Climate Change and Biodiversity

Where have all the insects gone?

You may have noticed, or seen news articles, about the lack of insects this year. Although scientists believe this is temporary and probably due to a very wet spring, it does point to what a delicate balance natures ecosystems exist in. A lot of insects have very short life spans and their life cycle is impacted by changes in weather systems. This can be an issue when seasons do not stay in an expected pattern.

How do insects help us?

Insects play an important part in the life cycle and reproduction of flowers through a process called pollination.

During pollination an insect will move pollen from one flower to another, this allows the flower to produce seeds (or fruit containing seeds). We all know that bees are important pollinators, but other insects are also part of this process. Wasps, flies, beetles and even dragon flies play their part in pollinating our flowers, grasses and trees. Some insects even do this accidentally as pollen falls on them while they go about their normal business.

Unfortunately, less insects may mean less seeds and fruit is produced this year.

The impact of this could also last into next year.

Insects also support other animal species

This image shows a food web.

At the bottom of the web is a plant. This plant supports the life of small mammals (such as rabbits) and invertebrate species (slugs, snails, ants and other insects). Birds and amphibians (such as frogs, slow worms) then eat the invertebrate species. At the top of the web are large mammals and birds, which will eat the small mammals.

Any changes within the web will cause a knock on to the other species as the availability of their food sources is increased or reduced.

Adaptation to Change

Adaptation is the change that a species (such as insects) needs to make to exist in its environment. Recently our seasons have started to change, we have had milder winters, wet springs and warmer summers with unsettled weather and record breaking heat waves. Nature and insects will start to adapt to these changes but some species will become more dominant (there will be more of them) because they are more capable of adaptation. On a sad note, some species may be unable to adapt to these changes.

What are we doing to help?

To give insects and other animals the best chance of survival and adaptation we need to create suitable habitats for them. Our wildflower meadow project is a perfect example of this.

The mixture of flowers and grasses supports a lot of insects and animals. We have wildflower meadows in many communities across the county which gives us connectivity. Connectivity is the equivalent of the A55 but for insects(!), insects and animals can move between these sites without being blocked by areas which only have houses or industry.

What can you do to help?

Your garden or window box is an important area for insects and animals
You could plant native plants, flowers and fruits
Allow an area of grass to grow long between spring and autumn (grasses are super important for insects too)
Consider digging a nature pond to encourage amphibians and aquatic insects (insects that live in or on water)

For more information or ideas please visit ...

EV public network provides thousands of greener miles during first year

Denbighshire County Council’s network of public EV chargers

An EV charging public network has reached its first anniversary by providing thousands of green miles for motorists to travel around Denbighshire.

Since launching officially last summer, the Council’s network of public EV chargers located at all towns have provided 239,146kwh of charging for motorists using the facilities.

That’s the equivalent of 837,000 miles of greener lower carbon travelling delivered by the network, nearly 34 times travelling around the circumference of the earth.

Closer to home, the miles delivered tots up around 1,000 trips from Land’s End to John O’Groats and 9,300 journeys travelling from Holyhead to Wrexham.

And for those using EV greener miles to travel around Denbighshire, the annual amount is roughly equivalent to 19,420 car trips from the coast of Prestatyn down to the sights of the River Dee at Llangollen.

Entering the summer holidays the EV network can provide a great opportunity to travel around Denbighshire to enjoy the many attractions the county has to offer while charging your vehicle.

If you are also planning on visiting Llangollen Railway, Corwen’s Green Lane car park next to the station has five EV chargers operational as part of a project at the site funded by the UK Government. Down the line in Llangollen, charging points are also available at Market Street and the Pavilion car parks.

Cae Ddol car park in Ruthin offers EV facilities to use right next the Gaol and the park itself if visiting the town with the family and chargers are also available at Ruthin Craft Centre.

If you are visiting the coast this Summer there are also rapid chargers available at West Kinmel car park charging hub, Rhyl and Kings Avenue car park Prestatyn.

Other EV public network locations are at Denbigh’s Post Office Lane car park, St Asaph’s Bowling Green car park, Morley Road car park Rhyl and Fern Avenue car park Prestatyn.

Work on the additional charging network for a few sites was supported by grant funding via the UK Government’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV)

This project has been carried out to also support people with transitioning to an electric vehicle where they might not have previously had access to a charging facility.

The EV public network is a part the Council’s overall action to tackle climate change following the declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 by reducing the county’s carbon footprint.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Its great to see the EV public network helping support many greener miles driven during its first official year. We want to reduce carbon emissions around the county and the network is helping drive towards this by supporting this greener way of travelling.

