Just in case you didn’t get a chance to put them in your new 2025 diary, here is a reminder of the Green Ilminster Talks coming up in the next three months:
22nd January – James Chapman, Somerset Council
Woodland creation: guilt mitigation or carbon sequestration?
James is a Tree Strategist at Somerset Council and is responsible for the Tree Strategy the council launched in September 2023. He has a background in forestry and woodland management and will be talking about:
- Somerset Council’s Tree Strategy
- Trees and flood mitigation
- Urban trees
- The Great Green Ribbon: West Bank. A glimmer of hope.
- Disease & resilience
- Wrong tree, wrong place
26th February – Alicia Hallett, Somerset Wildlife Trust
Living alongside recovering, returning and new animal species.
Alicia Hallatt is the Human-Wildlife Co-existence Officer at Somerset Wildlife Trust. Her role is helping local communities transition to living alongside recovering, returning and new animal species. Discover which species are making a comeback and hear some ideas for how to embrace their presence, mitigate potential challenges and support and enable their recovery to make Somerset more biodiverse and resilient.
26th March – Farming Panel Session with Ben Thorne.
It was Ben who gave us that great talk on flooding back in October; this time he will be heading up a panel session on Farming in Somerset. Ben will be joined by Ollie Blackburn, Farm Manager at The Dillington Estate and a couple of other local farmers to discuss topical farming issues and take questions from the floor.
As ever, the venue is the Ilminster Arts Centre – entry is free but donations are welcomed. Doors at 6.45pm and the talk starts at 7.30pm.
If you missed either of our last two talks (on Flooding and Wildlife Photography) you can watch the videos here.