Hazel Draper

My latest blog. This time about seagulls - you’ll never look at them in the same way again.

Bogs deserve better | Yorkshire Peat Partnership The language we use to discuss peatlands undermines and maligns them; they absolutely deserve more from us...

Heads up, peatniks, it's #BogDay! We hope you'll enjoy this blog post from @lyndonmarquis.bsky.social about why the #GreatNorthBog needs to be appreciated for more than just a list of ecosystem services: www.yppartnership.org.uk/blog/lyndon-...

"Agropastoral activities have impacted the habitable part of our planet—the “Critical Zone”—for thousands of years (...)
They disrupted the balance between soil formation and erosion, leading to erosion rates 3 to 10 times faster than soil production since the end of the Ice Age."

Bring back the ancient woodlands smothered beneath your timber plantations Ancient woodlands are vanishing – and with them, some of our most loved and endangered wildlife. Forestry England manages over 100,000 acres of land that used to be ancient woodland - that’s bigger th...

We are just 155 away from 100,000. Please give sign if you would like to see our ancient woodlands restored

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/br...

Thanks to @wildcard.land for hosting our #Ghostwoods walk through #HardcastleCrags last Sunday; raising awareness about our #AncientWoodlands and how they might be restored in line with the gradual harvesting of non-native pinewood plantations, to restore the balance of indigenous flora and fauna

👻 1 WEEK TO GO!👻

Join Wild Card, XR Calderdale and GND Calderdale in Hardcastle Crags next Sunday for a day of citizen science, art and protest as part of our campaign to #RewildTheGhostWoods!

📍Hardcastle Crags
📅Sunday 13th July
🕑1-4pm

Sign up: buff.ly/y8VrhGo

Deep in balsam up a hill I’m smiling with a bunch of balsam in my hand

5 people in an woodland cleaning standing behind 2 huge piles of balsam

Another pile of balsam laid down at the side of a path in a woodland clearing

A great 2 hour balsam bash this morning with the Friends of Colden Clough

Ask your MP to show their support for a people-first future for our water! We can make our water work for people - not shareholders - but water lobbyists are working hard to shut this solution down. Will you make sure your MP hears about it?

Our privatised water system is broken - and water lobbyists have worked hard to shut down alternatives.

In July the People’s Commission is launching a people-first vision for our water in Parliament.

Your MP needs to hear about it: actionnetwork.org/letters/ask-...

Dame Judi Dench is an utter legend! Please help this petition to get loads of signatures

Really excited for this week of actions!

Thanks to all our Calderdale #GreenNewDeal activists for showing up in #SowerbyBridge today, collecting signatures demanding Calderdale Council uses its powers to enforce the ecological quality of the #RiverCalder and its tributaries @vimtosocialist.bsky.social @calderdale.bsky.social

Next week in Sowerby Bridge

Petition: Ban wind farms on protected peat land in England In its recent consultation on new onshore wind planning regulations, the government asked if some habitats, such as those containing peat soils, need extra protection from renewable energy development...

Be one of the 19 signatures needed to get this petition past 10,000 and help to ensure irreplaceable blanket bog is kept safe from industrial development petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

Wood avens - 2 yellow flowers are showing among the leaves

Wood Avenue closer image of one yellow flowers

Wood Avens (Geum urbanum) in Calderdale #WildflowerHour

I’m super excited for our new campaign! 🎉

#BanWindfarmsOnProtectedPeatland - Here is the @naturalengland.bsky.social Peat depth map for #WalshawMoor, intended site of 300MW #CalderdaleWindfarm, which has erased most of the blanket bog from their habitats map and produced a poor quality interpolated peat depth map of their own

Calling all scientists, science postgrads & anyone who’s ever worked in a scientific discipline!

Can you spare even just half an hour next Tues 12pm to join me, Chris Packham & 100+ scientists to urge for government policy to be informed by science?

