Paul Powlesland Profile picture
Rights of nature & climate activist. Barrister & river guardian; love defending & protecting trees & rivers. Founder @lawfornature & @riverroding.
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Apr 27 6 tweets 3 min read
Finally found a rare status symbol I can covet! Through a laborious process, a team at @wakehurst_kew have found a way to enable black poplars to sexually reproduce again & I’m now the proud owner of one of the first such unique genotype black poplars in the UK… Image Thread below gives some background about black poplar. For the last 150 years they have struggled to reproduce sexually. Although they can easily be propagated by taking cuttings & effectively cloning them, lack of sexual reproduction meant there was a limited number of genotypes
Apr 7 14 tweets 8 min read
Destruction of a precious ancient bluebell woodland in the Kent countryside under a deluge of illegal landfill waste shows the utter failure of environmental law, complete inaction by the authorities & increasing lawlessness in the UK. Let me tell you the story of Hoads Wood 🧵
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Hoad’s Wood is a special place. 200 acres of ancient woodland in the Garden of England, smooth sculptural hornbeams vie with statuesque mossy oaks, amidst a vivid blue carpet of bluebells. The wood is precious, & it’s an SSSI: one of our strongest legal protections for nature


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Dec 23, 2023 12 tweets 6 min read
As the year draws to a close, the moments of connection to, & service of, nature are some of my strongest memories. Here are my favourites: one per month throughout 2023.

January: out on the river planting willow trees by rowboat to naturalise sheet piling along the Roding. Image February: occupying one of the Wellingborough Lime Trees for 8 hours in freezing conditions to stop it being chopped down. Very glad to say that the police dropped charges 6 months later & thanks to amazing efforts of @wellywag, all the trees are still standing! Image
Nov 1, 2023 7 tweets 2 min read
Today whilst walking along my river I found someone doing heroin & leaving rubbish everywhere. I asked him politely not to do it & he grabbed a pole & chased me down threatening to kill me. I ran as quick as I could & came to a roundabout where- thank god- there was a police car I knocked on the window & told the officer inside that I had just been chased by a man wielding a weapon & I needed her help. She looked annoyed but agreed to pull over. I told her I had the whole thing on film & could she go & arrest him. She said that she was on her way…
Oct 21, 2023 15 tweets 7 min read
As part of researching #rightsofnature in Ecuador, I was keen to meet indigenous communities acting as guardians of nature. I was honoured to be invited to the territory of A’i Cofan Sinangoe people, meet their president & talk about their incredible efforts to protect nature 🧵 Image The Sinangoe are an indigenous community of around 50 families & 250 people. They have a territory of over 60,000 hectares alongside the Rio Aguarico in North East Ecuador & West of the city of Lago Agrio. They belong to the A’i Cofan people of North Ecuador & South Columbia Image
Oct 10, 2023 15 tweets 3 min read
With official inquiry published & this apology, one of the last parts of the Sheffield Tree Scandal to investigate & unpack is the role of law & lawyers. In this thread I call for @SheffCouncil to waive privilege & release all legal advice & correspondence bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan… Full disclosure: I was counsel representing Sheffield tree protesters in court numerous times, either pro bono or low cost because I agreed with the protesters’ cause & thought that the actions of Sheffield City Council of destroying trees & persecuting residents was disgraceful
Sep 29, 2023 16 tweets 3 min read
The outpouring of grief, sadness & anger about the felling of Sycamore Gap Tree shows the strength of love & care many British people feel for our trees. Here’s why we should change the law to give ancient & veteran trees the same protection as historic buildings & monuments 🧵 Image The main form of protection for historically important trees is currently Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s). However the TPO regime is significantly less robust & protecting of trees than the Listed Building or Scheduled Ancient Monument regimes
Jul 31, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
There’s a lot to unpick in the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the severe sentences given to Morgan & Marcus from @JustStop_Oil, but this part is very telling: “the sentences meet the legitimate sentencing aim of deterrence for such offending in current times” Image I’d like to ask the judges what they meant by the words “in current times”, because it looks like they mean ‘in times where more & more people are protesting actions that will lead to the deaths of millions of people’; & that as more people realise the horror of our situation…
Jul 11, 2023 14 tweets 6 min read
*On the trail of the UK’s rarest native tree*. I’ve recently joined an academic study into the genetics of the black poplar; one of our most imperilled, but enigmatic, trees. This study will help to unlock info that may be crucial to our efforts to save this wonderful species🧵 Black poplars (populus nigra betulifolia) are incredible trees, often growing to great heights with a sweeping shape to their branches & with fat gnarled trunks covered in burrs called lentocils. They grow fast but live long; some of our oldest trees are likely over 200 years old
Jun 20, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
And there we have it- a full admission & apology that Sheffield City Council were completely in the wrong over the tree felling saga. This doesn’t, of course, bring the trees back nor undo the violence that was inflicted on the brave activists who were in the right all along 🧵 We now also need accountability from the legal system & introspection from High Court & senior judges as to why they unquestioningly believed the word of the council & granted an injunction to put people in prison for standing under a tree.
