Supporting the Environment

Rotary International introduced Supporting the Environment as the 7th Area of Focus joining:

• peacebuilding and conflict prevention;
• disease prevention and treatment;
• water, sanitation, and hygiene;
• maternal and child health;
• basic education and literacy and
• community economic development 

These causes encompass some of the world’s most critical humanitarian needs and provide an opportunity for Rotary members to transform the world through volunteering and service projects and was new area for the Club from 21/22.

The Environment Committee share monthly environmental ‘tips’ to improve Members’ knowledge of what they can do to decrease their environmental impact and help us all make a small difference.

The Club actively supports the Rotary GB&I partnership with Treekly walking App which, by rewarding a daily walking habit of 5000+ steps with the planting of a tree, turns footsteps into forests by native mangrove tree planting by Eden Reforestation Projects in Noth Madagascar. Club members by April 2024 have 'planted' over 7,800 trees and walked over 114m steps! This is important because:

• Mangroves are a 'supertree', locking away CO2 in their root systems for decades to come, every tree planted helps rebalance the Earth's atmosphere and combat climate change
• the tree planting programmes help enrich communities, lifting vulnerable people out of poverty and provides fairly paid, sustainable work
• hundreds of species depend on mangroves for their habitat, deforestation has displaced these species and reduced biodiversity, but these mangrove forests can restore vital habitats

As an outreach project the Club was delighted to help Alpha Housing with their gardening project at their Carrs Court accommodation, Sandy Row and on Friday 19 January 2024 a joint team from the Club and Cleaver Fulton Rankin braved the cold to help there. 

Sadly it wasn't possible to do any planting as snow was still on the ground! However, they were able to clear areas ready for planting in the spring and, as the residents had asked for raised beds to grow vegetables and herbs, some of the team helped their ground staff by making raised the beds while others filled them with soil - a rather back breaking activity... It is hoped to have a follow up event later in the calendar year and to continue the engagement in future years.