Ian was at the Devon Environmental Business Awards (DEBI Awards) as one of this charity’s Directors. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists but especially to the Devon Wildlife Trust who won the Environmental Education Award and also to our friends at accommodation provider Higher Wiscombe, who won the Enjoyed in Devon Award. Brilliant!
The annual DEBI Awards, with the support of Met Office Exeter, have been running for over two decades and are well respected. We really like them because they bring together large and small businesses, charities, social enterprises and community projects from many different sectors. But everyone has one overall aim – to look after Devon’s environment.
And we’re particular fans of the Devon Wildlife Trust because they have helped us hugely over the years with advice, equipment and even people power. The Trust is the only charity working exclusively to protect Devon’s wildlife and habitats, and has been going over 50 years. It looks after some 50 nature reserves around the county – wildlife havens that we encourage our guests to visit (particularly nearby Halsdon and Meeth). Their education programme reaches thousands and their work with farmers, landowners and others to restore rare Culm grassland habitats (like our very own Popehouse Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest) has made a landscape impact and is helping manage Devon’s water as well as capture and store carbon.
But as well as getting out in the countryside, the Devon Wildlife Trust has cleaned up its whole act by investing in an Environmental Management System (EMS) to track any environmental impacts associated with running the organisation. The system checks progress monthly, and has achieved the internationally recognised ISO14001 standard for two years running.
You can even visit the Trust’s offices at Cricklepit Mill in Exeter, where they often get the old water mill working in a traditional flour grinding demonstration!