Susan Cusack

[Mark Gale @MarkGale]

@EnvAgencySE Almost 1,000 permit breaches from the polluting Incinerator. The EA has the same care and protection for air pollution as they do for the water industry. Absolute joke of a regulator.

[🌻 Go Wild With Annette @writethewrongs2]

What the bloody hell is wrong with people? 😡

'No signs of life' in River Lugg after John Price destruction

An ECOLOGIST has warned that it could take up to 30 years for a river that has no "signs of life" to recover after it was "obliterated" by a local farmer.

Although then and now photos show that the landscape around the River Lugg near Kingsland has been drastically transformed, an ecologist has warned it could take decades to fully recover after farmer John Price used an 18-tonne digger to dredge a section.

Price also stripped a mile-long stretch of the bank of trees back in 2020.

He was jailed for 12 months in 2023 by a judge who told him he had committed "ecological vandalism on an industrial scale" along a section of one of Britain's most important salmon rivers.

He had claimed he had carried out the work to help protect locals in the nearby hamlet whose homes were devastated by flooding and to help fix riverbed erosion.

But the Environment Agency said the damage was one of the worst cases of riverside destruction it had ever seen, leading to a "devastating" effect on local wildlife - which has still not recovered six years on.

Although trees, bushes, and greenery are growing back around the river, a leading ecologist believes there are "no signs of life" in the river itself.

Environmental designer Richard Fishbourne said: "It is quite disturbing to see how much damage one person can cause in just a couple of days.
"When I went down recently there was no sign of any fish where you would usually expect to see minnows, graylings, trout and salmon.

"There's just no sign of life - there's nothing in the water here now and it has become an impoverished landscape.
"It can take decades to build up this wonderful community of species and habitat but it can all be destroyed in a moment of insanity."

More here:https://t.co/1MH3mRDo4A

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

"Swimmers warned to avoid sewage release area."

Southern Water up to their old tricks again I see. Sewage illegally dumped into the sea and people told to say out of the water.

When are govt going to get a grip?

https://t.co/3jNNjEmDwF

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

🚨 Fire every 5 hours. Cheap goods from online marketplaces are causing deadly UK fires, but tech bosses are making a killing due to a loophole that lets them dodge our safety laws. Act now to protect our homes! 🧵👇 https://t.co/NptrFazkLH via @38degrees

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

@AnnieTHunt This is so heartbreaking 💔

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

@CarlBovisNature @MissBlack01 @exitthelemming @ChrisGPackham @DeborahMeaden @MeganMcCubbin @Lucy_Lapwing @DrAmirKhanGP @CityCorpHeath @BBCLondonNews @sophiepavs @WildlifeTrusts Thoughtless - why was this not stopped? @MayorofLondon @CityCorpHeath @HampsteadVllg @WHampstead

[Carl Bovis @CarlBovisNature]

This is what entitlement looks like! 🤬
There are nesting waterbirds on this pond on Hampstead Heath... there are also big 'No Swimming' signs, all being totally ignored! 🤬
Pure selfishness... 😒🤬🤬

(Shared from Instagr*m with permission from 'swansofhampsteadheath')

[Dr Elaine Cox 🍃 💚 🍃🌽🥬🐦‍⬛🐌🇬🇧 @ElaineCox11]

Uncut grass keeps the ground at around 19.5°C
Grass cut to 10 cm raises the ground temperature to about 24.5°C
Bare ground in the middle of summer rises to over 40°C
It's important to raise awareness #NoMowMay

[Paul Powlesland @paulpowlesland]

An historic day, as the River Wye becomes the first river in the UK to have its rights recognised by local authorities across its catchment.

Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river to watch as representatives from Monmouthshire, Forest of Dean & Powys Councils, Herefordshire County Council, the Wye Valley National Landscape & Bannau Brycheiniog National Park signed the pledge recognising the rivers rights and then spoke about why they had done so what it would mean for the relationship of their organisation to the river. It went beyond legal formalities into something of a service of thanks & honour to the river, with poetry, a choir singing songs, & offerings to the river.

It has been a real honour to witness & be part of the surging movement towards river rights & guardianship on the Wye. Four years ago I met & advised Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, who wanted to put a voice of the river on the Wye Nutrient Management Board. A year ago I sat around a fire on the banks of the river with other Wye guardians & Earth lawyers as the idea of a charter was first mooted. To see it become a reality, & supported by 6 public bodies, in just a year is astonishing.

Now, of course, comes the hard work of making those rights a reality. But given the hundreds of active river guardians, & increasing public pressure to protect & restore the river, if it can be done on any river, it will be done on the Wye.

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

@paulpowlesland @donnarainey4 Congrats Paul. This is brilliant news. Onwards and upwards. Let’s hope many more rivers’ rights are now recognised.
@Feargal_Sharkey

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

Farmers have figured out that the cheapest pesticide is a strip of flowers.

When you plant wildflowers through a crop field, not just around the edge but in strips running through the middle, you get ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps living in the field instead of visiting it.

They eat the aphids, the caterpillars, and the mites for free, all summer long.

In controlled trials, fields with tailored flower strips had leaf-beetle numbers 40 to 50% lower and crop damage cut by around 60%, enough to drop below the threshold where spraying was even considered worth it.

The flowers attract a standing army to our fields.

We spent decades engineering chemicals to kill the insects eating the crop, when the insects that eat those insects would have worked for the price of seed.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Now there's a very, very good question.

Thames Water have now admitted that they are not treating (dousing) their sewage for phosphate due to a "supply issue". That by the way has a massive and negative impact on water quality and aquatic life.

Funny they didn't mention any of that until they were called out on it.

How many other WCs I wonder are having supply issues?

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

Dame Judi Dench's petition to bring back our ancient woodlands is getting handed in on Tuesday. Let's help her get as many signatures as possible before then. Add your name now: https://t.co/INtCo8hy9s via @38degrees

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

Save Merton’s Faith in Action: Help Us Stay at the Salvation Army Hub - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/2AdMnU6AYK via @UKChange

[Mark Gale @MarkGale]

While @mertonlabour claims they are making Merton greener, they forgot to mention they have removed council funding from @MitchamCommon

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

@JamesMelville Couldn’t agree more 👍

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

Ban the sale of Artificial Grass - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/cXQw08V41E via @UKChange
Artificial grass is made of 3 different types of plastic, it cannot be recycled & can overheat in hot weather making it unusable. It doesn't provide any food for living creatures.

[Susan Cusack @CusackSusan]

@SaveWimbldnPark Not only an alternative to digging up the entire 73 acres of MOL, Grade II* registered parkland in a Conservation area but a way of solving the crowding on the current site which was never addressed by AELTC in their original application. Brilliant 🤩
@Merton_Council @wandbc

[Save Wimbledon Park @SaveWimbldnPark]

https://t.co/jZmTZISu8z

[Paul Powlesland @paulpowlesland]

It’s interesting that @wesstreeting says we should be talking about about local rather than international issues, as the most polluted river in London (750,000,000 litres a year of raw shit & landfill leachate) runs through a public park in his constituency and he’s done fuck all about it.