Venue: Create Centre. Peter Coleman-Smith is an active environmentalist with a passion for water and its wildlife who writes: I’ve felt closely connected to nature, especially in/around rivers, from young boyhood onwards. However, having read Botany at Durham University in the early ’80s (the best bits were the field trips) I struggled to get a job in which I could both protect the environment and put bread on the table. So, I had an interesting and demanding career in banking (Girobank then Lloyds Banking Group) before getting out early to follow my passion.
Post-graduate study with the Open University (Environmental Management) and lots of reading have helped me approach new opportunities proactively, as has getting to know loads of great people and places through hands-on volunteering. This has included: a multi-year project to restore an urban stream; a small scale pilot of a new approach to drive take-up of water-butts (32,500 litres of capacity installed); personally planting over 700 native trees (so far). I report species observations to BRERC and iNaturalist and for a number years have contributed as Trustee to support the CEO and team at Bristol Avon Rivers Trust – which I really enjoy, they are excellent.
I retain a deep affinity for rivers and other bodies of water and am committed to do what I can to understand and nurture them and to tell their stories.
