Biosphere Here
July 2015
Biosphere Festival & Butterfly Bonanza!
Dear <<Name>>
Summer is now with us in full flow, so what better way to celebrate the prime season to enjoy our wonderful nature than by a Festival?!
This Sunday afternoon (5th July, 2-5 pm) we are holding a Biosphere Festival at Railway Land in Lewes, which will host an array of nature-themed entertainment - from hands-on activities and walks to films, music, puppets and digital gaming.
Do join us to have fun in the sun if you can!
Our Biosphere programme is all about inspiring people to connect with and enjoy the world-class environment that we are blessed to have here. The Downs of course offer a beautiful landscape, as well as some incredible chalk grassland bursting with wildflowers and butterflies right now - see our monthly 'Nature Now' web page for more information. However most of us live in urban areas, hence it's vital that our green spaces here also offer habitats for wildlife and places for people to relax and engage with each other and the world about us.
A pioneering initiaitive to bring nature closer to us is the creation of "butterfly banks" in urban spaces - chalk mounds planted with wild flowers from the local area. The originator of this visionary approach is Dr Dan Danahar of the Big Nature Trust and Dorothy Stringer secondary school in Brighton - who reveals the full story as the guest contributor to this month's Bio Blog (see below). This approach has now been adopted and replicated across many areas of the city by the council under the 'Nature Improvement Area' programme, so that more communities can enjoy a patch of wild nature on their doorsteps.
Dan has also created the 'Butterfliesofthe Biosphere' Facebook and video blogging sites to engage us with this beautiful and evocative wildlife group that is flourishing at its peak right now. Because of their attractive nature, butterflies serve as great ambassadors for our local nature but are also valuable indicators of the state of health of our environment, with the public's observations providing an early warning system of our changing land use and climate for example.
Enjoy the summer festival season and the wildlife on the wing,
Rich Howorth
Brighton & Lewes Downs Biosphere Partnership |
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Window On
Our World:
Top Places for Butterflies
Dan Danahar's top tips for the best places to appreciate 'Butterflies of the Biosphere' in our Biosphere area are:
~ Central – Hollingbury & Burstead Woods in Brighton, elusive White-letter Hairstreaks
~ North – Stanmer Park, search the woods for the Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly
~ East – Malling Down by Lewes, great numbers of Adonis Blues
~ South – Coast, summer migrant butterflies incl. Clouded Yellows and Painted Ladies
~ West – Mill Hill by Shoreham, Skippers in spring and Blues in summer
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Bio Blog
Butterflies in our backyard
by Dan Danahar
For more than ten years I have been on a journey to boost local wildlife and animate people in its understanding and enjoyment. Our original “butterfly haven” created in 2006 on the Surrenden schools campus has provided a home to hundreds of wild species, engaged thousands of school children, and inspired many more organisations and individuals to get involved in butterfly conservation.
This year I am on a personal journey to look for all 39 butterfly species found within our Biosphere, which represents some 90% of all those found in Sussex. I invite others to share this journey with me through the "Butterflies of the Biosphere" Facebook and YouTube sites… read full blog
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