Nature Recovery Network (NRN) Celebrates its achievements 3 Years On.

Claire Phillips reports:

 

'The whole is greater than the sum of the parts' is NRN’s motto. A packed Village Hall on Friday 6th January showed what our communities can do when we come together for nature: one kilometre of newly planted hedgerow, nearly 2 acres of wildflower meadow, surveys of habitats and wildlife, greater understanding of nature through arts and sciences.

 

The NRN, which started life in 2020, is a local grassroots initiative which brings together individuals, community groups and organisations, local businesses and councillors in Eynsham and the surrounding parishes with an interest in understanding, protecting and restoring our local nature. Since it started, the network has helped to connect residents, enthusiasts and local experts and has initiated and supported projects including wildflower meadow planting and restoration, community meadows, hedge laying, the creation of a children's 'food forest' garden and welfare garden, wild arts workshops, river water quality monitoring, bird, animal and fungi surveys, care farming, to name but a few.

 

Friday's event, attended by well over 200 people and 22 different organisations, was kicked off in great style by the Eynsham Morris singers, and also featured a performance by Laura Middleton and Rachel Fox of 'Unnamed', a song lamenting the 108 ancient woodlands which are being destroyed or damaged to make way for HS2, as well as a sneak preview of scenes from 'Taller than Trees', a new production researched, written and performed by the Small But Mighty youth theatre group evoking the natural world around us and exploring feelings around environmental consciousness and the past and future of our local habitats. 

 

The event was a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of the many initiatives which are happening right now in our local area, encourage networking and to get more people involved. Groups represented spanned our local businesses, community groups, Parish Council, NGOs and survey and restoration groups. They included Long Mead Wildlife Site, Green TEA Eynsham, Peace Oak Association, Eynsham Allotment Association, Wychwood Forest Trust, Eynsham Partnership Academy (schools), Eynsham Beaver Scouts, Market Garden, Neves Bees, FarmAbility, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP),Wild Oxfordshire, Green Appleton, Eynsham Swifts, and others.

 

To find out more and get involved visit https://www.nature-recovery-network.org

 

NRN Celebration-5Eynsham Morris Sing Out for Nature.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

 

 

NRN Celebration-3NRN Celebrating!
Photo K Martin.

 

NRN Celebration-7Hedge & Meadow Talk.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

NRN Celebration-9Nature Networking.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

NRN Celebration-8Eynsham Swifts.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

NRN Celebration-4 Small But Mighty Theatre Company performing
’Taller than Trees’ - a performance based on interviews with local people about nature.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

NRN Celebration-6Small But Mighty Theatre Company's, ’The GirL from the Future’ created from waste materials.
Photo Raul Ospina.

 

NRN Celebration-10Laura Middleton and Rachel Fox performing ‘Unnamed’, a lament for the ancient woodlands destroyed by HS2.
Photo Raul Ospina.