A seminar on how to make community areas more welcoming to wildlife and plants is being staged in Calstock this Sunday (October 27). The grassroots environmental organisation Wildlife Groundswell is leading the event at Calstock Arts Centre from 9am-3pm. The seminar is one of a series of such presentations at the centre.

Calstock Parish Council environment committee invites anyone with an interest in boosting nature through community action to attend and get practical small-scale ideas for improving biodiversity collectively.

Guest speakers who lead organisations locally active in nature restoration will help anyone with an interest in improving biodiversity and the local environment with the support of residents and others.

Speakers and other guests invited include: Anna Gelderd (MP South East Cornwall); Stuart Oates (presenter, organic farmer and environmental journalist); Cllr Richard Newton-Chance (Calstock Parish Council); Dr Maggie Freegard (Wildlife Groundswell) and Sarah Gibson (Tamar Valley National Landscape Manager).

Also George Holmes (lead ranger National Trust Cotehele); Cllr Nick Viney (West Devon Borough, and at Derek Gow (environmental) consultancy); Dr Nicola Rogers (Westcountry Rivers Trust); Cheryl Marriott (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) and Lord Robin Teverson (Cornwall Local Nature Partnership).

The aim is to enable attendees to engage and become more active. Calstock Parish Council will collect attendees’ details and volunteering opportunities to publicise on the council website.

Andrew Brown (Calstock Parish Councillor for Harrowbarrow) said: “We aim to give participants an overview of environmental issues, of those in nature recovery and a vision of how they can be active.”

For more details email: [email protected]