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Friends of the Emmbrook 19th Annual General Meeting Presentations & Reports

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Friends of the Emmbrook 19th Annual General Meeting Presentations & Reports

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In case you missed the presentations at our Friends of the Emmbrook 19th Annual General Meeting on 12th May 2025, we want to share our latest updates and exciting plans for the Emmbrook & Woosehill Meadows Regeneration Project.

Jürgen Adam has presented a regeneration project update and our guest speaker Nick Wilson from the South East Rivers Trust, has shared his new insights on the SERT Emmbrook Regeneration Project.

🌱 Everyone’s welcome to join our community—let’s work together for nature in our community! 🌱

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Jürgen's Mini Lecture Series for Earth Day 2022: "Why we all need a Sustainability Mindset!"

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Jürgen's Mini Lecture Series for Earth Day 2022: "Why we all need a Sustainability Mindset!"

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For many restorers around the world John D. Liu is an inspiration and his video "Green Gold" was the moment we got called into the ecosystem restoration community. At the end of the documentary John is saying: "It's possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems. Since we know this, now it is our responsibility to do it!".

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Green Gold  - Documentary by John D. Liu

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A socially conscious alternative to Amazon that allows readers to buy books online while supporting their local independent bookseller.

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It is being described as a "revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling": a socially conscious alternative to Amazon that allows readers to buy books online while supporting their local independent bookseller. And after a hugely successful launch in the US, it is open in the UK from today.

Bookshop was dreamed up by the writer and co-founder of Literary Hub, Andy Hunter. It allows independent bookshops to create their own virtual shopfront on the site, with the stores receiving the full profit margin - 30% of the cover price - from each sale. All customer service and shipping are handled by Bookshop and its distributor partners, with titles offered at a small discount and delivered within two to three days.

"It's been a wild ride," said Hunter, who launched the site in the US in January. "Five weeks into what we thought was going to be a six-month period of refining and improving and making small changes, Covid-19 hit and then suddenly we were doing massive business."

Initially starting with 250 bookshops, more than 900 stores have now signed up in the US. "We went from selling $50,000 (£38,000) worth of books in all of February, to selling $50,000 a day in March, then $150,000 a day in April," said Hunter. By June, Bookshop sold $1m worth of books in a day. The platform has now raised more than $7.5m (£5.7m) for independent bookshops across the US.

"We were four employees plus me, working at home, getting up as early as we could and going to bed as late as we could, trying to make it all work. It was a real white-knuckle ride," said Hunter. "But it was extremely gratifying because the whole time we were getting messages from stores saying, 'Thank God you came along, you've paid our rent, you've paid our health insurance this year.' If you're going to have to work in insane circumstances and with huge amounts of stress, it's good to be doing it in something you feel good about."

Bookshop is a benefit corporation in the process of applying for B Corporation certification in the UK, created with the mission "to benefit the public good by contributing to the welfare of the independent literary community". Rules state that it can never be sold to a major US retailer, including Amazon.

Hunter believes the reason for Bookshop's quick success is readers' fondness for their local booksellers. "Bookstores have been in trouble for a while because of Amazon's growth, but this pandemic has really accelerated it. Amazon has gotten much more powerful, while there are 100-year-old stores that are hanging on for survival," he said. "I think we were so successful because enough people were conscious of that, and wanted to rally around around their beloved bookstores, because they care about the world that we emerge from this pandemic into."

Hunter had been planning to launch Bookshop in the UK in 2021 or 2022. But after seeing the success of the platform in the US, shops, publishers and authors in the UK asked him to step up the timeline. Bookshop.org launches in the UK on Monday, with more than 130 British bookshops already signed up and 200 expected by the end of the year. The UK arm of the company will be run by managing director Nicole Vanderbilt, the former international vice-president of Etsy.

"If you don't get there before Christmas, and give people a way to support their stores and buy their gift books, then it's gonna be really catastrophic for shops, which is why we've scrambled all hands on deck to get it up," said Hunter.

Bookshops make no financial investment, with all customer service and shipping handled by Bookshop, and, in the UK, by distributor Gardners. The browsing experience is intended to "mirror the joy of discovering a new book in a physical bookshop", says the company, with experts, rather than algorithms, doing the curating. Each independent that joins has its own "storefront" page, where customers can browse virtual tables of recommended books. For example, a user can see what the owner of The Shetland Times Bookshop ("Britain's most northerly general bookshop, situated over 60 degrees north and closer to Norway than to London") personally recommends, in lists such as "wonderfully funny picture books I've read to the bookshop staff", and "books to help you take life in your stride".

