eco Church.

The Diocesan Environment Group held two Eco Church Evenings, on Thursday 19th October at St Margaret's Wolston and on Tuesday 7th November at Claverdon Church Centre. Each evening had different talks on the Eco Church categories and opportunities to network with other local Eco Church enthusiasts. Both meetings were well attended and popular. The DEG thank our hosts at Wolston and Claverdon for their kind hospitality. We are planning similar events in September 2024; watch this space!

Eco Church reports: "Last autumn marked a significant milestone for Eco Church as we celebrated the achievement of 2,000 awarded churches since the program’s launch in 2016. Just one year on, we have now surpassed 3,000 awarded churches!" For more information see this link. The Diocese of Coventry currently has 101 churches registered. However, 45 have not yet achieved a Bronze Award; this is relatively easy to achieve. If you need advice and encouragement so contact the Diocesan Environment Officer. 

Green Energy

Thousands of churches have switched to Parish Buying. Has your church switched to a cheaper and 100% green energy supplier yet? Check out Parish Buying. For news about The Big Energy Switch, click on our Get Involved page.

Other News

New Housing Developments

With a number of new developments springing up in the Diocese, let's make sure that these are built for the benefit of those who live there, both people and wildlife. Read Warwickshire Wildlife's advice on the planning process.