Last chance to see?
"It seems we never fully appreciate what we've got until
we're threatened with not having it any more." This line
from Sifting through the Embers, a Cornwall Wildlife Trus
play based on an old wives' tale from the Douglas Adams
book Last Chance to See, just about sums up the message ~
conservationists are desperately trying to get across.
The play, written by Fund-raising Assistant Jo Pagan,
performed by pupils from the Roseland School and filmed ir
the woods at Kennall Vale by Alan Griffiths as part of a
promotional video which the Trust hopes to make, has an
underlying theme of people's unwillingness to take
destruction of nature seriously until its effects become
catastrophic - by which time the solutions (if any) to
environmental problems will be much more costly.
The cast of Sifting through the Embers pictured in Kennall Vale
with the
Trust's Jo Pagan (fourth from left) and Alan Griffiths.
photo: Amber Budden
Marine Week and Wildlife Week in June are just two of the
platforms from which the Trust has tried to show Cornwall
how much it has to lose if the destruction is allowed to
continue. On a scientific level, we have been heavily involved
in "biodiversity audits" (see conservation news on page 6) to
assess this natural resource in detail.
Are we to be the last generation to see and enjoy wild
Cornwall? Will the people of Cornwall allow their unique
natural heritage to disappear? The Trust and its colleagues in
other countryside organisations can only do so much - the
whole community must take action to protect its own
environment.
One encouraging sign has been the growing involvement of"'ordinary" people -
as opposed to recognised conservationists
- in community conservation projects. A recent example has
been the establishment of the Swanpool Local Nature Reserve
in Falmouth, in which the local residents have joined forces
with the Trust, Carrick District Council, English Nature, the
Environment Agency, Cornwall Countryside Services, the
Falmouth Green Centre and the RSPB to protect and enhance
wildlife on their doorstep. Partnership and co-operation of
this kind are crucial to wildlife's future - let's all act
together
before it's too late.
Mark Nicholson
The Mayor of Falmouth, Mrs Brenda Bowers, officially opens
Swanpool LNR.
Also pictured are representatives of the community and the
organisations
involved, including the Trust's Sarah Mccartney tiust right of
board) who
designed the interpretive panels. photo: Stuart Hutchings
Peter Pool
Trust members will have learned with regret of the death
of Peter Pool. He agreed to act as our first Honorary
Solicitor when the Cornwall Naturalists' Trust was
formed in 1962.
Peter steered us through the legal formalities of our
incorporation and registration as a charity. Trusts like
ours are frequently confronted with legal problems and
he unstintingly gave us the benefit of his sound legal
advice in those early years.
Peter Pool's own interests were primarily in archaeology
and the Cornish language and culture, but he was always
acutely aware of the importance and the unique nature of
the county's environment and its wildlife.
Cornwall is the poorer for his loss, but his great
contribution to the county will long be remembered.
Peter was buried in Zennor which he so loved. Frank
Ansell represented the Trust at the funeral.
Ken Williams
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The woodland of wild Cornwall