Kent Wildlife Trust gets funding for Kent's Coast

Great news that Kent Wildlife Trust has won funding for its Guardians of Deep project around Kent's Coast

Guardians of the Deep: £446,100 grant

The Guardians of the Deep is a three-year project that aims to engage communities, businesses and visitors by raising awareness of marine habitats and promoting an active and ongoing guardianship role to protect them for the future. Almost the entire Kent coast falls within a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and will feature eleven Marine Conservation Zones by 2018. Kent’s marine habitats are considered at threat from the fishing industry, invasive species, pollutants and regression of coastal defences.

The project will be run by Kent Wildlife Trust in partnership with Thanet District Council, Medway Council, and Kent County Council and will divide the coastline into three sections – the White Cliffs of Dover (from Folkestone to Deal), North East Kent (from Deal to Whitstable), and Medway and Swale. It will comprise five key activities which will involve 60,000 people in marine awareness activities:

Coastal guardians –360 community champions will run marine events and identification surveys to be shared with coastal heritage protection bodies

Undersea explorers – workshops will be held with young people raising awareness of marine habitats, water safety, and snorkelling skills

Wild beach – a programme of coastal learning activities for 60 schools and youth groups covering geology, biology, social history and the value of marine heritage

Coastal connections – a digital campaign aimed at reaching up to 150,000 members of the public

Coastal Citizen Science – volunteers will be trained in survey and species recognition and 60 ‘coast-busters’ will deal with non-native species identified

full story at:
http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/national-lottery-invests-365m-land-and-coastal-projects

Victoria's Green Matters - 26th January 2017

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

This post Brexit time is a difficult one for farmers. They have become so heavily dependent on European subsidies that they must constantly worry whether those subsidies will be replaced by the UK government. European directives that have protected our wildlife and their habitats may disappear in future and we can’t rely on our government to continue these protections. It doesn’t paint a very pretty picture, does it?

Farming is in a ‘mixed up’ state. The vast agri-businesses that exist around the world continue to poison the soil with a mixture of pesticides and herbicides which are no longer as effective as they once were. Newer and more powerful chemicals are sought and huge agrochemical businesses get richer on the proceeds of their research. But these agri-businesses only produce a small proportion of the food needed to feed the world’s growing population and in the process they continue to pollute our rivers, cause soil erosion, destroy pollinators and other wildlife and devastate the features of the countryside. They also contribute a third of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions.

The most productive farms are the small, family farms usually run organically and with wildlife in mind. Leaving the EU should be the chance to get away from the destructive cycle of agri-business and refocus taxpayers’ money to deliver more for people and nature.

Our post Brexit policy should be to invest in producing the things we all need – clean air, clean water, healthier intact soils, flood reduction, wildlife and beautiful places to enjoy.

Victoria Nicholls.

Goodwin Sands - Save our Sands - Latest Campaign news

New Video from SOS Goodwin Sands

Video: https://youtu.be/CcAZSBi8Elk 

Campaign Update:
Historic England have requested Dover Harbour Board to undertake a magnetometer survey of the proposed dredging zone. This is excellent news as it should detect the presence of any ferrous objects such as aircraft engine blocks, ships' fittings or unexploded ordnance (UXO) buried up to 2m deep in sand. The downside however, is that a magnetometer cannot identify disartuculated aluminium aircraft parts or human remains, two of the campaign's prime concerns.

Meanwhile, the fragile foreshore of East Kent continues to concern. Professor Rob Duck, Emeritus Professor of Geoscience at the University of Dundee, recently paid a flying visit and was visibly shocked by the vulnerarability of this stretch of coast. He is convinced that historic dredging is a contributory factor to the current state of erosion. He feels that unless Dover Harbour Board can prove categorically that future dredging will not exacerbate the situation, it should not be allowed to go ahead. Dover District Council, Kent County Council and the Environment Agency continue to completely ignore the issue, for reasons best known to themselves.

Finally, the petition has very nearly reached 13,000 signatures so please do keep sharing!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/goodwin-sands-sos-stop-the-dredge

http://goodwinsandssos.org/

Victoria's Green Matters - 19th January 2017

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

It’s the time of year that seems to highlight just how much our society wastes. It is not just food which is the worst waste of all but, additionally, packaging and wrapping from the Christmas presents. Let’s hope that we have all recycled as much as we can!

