Putting the spotlight on environmental issues, the community organisation Planet Purbeck is offering free tickets to two events in Swanage – one focusing on our sea and the other on our countryside.
For 2024, the format of the Planet Purbeck Festival is changing from the wild week of previous celebrations, to two wild weekends with lots of speakers including social media star and Dorset farmer Sophie Gregory, who was voted Dairy Industry Woman of the Year in 2021.
Seagrass – not just for seahorses!
Rewilding our seas
The festival will kick off with a Rewilding Our Seas evening at 7.30 pm on Saturday 14th September 2024 at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, hosted by Planet Purbeck’s marine expert Doug Skinner.
Films and talks will reveal cutting-edge initiatives to restore the natural balance of our local coastal waters.
Among those present will be Oly Rush, of Upton – dubbed The Human Fish due to his epic worldwide swims to raise funds for eco causes, as well as speakers from the Studland Bay Marine Partnership, National Trust and local divers.
Greenpeace campaigner and Planet Purbeck’s marine expert Doug Skinner
“If we don’t know it’s there, then we won’t save it”
Doug Skinner, who has been a member of environment campaign group Greenpeace since 1976 said:
“My role at the event is to give the environmental big picture. The sea is becoming more acidic due to more CO2 in the water which makes carbonic acid. This causes the shells of shellfish to start to dissolve.
“By using renewables and reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels, we can start to reduce the amount of Co2 in the environment.
“One of the biggest absorbers of CO2 is of course seagrass and it can create a habitat for lots of sea creatures. It drives me crazy as everyone always talks about the seahorses but it’s also home to young bass, crabs and plenty more!
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had surveys of the sea, just as we have detailed monitoring of wildlife on land? The ambition is to map our seabed with divers recording their findings. I think it was David Attenborough who said that if we don’t know it’s there, then we won’t save it.
“In Swanage Bay and also at Kimmeridge, you’d be surprised at what’s there. There’s lots of fish – sea bass and bream, as well as crabs and anemones. At Kimmeridge there’s millions of brittle starfish and fields of snakelock anemones.
“So why come along to our event? Well I really think many will be amazed at what they will learn about what’s here in Purbeck, and we have a great lineup of speakers!”
Dorset farmer Sophie Gregory has made a name for herself on social media
Celebration of Purbeck
On the second weekend, at 7.30 pm on Friday 20th September 2024 at The Mowlem, there will also be a stellar cast of guest speakers for the Celebration of Purbeck with Sophie Gregory talking about her journey from accountancy to managing an organic dairy herd.
She will join others including Martin Lines, head of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, and the National Trust’s regional director Rebecca Burton for the evening event at The Mowlem.
Sophie said:
“I’m excited to be part of the Planet Purbeck Festival. It’s a fantastic opportunity to connect our community with the origins of our food and the future of farming in Dorset.
“I’m hoping to inspire a wider audience to embrace sustainability and champion our local environment.”
Setting up stall on the seafront will be Planet Purbeck festival organiser Luke M Luke
“It’s such a thrill”
The event will be followed the next day on Saturday 21st September 2024 by a Nature and Wellbeing Fair on Swanage seafront.
More than 25 community groups and local initiatives will combine to offer families six hours of music, fun, food and free activities linked to Purbeck’s abundant natural resources.
Festival organiser Luke M Luke said:
“We decided to focus this year’s festival on last year’s most popular events. It’s when people show up in their hundreds that the magic really happens and the good vibes flow.
“It’s such a thrill to see the joy on people’s faces in those, ‘We actually live here’ moments as they discover more about what is happening on their doorstep in Purbeck.”
See Kimmeridge brittle stars
Meet Dorset farmer Sophie Gregory
Further information:
- Tickets are free but donations welcome. Book online
