SAVING THE EARTH STARTS IN STAFFORDSHIRE

Introduction

Action actually started in Staffordshire before the world leaders met at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The first Staffordshire Environment Forum was held in 1991. It was a ground-breaking event, with the Council Chamber filled with delegates (including children), and the rest of the Corridors of Power opened up to stalls, displays, and demonstrations, illustrating how people saw the future of Staffordshire.

When the world’s leaders met in Rio, they acknowledged for the first time that the current lifestyles and rates of material consumption enjoyed by a minority was unsustainable and was threatening the ability of others now and in the future to meet their own basic needs. The result was Agenda 21 – an environmental agenda for sustainability in the 21st Century, which recognised local action as the key to achieving success. Hence the slogan ‘Think globally, act locally’.

Staffordshire was proud to be the very first UK County to send its Local Agenda 21 to the United Nations in 1996. It was a weighty document, with many objectives and targets, some of which were admitted to be beyond the capability of being delivered without Government action. As we actually got to the 21st Century, the Environment Forum changed its name to Sustainable Staffordshire.

In 2002 as world leaders again gather, this time in Johannesburg, there are new worries – climate change is likely to have a huge effect for our planet – much of it adverse unless we take urgent action. But rather than look at the ‘doom and gloom’ future scenario, instead we look at how we have measured up locally in the last ten years. Below are examples of how some things have changed in Staffordshire for the better since that first Earth Summit meeting in Rio.

So here’s some of the good news..........

Water for Life

Formerly one of England’s most polluted rivers, most stretches of the River Trent and its tributaries now support self sustaining coarse fish populations. There are dace at Trentham, barbel and chub between Great Haywood and Filleybrooks north of Stone – all fish which need high quality water. The Environment Agency is now reintroducing a breeding population of Atlantic salmon into the River Dove, which feeds into the Trent. Another tributary holds a population of one of Britain’s rarest fishes, our second smallest species, the spined loach.

Local water companies promote (and in some situations insist) on water meters, eg to regulate the use of domestic water sprinklers. The ‘Action at Home’ scheme’s water use pack shows households how to reduce water consumption. Severn-Trent’s ‘Hippos’ reduce excess water used in domestic flushing systems.

The Environment Agency has established a national list of designated sensitive areas thereby making great advances in protecting the fresh water environment. There have been significant improvements in water quality as new sewage works now have the ability to strip nutrients from processed water before it is discharged into natural water bodies and water courses.

Food, Farming and Biodiversity

National funding for conversion to organic farming has increased tenfold – there’s a long way to go, but the rate of change is accelerating. Most supermarkets now sell organic food and drink, and are starting to support local products.

There are regular farmers markets selling locally produced vegetables and fruit in eg Stafford, Stone, and Leek.

During the foot and mouth crisis, following hard on the heels of BSE, Staffordshire was the third worst affected county, posing a great threat to managed grassland. However, there is livestock now in most fields and the grass and hay crops are under management again

A partnership between English Nature, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Staffordshire Ecological Record and Staffordshire County Council, with support from local industry, has produced the Staffordshire Biodiversity Action Plan (SBAP), targeting priority habitats and species.

The National Forest, Severn Trent Water, and other organisations have written their own BAPs. Both The National Forest and Severn Trent at Tittesworth have displays about sustainability and conserving natural resources. All these initiatives tie in with the national Biodiversity Action Plan.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust hosts Staffordshire Ecological Record (SER), which provides information relating to the county’s natural environment, and which is a partnership between the Wildlife Trust, Staffordshire County Council, and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Professional and amateur naturalists contribute to the database.

All District Councils in partnership with the County Council, English Nature and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust have commissioned surveys to evaluate the state of their known Sites of Biological Importance (Wildlife Sites). A new Flora for Staffordshire is being co-ordinated by the Wildlife Trust.

Accessibility or Mobility?

Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council have introduced green travel schemes that seek to provide a working model for other employers to adapt to meet their own needs. Some private companies including Celestica in Kidsgrove and Severn Trent Water (Upper Trent Division) have green travel plans for their businesses.

The introduction of traffic calming measures has had the effect of reducing traffic speeds on local roads, providing a street environment more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. Another aim of these schemes is to divert non-local traffic onto the main network of roads.

