The Climate Choir at Earth Sonic

On Saturday 22nd November I accompanied the Climate Choir to Earth Sonic Live at Manchester Museum.  Earth Sonic Live included talks, workshops and unique performances sharing the stories of nature, climate, and biodiversity through music at Manchester Museum.

The talk by the Woodland Trust was particularly interesting as it focused on Tree Equity. Tree equity is the idea that all communities have equitable access to the benefits of trees where they live. While some urban areas enjoy abundant greenery and tree cover, others lack these essential natural assets.

As we know very well in Sheffield, tree equity must be embedded into urban forest planning, and that doesn’t just mean planting. Plans must also include caring for and protecting trees – both newly planted and existing – to ensure they continue to thrive and improve the quality of life of residents for years to come.

Sheffield has a score of 87, which is good compared to many cities, but of course this is an average, and many areas to the east of Sheffield have much lower scores. Attercliffe forinstance, is only 48.

The good news is that the Woodland Trust are using these statistics to prioritise tree planting where it is most needed.

The Woodland Trust note that trees in urban areas can:

• reduce air pollution, quieten noise and keep cities shaded and cool
• improve ecosystems and boost biodiversity
• create a sense of place, beauty and heritage
• create attractive environments where businesses want to invest and people want to live, work and play
• alleviate stress, stabilise blood pressure, ease anxiety and depression, and provide opportunity for healthy, active lifestyles.

It’s certainly worth having a look at the map of your area.

I also enjoyed the talk by Paul Cheese who cycled 5000 miles round the UK recording sound clips wherever he went and then developed these into music.

The Climate Choir was joined by campaigners from Save Ryebank Fields, a beautiful but threatened rewilded space in Chorlton. Please support their campaign by signing the petition and objecting to the planning application here.

I was very pleased to see a Decolonise Trail at the museum. The museum says “The collections at Manchester Museum were largely accumulated within the context of Empire, through the support of donors who benefited from the practice of racial slavery, forced extraction and the systemic oppression of Indigenous Peoples.

While the collections for many spark joy and celebration, for many others it is a source of pain and harm. It’s our responsibility as custodians of the collections, to be open about your Museum’s history and to ground our work in practice that seeks justice and healing for communities who have been and who continue to experience harm. Part of this work also includes engaging with our visitors around the history of British colonialism and Empire and how it has both shaped this Museum and the world we live in today.”

The trail even has a section on Climate Justice and they have employed a Social Justice Manager.

Well done Manchester Museum, I hope other museums and galleries will follow your example.

Here is Kai to tell you a little more about the Climate Choir.

There were lots of other amazing things going on at Earth Sonic Live. Unfortunately I missed Luke Wallace but if he really is like a modern day Pete Seeger, I’ll be wanting to get to know his music.