Some good must come from these terrible Cumbrian floods

The Times yesterday: Elemental force

Record rainfall has brought disaster to Cumbria. As well as sympathy, the victims must be offered help, compensation and clear plans for better protection

My view:

Flooding has a huge and devasting impact on the communities they hit as well as the regional and national psyche as a natural hazard/disaster. This was one thing I learned in Geography of Natural Hazards at University.

We must be prepared to help and newspapers have reported on numerous acts of heroism including the Policeman that swept away when a bridge collapsed.

We must also be prepared to learn what we might we able to do better next time. The Environment Agency is engaged in this evaluation process; the Government does need to release more money for adequate prevention and protection measures.  Government has promised not only emergency money but also to match funds by the Regional Development Agency.

My key question has always been: why do so many people live on flood plains? The answer comes back – because there is nowhere else!?  

The Times 21/11/09 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6926168.ece

‘The pictures seem as though they are from a distant continent. The raging brown water, the broken roads and bridges, the abandoned cars, and rescuers in inflatable boats ferrying families to safety: it looks more like a village hit by a Caribbean hurricane than the picturesque streets of Cockermouth. More than a foot of rain fell in Cumbria in 24 hours, as much as normally falls in the whole of November and an all-time record for England. More rain is on the way. The Lake District has been devastated by a natural disaster that has driven people from their homes, overwhelmed towns and villages and cost the life of a brave policeman, Bill Barker, who wa swept away when a bridge collapsed.’

The Independent on Sunday 22/11/09 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-land-of-mud-and-destruction-1825550.html

‘People in Cumbria woke in misery and under threat of more rain today. Strong winds and heavy rains were sweeping across the region last night, causing rivers to rise again in an area that had been praying since Friday that the worst of its flooding was over.’

Sticking up for the ‘underfrog’

It’s not so easy being a cold-blooded reptile. They need us on their side

The Times columnist Simon Barnes yesterday (7/11/09) on amphibians and reptiles. 

Two organisations have become one: Froglife and the Herpetological Conservation Trust are now ARC. They will stand back to back in the bar-room brawl of conservation and fight against the odds for creatures that no one likes.

It all goes wrong before we even start. To call someone cold-blooded is already an insult: it means that the person in question is not only sub-human, but sinister to boot. The term “reptile” is another insult; I belong to a profession frequently referred to collectively as reptiles. Alas, this doesn’t mean that journos are damned good people who do a damn good job. Hard, then, to convince people that these creatures themselves matter, and that action on their behalf is something that benefits not only the animals but humankind as well.

MY VIEW:

Amphibians and reptiles are indeed perceived as the ‘underdogs’ – or ‘underfrogs’ as Barnes calls them. In my homeland of New Zealand, the ‘tuatara’ is known as a living dionsaur. Other species are jusy accepted or simply ignored! In Australia, snakes get a mixture of responses – from endearment – the Steve Urwin effect  – to near-loathing!  Changes in thesew perceptions can only be brought about through environmental education (throught groups like NAEE )- showing children, young people and familes that every one of these are wonderful creatures, to be observed and admired – but no feared!   

Cold-blooded amphibians and reptiles fill particular special places in Nature - their ‘ecological niche’ - and we humans would soon notice if their numbers dropped or some completely disappeared. So let’s here it for amphibs and reps – and groups like ARC!   

As Barnes concludes:  ‘ So I am lining up here with the maligned and the misunderstood, the hated and the feared. Good luck to ARC and God bless all who sail in her.’

Times article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/simon_barnes/article6906856.ece

Amphibians and Reptiles Conservation Trust http://www.arc-trust.org/

Factsheets on NZ animals: http://www.kcc.org.nz/factsheets.asp

National Association for Environmental Education (UK) http://www.naee.org.uk/

We call ourselves animal lovers…?

The Independent on Sunday 1 November reports

They call us a nation of animal lovers, yet attacks on creatures in their natural habitats have more than doubled across Britain in a year.

Crimes against wildlife, including badger baiting with dogs, hare coursing, poisoning of protected birds and even trapping them to sell as caged pets have soared to unprecedented heights. New figures from the police show that the number of wildlife crimes more than doubled in the last year, from 2,177 to 5,854.

