‘Greening the Urban Landscape’: Eco-Comment 26 September 2025

Eco-Conversations

A series of eco-conversations on Tuesdays 16, 23, 30 September at 19:00 in the Cathedral. Here’s a report from the second one on ‘Greening the Urban Landscape’

This Tuesday evening saw the second of our cathedral conversations led by Canon Erik. He was joined by our own Barbara Butler, executive secretary of Christians Aware and Debby Plummer, Huddersfield Eco Mission Enabler and long-time member of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The format was similar to last week in that Canon Erik led the conversation with contributions from Barbara and Debby. 

Both Barbara and Debby had early experiences of nature. Barbara grew up on a farm with lots of animals and Debby’s parents were keen naturalists who looked at nature whilst walking and encouraged keen observation as a normal activity when moving through the countryside. Barbara’s first book of note was David Attenborough’s first book ‘Zoo Quest’ which encouraged her to respect and love all creatures to the extent that even when catching mice, they are then returned to the wild at a safe distance from the house. ‘God made all creatures and is in all creatures.’ Debby’s first books of note were the Observer books and a dictionary. With these she was able to develop her passion for biology and later earned the nickname of Professor Mole. She studied Zoology at university and turned to teaching. Her vocation started though at age 14 on a trip to the Norfolk Broads. Here, in a small dingy she came across a wall of reed beds and experienced God in nature and prayed. She is now a Franciscan and believes that all creatures are equal. They are not just important but should be regarded as ‘our family’. Both Barbara and Debby agreed on the importance of caring for all creatures and elaborated upon this idea with reference to Pope Francis and his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ which highlights the ‘interconnected suffering of the planet and its poorest inhabitants, how we must take collective responsibility through eco-conversion, a change in personal and societal habits to care for our common home and each other’. This part of the conversation highlighted the preservation of life and how the people looking after nature are often overlooked. They are the ‘little people’ seen to be of small importance but who do such a lot of good. 

Barbara spoke about the importance of Charles Waterton and how he had dedicated his land at Walton to birds and creating what might be regarded as the first ever nature reserve. He ensured that they were free of poachers and foxes. He cared for every creature. He created woodland and built a wall to keep his animals safe, creating alcoves for their shelter. The manor house, in the oldest part of the village was home to barn owls. He also built a grotto which was out of bounds to all bar himself so he could study the wildlife. He was a great climber of trees in order  to get closer to his beloved birds. His philanthropy extended to humans as well and he cared for the poor and supported many in the locality. Barbara referred to the latest publication by Christians Aware, a book titled ‘Rooted in Hope’ A Christians Aware Resource towards building biodiversity, a chapter of which is about Charles Waterton and his efforts to preserve birds. Barbara had brought us some leaflets to look at available from www.christiansaware.org.uk and greenchristian.org.uk 

Debby told us about her work with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) and the community farm that she first volunteered for in 2015. We heard how YWT took over some failing farms in order to educate about organic farming. They created an orchard and initially bred English short horn beef cattle. We were told about the River Home Connections and the River Calder. Fish numbers are counted there to test the state of the river which is currently better than might be expected. Local community forums hold many different activities including bat walks, learning about and looking for funghi and classes in meditation and art/drawing. Debby had shared with us lots of leaflets and information sheets produced by YWT which are available for anyone to read either in hard copy or on the website ywt.org.uk. These are full of information and highlight the extent of YWT’s work. 

The conversation then turned to the many ways that nature could be encouraged to live in the urban environment and how church yards can play an important role in this. We heard about a recent Springwatch TV programme filmed with a night camera in a wild garden in Sheffield. A vicarage in Prestwich and how log piles and bricks can be created to create bug hotels. A YWT Wildlife Garden Bingo was a visual reminder of what is possible in most small spaces but that ponds needed to be created with caution as it’s not only children who might fall in. Animals too can be at risk. The message was clear though, your garden exemplifies your belief and awareness of the wider world and our commitment to the soil. The size of the ecological problem appears huge but everything we do helps make the world a better place and encourages nature to flourish. 

Our conversation next week will consider the topic of Climate Justice and how richer countries should be helping poorer countries which geographically are at more likely at risk of climate change.