Apr 4, 2023 7 tweets 3 min read
‘We will love that which we know & protect what we love’: in an effort to get to know my river, the Roding, I’m walking the whole river from source to sea over the next week, & mapping it in as much detail as possible so this knowledge can be used to protect & restore the river Here’s the map, which I’m slowly inputting with data; & where you can see my progress along the river, the kinds of things I’m mapping, & learn more about the Roding itself: google.com/maps/d/edit?mi…
Mar 29, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Judicial persecution of climate protesters descends into farce. On Tuesday, Trudi Warner will be tried for contempt for silently holding this sign on a public highway outside court. Her trial will be at Old Bailey, which has a marble plaque in almost the same terms as her placard ImageImage Will the Judge (Silas Reid) also ask for this plaque commemorating the case that established one of our most important & ancient liberties to be removed from the Old Bailey, for stating the truth that a juror has a right to give a verdict according to their convictions?
Mar 20, 2023 8 tweets 5 min read
The recent spate of tree destruction has left people feeling justifiably angry. That anger is a manifestation of our love for nature, but we must not let it make us bitter. Let us transmute anger into action with this 🧵 of tree campaigns you can support & actions you can take… First, consider joining or setting up a tree protectors network in your area. Most successful tree-saving stems from local campaigns who know the area & love their trees. Such campaigns often coalesce around threats to specific trees but can be more effective if formed in advance
Mar 18, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
The threats to our native trees & woodlands aren’t just from chainsaws but also from invasive plants like rhododendron ponticum. Am working hard in my community woodland today removing it. On the left of this photo: a carpet of native bluebells; on the right, rhody & nothing else Image Here’s a video showing the damage caused by rhododendrons in more detail. Despite it being one of the key threats to our ancient woodlands, the government *still* refuse to ban it from being sold in garden centres or to properly tackle the 250,000 acres of infestation in the UK
Mar 3, 2023 5 tweets 3 min read
Absolutely delighted to announce that the tree felling in Wellingborough has been suspended & the developer has agreed to a public consultation on its plans which will include release of the docs requested by the community, as explained by Marion, the local leader of the campaign It should not have taken weeks of dedicated action by local campaigners (who were stonewalled by developer & council), & me climbing a tree & getting arrested to achieve this, but it’s very good news that the developer has seen sense & that @NNorthantsC pressured them to do so
Mar 1, 2023 5 tweets 3 min read
How brave of @NorthantsPolice to issue a statement not answering the key question (ie whether activity being conducted by developers is in fact “lawful”) & then switch off comments. For a reminder, here are those questions I asked their sergeant yesterday, which remain unanswered Also, “the felling of the trees is a civil issue” is just patently incorrect. Felling a tree with a TPO is a criminal offence by section 210 Town & Country Planning Act 1990. It is this worrying level of incompetence on the law by police that led to my peaceful actions yesterday
Feb 28, 2023 15 tweets 7 min read
So, I find myself 30ft in the air up a tree in Wellingborough- surrounded by police, security & tree surgeons- trying to prevent an illegal tree felling. How did I end up here? Here’s an outrageous story of nature destruction & collusion between authorities & private developer 🧵 ‘Wellingborough Walks’ is an impressive Avenue of Lime Trees that is over 100 years old & is the pride of the town. A few weeks ago, local councillors were informed that 60 of the trees were to be felled, ostensibly to make a new roundabout & move a gas main
Feb 14, 2023 13 tweets 7 min read
… However, as this video shows, the way that the North Circular has been brutally driven through the area may make it difficult to establish meaningful connections between the Roding (which is next to the tower blocks in the video) & East Ham (on the other side of the fields) This got me thinking about the Back River. It’s the original River Roding of East Ham. What if it could be resurrected & become a place of natural beauty & recreation for Newham residents? Google maps showed the route of the river seemingly unbuilt on. So I went for an explore… ImageImage
Feb 14, 2023 19 tweets 10 min read
This is the story of one of London’s most ancient rivers, how it was lost & became a ‘ghost river’, & the unique opportunity to resurrect it in our collective imaginations *&* bring it physically back to life. Let me tell you about the Back River; East Ham’s River Roding. 🧵 Although the River Roding now has just one main channel, like many rivers, as it became tidal it used to become ‘braided’ with multiple channels meandering through vast salt marshes. The most substantive such channel was the Back River, which ran through the East Ham Marshes
Nov 21, 2022 17 tweets 7 min read
“Before landscapes die, they first vanish in the imagination”. This is the story of a small brook on the outskirts of London, the Aldersbrook, which has survived against the odds, but in the worst state imaginable, & my attempts to act as a guardian of this river & its rights🧵 The River Roding is London’s 3rd largest river. Like many rivers, as it reached its tidal estuary it became a series of parallel channels, meandering amongst salt marshes. Over time the Roding has been embanked, it’s tidal marshes largely built over & parallel channels filled in
Oct 14, 2022 14 tweets 6 min read
Today marks the re-opening of Battersea Power Station. Whilst I'm glad the building has been saved, I'm sad that much of its soul & beauty has been lost to luxury flats. To mark the change, here's photos & memories from my urban exploration of the derelict site a decade ago(1/14) My first exploration of the station was shortly after moving to London. Cycling home from a party, I saw it looming in the distance & wanted to get closer. I went up to the fence & hopped over it. The station was surrounded by wasteland & there was no security to be seen (2/14)