MY VIEW

In New  Zealand, the kea – the world’s only mountain parrot – was persecuted as it was thought to attack sheep, a myth. The NZ Customs Department, working with the Department of Conservation, know of and try to prevent numerous reptiles, birds and their eggs from leaving New Zealand – as trophies, alive or dead! As a conservation information officer in NZ, I heard many similar stories. Why does this wildlife crime continue and increase?

? Is this indicative of

+our human instinct to hunt, capture animals, or otherwise persecute wild and/or domestic animals illegally  

+more sinister tendencies in us to transfer pain and enjoy  it?  

+economic rewards for animals’ capture or death is higher thn the fines – if the culprit is caught?   

Are animals hunted and persecuted illegally in other countries, such as USA?

Wildlife Crimes: Britain’s killing fields?

Highlights of the report  http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/wildlife-crime-britains-killing-fields-1812915.html 

* In 2008, the RSPCA investigated 140,000 cases of animal cruelty in England and Wales, a steep rise from the 2003 figure of 105,000.

* One of the sharpest rises has been in what police call “badger persecution”, a term that includes badgers being dug out of their setts, pitted against terrier dogs in fights, and being shot by farmers, landowners or their agents. This resurgence in badger persecution that they say is being driven, in part, by the perceived threat to livestock from bovine tuberculosis.

* Crimes against bats have increased by 10 per cent a year since 2007, and the loss of one roost can be a severe blow to populations that are already vulnerable, according to the Bat Conservation Trust. Last year, the RSPB received 1,206 reports of shooting, poisoning, trapping and disturbance of birds and their eggs – the second highest they have ever recorded.

* The theft of wild flowers is also taking its toll on Britain’s biodiversity. In May this year, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust had to issue a warning to visitors to its nature reserve near Sapperton after a spate of bluebell thefts.

Detective Inspector Brian Stuart, head of the NWCU (National Wildlife Crime Unit), said: “There is an increase in wildlife crime in general. We are seeking to use wider policing powers, such as the Proceeds of Crime Act, to target criminals where it hurts them most – in their pocket.”

Go veggie to save the planet?

 

The Times yesterday ran a front page  feature from Lord Sternhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6893037.ece, writer of the  key recent report of climate chnge, who urged people to become vegetarian to help fight global warming. There have been a range of reactions, some postive and some far less so! Certainly very worthy of debate through the media - and in schools ( http://www.naee.org.uk/).

Some responses:

From Prof Watson, Chief Govt Scientific Advisor: ”When you look at the livestock industry, it’s not just the cows burping methane, it’s transporting the meat, it’s storing the meat, it’s not stopping eating meat. It’s how we get a balanced diet that reduces the environmental footprint’.   

Jonte Jay, a correspondent in The Times: ‘Eating vegetarian diet is a lot cheaper’

Nicholas Fox, another correspondent in The Times: ‘Tell me I’m having   a bad dream and not livung in a ridiculous country’

Soil Association, Compassion in World Farming and Sustain: ‘Everyone shoiud have one ot two meat-free meals a week. ‘

MY VIEW: 

‘I enjoy meat but focus on a wide range of ingredients – partly because my wife is vegetarian, partly due to the welfare issues and potential environmental (incl climate change) gimplications of meat and its processing – as quoted above (Soil Assn).’     

Weblinks:

http://www.soilassociation.org/ The Soil Association

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/ Compassion In World Farming

http://www.sustainweb.org/Sustain advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living …

http://www.naee.org.uk/ National Associatioon for Environmental Education

Climate change – scaremongering, or a real chance to act?

Yesterday was International Day for Climate Change.

In one of the first blogs on this site, I asked ‘what was the major environmental issue’ and one response was ‘climate change’.

The issue seems to be everywhere but is still misunderstood:

* Obama delivered a speech to the MIT about energy and jobs http://tinyurl.com/ykwguz3

 * The Age of Stupid film http://www.ageofstupid.net/  us showed the scenarios if we DO NOT take action and soon! It used old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

* the latest Geographical (UK) magazine has a special issue on the poles and the very real impact of climate change graphically illustrated.

