Europe's Wild Wonders. Worth a look.

A plug for something is a common site and sound in all our media and I am certain I have unwitting done it many times in this blog.

I this case it is very deliberate. Please go and have a look at www.wild-wonders.com. Under the strapline Unseen. Unexpected. Unforgettable they have commissioned 60 of the best nature photographers in Europe to capture and create astonishing images that celebrate the best the is natural Europe from individual animals, birds and plants, to the most stunning landscapes. All of nature has been brought together in this pan European collection.

I was shown some of the images over dinner last night here at the Europarc conference in Stromstad, Sweden. Yesterday was excursion day and all of us had had a pretty long but exhilarating day, in the clear autumn sunshine that has made this event memorable. However I expect most of us just wanted to sit down eat dinner and get an early night. There was an almost audible sigh when the pa system started up and another Scandinavian with perfect English started talking, “yet another speech, please leave us alone”. The chap on the mic talked about celebrating Europe’s natural wonder and described the Wild Wonders project whilst showing a few of the images.

The tone around our table changed in an instant, Jim Dixon from the Peak National park, Helen Smith for the National Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Ashley Thomas from the Wye Valley AONB and I. are not a hard audience for great photos and even greater places. The thing about this slice of the conference was the positive, accessible and enjoyable tone of the project ad its beliefs.

A great change from my last blog. So go look at the site and its photos, sign up to support it when the exhibition comes to a shopping centre near you and plan to upgrade your phone to a Nokia next year as they will be shipping 500 million of theme with many of these images preloaded. Be inspired to go and enjoy these places and spaces. Hey are there for all of us to enjoy.

P.S have a look at Jim’s blog: http://jimdixon.wordpress.com/ Its not often a public bodies CEO bothers to try a communicate his values, experiences and ambitions to a wider audience in quite such a clear, open and accessible manner.

Eweleaze Farm Campsite Review

Okay we are all back from our week away at Eweleaze. This is a fantastic campsite on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast just east of Weymouth and it lived up its billing in www.Coolcamping, www.beachcampsites, etc. One friend who had been down the week before to see family had suggested that the site had the greatest “reveal” of any he had visited but it was all a disappointment after that. He was right about the reveal, after turning of the Weymouth road one bounces up a farm track and over the brow of the hill to see the site laid out in the distance with the sea, beaches and bays beyond it. Our appreciation of the view lasted longer than many as we had to hone and wait for someone to come a raise the height barrier. A swift service, repeated on our exit at the end.

The track down to the site is equally bumpy and steep. I think a few folk were a little freaked out later in the week as the rain we experienced on Wednesday made the clay/limestone surface turn to an entertaining slurry too slide over. The staff on site did a good job of marshalling cars in and out of the various fields and were firm enough when needed to convince some who wanted to drive back to their tents, that a short walk was the better option. As a result the site stayed green rather than muddy and rutted.

The atmosphere is good, the result of a clash of styles to rival anything found in CERN. A few minutes wandering around will reveal most of the styles in the centre left clothes box from Sienna Miller circa Glastonbury 2004 (battered straw Stetson, Matthew Williamson dress and Hunter wellies) to the dishevelled Guardian reader in black everything, 3 days stubble and rollup. All liberally interspersed with the British middle class on staycation 2009.

The pitches themselves are mostly sloping, the angle will vary from gentle to extreme, the most popular field of the 8 available was the suitably named “Flat Field”. None were called the sheltered field, this is a beachside/clifftop site so kite flying is not normally a problem.

One of the features of the site is the “free” firewood supplied by the owners. This vast pile of landscape gardening waste is more reminiscent of the slums of Mumbai, Manila or Narobi than Dorset but combing over the heap you will find most of the residents and their kids searching for fuel for the evening bonfire. I did my share of rooting around, Eucalyptus and Leylandii are not the greatest burning logs but if old and dry enough do the job. One word of advice it is don’t bother to buy the logs on offer as they are mostly green and wet leylandii wich smokes slowly rather than burns. There is a rent a bale scheme, I say rent as I suspect very few take them home at the end of their holiday. The ones that get broken up are recycled through an old baler to produce more little square bales. “Great for sitting on” is the sale pitch, better as a wind break is the reality. As campers move on there is a very civilized stampede to take custody of their straw stack by those remaining!

The best things about the site are the kittens and puppies. No idea if they can be guaranteed every year, but if you have small kids, and want peace and quiet they are fantastic. My two spent most of their waking hours patiently sitting in huddles of other kids waiting for their turn to hold the kittens or take the puppies for a walk. Whoever has bought these pets can be assured they will be very well socialised.

We had a day on the beach, all shingle but fun. The route down is via a steep path is equipped with a thick rope to slow down descent and speed up ascent. The two beach facing fields have a great, if somewhat bracing view. Both are car free other than set up and drop off. The car population emulates the humans, lots of urban 4x4’s and people carriers with the sizable minority of classic spilt screen VW campers, series I, II, & III Land Rovers and the odd transit van

Best summarised as Glasto without the tunes. If that’s your ting then book early for 2010. We will but I suspect we will also follow Cool Camping for kids advice a try out a couple of the “slow life” sites further west.

Age of Stupid and the lack of laughs in life

I went to see the Aged of Stupid a coupe of days ago, and now I am in Sweden having just listened to so very good speeches about the challenges we all face to maintain and promote the biodiversity of the planet. It’s a tough gig and we , the professional managers, do very little to help ourselves or the biodiversity of the planet. The faces around me all day and all night are long and serious. They take the subject very seriously and worse still they take themselves very seriously.

We will never find a sustainable solution until we find a way of enjoying the natural beauty and depth and variety of the planet.

Biodiversity is not just about conservation biology and great wildlife TV. For billions of people biodiversity is the cornerstone of their life. Its about food, economic activity, freshwater provision, flood protection, healthcare provision etc.

Life everywhere is hard for most people from Manila to Mumbai to Manchester but the common factor in everyone’s life is the moments of joy, happiness and delight. There is very little in this room today.

That worries me more than the depressing messages of Age of Stupid and the loss of biodiversity.

I believe that the outcome shown in the movie can be avoided if we are smart enough to laugh, smile and realise that more people will do more that is beneficial if they are enjoying the result.

We must make the changes we need to happen to be enjoyable not worthy.