“The EV public network is also ideal for anyone local to the county or visiting from a far this summer who has ownership of an electric vehicle as it provides an ideal support for coming to our towns to visit attractions and charge up whilst doing so.

“EV drivers can plan routes all around the county using the network to enjoy what Denbighshire has to offer, also supporting our local businesses as well when they stop off to plug in and find out what the towns have to offer them while they wait.

“These facilities are also important to help those wanting to move over to electric vehicles but don’t have the facility or off-road parking to do so.”

Historic tree pours new life at nursery

A rare tree which inspired the naming of many UK pubs is pouring a new future for itself in Denbighshire.

Wild Service Trees are thriving this summer season at the Council’s Tree Nursery, at St Asaph.

The local tree nursery at Green Gates Farm, St Asaph, aims to produce 5,000 native wildflower plants a year alongside 5,000 native trees.

Trees and plants grown at the nursery eventually will head back out into the countryside to boost biodiversity.

The wild service tree is only located in a few isolated locations across Denbighshire. It also historically takes the name ‘chequers tree’ due to the tree’s fruits that are said to taste similar to dates and were given to youngsters in the past as sweets.

A fermented beer like alcoholic drink was also traditionally made from the fruits of the tree and it is believed this tipple inspired the naming of a number of ‘Chequers’ pubs across the country.

Following the successful germination of a number of Wild Service Tree seeds collected last Autumn, the local provenance tree nursery has brewed up a healthy batch of trees to support this historical piece of nature.

The tree nursery, funded by Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project and Local Places for Nature grant, is now home to 240 healthy growing Wild Service Trees.

Liam Blazey, Senior Biodiversity Officer said: “We are really pleased that the facilities here at the tree nursery have been able to give such an historically recognised rare tree an important lifeline in our county.

“After germinating inside freezer bags full of compost in our site fridge, with the help of staff and our great group of volunteers who support the nursery, these seeds were moved into root trainers before being potted on into three litre pots.

“Thanks to all the attention poured into protecting the Wild Service Tree, we now have 240 trees all outside on the nursery grounds enjoying the warmer weather and growing well. Once they get to a certain stage we will look to get them out into the county to help boost numbers.”

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Biodiversity Champion, said: “Our Biodiversity team is working hard to reduce the impact of climate change on our county lands which have unfortunately seen so many species become rare.

“This great effort will not only help nature recover but it will also give our future communities a slice of nature’s history back that they can get out into the outdoors to visit and enjoy for their own physical and mental wellbeing.”

Work greatly reduces Council storage facility energy consumption

Denbighshire County Council’s Energy Team has completed a project to reduce energy usage and also lower long term energy costs at the Council’s Corporate Stores site at Lon Parcwr, Ruthin

Low carbon work at a Council storage facility has reduced energy use on a monthly basis by nearly 75 percent

The Council’s Energy Team has completed a project to reduce energy usage and also lower long term energy costs at the Council’s Corporate Stores site at Lon Parcwr, Ruthin

The team has looked after several projects across Council buildings that aim to improve energy efficiency and also support the reduction of carbon emissions and usage costs over the longer term.

This ongoing work is part of the Council’s drive to address the climate and nature emergency declared in 2019 and reduce its own building carbon footprint as part of the response.

Corporate Stores supports services across the Council by providing needed storage facilities.

The Energy Team installed a new LED lighting system which can help to reduce building lighting electricity consumption by at least 50 percent

Together with the LED system and 11kW of PV solar panels were also installed on the roof of the building to harness the sun’s energy to reduce usage from the National Grid. Energy efficiency improvements to the heating controls have also been completed.

This combined work has seen a monthly reduction of energy use by up to 75 percent in the summer months at the site, leading to a cost saving of £1109 per month. Annual savings of over £11,000 per annum are expected. The carbon emissions savings will be over 11 tonnes per year.

Martyn Smith, Property Energy and Carbon Manager, said: “Corporate stores is a unique building for us to tackle as there are very few windows on the building which means virtually no natural light and lighting is a priority as it is the primary energy consumer. Using an LED system to address the need for regular lighting in the building, supported by the PV panels has helped us achieve this large reduction in energy use and also lower energy costs over the long term.

Projects carried out on other Council owned buildings has also seen the Energy Team pass the important landmark of over a megawatt of installed renewable energy capacity (1099kWp). Most of this is generated from roof mounted solar PV panels. Each Kilowatt generated by PV can save around 30 pence.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are committed to continuing to ensure that our carbon footprint is reduced across the county by looking at the buildings we own and initiating projects to help cut emissions and save energy costs in the long term.. As well as our estate, we are also working on projects to support the reduction of carbon output from our fleet, private vehicles and also boosting biodiversity resilience across the county.

County Voice: September 2024