The highways maintenance groups have gone a long way towards reusing/recycling materials during road maintenance that were once sent to landfill. This has resulted in making significant

savings in the cost of purchasing raw materials and a reduction in the volume of material that local authorities send to landfill.

Home composting schemes have been set up by several District Councils. Civic amenity sites take sorted waste: bottles, cans, metal, newspapers, green waste and general waste.

A ‘real nappy’ service has been set up in Newcastle. There is also a kerbside collection service. Both are run by the Middleport Environment Centre.

A free waste exchange service has been set up (WHERE?) on the principle that one person’s waste is often another’s raw material.

Information for Change

Sustainable Staffordshire has four seats on Staffordshire County Council Leader’s Advisory Body on Sustainability, and good working relationships with the district councils and other organisations and individuals.

It has secured high profile speakers for its Annual Forum every Autumn, including the Rt. Hon Michael Meacher MP, the Rt. Revd Dr. David Jenkins and Charles Secrett, Director, Friends of the Earth. Other annual events include a large display area at the County Show, and an Annual General Meeting.

A highly successful Women’s Environment Forum was held in 2001.

It has an award-winning website. The Good Environment Guide and The Community Action Pack are both available on the website, giving practical suggestions on how individuals and organisations can contribute to sustainability.

The Comunity Action Pack is also available (free) as a hard copy. (The Good Environment Guide is now out of print.)

Staffordshire Youth Environment Forum is also an annual event. Staffordshire County Council has organised ‘Speak Outs’ for older young people. In some Districts there are Youth Fora that enable decision-making for their area. There has been a Parliament for the Environment attended by pupil representatives from primary schools. ‘Dear Minister...’ launched by Sustainable Staffordshire invited school pupils to put their questions about the environment and sustainable development to the Minister for the Environment, who sent his answers by e-mail.

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Structure Plan, and all Local Plans, now include the aim of Sustainable Development. The Structure Plan includes policies dealing with Noise and Light Pollution. The Waste and Minerals Plans also refer to Sustainability.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has a full-time Education Officer, ‘Watch’ youth groups operate across the county, and in partnership with National Grid has developed an Environmental Centre at Cellarhead. Groundwork Stoke-on-Trent has been heavily involved in environmental education in Stoke-on-Trent, and runs an Environmental Education Centre at Rugeley Power Station.

There are many ‘Eco-schools’ in Staffordshire, with the whole school promoting sustainability.

The Staffordshire Learning Net provides a powerful means to distribute environmental information to schools, colleges and universities as does the Discussion Forum on the Sustainable Staffordshire web site.

Staffordshire Business and Environment Network (SBEN) has ....members, and promotes sustainability to large and small organisations. Many businesses have been awarded ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation.

Groundwork Stoke-on-Trent has been running successful environmental courses for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

Energy reduction

A cross-cutting theme.

There has been an ongoing programme by.............. (WHO?) to improve street lighting, replacing existing lamps with units which provide a better quality light in a more energy efficient manner. This approach not only saves energy, but helps to improve road safety, reduce crime rates and tackle social exclusion

Schemes run by Local Authorities and businesses for saving energy in houses by draught-proofing, roof insulation, double glazing and cavity wall insulation have been popular.

Two eco-friendly houses have been built and occupied in Stoke-on-Trent. A demonstration house, The Green House, has been established in Cannock.

Farmers are seeking alternative activities including growing bio-energy crops such as Miscanthus (‘elephant grass’).

What about the bad news.....?

Well, there are still lots of people who don’t think they can make a difference individually. All the surveys show people say they want to help the environment, but need information on how to do it. Probably the biggest influence Sustainable Staffordshire has had over the last ten years is to show many of them how they can help by Acting Locally. But there’s a long way to go yet.

Thinking Globally, most scientists continue to warn us of impending disaster if we don’t change our ways. Already the signs are there – increased flooding in some places, droughts in others, famine, worldwide loss of plant and animal species, while at the same time there’s still the drive in the so-called developed world for ever more energy consumption. Whether climate change is just a blip or whether it’s the start of a fatal breakdown of natural systems, the message simply has to get through at all levels, locally, nationally and internationally.

We and other life forms share one world – this one, so we’d better take care of it.

This document was produced by Sustainable Staffordshire members: Pat Callaghan, Andrew Leak, Paul Newman, Helen Swift and Geoff Wright from information supplied by many sources

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