Totally thrilled to share the Summer 2025 issue of @divemag , my first as editor.
You want thrilling stories of newly discovered dive sites? ✅
You want manta rays? ✅
You want fascinating insights about ocean science? ✅
You want astonishingly beautiful photographs? ✅
We’ve got it all and I’m so proud to showcase the wonderful work of this issue’s team of writers and photographers. Thanks so much to @jenniferjostock@catherineholmes.photography , Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell and Colin Marshall, plus to @helen_czerski for taking the time to talk to me about Blue Machine, the best book I’ve ever read about the ocean
Subscribe at divemagazine.com
The Summer 2025 issue of The Environment is finally here! With @ciwem ’s Flood & Coast conference just around the corner, this issue explores some of the projects and approaches helping to mitigate the threat and harm of flood in the UK.
We’ve got:
- adorable beavers, courtesy of @evabishop & Jess Chappell of @beavertrust
- commentary from CIWEM policy director Alastair Chisholm
- sustainable drainage, from Kevin Barton of @robertbrayassociates
- threatened swifts, from @writerhannahbt
- and much more
The magazine is only available to CIWEM members but non-members can sign up to our monthly newsletter on the website to get a taste of the action.
#environmentalnews
#climatesolutions
#sustainablefuture
#resilientcommunities
#naturebasedsolutions
#beavers
#swifts
#biodiversity
Bit of excitement here this evening: a juvenile wood pigeon (I never knew what one looked like until now - they only develop white neck patches when they reach adulthood) had been attacked by a cat in our garden, so we kept it safe until a lovely volunteer from London Wildlife Protection was able to come to pick it up. She’ll look after it in her home until it’s recovered. How wonderful that such kindness exists in the world.
Morning photography pals - heads up that @divemag runs a regular underwater photo competition with a really great prize: a week on a liveaboard dive boat to Raja Ampat, Indonesia, with winning pictures printed in the Summer print edition of DIVE /underwater-photography/dives-big-shot-living-together-win-a-liveaboard-trip-to-raja-ampat
Zoom in, zoom in, zoom in and you might see…
….that the swifts are back! Having just interviewed @writerhannahbt about her excellent new book, Nature Needs You, and her campaign for swift nesting boxes, I’ve been looking out for them even more eagerly than in previous years. And now they’re here! Bring on summer.
I’ll share the interview when it’s published in the Summer issue of @ciwem ’s The Environment next month. In the meantime, I heartily recommend Hannah’s book if you want to understand better the convoluted interaction between nature conservation and politics.
Was at Sloane Square station last night when a friend pointed out the River Westbourne, a tributary of the Thames, in a pipe that crosses over the tracks. How sad for a river to end up like this but what an amazing glimpse of London history.
This Sunday, 23 March, my kids and I will be taking to the streets of central London, along with hundreds of other cycling families 🚲, to highlight dangers of SUVs.
Cars getting heavier and larger, with 30% increased risk of death for vulnerable road users according to Europe-wide study from 2023. As a cyclist myself, and as a parent to little cyclists, I find the increasing prevalence of these massive vehicles on our streets very worrying.
To help raise awareness of the dangers – and to have a lovely time, while we’re at it – we’ll be taking part in Kidical Mass, a fully marshalled family bike ride from the National Theatre to Brunswick Square.
Feeder rides will be making their way to the NT from all over London ready to set off en masse at 11am. We’ll be dressed up to mark the ‘SPACE’ theme – I’m not sure exactly how yet, the dressing up box is yet to be raided.
If you care about ensuring we leave space for vulnerable road users – not just cyclists but also pedestrians, scooters and wheelchair users – come join us. It’s going to be a lot of fun. (Drop me a line below if you think you might make it and we can arrange a hello.)
You can read more about the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/esYMh6tm
Very grateful to have been invited to Envecon last week, the annual conference of the UK Network for Environmental Economists @theroyalsociety (@ciwem accredited the CPD so they very kindly had me along).
As a non-economist, I can’t claim I understood everything I heard, but I went home with lots of scribblings to follow up on, including about expectations for job creation of the green transition (are there lessons for water infrastructure?), the growth of nature-based solutions in carbon markets, and reducing flood damage on farmland through nature restoration. Some of it might just end up as stories in The Environment, so let me know if you’ve got expertise or opinions you’d like to share.
Spotted this tucked away at Ludgate Circus just now. Hard to make out but it says that London’s first daily newspaper was published at a house near this site.
Hurrah that this week sees the publication of another issue of The Environment, the magazine for CIWEM. It’s a water industry special, including my interview with @munira.wilson MP about her campaign against PFAS chemicals in drinking water; how Valencia responded to the devastating flooding last autumn; and the reasons behind the Johannesburg water crisis.