Since the last campaign against food waste, there has been some minor success in reducing the amount of edible food thrown away, particularly by the large supermarkets. It is good to see that 8 out of 10 of Sainsburys supermarkets now donate their waste food to projects caring for needy people but how much better would it be if there was no waste at all?

New figures recently issued by the recycling advisory body ‘Wrap’ show that the average household now throws away £470 worth of food per year that could have been eaten. This avoidable food waste generated 19million tonnes of greenhouse gases throughout its lifetime. Preventing this pollution would be as effective as taking one in four cars off the road.

Between 2007 and 2012, avoidable food waste reduced by 21%; this was in part due to rising food prices and better advice regarding ‘use by’ dates in conjunction with the campaign to raise awareness. Unfortunately, this progress has stalled somewhat with the reduction in food prices and the rise in wages since 2014 has curtailed the incentive for people to cut waste.

We all need to be doing more to cut food waste. Don’t be tempted by offers to buy food you don’t really want or need – the days of the ‘bogof’ have ended but if food is sold very cheaply, the chances are that it won’t be very good and will end up in the bin!

Victoria Nicholls.

Deal With It HooHaa 28th January 2017

Deal With It - Transition Deal has its Annual Gathering (Our 'HooHaa' - like a AGM but with considerably more cake) on Saturday 28th January at 1:30pm meeting in room near the cafe at the Landmark Community Centre (129 High Street Deal)

We will have an photo exhibition of what we did in 2016 from 25th January to 2nd February, The HooHaa will take a quick formal business and elect our three officers (Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer) but most of the meeting will be what we want to do in 2017.

Anyone can attend and suggest ideas. If you are interested in getting more involved or have a specific project you want to get off the ground please get in contact at info@dealwithit.org.uk .

Next Deal Beach Clean 29th Jan 2017

Our next Deal Beach Clean will be on Sunday 29th January 2017 meet at 10am at Deal Pier

This will be a pop-out clean and we supply Pickers, Bags and Gloves. It is likely it will be cold so please dress toastie

The clean will last about 1-1.5hrs

All Welcome

Deal With It - Diary for January

Happy New Year everyone. Successful December with Beach Clean and wet Winter Solstice event at the Landmark pics here ...

Lots going on over the next few months plus we hope to be announcing some new projects at the end of the month

Saturday 28th January 13:30 Deal With It Annual Gathering HooHaa

Chance to reflect, with cake, tea and company what we have achieved in 2016 and the exciting things we want to do in Deal in 2017.

This is also our AGM but we hope to keep the official business to a minimum but if you are interested in standing for one of three 'official' roles in the group (Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer) or just want to get involved more please drop me a email at info@dealwithit.org.uk.

Landmark Centre (Cafe area) 13:30 to 4pm

Saturday 21st January - Chocolate Experience

Led by Kieran Renihan of Chocolation. Temper and mould chocolate and learn about this fascinating food 2pm £15

Chequers Kitchen School full details here

Sunday 29th January 10:00am - Deal Beach Clean

Meet at Deal Pier for a pop-up clean

Sat Feb/March Date to be Confirmed - Seedy Saturday

Landmark Garden - We will wait until Feb to see what the medium term weather looks like but please start collating any seeds to swap or get some early planting going

On 25 February ’17, 2pm to 6pm  the first Transition London and South East hub event in Central London, focusing on REconomy

Sunday 5th March - 9:30am  Walmer Beach Clean

This is part of our contribution to the national 'Great British Spring Clean' - we are discussing with other local organisations about litter picks to hit 'grott spots' in the town.

Meet at the Sea Cafe on the Green

Sunday 2nd April - 9:30am Deal Beach Clean

This is the first of our Marine Conservation Society cleans where we log what we find.

Sunday 17th September 9:30am  - Deal Beach Clean

Part of the MCS 'Great British Beach Clean'

Winter Solstice Celebration at the Landmark garden 21st Dec 2016

We have our free Community gathering the Winter Solstice celebration at the Landmark Garden on Wednesday 21st Decemeber 5:30-7:30pm. 

This is to mark the end of one growing season & the start of another and celebrate the work all our our volunteers have done over the last year and the great support from our local community.

Mulled wine, Seasonal eats and cakes, Storytelling with Roisin and music from the Deal Hoodeners, Jon & Elaine, Adrian O and Sunshine Ukes so far...

Please bring a jar and tea light to chase away the darkness! Donation of food welcome.

Dress toastie.

NB: The event is weather dependant ...so if it is pouring down we will be in the bar!

Charlotte Daly has a Jar painting session in the Landmark Garden on Saturday 17th Dec from 11am.

