Are you a horse owner?

If you own, ride or work with horses, you may well be aware of the life-threatening condition, Atypical Myopathy (AM). With the wet and windy weather this season brings, the chance of outbreaks of this condition is heightened. Atypical Myopathy is caused by a toxin (Hypoglycin A) which is found in sycamore seeds, and has a high mortality rate of 75-90%. Wind and rain mean that these seeds can travel far distances, and put even horses who don't graze particularly near sycamore trees at risk. A message is being sent out to all horse owners to ask them to check their fields for sycamore seeds, even if there are no sycamore trees within the field. If any are found in fields with horses in, they need to be moved immediately and then the seeds cleared.

Symptoms of AM include: sudden stiffness, muscle tremors, collapse, colic-like symptoms, low temperature, increased heart rate and dark urine. For more information, click here to read the british Horse Society's advice leaflet.

Environmental Education

It’s often being said that we need to take better care of our environment and ensure that the next generation grow up knowing about and caring for nature, and most would agree this is the case. But how do we provide this information in a practical way? Environmental education is a key factor in preserving and cultivating the nature around us, and Milton Keynes is on the way to creating something which will hopefully enable this in a big way.

A £500,000 environmental education and visitor centre is currently being built in Howe Park Wood, Milton Keynes, and is set to open in October. The centre will contain classrooms, meeting rooms, an outside decked area and new pond dipping platforms. Set in a beautiful ancient woodland setting, the centre will provide some key steps towards conservation and will help to teach children and adults alike about nearby wildlife and nature and how to help preserve it. Bird and bat boxes will be situated throughout the woodland and boxes for plants and insect homes will also be built. The centre will incorporate low carbon technologies in order to make it even more environmentally friendly, including an air source heat pump and solar panels. This is set to be a great resource for the community, and will hopefully play a big part in helping educate many about nature and how to take care of it.