The Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds and Birdsong Radio, Climate Poet Francesca Beard, The Billionaire Climate Change Power Couple

EXTINCTION FIGHTERS, THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS

In 1889, Emily Williamson created the Society for the Protection of Birds with one core aim – to fight a fashion for feathers and exotic plumes that were driving birds like little egrets, great crested grebes and Birds of Paradise to extinction. Her all-women movement was born out of frustration that the male-only British Ornithologists Union didn’t think this was an issue worth fighting for.

It took thirty years, but eventually, the 1921 Importation of Plumage (Prohibition) Act was passed, marking the RSPB’s first successful campaign for nature. And it hasn’t stopped ever since. In 1930 the society bought its first nature reserve. In 1947, Minsmere was made a reserve and avocets – once extinct in the UK – bred at both Minsmere and the nearby Havergate Island. More reserves followed, and the RSPB now manages over 200 nature reserves across the UK. 

Why does the RSPB matter to us, the non-British? Professional and personal resources. For educators, policy makers, farmers and other landowners, as well as scientists, RSPB has excellent resources. For regular folk like you and me, there is their “Nature on Your Doorstep” campaign.

Here’s the pitch: Do great things for the wildlife where you live! Whatever your outdoor space, be it a balcony, courtyard or garden, you’ll find expert tips and tricks to make it a happier place for you – and home for wildlife, too.

RSPB has a catalog of its own videos and several community members have uploaded their personal videos, too, pointing the way,. Visit rspb.org.uk/get-involved and search for “Nature on your doorstep,” or click on the link in the Deeper Dive Section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

Did I mention RSPB has a Mindful Mornings bird song app?…

DEEPER DIVE: RSPB, Nature on Your Doorstep, Birdsong App

RSPB’S BIRDSONG RADIO

Speaking of which, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is offering solace, that many of us never knew we needed, with their new Birdsong Radio app.  

The positive effects of birdsong on humans is well documented. The sounds of birds, especially songbirds, have consistently shown to improve mood and mental alertness. An experiment with British schoolchildren found that students listening to birdsong were more attentive after lunch than those who didn’t listen.

And a Cal Poly research team investigated how much the natural sounds humans hear during their time in the great outdoors contribute to this sense of well-being. 

Danielle Ferraro, a biology graduate student who led the study, and her teammates hid speakers that played recorded songs from a diverse group of birds on two sections of trails in the Open Space and Mountain Parks in Boulder, Colorado. The researchers alternated playing birdsong and turning off the speakers on each trail section in weekly blocks. Hikers were interviewed after they passed through these sections. 

Hikers who heard the birdsongs reported a greater sense of well-being than those who didn’t. The survey results showed that both the sounds themselves and people’s perception of biodiversity can increase humans’ feelings of well-being.

Sadly, we can’t all listen to bird songs as regularly as we once could. To listen to bird songs at the touch of a button, play on the rspb site, stream on Spotify or download the Birdsong Radio app. All you need is an internet connection.

RSPB has even created a handy guide for the curious so that you can learn individual bird calls. As the website states, “As you’re listening to a dawn chorus or a reserve soundscape you might be wondering which bird you can hear singing.”

You can also find out more about how and why birds sing. However you choose to listen, we hope that bird song will brighten your day.

DEEPER DIVE: RSPB Birdsong App, Wild Bird Centers, UK NHM, CalPoly, Why Birds Sing

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HOT POET, FRANCESCA BEARD

In the “staying in Britain” and the “more Bringing poetry and science together to imagine a better possible future” departments, meet hot poet, Francesca Beard. Hot Poets is a British Arts Council England-funded project run by Tongue Fu, Chris Redmond and Liv Torc, originally for COP26, but now for the rest of us. It placed 12 of the globe’s most exciting spoken word artists within organizations in the UK, Africa and the Netherlands that are working at ground zero of climate change,

Francesca Beard is a Kuala Lumpur-born, Malaysian writer and performance poet based in London. Hot Poets paired Beard with the British Geological Survey for a poem focused on geology and the underground. As one YouTuber commented about Geology Rocks!, “I love this poem! It’s very reassuring and wonder filled.”

For more of Francesca Beard’s, Geology Rocks!, or to check out more of her poetry, or the Hot Poets for that matter, check out the links in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: YouTube, Hot Poets, Francesca Beard, British Geological Survey

THE GRANTHAMS DOUBLE DOWN ON GREEN INVESTING

We at The Climate Daily have called Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham the world’s first truly green billionaire couple. So in 2022, they’ve decided to double down on the green reputations. They’re poised to enact a plan he laid out years ago to pour nearly their entire $1-billion-plus fortune into the climate-change fight.

According to Bloomberg Green, the Granthams are making lots of money, while recruiting other superwealthy people to pursue similar strategies that mix philanthropy and investing.

Said Jeremy, ““This is going on as far as the eye can see. It’s an unfair advantage for green investing. There may be a bubble that will affect this for a year or two, but it will come back bigger and better than other groups because of this tailwind. This is going to be the most important investment theme for the rest of your life.”

Half their $1.4B portfolio is slated for green venture investments, including $74 million deployed by Grantham and his team in 34 startups that they designate as “neglected climate opportunities.” For these, he said, “we only pick ideas that seem extremely important, ideas that have the potential to change the world.”

DEEPER DIVE: Bloomberg Green, Bloomberg Business, 1st Green Billionaire Couple