 * climate change is NOT just about coutries becoming warmer - as was often thought/inferred by the term ‘global warming’. These and other important points need to be, sensitively, brought to the attention of children as part of science and geography/environmental education (www.naee.org.uk).

*  The new book ‘Climate Change in Africa’ by Camilla Toulmin states that ‘climate change is a major challenge for us all, but for African countries it represents a particular threat, with the poorest people likely to be hardest hit.’ http://tinyurl.com/yg358le
 

Is climate change scarmongering?

My view: No, but this is a real consequence of our combined human activities and their combined impact on a global scale.  So, since these activities are  actually having a ’scarey’ result on all life and systems of the planet, we need to understand what is happening and begin to act…

What can any of us do?

My view: All of our very lifestyles of all humans are causing these changes -  so everything and anything we can do as *individuals * within groups and communities *through local goverments * nationally  – all of these will and do help!

Weblinks:

 http://www.350.org/ Climate Change Group

www.naee.org.uk Environmental Education

Let children learn through play, not sit and get bored!

Alexander Report highly critical of education as it stands

A ‘play-based’ approach, both in and outside of the classroom and natural areas of the schoolgrounds, is beneficial for children that have these opportunities. I have seen this with my own eyes. We should also be  starting formal education much later – aged 5 or 6!

Education made the front pages this week, with the 4-year report by Prof  Robin Alexander, of Cambridge University on the state of education giving the Government a ‘poor’ in many areas…

The Government response, in a nutshell was: ‘we’ve had the Rose Review’ (sponsored by Government) which says we need to  focus on ICT, Numeracy and Literacy … and science and the environment will happen by absorption! Note that the Government DOES NOT have to implement the Cambridge Review!

Some key points of Cambridge Report:   

* ‘Primary education should amount to much more than basic literacy and
numeracy’ (Alexander)

My view: I agree! Children need a balanced curriculum including learning about the world about them – about, in and for the environment. Children can then use their environment – natural and built – using a source of inspiration for their writing and numeracy! This is also the view of the National Association for Environmental Education.   

* Alexander praised the role of existing classroom “generalists” who are expected to teach all subjects. But it said there were concerns that some failed to provide the “expertise which a modern primary education requires”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6338706/Primary-review-specialist-teachers-for-infants.html

My view: Science is a key area in which schools that have a single or specialist teacher that undertakes this subject – as part of teachers ‘PPA’ time – children are better engaged in this area and the subject is often better resourced. I taught Science and Design and Technology and consider my specific focus on this subject and better collection of resources, than class teachers would easily be able to assemble, were an advantage.    

* Children responded better to a “play-based” curriculum at a young age and insisted it would not hold them back in later life. Dame Gillian Pugh, the review’s chairman, said:

“If you introduce a child too formal a curriculum before they are ready for it then you are not taking into account where children are in terms of their learning and their capacity to develop. There is no research evidence that shows that early access to formal learning does children any good and quite a lot of good evidence to show that it actually can do some harm,” she said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/6338700/Primary-review-start-formal-lessons-at-six.html

My view: Play-based approach using the resources both in and outside of the classroom/in the playground and natural areas of the schoolgrounds/local parks, has proved highly beneficial for children that have these opportunities. School grounds and Forest schools movements, and more specialist approaches such as Steiner and Montessori, are proof of children learning being effective here. My short time as a Nursery teacher and cover teaching at Foundation Stage verifies this. 
 

Some useful links:   

http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/ Cambridge Review

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6338706/Primary-review-specialist-teachers-for-infants.html

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/generation-of-pupils-being-put-off-school-report-says-1803629.html

 

http://www.naee.org.uk/ National Association for Environmental Education

 

Dolphins in captivity – important role or just plain wrong?

