This month we return to the warmth of the home hearth, ready to try out a hearty new slow-cooked recipe and let our oven waft herbal fragrances around the kitchen as we settle in for the winter ahead. Although the term “Indian summer” refers to when we have mild sunny days between 11th and 20th November, also known as the Martinmas summer, the Gaelic festival of Samhain on 1st November was traditionally regarded as the beginning of winter. According to weather folklore: “On the first of November if weather hold clear, an end to what sowing you do this year”.
If you do head outside into the countryside, November still offers spectacle. As the trees let go of their final golden leaves this month, nature’s voice becomes quieter, but below our feet the opposite is happening, as mushrooms awaken. All year they have worked their mycelium spores deep underground and now is the time to behold their fruiting bodies, which release their spores to the winds. In the South West of the country there are also many birds arriving from the North, escaping colder climes. Grey seals are giving birth on solitary, windswept beaches and deer have just finished their rut in the woods. Back in the garden you may still see a tortoiseshell butterfly or a red admiral on the wing. Any apples you haven’t yet picked are essential food for robins and blackbirds, so leave them be and instead gather up the leaves in your garden for mulching next year’s borders. Mulching not only provides nutrients for the soil but also offers a habitat for beetles and millipedes, important species in the food chain.
We too can be like trees and consider letting go of what no longer serves us. As the trees stand bare, we are starkly reminded of what has been lost. This month is a time for remembrance in which we are invited to honour our ancestors and those across the veil. Back inside we light candles, get cosy and find comfort in our homes.
We too can be like trees and consider letting go of what no longer serves us
Positive ecological restoration stories
Deforestation drop in Brazil
The world’s largest rainforest is showing encouraging signs of reduced deforestation levels. According to new data from the Brazilian government, using advanced high resolution satellite imagery, deforestation is down 40 per cent compared to last year. This the lowest level it has been since March 2018 and hopes are high for the future.
Surprising countries marry industry with clean energy
The global shift to cleaner energy sources is crucial for the future generations and surprisingly the countries currently at the forefront of this new technology aren’t the usual suspects. Albania, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay and the Democratic Republic of Congo are countries that represent a diversity of economic ties and trade but share a role as emblems to the future. They show us it is not an oxymoron for industrial societies to live with clean and renewable energy.
Learning from wolves
Dogs in England’s East Sussex have literally been harnessed in the drive for rewilding by being fitted with non-intrusive backpacks that disperse wildflower seeds as they run about. This initiative by the Lewes urban nature reserve project takes its inspiration from wild wolves, who typically walk 20km day, picking up wildflowers and grass seeds in their fur, and dispersing them as they move, creating wildflower-rich areas that are essential habitats for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Lewes’s imaginative programme to mimic this process uses dogs to help pollinate niche areas in the landscape that are otherwise difficult to reach. It’s a strong local urban conservation effort that harnesses both the dogs’ natural instincts and the willingness of a local community of dog lovers. Could this conservation effort be replicated in cities and towns nationally – perhaps even globally?
Europe gives a dam
Up to 500 obsolete dams were taken out of European rivers last year in a bid to help nature restoration, an increase of 50 per cent on previous years. France has done most with 156 removals. The UK removed 36 barriers (though last month Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced a plan to construct several new ones across Britain). “It is amazing to witness another record-breaking year for dam removals in European rivers,” said Herman Wanningen, director of the World Fish Migration Foundation and co-founder of Dam Removal Europe. The Guardian reports that the EU’s proposed nature restoration law aims to reconnect 25,000km of fragmented river by 2030. “Obsolete barriers that were built to cope with different climates harmed the river and increased nature loss,” said Wanningen. “It’s time to rethink the way we manage our rivers by removing all obsolete barriers and letting as many rivers as possible flow freely. A river that does not flow freely is slowly dying.”
Sky Events
The long-running Taurids Meteor Shower meteor shower on 4th and 5th November produces five to ten meteors per hour, peaking on the first night. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus. The supermoon is on 14th November. The best time to view Mercury is on 16th November, when it can be seen low in the western sky just after sunset. The Leonids meteor shower is on 17th and 18th November when they produce up to fifteen meteors per hour. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. The meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo.
Tides
Spring:
2nd – 4th and 16th – 17th
Neap:
9th – 11th and 24th – 26th
Andreas Kornevall is a Swedish storyteller, author and ecologist. He is the Director of Operations for the Earth Restoration Service Charity based in the UK
