Swifts typically arrive in Early May. Tell us when and where you saw your first Swift this summer. If you write just a few words about what this meant to you, you could win a copy of this new book signed and presented to you by nationally-acclaimed author Mark Cocker. Please send your words and sighting by 30 June to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A Summer Evening with Mark Cocker

Moorlands Climate Action welcomes author Mark Cocker back to the Foxlowe Arts Centre on Wednesday 12 July. A truly inspiring speaker, Mark will take to the stage at 7.30pm to discuss his latest book One Midsummer's Day - Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth with MCA's own Mark Johnson.  Tickets are free and available at Eventbrite.

This competition and talk form part of a multi-year programme to build on the work of Swifts of Leek in bringing back this beautiful but threatened bird in the numbers once seen in the skies above Leek. This includes new swift boxes and recording sightings on the RSPB Swift Map.

Read more: First Swift of Summer Competition

This project originated from a discussion on climate change with Butterton Parish Council and led to MCA members Hannah Grimsey and Wendy Bohme initiating and running the Manifold Tree Planting project. They were aware that there are tree planting opportunities for those who have large areas of land, but that there are many people in the Manifold Valley who are not land-owners, but who would like to plant trees in their own gardens or smaller areas of land. The project aims to bring these people together, moving action from the individual to the community.

An emphasis on planting “the right tree in the right place” and helping people decide which native trees to plant, where they would have the most beneficial climate and biodiversity impacts, was central to the project. Funding was received from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Community Climate and Nature Action...

Read more: The Manifold Tree Planting Project

The question ‘What have soils ever done for us?’ brings lots of replies: the provision of food, fibre and fuel, a source for pharmaceuticals, water purification, flood and climate regulation to name but a few.  Although we understand the need for fertility, light, water, etc, we tend to regard soil as just the medium we pop our plants into, rather than a treasure trove. However, scientific research in recent years has revealed how rich, complex and full of life it really is.

“Soil is an incredible, vital, and undervalued resource. It takes up to 400 years to make one centimetre’s depth of soil. One teaspoon of soil contains more living things than people on Earth.”  Royal Society.

Sadly, the research also reveals that soils have been in decline for a very long time, in reality since humans took up the plough. Moreover, soil loss rates have speeded up dramatically since the adoption of much more intensive farming methods and governments are now concerned to address the problem with regenerative farming approaches...

Read more: Why on Earth - Should We Care About Soil?

Our readers probably know already that beavers have returned to both Cheshire and Derbyshire and are thriving in the habitats designated for them by their respective Wildlife Trusts.  Even better news is that, since 1^st October 2022, they have been officially designated as native AND protected species in England as well as Scotland. 

The best news of all is that a beaver has recently appeared in the Churnet valley, having made a freedom bid from his East Midlands base and travelled independently up the catchment via the Trent and the Dove.  The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust staff who found him christened him ‘Brian’ but were sorry to hear that his incautious behaviour had led to him being recaptured and returned to his ‘transit camp’.  An enchanting creature, who doesn’t eat fish, improves the habitat and prevents downstream flooding, he and his fellows will be very welcome when they are allowed to return officially...

Read more: Beavers are Back!

For this edition, we have a contribution from the coordinators of our Youth Engagement team, Sally and Moira, whose activities cross all boundaries! 

We were very interested in Buxton Wild Weeks that were held last summer and decided that it would be great to do something similar ourselves. Buxton Wild Week engaged with nearly 1000 children, working with three primary schools.

We approached schools as we wanted to get those in and around Leek involved but aiming for one week only with maybe some family activities at the weekends. It was a greater success than we thought as we now have 13 schools involved from nursery to secondary, which is amazing – if a bit of challenge!

Read more: Leek Wild Week

Last week MCA co-hosted a screening of the film Kiss the Ground with Fox Dox, Foxlowe Films’ documentary wing.  The film was all about regenerative farming, sometimes called carbon farming.  This practice is based on the relatively recent scientific understanding that tilling soils and leaving them bare brings about losses to the atmosphere of the carbon bound up in soil organic matter. Conversely keeping the ground covered with crops, grasses, mulches or perennial plants reduces this loss. 

Read more: Kiss The Ground