Oceans of Optimism May

We love the month of May, with its blossom and longer, lighter evenings; its promise of warmer weather and an abundance of bank holidays. So we’re all about finding the joy in between the heavy headlines and politics dominating our news feeds, and are here to share some uplifting stories from the past few weeks with you.  

Dogger Bank, the UK largest sandbank, has been given protection from bottom trawling  after campaigning by activists. The environmentally destructive fishing practice has now been banned in 3 other areas, helping to protect the marine species and the seabed from releasing carbon when disturbed. We hope to see this type of fishing practice banned in more UK coastal areas. 

A new natural history GCSE will be taught in schools from September, with a focus on how pupils can protect the planet. The new subject aims to allow pupils a deeper knowledge of the natural world and equip them with skills to tackle the climate crisis. Promising news for a brighter future.

Prisons in England and Wales will soon be home to an orchard, thanks to a new project that aims to benefit both inmates and the environment. The Orchard project charity has teamed up with the Ministry of Justice to ‘green’ the UK’s prisons, which will not only attract birds and insect visitors but provide a source of local produce too – as well as health and wellbeing benefits to inmates. 

A nationwide sustainable surf campaign is providing free wooden bellyboard hire at selected UK beaches in an attempt to tackle the pollution from polystyrene bodyboards. It’s estimated that more than 16,000 cheap, fragile boards are left every year on beaches in the UK – some lasting just a few hours before they are broken, releasing polluting micro polystyrene balls into the ocean. The Surf Wood for Good scheme provides a sustainable alternative that is fun, free and planet friendly!  

Puffins are returning to the UK in record numbers as the weather warms up. Pembrokeshire’s puffin population is booming, with almost 40,000 of them currently roaming around the islands of Skomer and Skokholm – making them one of the main tourist attractions of the area.

Captain Fanplastic is the awesome primary school programme teaching young children about plastic pollution in South Africa and the Netherlands. Funded by the government of Canada, the scheme encourages children aged 7-12 to refuse, reduce, reuse and repurpose, and aims to reach 175,000 kids around the world!