Ren Huffman’s Post

From promoting smart growth to enhancing community vitality, discover the principles that are guiding us towards a sustainable future. Want to dive deeper into the art and science of creating cohesive, thriving communities? Check out our latest blog to explore the transformative power of land planning. https://bit.ly/3TBeuIS #landplanning #landdevelopment #burrell #blog #sustainablefuture

Action for nature is already happening on the ground in Sussex but isn't always visible. 🌱 🐝 In recent meetings with #FarmerClusters across Sussex, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy team have heard about interventions taken to improve habitats and support species, at the same time as running a business. That these aren't known more broadly or celebrated is because land managers are busy getting on with it. The purpose of #LocalNatureRecoveryStrategies for Sussex is to identify opportunities for nature's recovery, but to do that, it’s important we know where we're actually starting from. 🎯 If you're a farmer, community group, organisation or land manager use the tool to MapYourActions for nature. Whether they are large or small, in progress, implemented or planned, the Sussex LNRS team want to hear about them! Find out more and register to add your projects to the map: https://shorturl.at/GCcPF

Not as acute, but the Southern part of the UK will also have this acute water shortage problem. A problem exasperated by not having control of our water industry. We have a water infrastructure barely fit for the 20th century but not for current or future needs and no way of doing this crucial work unless we nationalise it. We need a comprehensive system to catch large quantities of rainwater quickly in the more frequent tropical downpours that climate change brings, and not flush it out to sea carrying pollution that's destroying marine ecosystems. Currently the Green Party is the only political party committed to nationalisation. If we don't nationalise it we will spend years doing a merry dance bailing out the water companies who cannot make ends meet (Thames Water is just the start) because various water companies have raised debt in offshore future markets that they cannot now repay. #water #thameswater #greenparty

Did you know Landscaping Your Life (LYL) was a corporate partner for SCOTLAND: The Big Picture and has been for 3 years. Not least because so much of LYL work uses nature in some form or other to help individuals and teams to reduce the overwhelm and have clarity about what to do next. This poem I wrote shares why I think there’s a link between the important work Peter and everyone at STP do links to the work I do. Rewild your life Rewild your life not just on the outside on the inside too Like nature we seem to have smoothed the rough edges taken out the risk and played it safe It’s as if we too have chopped down the trees, straightened the rivers and reused the flood plains in our lives No longer allowed to meander to get to our destination and instead aiming for the quickest and most direct route to win the day No longer with flood plains able to absorb the stress but every inch of plain full of activity and every minute on it accounted for Every inner mountain cleared of trees just as those on the outside have with nothing left to absorb the overwhelming floods leaving the emotions to run amok further down the landscape Rewild feels scary because wild feels scary and yet it’s who we are Not the now familiar domestication nor cultivated to within an inch of our lives wild and free Free to allow all parts of us to be seen to bring every quality to the party because the outside world needs our rewilded selves too What can you do to add a little more of the unexpected and a little less tame into your life? How will you rewild your life #landscapingyourlife #rewilding #nature #sustainability #regeneration

It's National Estate Planning Awareness Week. Including the Minnesota Land Trust in your estate plans helps secure your conservation legacy and ensures that the natural places we cherish today will be protected for generations to come. Please let us know if you’ve already included us in your estate plans, or if you'd like help getting started. Every plan makes a lasting difference! Go to mnland.org/planned-giving for more information. #EstatePlanningAwareness #LeaveALegacy #ProtectWhatYouLove #ConservationLegacy

If you live in Sussex, please fill in this quick survey. It will help inform priorities for nature recovery across Sussex. I know I want to see an end to the pollution of Chichester harbour and an increase in native hedge planting, among other things! #sussex #nature #localnaturerecoverystrategy

🐦 Today, on World Sparrow Day, let's reflect on the plight of these little creatures. As their habitats disappear, sparrows are left with no place to call home. It's time to take action to preserve their habitats and ensure their survival. Let's pledge to create spaces where sparrows can thrive once again. #WorldSparrowDay #SaveOurSparrows #HabitatPreservation 🌿🏡

At around 13% forest cover in 2020, the UK is one of the least densely forested countries in Europe. One of the many reasons why it is important we acknowledge events like this week’s The Tree Council’s National Tree Week. As the week draws to a close, we wanted to spotlight these statistics and how they serve to highlight why tree planting projects like Earthwatch Europe’s Tiny Forest are so important for creating bustling forest ecosystems in small urban spaces, additionally providing local communities and schools with all the wonderful benefits of urban trees. A year ago today, Ashby de la Zouch, the hometown to Bluesky’s HQ, got its own Tiny Forest site! These super tiny, super powerful forests aim to mimic natural forests but in a small space. They include a mix of native trees which, over time, will create a wildlife-rich woodland. The Ashby Tiny Forest was funded by Ashby Town Council as part of the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and The National Forest Company. Local primary school students, local community members, and representatives of the councils all got together to plant the trees and spend time as a community.   #NationalTreeWeek #TinyForest #woodlands #wellbeing #nature

Each year in the United States, urban tree cover decreases by an estimated 36 million trees, or 175,000 acres. For perspective, New York City’s Central Park contains about 18,000 trees, meaning the U.S. loses 2,000 times the number of trees in Central Park each year to factors like urban development, industry, climate change impacts, and lack of tree maintenance. In 2021, tree equity studies confirmed that socially and economically disadvantaged communities are more likely to experience the negative effects of urban tree loss. On average, communities with high levels of poverty have approximately 41 percent fewer trees than their wealthier counterparts. To help combat this inequity, nonprofit environmental advocacy organization Faith in Place was awarded $1.99 million by the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program to increase urban tree canopies in the Great Lakes region. These funds will allow Faith in Place to facilitate tree planning and workforce development projects at faith institutions and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged communities throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. A million thanks to Rev. Brian Sauder for sitting down with me to talk about tree equity and environmental justice for this article for Healing Our Waters - Great Lakes Coalition. #treeequity #treeplaning #environmentalworkforcedevelopment #freelacewriter #greatlakesregion #climateimpacts #urbantreeloss #environmentaljournalism

In about two weeks, Penny L. Heiple and I will travel through parts of West Texas, Kansas, and Colorado with Will M. exploring how we can help #RegenerateTheOgallala -- one of the largest and most important groundwater systems on Earth. This is a region known for wide open spaces and large-scale industrial agriculture. Two hundred years ago it was an incredibly rich grassland savannah with millions of buffalo and several indigenous tribes who knew how to live in harmony with the land. How do we imagine the regeneration of something so large? What kinds of breakdown and collapse will be required from the unsustainable culture that is depleting this aquifer? Who is going to do the cultural restoration and landscape regeneration work in the coming centuries? We will explore these questions and more as we travel to sacred sites and feel the land with our own hands. Onward, fellow humans.