MY EARTH IS BEATING: A photo-collection for climate by LuisaViaRoma, a photojournalistic documentation project created by LuisaViaRoma following EXTREME E, the first electric SUV racing circuit designed to raise awareness of the planet on issues of ecological transition.
Coordinated and shot by World Press Photo winner for environmental issues and National Geographic contributor Luca Locatelli, World Press Photo winner in the Portraits category and National Geographic contributor Gabriele Galimberti and journalist, writer and curator Raffaele Panizza, #myEIB is a project that reinforces LuisaViaRoma’s environmental commitment.
In March 2021 we’ve taken the first photo of My Earth Is Beating #myEIB’s long journey in Saudi Arabia: it depicts the wall of a huge cement factory near the beach of Ras Baridi, on the Red Sea, that stops hawksbill turtles (an endangered species) from reaching the sand and nest.
The latest photo, taken a few days ago in West Dorset, depicts viscount Luke Montagu and his wife Julie: inspired by their teenage son Nestor – environmental activist and vegetarian – have decided not to renew their land’s lease to various meat farmers, in order to allow Mapperton Estate’s wild animals and the vegetation to revive: «We’ve been inspired by the philosophy of REWILDING and by experiences such as the one at Knepp Castle in West Sussex, created by conservationist Isabella Tree» says Montagu, «we’ll introduce Exmoor ponies and beavers on a thousand hectares land for a biodiversity project called Mapperton Wildlands: here, soon, we’ll organize real safaris».
In only ten months of reporting, we’ve moved from fear to assurance that the world will breathe new life and will be saved, a bit like the rest of the world has, moved by new ecological awareness.
Documented, My Earth Is Beating by LUISAVIAROMA and LVRSustainable (the fight against climate change recounted through photo art and storytelling) is a project about the impact of climate change and solutions to combat it through a language that uses art, photography, storytelling and investigative journalism.
Thanks to the new experiences and philosophy linked to REWILDING. The principle and technique has been thoroughly explored by My Earth Is Beating during its latest journey, from the metropolis to the countryside: from the bees in the seven thousand hives born on the roofs of London that pollinate gardens and attract insects, birds and amphibians, to the organizations such as Rewild my street, which help to redesign streets, balconies and gardens to give protection and food to the wild fauna. From London to Kent, to meet the rangers that will supervise the project of inserting four European bison from next spring in the natural reserve of Blean Woods: «With their relentless work they will act as “ecological engineers” » explain rangers Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright, «they will thin out conifers, improperly planted these past years for cork, the light will start to filter through, and the woods will revive»
Five journeys.
Five galleries of iconic pictures.
Tens of unedited stories.
LET IS BEES
On the third floor of St. Ermin’s Hotel, in the heart of Westminster, a beekeeper poses with one of the seven thousand hives installed over the past decade on London’s rooftops and courtyards.
“They can fly within a three-mile radius,” he recounts, “they pollinate St. James Park and the Queen’s exotic flowers at Buckingham Palace.”
Hundreds of “insect hotels” have also been created in the city to protect other pollinators such as butterflies and moths. These structures allow flowers, insects, birds, biodiversity and nature to regain their thrones.
The NGO London Wildlife Trust with its 1500 volunteers has already identified 36 nature reserves among the skyscrapers and speeding cars.
A TOY STORY
Cecily, three years old, shows off her favorite disguises. A little bit lady and a little bit warrior, she plays under the gaze of the white park cows her family owns at Mapperton Estate.
The animals are left in the wild: free to graze and fertilize. They are part of a rewilding project that includes three farms and a thousand acres of land in West Dorset.
The deer are already back. Orchis mascula is thriving. Meanwhile, exmoor ponies and beavers (the water architects of nature) who disappeared a century ago, will be reintroduced.
In nearby England, where dairy animals were once bred, safaris will soon be organized.
IN MY GARDEN
“When the birds wake up after me, I know winter is coming. When they awaken earlier, they declare summer has arrived.”
A former opera and cabaret singer housebound by ill-fated health, Tamara has rebuilt the natural world she can no longer see in her Lewisham, South London, garden.
The fox Nibbles and her four cubs peep out every day. The blue tits, robin or Alexandrine parakeet comes to feed on the sunflower seeds and apples she leaves to attract them. Meanwhile, squirrels do acrobatics on the fence.
“I learned this from reading Wilding by Isabella Tree: nature, to come back, must be helped.”
THE WILD ROAD
“Little is needed. For example, by probing and piercing the fences of neighboring gardens, one can create passageways for foxes and hedgehogs. By placing a small artificial pond on the balcony or lawn, it can create an environment for dragonflies and frogs. The animals will love it.”
Siân Moxon teaches sustainable architecture at the London College and is the founder of Rewild my Street, an organization that educates Londoners to redesign courtyards and terraces to encourage the return of wildlife.
It is becoming an unstoppable movement; the mayor of London Sadiq Kahn, has just allocated £1 million for the rewilding of Hyde Park. Among the species that will return to the city are the Vole and the Peregrine Falcon.
A WILD FAMILY
Dorset, Southern England. Content and muddy, members of the Gregory family gather in the tool shed meant to be a new welcome center for Rewilding enthusiasts. “We work 500 acres here on the Mapperton Estate,” says Sophie, 31, along with her husband Tom and their children Evie (10), Harry (12) and Cecily (3), “300 acres are dedicated to organic milk production, the remaining 200, will be left completely wild.”
According to a recent report by Her Majesty’s Parliament, the United Kingdom has lost 50 percent of its biodiversity assets since 1970. States like Canada and Finland, report at only 10 percent.
THE VISCOUNTS OF MONTAGU
Luke and Julie, Viscounts of Montagu, have decided to dedicate their century-old Mapperton Estate to nature and transform it into the new Mapperton Wildlands.
“The enlightenment came during the months of lockdown, prompted by our teenage son Nestor, a loyal ecologist,” they recount, “out of the five farms included in our holdings, three will be dedicated to rewilding.”
The Wildlands help biodiversity and capture CO2 from the atmosphere. That’s why the British government introduced the Environmental Stewardship. The Stewardship will help to raise one-third of the funds needed for the Mapperton Wildlands project. The project itself will include 100 acres of life and color, all of which will be public.
THE RETURN OF THE BISON
“We feel like parents preparing the room for a child coming home.”
Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright, 31 and 47, are the two rangers tasked by the Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust to prepare the Blean Woods Nature Reserve to welcome four European bison arriving next spring. They consist of three females and one male. They are the closest relatives of the 10,000-year-old extinct Steppe bison.
“They will act as architects of the land,” they explain, “thinning out the conifers that suffocate the woods while looking to allow light, and life, to return.” The project, funded by the public People’s Postcode Lottery is called Wilder Blean.
Learn more about myEIB
Credits:
Coordinated and shot by World Press Photo winner and National Geographic contributor Luca Locatelli.
Shot by World Press Photo winner and National Geographic contributor Gabriele Galimberti.
Coordinated and narrated by the journalist, writer and curator Raffaele Panizza.
