WakeUP Wake County’s Post

𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗬: Often we think of natural resources or nature as only existing in parks or outside of city limits, but this is not true. Your backyard, apartment complex, office building, synagogue, school, or wherever you go can support nature. It’s all about the type of plants we surround ourselves with and a balance between people and wildlife. Columbia has amazing parks, streams, and forests to explore. These natural resources can be found throughout Columbia and not only do they provide recreational opportunities but also clean air and water, shade, mental health benefits, materials and so much more. Community conservation is all about bringing people closer to nature and improving the environment for people and wildlife through educational programming, habitat restoration, outreach, and strategic planning. 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘: comoclimateaction.org 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘: como.gov/strategic-plan 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆. / #comoclimateaction #comostrategicplan 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗮, 𝗠𝗢 - 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 3M Hinkson/Flatbranch Wetland

Supporting the communities surrounding conservation areas is a crucial component of long-term conservation success, and we believe that providing ongoing employment is one of the most impactful ways to support our local community, where unemployment rates can reach up to 80%. Every additional income supports many additional family members and has a significant positive effect on the greater community. 🌱 One of our significant highlights of 2023 was being able to add the 15 members of our Green Mambas habitat restoration team to our full-time roster. We also added 3 full-time staff at the brand-new Wild Tomorrow Conservation Centre. Not only is the security of income from their employment so crucial for their families, but it presents an opportunity for our staff to reconnect with nature and realize the interdependence between natural ecosystems and human communities. The benefits to the environment are multiplied as this “trickles down” to their families and communities. 🌿 Working collaboratively with our communities is inextricably linked to our success in ensuring a wild tomorrow for all. 🦓🦒🦏 #WildTomorrow #community #communityupliftment #communitysupport #conservation #wildlife #wildlifeconservation

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

We reached a milestone 150 unique 'hosts' this week 🌿🏕 Our network of land owners, managers & custodians is so diverse now, ranging from families with a few acres to share to the huge upland farms & everything in between. What is the unfarmed?! On ALL farms, as Jeremy Clarkson has so enthusiasticly shown, are pockets of unused, unproductive or fallow land that are perfect spaces for zero-impact recreation. Woodland Copse or borders, grant-funded rewilded meadows, fallow or rotating pasture, banksides of rivers, ponds and lakes, scrub & rough pasture or hilltops with poor access. These are Wild Spaces that should be unlocked for responsible, sustainable access to a community seeking adventure, space & time in nature. Own, manage or care for land? Help spread the word & aid us in unlocking these nature-havens. #unlocktheunfarmed #accesstonature #zeroimpactrecreation

As humankind grows increasingly urban, planting #trees and #parks — far from merely beautifying cities — increasingly becomes a matter of life and death. Bz Zhang, Project Manager, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, explains how a #park #stewardship program is ensuring the #health of local parks, while also providing opportunities for community members, including students. More at https://lnkd.in/giiFY5_d

Proposition 14 - Centennial Parks Conservation Fund. It covers all existing, as well as the creation of new parks. Which doesn't make them centennial. I suppose it is conserving parks but the name implies it to be so much more important. All that to shift money out of general revenue so there is less transparency. https://lnkd.in/gDp4Aa4M

🌿🌏 Landcare Week is coming up on 5-11 August! This year’s theme is ‘Landcare Is for Everyone,’ and there's no better time to get involved in your local Landcare or community environmental group. The Northern Rivers region has faced its fair share of natural disasters, and our Landcare groups have risen to the challenge. However, they have encountered a significant shortfall in native plant seeds needed for crucial revegetation activities. To tackle this, the Border Ranges Richmond Valley Landcare Network, with support from North Coast Local Land Services and North Coast Regional Landcare Network, launched an exciting Regional Seedbank project. 🌱 Through this initiative, they have hosted seven seed collection workshops, training 97 new volunteers and collecting seeds from 45 native species. These efforts ensure there is enough reliable seed supply to support Landcare’s environmental recovery and climate adaptation strategies. 🌳💧 Join us during Landcare Week to celebrate and contribute to this vital work. Whether you’re a gardener, scientist, environmentalist, conservationist, farmer, or land manager, there's a place for you in Landcare. Let’s work together to create a sustainable future for our region. 👉 Join a Landcare Group in NSW near you and make a difference! Share your Landcare stories with #LandcareWeek2024! 👏🌿 #LandcareNSW #EnvironmentalRecovery #Revegetation #SeedBanking #NorthernRivers #Sustainability #ClimateAdaptation #LocalLandServices #LandcareAustralia Supported by the NSW Landcare Program.

National Parks need more money, new powers and reforms to governance and land ownership. With 90% of land in Britain's #NationalParks privately owned we can see how far we've come from the founding vision of National Parks which included public access and state ownership. Successive governments have failed to get to grips with a central problem highlighted starkly in our Health Check report which found that only 6% of land in National Parks is managed effectively for nature and that every water body in England’s National Parks is polluted. When National Parks were created 75 years ago, it was under a ‘People’s Charter’ that set out a vision for every citizen to walk, completely immersed in nature, surrounded by the awe and wonder of our most special landscapes and wildlife. This vision still resonates - nature is the top priority for the public when it comes to National Parks. Government should celebrate the 75th with a new People’s Charter that renews the social contract for National Parks, and supports greater public and community ownership of land.    As the #climate and #nature emergency becomes even more urgent, we must see the changes needed for National Parks to thrive for the future. https://lnkd.in/eVVWGPzn

TREE-topia …  TREE-rific.   We applaud the tremendous effort by Bruce, Kurt, Gavin and the Myalup Community Association.    All communities across the State should thank the dedicated volunteers and aspire to such prolific tree planting.    The metropolitan area is in desperate need of more tree canopy. The City of Melville’s director responsible of our natural environment, Mr Mick McCarthy, would do well to learn and seek direction from Gavin Waugh, who is also a Melville ratepayer.     Melville’s tree canopy has, and continues to be decimated, and we need many more trees to be planted just to start the road to recovery.    Sadly, it is our view that Melville is not taking the need for protecting and growing our tree canopy as seriously as it should, they seem to move along at their own slow pace; like many local governments. The Melville community, and others, must unite to grow  public open space and tree canopy for the benefit of future generations. #treecanopy #saveourspace #saveoursuburbs #tree #ratepayers #climateaction #MRRA #WATCA #MelvilleTreeCanopyAdvocates #MCAN #MelvilleClimateActionNetwork #Ratepayers #localgovernmentreform

A recent SWIO regional policy review conducted by WWF has found that countries have developed national policies to provide communities with rights and benefits in natural resource management, including mangroves. However, realising these rights and benefits faces several challenges, including tensions arising from duplicate or ambiguous policies, limited institutional and financial capacity to support policy intentions and a lack of coordinated support to expand and sustain community-based mangrove management. Conservation that is #communityled is a cornerstone of WWF-SWIO’s work in #SWIO. Although having these policies in place provides us with a springboard to reach our 2030 goal of 20 million hectares of community-managed area, we first need to address the obstacles to realising community rights and benefits in mangrove management. As such, WWF has provided several recommendations to navigate and improve the policy landscape for strengthened community rights and benefits in mangrove management. These recommendations include developing and finalising a regional mangrove strategy and action plan that addresses policy pitfalls, clarifies the concept of community rights in mangrove management and supports national mangrove management strategies. Find out about SWIO’s work regarding community-led conservation here: https://lnkd.in/d9uc_SjT