Someone recently asked me what the SVBG actually did. When we are actively involved in an organisation it is easy to believe everyone knows what we do. But of course it isn’t true. So here’s a run down of our year’s activities for anyone that hasn’t seen our website, social media and weekly Herald articles.
Our year started with the publication of a major piece of work that a group of local people had been involved in. All through 2021 we conducted a citizen science project where we searched for and mapped as many herbaceous flowering plants as we could find in the Sid valley. These were uploaded to the iNaturalist website, verified by experts and recorded for use by researchers globally. The results were turned into a major report written by Ed Dolphin. 404 species were identified and these were compared with the findings of Dr W H Cullen’s report of 170 years ago.
On a lighter note, but of great importance to us, was the launching of our kingfisher logo. Designed by Charles Sinclair we feel it epitomises the river which is the lifeblood of our valley.
Another citizen science project is the ongoing monitoring of the river by volunteers who record everything from temperature, suspended solids, phosphates, invasive species and more. The work resulted in a catchment health scorecard being issued by the Westcountry Rivers Trust.
Another task for 2022 was the rebuild of our website, which included the addition of a donations button. Without funding we could not achieve so much and we are grateful to those that have donated this year.
Regular walks are a feature of the group. They’ve included monthly walks on the Knapp, where flora and fauna including dormice are discussed, flower ID walks around the farmland surrounding the Frogstone, guiding some U3A walks plus visits to Goren Farm and the Energy Park. Locally there’s always somewhere to walk or visit!
The summer saw us at Sea Fest. Then it was the Science Festival, where we organised a day of talks with environmental and biodiversity authors, local farmers and others. Most of these talks are on YouTube alongside a Biodiversity and No Dig Zoom session with No Dig Guru, Charles Dowding. It was very much a case of gardening and biodiversity coming together in one session.
In the summer we also turned our attention to spreading the word even further and produced marketing leaflets and banners for use at the events we attend. Our colourful kingfisher logo made them stand out and good numbers joined our revamped biodiversity focused monthly newsletter.
As we entered the end of the year our focus was drawn to our events for 2023. An increasing number of bird, fungi, otter and other photos had appeared in our Facebook group as supporters posted their own photos from across the valley. So the idea of a biodiversity photoblitz was born. Over the next year we’ll be encouraging local people to attend photoblitz events and add their photos to our social media and website pages.
Plus we are planning a week long Biodiversity Festival for summer 2023. Watch this space for more details.
Also watch this space for more major announcements as 2023 proceeds. We’ve lots planned and really want you to join us in our efforts to improve the biodiversity of the Sid valley.
SVBG is a not for profit organisation dependant on volunteers, grants and donations. Without funding we cannot operate and our biodiversity projects cannot be continued.
Even the smallest donation can make a difference to wildlife such as the kingfisher on our logo.
The easiest way to donate a small (or large) sum is to use the Donate For Biodiversity link below.
lf you want to give a larger donation, or for a specific project please get in touch via our Contacts page
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