Let’s fill Parliament Square with scientists! 💪

Ladybird book image retro style of a boy and girl picking bluebells. Text reads Peter and Jane carefully removed the Invasive Spanish bluebells

Saw this ladybird picture and felt it needed a tagline for these times.

Don’t pick bluebells kids! (Unless they’re the invasive ones)

A seedling of an oak with a couple of bluebells behind

Planted by a Jay?

The ancient woodland slowly reclaiming a field once used for grazing.

#naturalregeneration #rewilding

So excited for our next campaign - launching soon!

Westminster here we come – please ask your MP to meet us to help protect peatland through amending planning bill Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Windfarm are stepping up the campaign to ban windfarms on protected peatland in England, taking it beyond our Parliamentary petition. As well as continuing with…

Westminster here we come - please ask your MP to meet us to help protect peatland through amending planning bill saverestorewalshawmoor.wordpress.com/2025/04/20/w...

Just to remind you, the Scientists for Survival book launch is happening at The Corner bookshop in the Halifax Piece Hall this coming Thursday (24 April) from 7 pm...

Collage Image of a mock up of our email text on a pink background with a black and white photograph of a hand writing it. Text above reads 'Email your MP!' text to the side reads give public bodies a duty to protect nature!

NATURE IS DYING! LET'S GIVE PUBLIC BODIES A DUTY TO CHANGE THAT! 🌿 💪

Tell your MP to approve the amendment to the planning and infrastructure bill ahead of its 2nd reading next Thursday.

Info here: actionnetwork.org/letters/natu...

@climateemergencyuk.bsky.social @wclnews.bsky.social

“Internet of nature” helps researchers explore the web of life A new paper highlights information exchange between species as essential for understanding ecosystem stability in an era of global change.

🌍 Discover the 'Internet of Nature' 🌿

A novel study led by Ulrich Brose (@idiv-research.bsky.social & @uni-jena.de) reveals the hidden networks of information exchange within ecosystems.✨ Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution (@natureecoevo.bsky.social) #iDivResearch

www.idiv.de/internet-nat...

Excited to launch our fundraiser for Wild•Ling: a conservation project led by conservation professionals, buying and rewilding land in the Peak District.

Sponsor me to walk the challenging Coast to Coast www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/wild-ling-... and find out about our project here: wild-ling.org.uk

The government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill could give businesses the green light to trash habitats and threaten wildlife. Say no to attacks on nature!

If you agree – join me and add your name with @friends-earth.bsky.social👇
foe.uk/tffac

Planning bill ‘throws environmental protection to the wind’, say UK nature chiefs Heads of 32 charities warn proposals could push species towards extinction and lead to irreversible habitat loss

🧵Planning reform that speeds up sustainable development *and* restores nature is worth fighting for. The #PlanningBill is currently one sided, weakening nature laws with scant benefit for biodiversity. But Ministers could get back on track for a win-win.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Bid to build Europe’s first research station on Atlantic temperate rainforest in Cornwall Charity crowdfunding initial sum to build £750,000 facility on Bodmin Moor to study overlooked but biodiverse natural habitat

Absolutely this 👇
“I truly believe that we’ll only be able to make headway in protecting and expanding the Atlantic temperate rainforest when we love it and we’ll only love it when we understand it and that comes from scientific research.”Merlin Hanbury-Tenison

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Taking swift action at homes in Calderdale A new partnership conservation project in Calderdale is helping to protect endangered birdlife. Calderdale Council is working with the RSPB and Calderdale B

Some good work being done by @calderdale.bsky.social Are your council doing enough for swifts? If not, tag or share with your councillors to show them what’s possible.

news.calderdale.gov.uk/taking-swift...

🥼𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦! 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘🥼
🗓️ 𝗧𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝟭𝟯 𝗠𝗔𝗬

Alarmed by political decisions made at the expense of a habitable Earth?

Join @chrisgpackham.bsky.social and many others in bringing science to Parliament this Spring.

⁉️ Info & FAQs: tinyurl.com/Scientists2025
✒️ Signup: tinyurl.com/SciParl25