Sign in

Helen Baczkowska

@helenb92.bsky.social
226 followers 85 following 228 posts

Ecologist, environmental activist and writer, fascinated by the many lives of Britain's common lands. My first book Twyford Rising, is a story of land and resistance. Find out more on: helenbaczkowska.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Many talk about ecological complexity, but is the concept useful in practice? Our new paper shows complexity is measurable in the field & can be restored But it isn’t reducible to simple indicators - we must measure multiple ecosystem properties besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Drivers of complexity in ecosystem restoration
This study shows that ecological complexity is empirically measurable, and its development in restoration can be influenced by key variables, which have mechanistic underpinnings. The foundational ro...
07626
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 11/05/2026
"It’s a bit of a sanctuary" This is Fallowlees Farm – a welcoming, safe space on the Wallington estate in Northumberland - is run by West End Women & Girls Centre. The farm gives 1300 women and girls from Newcastle’s West End space to grow, learn new skills and spend time outdoors.
buff.ly
‘Be happy! Life is too short.’ This women’s-only farm is changing lives in Newcastle
Have you and your mates ever dreamed of having a farm? Well, that’s exactly what these women did. Fallowlees Farm in Northumberland is full of laughs, but it’s also SO much more than that. Hufty,…
08725
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Another ghost common, this one from @oldmutter.bsky.social. i love that the landscape & habitat still echo the lost common.
2114
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Much of the film is set in the Americas and looks at both indigenous relationships with the natural world and some newer models of custodianship and organising. As an English commoner, I am finding it fascinating. open.substack.com/pub/commonpl...
open.substack.com
Lark Rise and other ghosts
A common land year, April
100
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Great film that looks at clear air, water, soils and more as global commons - to be protected and not enclosed and commodified. 200 years ago poet John Clare wrote 'when profit gets his clutches in, there's nothing he will spare'. Yep. #filmsforaction www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-co...
filmsforaction.org
The Commons: Reclaiming What Is Ours (2019) Full Documentary
110 minutes | The Commons is a documentary film about communities re-asserting sustainable futures using consensus, equity and shared resources – ancient Commons principles. The film explores increasi...
131
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
There are ghosts of common land all over the English landscape - here are some I have encountered. Where are yours? #commonland #righttoroam #openspacessociety open.substack.com/pub/commonpl...
open.substack.com
Lark Rise and other ghosts
A common land year, April
141
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I have just been writing about local plants that show where the common land used to be - and my pic is of bulbous buttercups! They are pure gold. open.substack.com/pub/commonpl...
open.substack.com
Lark Rise and other ghosts
A common land year, April
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
It is the Flora Locale advice, archived on their website - good advice, but written for southern counties I suspect!
000
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
30 years ago I took part in a discussion where we were asked the one thing we would would help a more sustainable future. Market garden support was my answer. Every town should have a market garden.
000
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Landworkers' Alliance @landworkersuk.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
A Land Use Framework for England: What do we need next? Our 2025 report ‘Share The Land’ found that the UK could produce the majority of its food at home through an agroecological land-sharing approach. Read more in the article below: tinyurl.com/2sbrk52a
042
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Lesley @lesleyjgrahame.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
I’ve just emailed energy secretary Ed Miliband asking him to send the frackers packing, for good. We need a full fracking ban in England and existing loopholes closed. There’s a short window to act – get involved! foe.uk/79uit @friends-earth.bsky.social
foe.uk
Ed Miliband: send the frackers packing for good
Fracking in England isn’t over − yet. Right now, there’s a temporary ban on fracking. But it’s not written into law, and loopholes mean so-called low-volume fracking could still go ahead. This leaves ...
021
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Interesting discussion at work last week. CIEEM guidance for seed harvesting says mid-June, but Claylands meadows peak flowering time is mid to late June! Botanists still needed!
120
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
My common always seems a week behind everywhere else - lady's smock only came out a few days ago!