Ever since ‘Flipper’ died in his arms, Richard O’Barry has been on a mission to stop the killing and capture of dolphins. This month, as Andrew Johnson reports, that ambition moves one step closer – when the annual slaughter in Taiji, Japan, is exposed to the world in a new film http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/dying-to-make-us-happy-the-bloody-truth-behind-the-dolphinarium-1799837.html

My view: I have always been uncomfortable with the notion of having captive animals in enclosed spaces, and would far rather view them in the wild. My wife and I have gone whale-watching holidays http://www.wdcs.org.uk/ for that reason.  Whilst educational aims for keeping wild animals captive – so children and families who would otherwise not have the opportunity to see and interact with them, are able to learn about them - there are many reports of animals not seeming to be happy – by way of repetitive behaviour – with some dieing much earlier in their lives. These worrying aspects raise questions. 

As a zookeeper in New Zealand, I was very aware of the need for animals to have space and be able to go about their daily lives including displaying normal behaviours. Conservations groups – see links below – are working with zoos and dolphinarium to improve the lives of animals. Providing opportunities for this to happen is one of the greatest challenges of  zoo and dolphiarium.

 

Two alternative views from The Independent  on Sunday forum

In 2008 Kido Foundation wrote and produced a puppet show for youth depicting in dramatic acts precisely the tragic and despicable facts you write about in this article. WSPA supported this effort.
We did it in puppet theatre form because we believe that reaching the younger ones may bring effective and corageous supporters of marina mammals into homes and families…kids see, learn and question aloud! Thus we aim also at reaching the policy deciding adults. Another angle of the strategy to get people to act and stop the killing and begin to enjoy marine mammals beyond the slavery contract which exists today.

google: kidoprojects’ channel youtube

Dr.Marina Fastigi, Kido Foundation, Grenada WI

 

Typical O’Barry statement with no scientific foundation. jdd_london wrote:
Sunday, 11 October 2009 at 08:28 am (UTC)“…that the life span of a captive dolphin is reduced from around 25 years in the wild to about five; that half of all dolphins die within 90 days of capture.”

Typical O’Barry statement with no scientific foundation:

http://www.rosmarus.com/Download/Survival.pdf

It is ironic that anti-captive posters displaying the heading of the article were actually deemed misleading in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority in the 1980s after a complaint by Dr Margaret Klinowska the author IUCN Red Data book on whale and dolphins.

And this is something that O’Barry may not be so keen for people to know:

http://www.marineanimalwelfare.com/sugerloaf.htm

 

Weblinks:

http://www.wspa.org.uk/ WSPA is working towards a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty ends.

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/International wildlife charity working to prevent cruelty and alleviate suffering.

http://www.eaza.net/Pages/European%20Association%20of%20Zoos%20and%20Aquaria.aspx Promotes co-operation for furthering wildlife conservation, particularly through European Endangered Species Programmes (EEP).

Travel – home or away… Balancing the costs and benefits

The Independent  Traveller yesterday featured New Zealand – my home (see below) – with its unique wildlife as see on Last Chance to See http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchancetosee/ where two British presenters enjoy other countries and we watch.

The Guardian included a special promotion on Spain’s World Heritage cities.   http://www.guardian.co.uk/spanish-tourist-board/spanish-heritage-rome-renaissance-spain.

The Independent Traveller a promoted a competition for Stonehenge  http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/best-of-the-stones-the-ancient-structures-at-stonehenge-are-truly-rocks-of-ages-1796727.htmlTnhe

My wife (Aussie) and I (NZer) arguably came to the UK from NZ as a result of wildlife safaring/travelling across East Africa and Western Europe, and we plan to visit Asia in the future. For a number of reasons, we did not travel overseas (from the UK) for more than a year, and then recently visited Athens, renowned for its World Heritage Sites including the Pathenon.

Wishing to be ‘patriotic’ and see more of the UK, we have undertaken some camping breaks in a couple of British and Welsh national parks and hoped to do so again this year, but the cost of rail travel and other things have got in the way…  

Should we concentrate on local holidays and breaks, or travel abroad to experience the nature and culture everywhere..and book with companies with green credentials and offset our carbon emissions? Or should we stay in our country and get to know it … and save the environment?

 

Weblinks

http://whc.unesco.org/ World Heritage Sites

http://www.jpmorganclimatecare.com/ Carbon offsetting

http://www.responsibletravel.com/ Travel with a green edge

http://edu-tourism.blogspot.com/ Green tourism blog

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ausandpacific/feather-report-nature-and-nurture-in-new-zealand-1796725.html A rare flightless parrot, ancient reptiles and some of the world’s largest trees are among the wonders to be found in New Zealand’s spectacular landscapes

Let the panda die out naturally …!?