Bring a washed jar, an old tea-towel and a large nail or old nailfile please. We will paint the jar, use the towel to stabilise it and the nail/file to etch out shapes. For very young children stencils will be used instead of the nail/file.

You can leave any spare jars or tea lights in the Garden by the planter.

Dover District Council is looking for Flood and Snow Wardens

Dover District Council is looking for volunteer Flood and Snow Wardens - Please follow the links if you are interested

DDC are looking for volunteer flood wardens to help us monitor areas that are at risk from flooding.

Full training is provided.

Find out more and how to volunteer »

DDC have teamed up with Dover District Volunteer Centre to launch a new Snow Warden Volunteer scheme. Snow wardens are volunteers from the local community who give up their spare time to help clear snow during bad weather. Find out more and how to volunteer »

Victoria's Green Matters - 8th December 2016

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

It is astonishing to read that air temperatures are 20°C above the seasonal normal in the Arctic and sea temperatures are nearly 4°C higher than average for the time of the year.

This sort of dramatic change makes it likely that tipping points will occur; this happens when a natural system, such as the polar ice cap, suffers sudden change that has a huge effect on surrounding ecosystems which is often irrevocable.

There are several climate tipping points, identified in the Arctic Resilience Report released last month. The research was compiled by eleven organisations including the Arctic Council and six universities. Amongst other changes there is growth in dark vegetation on the tundra which replaces the reflective snow and ice, absorbing more heat; as the tundra warms more than normal amounts of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas, are released; there are movements in snow distribution that warm the ocean which result in changed climate patterns many miles away in Asia where the monsoon may be altered.

The Arctic ice cap helps to cool sea and air temperatures by reflecting most of the sun’s radiation back into space. It also acts as a cooling system when winds blow over it and the ocean currents flow under it. It has been known for a long time that the ice cap plays a vital part in the global climate systems but to observe and monitor these systems has been both difficult and expensive and only in recent years have scientists been able to make detailed evaluations.

Human activity throughout the world has led to climate change of an unprecedented degree and will greatly increase the risk of more tipping points occurring so reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is vital.



If we need yet another focus for anxiety, it has been revealed that the US president- elect has plans to remove the budget for climate change science, used by NASA and others, for research into Arctic changes, and to spend the money on space exploration!

Hands on workshop on real Chocolate 21st Jan 2017

If you want to get hands on with Chocolution in the New Year our friends at The Chequers are hosting 2 chocolate experiences . 

The first is a 1 hour introduction into the bean to bar process and is a perfect gift for the chocolate lover in your life. Spaces are limited.

Sat, January 21st, 2017
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
£15.00

See more

Results from the Great British Beach Clean in Sept 2016

Deal With It's Beach Clean back in September 2016 was part of the Marine Conservation Society's 'GreatBritish BeachClean' - a nationwide survey of our beaches.

The MCS has recently published its results - they can be found here

The September 2016 Great British Beach Clean saw just short of 6,000 volunteers clean 364 beaches around the UK, recording the litter they found. The results have revealed a mixed picture.

We picked up a huge amount of rubbish - 268,384 individual pieces, although this is a little lower than last year.

The number of plastic bags found have almost halved in a year. We think that’s down to the charge at the checkout, which is now in place across the whole UK.

But there was an astonishing rise in the amount of balloon related litter, up over 50% on 2015. There were more drinks containers, bottle caps and lids, too – up more than 4% on the previous year.

DDC Energy Deal Scheme Could Help You Save Money On Your Energy Bills

Energy Deal Scheme Could Help You Save Money On Your Energy Bills

You could save money on your energy bills with the latest round of Energy Deal – that’s the message from Dover District Council, who are launching the latest round of the popular collective switching campaign today, (06 December).

Residents can register to take part in the latest round up to 13 February 2017. Energy suppliers will then be invited to compete with their best offer at an energy auction. Residents registered with Energy Deal will be sent a personalised offer showing the winning tariff, which they can then decide whether they want to accept.

DDC is working in partnership with Dartford, Gravesham, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells councils to operate the Energy Deal scheme. For more information or to register, please see the Energy Advice pages or leave contact details on 01304 872428.

Xmas Deal Beach Clean - 4th Dec

Massive thank you to our 28 volunteers out on a Sunny Deal Beach Clean today - picked up a lot of small plastic stuff with over 45kgs collected.

The Beach Clean will be on Sunday 29th January 2017 at 10am Deal Pier