110
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Dusk, bird song and a touching encounter with a rescued pony.... open.substack.com/pub/commonpl...
open.substack.com
The running man and the pony.
At New Year, I took on the care of two ponies.
000
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
No sign of the green wingeds near me in Norfolk yet!
110
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
I don't know where the ravens near me are nesting, but just pass dawn they fly over, croaking a bass note to the treble of the song thrush.
010
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
joelcaresalot.bsky.social @joelcaresalot.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Find out more and buy tickets here and please share: www.tickettailor.com/events/joele... @sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social
222
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
It seems to be having a good year!
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I noticed the early budding lilac last week too.
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
It interests me that people say 'oh it is cold', as if surprised. March is a cold old month in my view, but we are losing that perspective.
030
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
The latest instalment of my year looking at Britain's common lands; this time a March trip across the Fens, and nature lost and found at John Clare's Swaddy Well. #commonland #JohnClare #TheFens substack.com/@commonplace...
substack.com
A common land year, March
At Swaddy Well
230
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Really loving today's glut of flower photos - all that spring life and colour!
040
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Just opening their pale yellow loveliness on my local common too.
020
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Jane Wisbey @janewisbey.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
A whole frame full of wildflowers for #wildflowerhour: dandelions, red dead-nettle, speedwell, shepherd’s purse, common chickweed and hairy bittercress. Yesterday in a Gloucestershire field.
A patch of low-growing wildflowers in a grassy field: four dandelions, red dead-nettle, speedwell, shepherd’s purse, common chickweed and hairy bittercress.
1468
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
The Scottish Ornithologists' Club @scottishbirding.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
DucklingWatch The DucklingWatch citizen science project, led by Hannah Coburn at the University of Essex, returns for its second year. Submitting your records of Mallard ducklings will help improve understanding of duckling survival rates and drivers of population trends.
DucklingWatch poster. The information displayed on the poster can be found at citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch
23724
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Caught by the River @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Just announced: our annual Day Out in Sussex, taking place on 2nd May. Now in its 5th year, it is a unique day of talks, music, food and beer spread across the Downland village of Kingston, a few miles from both Lewes and Brighton. Full details and tickets: www.caughtbytheriver.net/2026/03/caug...
0106
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Claire Laila Dines @freedomtodoubt.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Fabulously well done Tir Natur, spreading nature far and wide 👏👏👏
173
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Been away from social media awhile, travelling Welsh lanes the slow, old way. Sunshine and wind, kite call and raven, gorse flowers and the first white flowers of greater stitchwort in the clawdd (banks). The horses are Roger on the right and Gwen of the fine backside on the left. And breathe.
140
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
IPBES @ipbes.net · 15/03/2026
The landmark IPBES Business and Biodiversity Report found that global economic growth occurs at the expense of biodiversity, the loss of which poses a critical, systemic risk to the economy & human wellbeing. 🎥 Watch this short video to learn more. 🔗 www.ipbes.net/bba-report/media-rele…
25327
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Yesterday, I stood silently with Norwich Women in Black - part of a global movement opposing war and promoting justice. I was distracted by goldfinches singing in a city centre tree, prompting me to write about the ecological impacts of war. open.substack.com/pub/commonpl... #WomenInBlack
open.substack.com
The nature of war
Saturday was one of those spring days when the sunshine is warm, but the shadows are still winter cold.
172
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
They were certain that the presence of standing stones showed that the land had been held more sacred than others - now, this might be true, who knows after 5000 years? But they sadly knew nothing about Seahenge or Flag Fen. I can see their viewpoint, just think there is so much we don't know.
120
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Yes - this was my point exactly, there were other signs long ago, just lost if not cast in stone. And in places that were lived in, but were more water than land, only fragments like Flag Fen linger on.
110
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Good to find this on my thread....my 2 years of fatigue after a fairly mild bout of covid are easing. But still no real sense of smell or of taste, which is more distressing that it sounds! It has robbed me of much interest in food and changing gas bottles is more dangerous than ever!
