Make It Wild

A lovely way to start a Monday - Make It Wild is featuring as Business of the Week on Jorvik Radio Christopher and I enjoyed a wide ranging discussion with Nick Love during his ‘Love in the Morning’ show. (Spot the ‘tache - yes, it’s Movember! ) How’s your Monday going?

Food for the soul Food for the mind Food for the body Nature connection Community Education The group on our mushroom forage yesterday couldn’t have really asked for more! It was a truly awesome session! #foraging #natureconnection

Memorial Woodland. I visited four of our sites on Thursday. This is one of the most special. This is our Memorial Woodland in Nidderdale. Here the trees are planted with the cremation ashes of a loved one. We have almost sixty individual, meaningful, significant trees here. Each bringing new life from one that was lost. The families have unlimited access to this lovely place, and enjoy the peace and gorgeous views. It may not be our wildest or most biodiverse place, but it holds deep emotions, and rich re-connection with nature for the families who choose it as a final resting place.

Carbon Capture Here’s something amazing that will capture atmospheric carbon dioxide It will also: 💚 produce oxygen 💚 support biodiversity 💚 stabilise soil 💚 reduce flooding 💚 create a local microclimate 💚 provide habitat, food, shelter 💚 create shade and cool 💚 contribute to the water cycle 💚 give us a thing of beauty This is a veteran oak tree, at our Chopgate Woodpasture. It’s in Bilsdale, in the North York Moors. #trees

Last chance this year! Our final guided tour of 2024 is on the morning of Tuesday 8th October. Join us for a couple of hours immersed in nature at our glorious Bank Woods near Harrogate. You’ll meet: 🍁our founders Helen and Christopher 🍁Partnership manager John Burgess 🍁our Exmoor Ponies (if you’re lucky) You’ll see: 🍁our stunning ancient woodland 🍁many 350 year old trees 🍁our gorgeous calves 🍁mushrooms!! You’ll hear about: 🍁how we can help your business 🍁the terrible lack of wolves in Yorkshire 🍁why we have cows, not sheep You’ll taste: 🍁the freshest foraged herb You’ll feel: 🍁thoroughly refreshed 🍁renewed wonder for nature Contact John Burgess to attend - or see link in comments.

🌱 Nearly eight million trees have been planted for the #NorthernForest so far. 🌳The project began in 2018 when we joined with The Mersey Forest, City of Trees, Humber Forest and White Rose Forest with a vision to plant 50 million trees in an area with just 7.6% tree cover. 🏡 The Northern Forest has locked up thousands of tonnes of carbon, established habitats for wildlife, and provided access to nature to 300,000 households. 💪 But there is still much to do. It's now vital that the Government continues to back the project. 👉 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3zdpJQ8 Community Forest Trust

It’s not too late! There’s still time for a free guided tour around our stunning ancient woodland and fascinating rewilding project, before winter sets in. You’ll meet the founders and we’ll explain about our work and how we can support yours. You might meet one of our gorgeous Exmoor ponies or Belted Galloway cows (with their super-cute calves) Spaces available: This Thursday morning, 12th Sep Tuesday morning, 8th Oct After that, you won’t have a chance until April 2025…. Link to book your space in the comments. And if you don’t fancy that … just for fun … what are these ponies saying to each other? Christopher Neave John Burgess Lydia Frost

Do I miss .... driving into the consultants' car park? ... popping on the train to London to chair a high level panel? ... making decisions which will impact surgical education across the UK? ... presenting my research to lecture theatre full of academics? Not really. Supporting nature feels like coming home. Being greeted at Bank Woods most mornings by this gorgeous hare helps that feeling.

Nature is awesome! And the feeling of awe is good for us! When we experience awe, 💚 our levels of dopamine, a ‘feel-good’ hormone rise! 💚 our levels of cortisol, a stress hormone fall! This not only makes us feel better, but it’s good for our health. Here’s a truly awesome fact about nature that Christopher Neave and I learnt last night, at the Beguiling Bat experience Make It Wild hosted: Bats navigate by echo-location, and specifically use it to locate their prey, which is usually insects and moths… … and here’s the awesome fact … Some moths have evolved a defence mechanism of ‘jamming’ bats’ echolocation by emitting their own bursts of ultrasound. How awesome is that?! The photo shows a common pipistrelle, one of the bats we encountered last night. Thank you to David Watkins, bat expert, for the fact, the photo, and the fantastic experience last night. We have a programme of events and activities which will bring you closer to the awesomeness of nature! Link in comments.