British booksellers and publishers have welcomed its arrival. "Being an independent bookseller has for so many years been such a David v Goliath battle that it feels slightly disconcerting when someone at last hands you a bazooka instead of you peppering away with your slingshot," said Andy Rossiter of Rossiter Books in Ross-on-Wye.

Philip Gwyn Jones, publisher at Picador, described Bookshop as "a positively revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling in the UK, and in the evolution of the relationship between writers and readers".

"It's hard for us to compete with someone that's got its own warehouse and sells books sometimes at a loss, or at very small profit margins. We just can't do that. So it's nice that Bookshop.org is going to rival Amazon in a way we couldn't on our own or even collectively," said Georgia Eckert, of Imagined Things bookshop in Harrogate. "You've got to have the reach, a site that's big enough, run by a proper team of people dedicated to it. We're all running our own businesses and haven't got time to be doing that."

This article was amended on 5 November 2020 because an earlier version referred to Bookshop.org as a B Corporation. However, the company is in the process of applying for B-Corp certification in the UK. This has been corrected.

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'This is revolutionary': new online bookshop unites indies to rival Amazon

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Bookshop.org, which launched in the US earlier this year, has accelerated UK plans and goes online this week in partnership with more than 130 shops

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How to get people coming together to restore ecosystems? John's idea: "Everyone loves camping." This essay published in Permaculture Magazine considers the potential of creating an ecosystem restoration cooperative and ecosystem restoration camps.

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We need to decide, as individuals in our inter-personal communities in our collective societies, do we want to continue, or not, with our current degenerative ways of living, exploiting both nature and human beings in pursuit of reckless economic growth, defined in diverse ways as the profit motive, "greed," GDP, CSR, ESG, SDGs, et al.? We warn that each of these indicators of economic growth (GDP, CSR, ESG, SDGs, et al.) fails to take into account: 1) ecological thresholds - a planetary ethic that accepts full responsibility for maintaining the quality of our planet's air, waters, lands, minerals, plants, and animals; and 2) fair social allocations - an intergenerational ethic that accepts full responsibility for securing the full dignity and for generating the full development of each and every human being within and across current and future generations (Ralph Thurm, The Big Sustainability Illusion; UNRISD, Sustainable Development Progress Indicators; r3.0, Thresholds of Transformation; et al.). We warn that many of us in our lives may decide to continue with our current trends in "waging war on nature" which "is senseless and suicidal" (UN Secretary General António Guterres, UNEP report, Making Peace With Nature; David Attenborough's A Life on Our Planet; Greta Thunberg's I Am Greta; Ubiquity University; et al.). Much better than continuing with our current escalating ecocide (see Great Acceleration graphs) and with intensifying episodes of horrifying humanicide, which can be seen everywhere, most significantly with the general loss of Spiritus-Intellectus (Latin), Pneuma-Nous (Greek), Rūh-'Aql (Arabic), Buddhi (Sanskrit), Heart-Centred Values, we need to decide as individuals in our various communities to work with each other to move out of our current degenerative ways of living to regenerate altogether in individuals and communities the beauty, goodness, truth, and other precious qualities that can be found in our Full Humanity and the Wholeness of Nature. One option opens to a good future, leading into happiness for each and all; the other does not, remaining stuck in constant suffering.

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This essay published in Permaculture Magazine considers the potential of creating an ecosystem restoration cooperative and ecosystem restoration camps to engage the largest numbers of people around the world in mitigation and adaptation to human

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Great video explaining rewilding in the UK.

Degrading nature needs a constant human efford, If we just stop to degrade nature, she will heal herself within a lifetime.

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Amazing and deeply moving story how people and nature heal together. A favourite and recommendation of all our restores.

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If you're wondering how you can get your hands dirty to help restore degraded lands, enrich ecosystems with biodiversity, and sequester soil carbon, this episode of the Green Dreamer podcast is one not to be missed!

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216) Ashleigh Brown: Reversing desertification and regenerating life on degraded lands

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Listen to this episode from Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration on Spotify. Ashleigh Brown is the co-founder of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, which is a grassroots nonprofit organization that builds research, training and innovation centers for ecological restoration all around the world.

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Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction.

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Ecosystem restoration generates tangible benefits for food and water security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and can prevent conflict and migration triggered by environmental degradation.

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Ecosystem Restoration Communities - Mighty Movement

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Ecosystem Restoration Communities - Mighty Movement

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Ecosystem Restoration Communities - We are bringing everyday people together, to restore degraded ecosystems from the ground up.

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Ecosystem Restoration Communities - Mighty Movement

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Ecosystem Restoration Communities - We are bringing everyday people together, to restore degraded ecosystems from the ground up.