020
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
My letter in the Guardian countering an article by a pro-growth lobbyist from Britain Remade attacking environmental legislation “Ecologists & conservationists would be surprised by his claim that the UK doesn’t & never will build enough to drive nature loss” 1/2 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
We must protect our natural habitats before they disappear | Letters
Letters: Readers respond to Sam Dumitriu’s article on protecting Britain’s environment
813865
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I am interested in creating a genetically engineered mammoth - I just want us to spend our efforts on a world where the primrose and cowslip can thrive; where bats are cherished and safe, where toads call from their ancestral ponds and old woods slumber on without threat.
000
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Exactly
020
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Caught by the River @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
A great but undervalued collection of nature poems by Ted Hughes was reissued by Faber this week (illustrated by Leonard Baskin). Tim Dee thinks it contains some of the best of Hughes 🦗 www.caughtbytheriver.net/2026/03/flow... Image: Leonard Baskin, Grasshopper © Leonard Baskin Art Trust, 1985
0156
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Thanks for noticing and reminding us - so important in a time of war and hate and so little sense. The humble chiffchaff seems so significant now.
020
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Same here with USAF Mildehall and Lakenheath - a constant rumble, the dark night busy with the bright lights of aircraft, yesterday a helicopter low over the common, rattling old windows. Reminds me of the first Iraq war, when I was living in Wales and the valleys were full of screaming jets.
110
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Bat Conservation Trust @batconservation.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Bats play vital roles in the ecosystem we all rely on, beyond that it's worth remembering Sir David Attenborough's powerful words about the natural world: "It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/w...
bats.org.uk
Why bats matter - About Bats - Bat Conservation Trust
Bats matter across the UK and around the world. Bat species play a vital role in ecosystems, from agricultural land to tropical forests. They pollinate ...
0178
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Dorset Wildlife Trust @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Happy Mother's Day to all of the wild mums out there! 💚🙌 ~ Jack 📷 Jo Hackman Photography
0165
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
#GoodNews: Slowly we are starting to get a handle on agroecological management of #biodiversity www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Why have longhorn cows been spotted at seaside on Sefton Coast?
A herd of English longhorn cows have moved to pastures new along the coast on Merseyside.
18530
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Abilu Tangwa. @abilutangwa.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
We are watching climate change accelerate in real time: Wars Deforestation Pollution And our leaders? They wage full-scale war on the very environment that keeps us alive — with zero remorse. The house is on fire and they’re busy arguing about the curtains.
02620
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I love posts like this, giving me a little insight into a place and its lives. Send me more! Here in the flatlands, fieldfare and redwing are still moving north, but small waves of chiffchaffs are arriving in their wake.
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Fieldfare and redwing still moving north, as small waves of chiffchaffs come in their wake.
110
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I had an interesting discussion in Wales last year, with someone who told me that the land there was especially sacred, as signified by all the standing stones. But, I said, was not all land sacred once, and in places without rocks (like the Fens), other signifiers were used? Feel free to discuss!
010
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I had an interesting discussion in Wales last year, with someone who told me that the land there was especially sacred, as signified by all the standing stones. But, I said, was not all land sacred once, and in places without rocks (like the Fens), other signifiers were used? Feel free to discuss!
171
Reposted by Helen Baczkowska
Patrick Barkham @patrickbarkham.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Vital story by my colleague Helena Horton – about the number of people who don't live within a 15-min walk of green space. Freely accessible, wildlife-rich green space should be a modern-day human right! And good govts should see it as a public health essential. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Analysis finds urban areas in England where no one lives within 15-minute walk of nature
Government says it is working to solve ‘postcode lottery’ of access to green or blue spaces
32812
Helen Baczkowska @helenb92.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Just back from newting, although only saw randy toads. Thick fog along the Tas valley. I blame the toads...too steamy!
120