Let the panda die out ‘with dignity’, says BBC expert Chris Packham http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1253628946
The zoologist, who has replaced Bill Oddie as a presenter on BBC’s Springwatch, risked criticism from wildlife conservationists in an interview with the Radio Times in which he describes the giant panda as a “T-shirt animal” on which too much conservation money is wasted. “Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. It’s not a strong species,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into into panda conservation. “I reckon we should pull the plug. Let them go, with a degree of dignity.“… He added: “Chris has taken an irresponsible position. Pandas face extinction because of poaching and human pressures on their habitat. They have adapted to the area in which they live and if left alone, they function perfectly well. “However, he is right in his assertion that we must secure habitat in order to protect endangered species. This is exactly what we work to achieve in the case of the giant panda.’

Megafauna such as the giant panda are the key, some say, to unlocking conservation potential… But  about the animal that never gets the spotlight? Insects for example?  

Is too much money spent on large, supposedly lovable creatures – when large habitats are at risk? Should we really care about one species?

Is this all a futile argument a- should we simply live more sustainably a- anfd can we actually do that? – and let ‘nature take it natural course’ (Chris’ orginal argument, I think). 

 

Chris Packham – It is time to let the Panda go?

03/06/2009 16:55:25

WHO ELSE CAN SEE THE CON IN CONSERVATION ?

Part One – Can we afford Pandas?

I’ve been upsetting most peoples sentimentalities again recently by saying, loudly thanks to BBC Radio and the written media, that it time we found the courage to give up on Pandas. Let them go, wave goodbye, maybe have a party, or a wake, whatever, just stop wasting money trying to ‘save’ them from extinction. I know, a bit controversial to question conservation, the great invention of all the good folk who want to save everything from themselves, let alone spout such heresy about its most sacred icon. For those of you who are not aware of my maverick musings on this matter I’ll précis them here.

An ex-carnivore bamboo muncher unfortunately ends up in the most populated place on earth. Its food predictably all dies with disastrous regularity and its digestive system is poorly adapted to its diet. It’s slow to reproduce, tastes good, but in a blind strike of evolutionary luck it is plump, cute and cuddly. That is from an anthropological point of view. So given only the latter in the formative days of conservation the pioneers choose it as a symbol and begin to investigate its conservation. Panda porn, or the lack of it, made us all giggle in the sixties and seventies and gradually the fat pied ones became greater than the sum of the sense in keeping them alive. But having spent so much it’s very difficult to stop. We are now spending millions and millions of dollars on a loser which lives in a country being stormed by the whole worlds greedy despite its horrible politics. It’s Catch 22 for Pandas and we’re caught by the credit cards despite our very own desperate credit crisis. So I say stop, save our relatively paltry funds for cases where we can make a real difference, because that’s our job.

Leopards would change their spots

Dr Mark Wright from WWF was called to comment on my outbursts and very kindly offered a voice with an opposing opinion. The trouble is that we seem to agree about much of the argument, apart from letting them become extinct of course, but it’s difficult for me to get cross about the views he outlines because they have a heritage of useful practice and a legacy of great success, and he certainly seems to agree with my view that now is a time when we face critical choices and these will come with a cost. But perhaps where we deviate a little is that I forcefully believe that we have to admit our mistakes and that times change and ideas must move with them and as the rate of that change accelerates so must the speed revision of our methods of best practice. That’s evolution, adapt to changes or die out. You see the old maxim is wrong – ultimately given time a Leopard could and would change its spots!

Conservation – It’s a business

So what’s the problem? Conservation is very, very conservative and frighteningly inflexible. For all its modernisation it still seems rooted in a time when worthiness and self righteousness were essential fuels or tools to brow beat or confound or embarrass opponents into action or inaction. Despite the massive increase in the size and consequential financial turnover of the giant national and international charities, despite their necessary but often unpalatable corporatism, they still don’t seem to realise that conservation is not a vocation, a religion, or a field where ‘being right’ is the answer. It’s a business and we’re running a little, ill respected and frequently ignored company whose managers continue to think that caring counts enough to change the world. It’s no longer even a quaint or nice idea, it’s an embarrassing naivety. It’s why we are still waiting for old ladies to leave us their small fortunes instead of being taken seriously by global corporations. It’s why we are still playing with nature reserves and Pandas instead of planning to make a real difference, now when we could, and so desperately need to.

