We celebrate the unique natural environment of the South Hams, and it’s important to protect, enhance and restore it now and for future generations. Despite the negative messages of nature in trouble, we find the good news and stories from individuals, groups and companies who all have nature at the heart of their work. We are here to share that, and to inspire and help you to start your own project or group.
To see some real changes we need to find a tipping point of just 1 in 4 people*, where nature becomes a part of everyone’s everyday lives. Much of this can happen from within our own communities, so it’s important we keep the subject of nature high on our agendas.
There are already some energetic groups out there in the South Hams, with inspirational projects taking place all year round. We’ve listed just a few of them. We know there are plenty more and if you’d like to add yours then fill in the form – it doesn’t take long!
Our field trips, news and blogs are there to inspire you, to take back to your groups and communities, to spread the word and start the cascading effect.
It may be that you or your group has a particular interest – say in holding a bat event. You can find out how to do that on our resources page, with plenty of other links to websites and documents if you wish to drill down into a particular subject.
We are trying to add information and inspiration as we go along and keep it relevant and up to date, and we need you to help us do that so please share your experiences, your knowledge or your project with us by contacting info@sussh.org. Or if you have a specific question you would like help with, contact our nature mentor Ruth Saunders ruth@sussh.org.
There are a number of larger charities who offer support and help to communities and individuals who would like to get nature back on track, either through practical help, forums or excellent websites. Some are already listed with us, but if you’ve found a particular charity helpful to you then please share it with us.
* The Devon Wildlife Trust believe that the tipping point is reached if as few as 1 in 4 people in Devon are actively engaged with nature.
Slapton's Free Tree Hub offered a great reason for a gathering, getting people talking about their local patch, asking questions about nature, and taking away a small tree planting action plan.
Wednesday's SusSH Group Leaders' Meeting will offer all the usual chances for conversation and cake, but will also be a chance to meet our new compost mentor, Ben Bryant. Read Ben's introduction to community composting and his own work.
Happy New Year from the Sustainable South Hams team! To celebrate, we've put together a collection of some of our activities over the last year. Thank you so much to all of you who have supported SusSH, joined in our events and brought your own passion, drive and enthusiasm to sustainability in the South Hams.
We have been restoring and protecting freshwater environments in the Westcountry for more than 25 years. Our Mission is to restore and protect the rivers, lakes, and estuaries of the Westcountry for the benefit of nature, people, and local economies. Our Vision is to see people helping our Westcountry rivers flow freely and teem with life and valuing our vital natural resource, water.
Practical, nature based experiential learning and well-being are at the core of what we offer. Through our courses the vital message of conservation and real sustainability are integrated into the experiential learning process. Ultimately we are establishing Deer Wood as hub of low impact ‘Green Learning’ excellence by aligning ourselves with other similarly oriented organisations.
Ugborough's citizen science project uses the iNaturalist app to record wildlife
Yealm Estuary Moor aims to improve the health & biodiversity of the River Yealm
A joint project led by SMASH with speakers, stalls and networking opportunities