Gaia 9 March 2015

A History of Gaia Conservation alone is not enough

Revelations The Prophecies

Genesis In the beginning

Numbers Money, money, money

Chronicles Milestones

Acts Where next?

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Revelations The Prophecies

Among the prophecies which would eventually lead to the founding of the Gaia Trust were the words of wisdom from Rachel Carson in her 1962 book Silent Spring, alerting the world to the disastrous effect on the environment of indiscriminate spraying with DDT. This was followed in 1964 by Ruth Harrison's Animal Machines, exposing the cruelty to farm animals with the advent of intensive farming. Alarms were also being raised at this time about degradation and erosion of soil upon which all human life depends. A Sanskrit text from 1500BC says "husband it and it will grow our food, fuel and shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it”.

In the 1970s, NASA Scientist, James Lovelock, proposed the Gaia Hypothesis that organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a self-regulating complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life. Because of human activities, a tipping point will be reached when the Earth is no longer able to sustain life.

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Genesis In the beginning . . .

In the beginning of the 1980s, Jenni Thomson, founder of the Gaia Trust, was working as community relations officer for the Co-op. Unemployment was running as high as 49% in some areas of with devastating effects on local communities. The Co-op decided to set up a community programme to help long-term unemployed people back into work or to set up their own small businesses. 300 people were on the programme at any one time and nearly 90% succeeded in finding jobs at the end of their year. This programme was among the top three in and received many national awards.

Fly dump clearance teams

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Projects included the creation of the Saints Way, the first coast-to- coast long-distance footpath in Cornwall, the clearing and landscaping of fly dumps along with an educational programme on the dangers of dumping rubbish in the countryside, insulation and draught proofing of 6,000 homes for lower income families, large-scale recycling schemes based in Co-op car parks as well as at local authority amenity facilities. The value of the fly-dump clearance project was recognised with the presentation of the European Conservation Award by David Bellamy's Conservation Foundation.

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A Scrapstore for the benefit of schools and playgroups was set up at St. Columb recycling printers' off cuts and many other useful materials and furniture recycling workshops were started. At Roche, in the China clay area, a community hub was set up providing workshops, central accountancy, reception, health and safety advice and many other support services to enable small businesses to get off the ground.

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Numbers Money, money, money . . .

Money raising for the Trust

At the end of 1987 funding for the Community Programme decreased dramatically removing any concept of dignity for its participants. The Co-op felt unable to continue under this regime and, rather than see an end to all the valuable outcomes that had been achieved, decided to create an environmental charity. In October 1988 the Gaia Trust was inaugurated with the broadest possible objectives. The philosophy was to give ordinary people the opportunity to feel ownership of the land whether it was for conservation, community allotments and orchards or simply to have an open space to walk their dogs. Creation of community forests was also high on the list of priorities to act as a carbon sink along with sustainable farming to reverse the decline in wildlife.

The earliest acquisitions were the generous gift of Henwood, near , Parsonage Wood at Blisland, Treworgey Wood near , Brimford Wood in Devon and Chark Moor and Boslymon. Chark Moor is a very valuable habitat and is part of the mid-Cornwall Moors project to protect the marsh fritillary butterfly. Funding for these acquisitions came largely from the Co-op and its thousands of members in Cornwall.

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In 1999 Gaia bought Treraven Farm adjoining the Camel Trail at . Sadly the money raised was only sufficient to buy the land and all the buildings were sold and lie idle to this day. The community forest was planted in 2000 and is a valued resource for local people. With the support of the Environment Agency, the water meadows were returned to a tidal floodplain in 2007 allowing a salt marsh to develop and benefitting many rare species. Permissive footpaths were created giving access from the Camel Trail.

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In 2000 we had our first placement for people with learning difficulties when Matt came to join us and became a welcome part of life on the farm. His social worker said "I wish we had a hundred Treravens to send our clients to"; Matt was eventually able to move on to a paid job. This was a forerunner for all the work the Trust is doing to help people with disabilities and led to numerous national awards for working with communities, including the Guardian Jerwood, Nationwide Local Heroes and Transco Grassroots awards.

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Chronicles. Milestones

In 2002 the Trust acquired Home Farm Marsh on the Taw/Torridge estuary in North Devon, adjoining the Tarka Trail long-distance path. The land adjoins the RSPB Isley Marsh reserve and now supports a wide variety of birds including the little egret, skylarks, grey partridge and bitterns. The land had formerly been intensively farmed as a dairy unit and had little wildlife value but has now become what the RSPB term a "birding Mecca". This has been achieved by planting herb- rich meadows, creation of intertidal habitats and digging of scrapes to create additional brackish habitats. A 2.5km access path leading to bird-watching hides has been constructed with access for people with disabilities. The purchase was made possible by a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and assistance from many other funding trusts and individuals.

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In 2012 with the help of the local community Gaia was able to purchase Salt Pill Duck Pond, an SSSI adjoining Home Farm Marsh all part of the Braunton Burrows International Biosphere Reserve and this whole area now benefits from integrated management.

Looking across the Taw/Torridge Estuary to Braunton Burrows

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Acts Where next . . .

The future's bright

Long-term plans are now being made for the future of Bodwannick Manor Farm, near . This beautiful and unspoilt farm was left to the Trust by Martin Appleton because he wanted to ensure that it would be run non intensively and for the benefit of wildlife and that the garden he had created would be maintained. Considerable amounts of money are needed to restore the house and barns but, when this is done, we shall be able to greatly enhance our integrated approach, environmental, social and economic. The farm lies midway between the Camel Trail and the Saints Way and one option being considered is to convert the stone and slate barns into camping barns for people walking these long-distance footpaths.

The Millennium Garden at Bodwannick

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In the late 1990s, the Trust was involved in growing experimental crops for essential oils used for medicinal and cosmetic preparations and it is proposed to take this project forward, creating jobs and high value products.

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In February 2015, the Gaia Trust formally took over the Yarner Trust in North Devon. Yarner is an environmental education charity and will continue to be called the Yarner Centre. The two charities have a real affinity and complement each other well. Planning for new courses is well on track and funding has been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a business plan for all of Gaia's properties. There will be separate management committees for Devon and Cornwall all coming under control of the Board of Trustees.

Welcombe Barton - the Yarner Centre

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Dramatis Personae

TRUSTEES

Peter Edwards. Chairman *

Michael Stanbury former chairman *

Richard Newing vice chairman

Simon Ambrose vice chairman

Ian Martin former vice chairman *

Dr Jon Tilbury

Bunny Minter Kemp *

Chris Selby *

Jill Edwards (formerly trustee of the Yarner Trust)

Jenni Thomson

Nicholas Luard first chairman (died)

Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury (killed)

PRESIDENTS

Professor James Lovelock

Dr John Sparks

DIRECTORS

Jenni Thomson

Alison Vaughan

*. Denotes original trustees

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