Discussion Group – March/April 2024

Our Discussion Group met on the 14th March to discuss aspects of the environment, focusing on local issues. With two apologies, we started with a powerful statement, that in the last 50 years 70% of the monitored species were destroyed. We mentioned the need, but also the resistance to rewilding and environment restoration schemes and some reasons behind it. The main conclusion was that support for such schemes would involve a change of lifestyle, such as reducing food consumption, especially of meat and dairy, stopping overproduction which ultimately causes waste. This is driven by greed and the fact that we still base our economies on growth, including of the world population.

There are many organisations, including in Devon, volunteering to preserve biodiversity, rewilding, and getting involved in planning permission approval. Anyone can join and contribute expertise, and there will be more ways to inform the public about them, as a grant application has recently been approved and leaflets will be produced.

Profit and monetary incentives for stakeholders often encourage development in unsuitable areas. Infrastructure development not being always a requirement imposed on the developers, we end up with augmented environmental concerns, especially in regard to water and drainage.

This last mention prompted the choice for our next topic, which will be the environmental footprint of the built environment. The meeting is going to be held on Wednesday, April 17th, at the convenor’s home.

Dana Dima, Convenor