A message from our Chairperson

When was the last time you spent time outdoors in nature? Really spent time. Walked in the fresh air, listened to the birds sing, smelled the mulch after rain, felt the leaf mast under foot. Stopped, and looked out across a valley, across the sea. Watched a pied wagtail on the beach. A grey wagtail flit along the surface of a burn.

Despite all the dire (and not exaggerated) warnings of our warming and destabilising climate, we still go about our lives as if nothing else matters bar our 'busyness'. Still strive, still consume (when we can afford it). But are we really so important? Do we not need to step back - and ask why? What is it all for?

Our island is special. We are so lucky to live side-by-side with the natural world. A short walk and we are in Skipper Woods, or Skeoch Woods, or by the lade. A little further and we can be on the shore, maybe between Ascog and Kerrycroy, with seals basking, oystercatchers piping. Further still, and we are on Skerril Shore looking to Arran, or at the north end, viewing the Burnt Islands.
We are living in the anthropocene, where human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. What we need is to enter the symbiocene - a reintegration between humans and the rest of nature. A fundamental reassessment of our relationship to nature. But we can make a start: appreciate and value what we have right here. To cherish it. To nurture it.

Richard