4 minute read
Next generation
Suffolk Wildlife Trust wants young people to have a say about how the environment can be protected, feel empowered to make a difference, be involved in important decision making and governance, and help with our ongoing commitment to a more diverse and inclusive culture at Suffolk Wildlife Trust. So, in 2021, our Youth Board was formed. We reached out to young people across the county and are delighted to have recruited nine members. Each has a unique vision for a Wilder Suffolk, but they are united in shaping our future nature. Here are their visions for Suffolk’s wildlife. By LUCY SHEPHERD
Team Wilder
Lucy is Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Wild Learning Officer in Ipswich.
DOMINIC 16
Let’s reclaim grey land for new housing rather than developing green sites. We need more affordable housing that’s carbon neutral after completion and accessible by public transport. Designs should include cycle lanes, wildlife corridors and work around mature trees and hedgerows. When houses are built, more trees should be planted, and scrapes and ponds created. Campaigns can show people the valuable work the Wildlife Trusts do for our local environment, which will encourage others to get involved or change the way they live. CHARLIE 10
ANELIE 13
Create protected areas where insects have somewhere to be safe and encourage farmers to plant hedgerows. We can show local people little things they can do that help a lot and assist in supporting bigger communities as one.
team wilder Meet our young wildlife heroes
ROWAN 19
When I look for a future vision I look to the past, whether this is historic bird surveys, old maps or even descriptions from books and poetry, to give an indication of the potential. Suffolk must be wilder and I would like to improve upon this historical standard.
All of the citizens of Suffolk should have access to nature, so they can experience the joys and benefits. People living in heavily urbanized areas do not have any (or very little) access to nature and everyone should have access to a greenspace. LEO 12
MEGAN 17
Children in primary schools should be taught about the importance of nature, so our reserves and habitats remain protected in the future. Wild spaces are set aside in every garden, farmers’ fields have areas set aside and meadows are once again covered by wildflowers.
THOMAS 20
We need a Suffolk where people are passionate about conserving nature and one which is litter-free. Throughout the landscape, habitats should be teeming with wildlife and wildlife-friendly farming actively encouraged. Rivers should be restored, and sewage overflow prevented.
MOLLY 15
Although many environmental issues seem too colossal, if people collectively make changes to their lifestyles, major positive impacts can follow. My goal is to have a positive impact on our natural world, and to influence people to be more ecologically mindful.
NATHAN 17
I would like to see our local councils planting verges and roadsides with wildflowers. The roadside is a green space that is often overlooked, but it could be used to provide a habitat that we are otherwise lacking.
Find out what our Youth Board will be working on
suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ youth-board
Wild Suffolk | Winter 2021/22 39
A wilder future for Market Weston Fen
Larger nature reserves offer a more secure future for the wildlife they support. Seizing the chance to buy land alongside our reserves and create bigger areas of interconnected habitat is always a priority. When that opportunity is alongside an internationally important fen, it is unmissable!
Thanks to the generosity of Rosemary Wilson in remembering Suffolk Wildlife Trust in her Will, and kind donations from hundreds of Trust members, we are buying the fields along the fen edge. Over the coming years, as nature takes over, those fields along the margins of this extraordinary wetland will become a haven for dry fen edge species to flourish.
To find out how a gift in your Will could help Suffolk's wildlife, please contact Amy Rushton 01473 890089
Thank you suffolkwildlifetrust.org
