Lowestoft Town Council
What is causing insect declines within the UK and globally? Loss and fragmentation of habitats, routine and unnecessary use of pesticides and climate change, are causing critical declines in insects.
Urgent action is required to save our insects, these creatures are all important and play key roles in our lives, they pollinate our food crops and provide food for much of our loved wildlife, such as robins and bats. #ActionForInsects is an important campaign led by The Wildlife Trusts, supported by a range of partners who share the same aspiration of reversing the alarming decline in insects and helping nature recover across the UK.
The Wildlife Trusts suggests calling on the government to set an ambitious target of reducing the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides, this would be a step in the right direction to protect insects from vanishing within our community. Establishing a Nature Recovery Network by creating insect-friendly habitats in gardens, parks, and open spaces, to ensure the survival of these beings. This will safeguard not only insects but other wildlife within the community. As part of Lowestoft Town Council's Earth Protector Town Declaration, the Town Council endorse and support the campaign to call ecocide (s serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, and includes climate and cultural damage) a crime.
With the Town Council’s mission to rapidly progress the improvement of our parks and open spaces, we understand that if these areas are managed in a wildlife-friendly way they can become nature havens for insects and wildlife alike.
Structural diversity, meaning the relative degree of diversity or complexity of vegetation in a habitat area, is crucial to wildlife habitats. The variety of trees, plants, and foliage cater to the lifestyles of wildlife, ensuring that insects can hide, feed, and live within the same radius. This is something to consider when planting and/or creating wildlife-friendly spaces for these creatures in our gardens and parks.
At the heart of the Town Council’s Climate Emergency work is the significance of trees, both the planting of new trees and the protection of existing veteran and ancient trees within Lowestoft.
The existence of trees plays a valuable role in locking up carbon within the living wood, roots, leaves, deadwood, surrounding soils, and vegetation; fighting the cruel effects of our shifting climate. Notably, for Lowestoft, they can help prevent flooding, reduce temperatures, condense pollution, and keep soil nutrient-rich.
The Town Council’s current mission is to cast a light on the existing trees, bringing to attention the significance of nature, and engaging the community to help us protect them in a challenging climate. With a plan for the future to understand and easily identify the types of trees within our parks and open spaces, and throughout Lowestoft.
Plans in the near future to plant new trees we are encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds, who would be interested in planting, caring and watering these new additions to our town, to get in contact with us, we are very keen to hear from any groups, communities and/or individuals.
In line with our Climate Emergency Declaration, the Town Council intends to plant new trees in our open spaces and parks, with every tree planted we plan to plant an orchard tree, with an assortment of apples, pears, plums, hawthorns, and more. Orchards are not only valuable and beautiful, they are crucial to wildlife. Perfect for pollinators, fruit trees age rapidly which create essential deadwood habitats for a variety of wildlife. Furthermore, the Town Council strives to aid biodiversity within the community and many areas are left undisturbed to develop natural habitats for wildlife, planting bulbs and/or maintaining these wild areas when deemed necessary.
The Town Council strives to protect the existing trees of Lowestoft through awareness on our online communications platforms, researching and learning about the histories and types of trees in our parks and open spaces, and through exploring local initiatives to ensure the longevity and survival of trees in our community. The removal of trees without consent and the appropriate licences is both a criminal activity and strongly against the Town Council’s Climate Emergency declaration. If you happen to witness any other unauthorised activity within this area and throughout the community, it should be reported to the Suffolk Police by calling the non-emergency line 101.
The Woodland Trust offer a tree planting scheme, providing local schools and communities trees in the months, November and March - encouraging individuals, communities, and schools to join the Big Climate Fightback movement, with the hope to get 50 million more trees in the ground across the UK over the next five years. All the trees they provide are sourced and grown within the UK and Ireland, these trees being climate-adapted and biodiverse.
We are encouraging local schools and communities to take the opportunities that both trusts are currently offering, improving our tree density within Lowestoft, and helping with the Town Council's mission to protect old and new trees.
The Tree Council’s has a free ID app that is downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, assisting with identifying the UK’s native and non-native trees. Regardless of the season, using leaves, bark, twigs, flowers, or fruit, in your local open spaces and parks, you can discover which trees inhabit Lowestoft. With an A-Z tree guide in your pocket.
Download for iPhone or Android:
Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/british-tree-identification/id1112564089
Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.woodlandtrust&hl=en_GB
Do you have a favourite tree in Lowestoft? What is its significance to you?
Would you like to help our Climate Emergency mission?
Contact us by emailing to admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