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Konrad Wothe / Wild Wonders of Europe

Rewilding is a progressive approach to conservation. It's about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

"Rewilding is about trusting the forces of nature to restore land and sea."

Raquel Filgueiras
Head of Rewilding

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Konrad Wothe / Wild Wonders of Europe Rewilding is a progressive approach to conservation. It's about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

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Water in Plain Sight by Judith D. Schwartz

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Water in Plain Sight by Judith D. Schwartz

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Primer for Ecological Restoration by Karen D. Holl

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Primer for Ecological Restoration by Karen D. Holl

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Climate change is getting pretty scary, but plants can make things better, if we help them help us!

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Forests contribute to climate stability in many important ways, including creating regular rainfall patterns. If you are experiencing drought in your area, it may well be because of deforestation.

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The Biotic Pump: How Forests Create Rain

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Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison from Oregon State University explains the process for repairing a degraded ecosystem. We begin with the metrics for assessing ecosystem health, and then go over the steps to triggering biological activity and ecological succession.

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Since the 1970's Majuli islander Jadav Payeng has been planting trees in order to save his island. To date he has single handedly planted a forest larger than Central Park NYC. His forest has transformed what was once a barren wasteland, into a lush oasis. Humble yet passionate and philosophical about his work. Payeng takes us on a journey into his incredible forest.

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Forests don't have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are -- even in cities. Eco-entrepreneur Shubhendu Sharma grows ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of native species in urban areas by engineering soil, microbes and biomass to kickstart natural growth processes. Follow along as he describes how to grow a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years, and learn how you can get in on this tiny jungle party.

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How to grow a forest in your backyard | Shubhendu Sharma

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Restroration Agriculture by Mark Shepard

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Restroration Agriculture by Mark Shepard

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Miraculous Abundance by Perrine Herve-Gruyer

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Miraculous Abundance by Perrine Herve-Gruyer

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Join our community and keep up-to-date with current news, developments and activities.

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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Progress Timeline & Returns from today till 2100.

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We want to inspire community members to become proactive in enabling and creating viable ecosystems in the Woosehill Meadows & Emm Brook that serve the nature of the place, residents and the wi(l)der community.

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Project presentation in a nuthshell from the FotEB AGM in May 2024.

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Presentation Emm Brook regeneration AGM May-24

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If you want to know the nitty-gritty details.

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Now Official! Woosehill Meadows are classified as Berkshire Local Wildlife Site.

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SU76Z04 Woosehill Meadows - Survey report final

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Emm Brook Park is a public green space incorporating several interconnected lower valley floor areas in the Woosehill residential area. The green spaces cover 16.9 hectars. The Emm Brook is a small perennial stream flowing towards the Lodden and Thames in the North.

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Phase 1 project areas are comprising two central woodland areas, a storm reservoir and a riparian zone segment of the Emm Brook.

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1st- generation woodland on re-zoned farmland with the riparian zone of the Emm Brook, mown amenity lawn area, a potential ancient woodland remnant, storm reservoir, community orchard & wildflower meadow.

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We will apply fiverse woodland management techniques to increase biodiversity and climate resilience of the Emm Brook and Woosehill Meadows.

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The WBC Tree Strategy has been published after extensive public consulation. The document does provide important context to our project planning.

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This platform uses cookies in accordance with our Cookie policy.

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Join our PlantNet Community Group

Woosehill Meadows & Emmbrook

and share your plant observation in our Woosehill neighbourhood.

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Our regeneration site is now added to the global Restor.Eco database. Here you can find scientific data abour flora, fauna and ecosystem restoration potential.

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Emm Brook & Woosehill Meadows Urban Park | Restor

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Emm Brook & Woosehill Meadows Urban Park is a nature restoration site in United Kingdom. Explore all info about this project on Restor.

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Emm Brook & Woosehill Meadows Regeneration Project Update

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Emm Brook & Woosehill Meadows Regeneration Project Update

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Jürgen gave an excellent talk outlining the aims of this project from engaging the local community to the various regular work parties tackling dry hedges, pollarding, coppicing, deadwood piles, brambles, orchard maintenance and many other areas.

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Presentation Emm Brook regeneration FotEB AGM 12-May-25_compressed

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South East Rivers Trust Emm Brook Project Update

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South East Rivers Trust Emm Brook Project Update

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Nick Wilson, senior project manager from the South East Rivers Trust, has shared his new insights on the SERT Emmbrook Regeneration Project.

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Ancient willows want pollarding, but after a nearly 2 decades of lapse and with high pollard heads, regenratitive pollarding has to be done gradually, sympathetically, and safely—especially our volunteers and no power tools.

Below is a UK-appropriate, conservation-led approach that we want to apply in Woosehill Meadows, and that should work well in urban parks and river corridor.