And there’s worse… Some of conservations ‘big-boys’ do actually have a little clout, and even more importantly they have rightfully earned respect, but because they are wrapped up in their new found game of politics, and all the compromises this sorry, silly game imposes they are increasingly pulling punches which should be launched and landed to make maximum impact. They can’t do A because it will have a knock on effect with B which means C will get set back. They’ve joined the liars game and they are playing at our and the planets expense. Nice. It’s a power issue, the have a little but are too scared to use it, because then some of their new friends won’t talk to them, and some of their sacred members might get a bit upset.

Can we afford Pandas?

But here is the paradoxical truth of it. We are all right; we are all motivated by an honest desire to look after our world, even the Pandas. That’s why I wouldn’t argue with Mark Wright on Radio 5, he wants the same as me, and you, and I’m not going to undermine that through public bickering because I want a result, the best result we can afford. That’s why it’s my job to ask, ‘Can we afford Pandas?’ Think about it please.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/packham-panda342.html#cr

Walkers Are Welcome here…How about in your town?

Some good news:  The Chesham Environmental Group http://www.cheshamenvironmentalgroup.org.uk/, of which I am a supporter, has received backing from the local Chesham Council, for the town to become part of the ’Walkers Are Welcome’ network.  http://walkersarewelcome.org.uk/

We’ve even made the local pres!! (see below)

Chesham, the closest town to London which is also within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beautyhttp://www.chilternsaonb.org/, will be a first – first in the Chilterns and first in the South East – to become recognised with WaW status! 

‘But walkers are already welcome in Chesham, aren’t they?’ was one local’s  response…

‘Ah, yes, said I, but this will solidify Chesham’s position and enccourage walkers and all folk – inlcuding hopefully familis with children and sometimes pets, who already come ‘past’ the town, to perhaps dwell a little longer, benefitting the local economy and tourism . It will also assist in bringing some funds towards thew upkeep of our footpaths and promote the new Chesham Museum as an information point.

All good news!

Key Links: 

* New WaW leaflet: http://walkersarewelcome.org.uk/pdf/WaW%20NationalLeaflet.pdf

* WaW idea in the local media: http://www.chilternvoice.co.uk/

 

The Story in local newspaper

http://www.buckinghamshireexaminer.co.uk/west-london-news/local-buckinghamshire-examiner-news/2009/09/15/walking-to-boost-the-economy-114018-24695269/

      

 

What are the benefits  

 

 

 

in the southern Chilterns which lies at the northern end of the Met Line, will be the very first town in the Chilterns to

Walking to boost the economy

Sep 15 2009 By Greg Burns 

A CAMPAIGN has been launched in Chesham which organisers hope will give the local economy a huge boost.

Chesham Environmental Group (CEG) have set out to try and earn the town ‘Walkers are Welcome’ status town which they say will help boost its reputation and increase the number of visitors.

By attempting to earn the status, Chesham will become one of 31 towns across the UK to sign up for the scheme.

The rewards would see walkers from the other towns visiting Chesham and bringing with them trade and tourism.

Phil Folly, chairman of the CEG, said: “The Chilterns is such a beautiful place and so many people who come here just pass through without ever really experiencing what it has to offer.

“If we get this status then we will see lots more people coming to the town and bringing their trade to the local businesses in the area which can only be a good thing.”

The group need to meet certain criteria to earn the status which include securing 500 signatures supporting the application and endorsement from Chesham Town Council.

Henricus Peters, CEG secretary, said: “We already have about 250 signatures so are well on our way. The town council have also voted to support the scheme so we are confident that we will get the status.”Copies of the petition can be signed in most of the shops in Chesham, in the town hall or library.

For more information visit www.walkersarewelcome.org.uk.