Environment section.qxp_Layout 1 23/09/2021 15:41 Page 6
MENDIP TIMES
Walking and talking about climate change
SOMERSET Wildlife Trust has launched a new mobile app offering self-guided walks exploring the county and looking at how nature can help tackle climate change. The app – free to download – also invites people to add their thoughts and ideas, which will help the project teams develop climate adaptation plans with input from the wider community. Designed by partnership project CoAdapt, Somerset Trails is funded by Somerset Rivers Authority and the EU’s Intereg 2Seas Programme. The app combines walking maps with videoguided tours, including a section specially designed for children. Whilst on the trail, video content, that was filmed on location, is triggered at key points, featuring tour guides such as Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Shelly Easton, as well as local experts. The trails talk about landscape features, climate change and how nature-based solutions can be used to help us adapt. The first trail to be launched begins in the centre of Wedmore, taking in views across the Somerset Levels, and meanders through meadows, past dew ponds and over historic ridge and furrow field systems. A second trail will be launched by the National Trust, featuring behind-the-scenes footage of one of their most intriguing projects – beaver reintroduction and stage zero river restoration on Exmoor. For younger walkers on the Wedmore
Iona, one of the guides on the Wedmore trail
trail, eight-year-old tour guide Iona leads the way in a section called Kids Corner and said: “I think people are going to have a lot of fun coming on the walk, and they’re going to learn lots about climate change and what people are doing about it in Somerset.” Jolyon Chesworth, head of engagement at the trust, said: "Climate change is a scary issue and sometimes so overwhelming that as individuals we can feel helpless. By following the trails on the app we can help people explore some of Somerset’s most beautiful areas and learn about how nature can help us adapt to what is coming if we look after it. “As a dad I sometimes find it hard to talk to my children about climate change. It will affect their lives and they need to learn about it so they can be part of the solution, but equally we don’t want to scare them. Somerset county councillor David
A screenshot from the app
A view from Wedmore
Hall, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Planning and Community Infrastructure and chair of Somerset Rivers Authority, added: "This brilliant Somerset project is once again leading the way in generating awareness and ideas about how we can adapt to the effects of climate change. Recent flooding events in the county have served as a reminder that we need to be more prepared for changing weather patterns and this app shows everyone how important their actions can be to finding the solutions.”
Somerset Trails can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store or Apple's App Store
PAGE 6 • MENDIP TIMES • OCTOBER 2021
