Catch up on the latest environmental news from across the county with Abby Hook.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello and welcome to Kent on Climate live on KMTV.
00:19 I'm Abbey Hook and in this show we discuss
00:21 all things related to environmental issues in the county.
00:24 How is climate change impacting Kent?
00:26 What are communities in the county doing to tackle it?
00:29 And how can you help at home?
00:31 Each week we take a deep dive into a new environmental issue
00:33 in the county and I'm joined by expert guests.
00:37 But first tonight, a Medway man is on a mission
00:40 to make a difference in the amount of litter
00:42 building up across the county.
00:44 He's combining it with his love for snooker
00:46 by designing mosaics made out of bottle tops
00:49 and putting them on the tabletop.
00:50 It's interesting, we'll see why in a minute.
00:53 He says it's a crazy idea, but with each design
00:56 using on average 1600 lids,
00:58 he says it's making an impact.
00:59 Well, Gabriel Morris went to meet him earlier.
01:02 - Plastic bottle tops are harmful to nature
01:07 and pollute our landscape.
01:09 In the UK we get for around eight billion bottles a year.
01:12 But a Medway man is collecting the tops.
01:16 He hopes his idea will be the cue for change
01:19 and is plotting in on his creativity
01:22 alongside being an environmentalist
01:24 by creating mosaics out of discarded bottle tops
01:28 and selling them online.
01:30 - Someone said to me,
01:31 why don't you try to fill the table with litter?
01:34 I think he was joking and I did it with lids.
01:37 From there I've decided to create the Edvard Munch's screen
01:41 and then I did the Mona Lisa
01:44 and yeah, I've done loads of pieces
01:46 and essentially what it is, is the table is the canvas
01:50 and then I take a photo up a ladder
01:52 and then they're printed on canvas.
01:54 - Every artwork he creates requires thousands of bottle tops
01:58 to fill his snooker table.
01:59 He finds some himself,
02:01 but now others are sending them to him.
02:03 - I think the bright colours really are quite beautiful,
02:08 but also it's a clear message.
02:09 You know, you see 1600 lids on a table,
02:13 you think crumbs, are they all littered?
02:14 And you kind of realise that there is a ridiculous issue
02:17 with litter at the moment.
02:19 - He has created around 100 designs so far
02:22 and they are all for sale on his website
02:24 in different formats,
02:26 but the original artwork only lasts a few hours
02:29 before being recycled into something else.
02:32 - It takes about 15 minutes to take apart
02:34 and it takes about three to four hours to make
02:37 and then yeah, I sort all the lids into the different colours
02:39 but yeah, so they're on the table for about half an hour
02:42 after me taking the photo and then it's done.
02:45 Yeah, and then, you know, occasionally I actually play on it,
02:47 occasionally I do play on it
02:49 and yeah, once the art's off,
02:51 then I have a ball table again.
02:53 - Kieran hopes one day he will run out of pieces
02:55 to be able to make his artwork possible
02:58 as people start to recycle bottles.
03:00 Till then, his creations are sure to become bigger,
03:04 bolder and brighter.
03:06 Gabriel Morris for KNTV in Chatham.
03:08 - Well, I'm joined in the studio now
03:12 with some incredible artwork
03:14 and Kieran Paul, the man behind it.
03:16 Thank you so much for coming in.
03:18 Now, the surname Paul, inspiration behind it all?
03:21 - No, I'm afraid I've just got my parents to thank for that.
03:23 There's no connection whatsoever.
03:25 - Oh, it's just a happy accident then.
03:27 So tell us how this works.
03:29 We're surrounded here by pictures of the pool tables.
03:32 I'll lift them up so our viewers at home can see.
03:34 Can you explain what led you to put plastic bottle tops
03:38 on top of a pool table?
03:39 - Yeah, so I started litter picking
03:43 and then a friend of mine said,
03:44 "Why don't you try and fill the table
03:47 full of some sort of litter?"
03:49 And I thought, well, the lids
03:50 are the most colourful litter I see.
03:52 And the first challenge was to fill the entire table.
03:56 That took about 1600 lids
03:58 and it didn't take very long either.
04:00 It only took about two months
04:01 and then I started making sort of more complex pieces.
04:04 - Yeah, we can see on the screen now,
04:06 you're building, this is the Mona Lisa one.
04:08 - Yeah.
04:09 - Wow, that's it.
04:10 So do you go through an awful lot of drinks
04:12 or do you collect it all from the street?
04:14 How does it work?
04:15 - Oh, goodness me, if I was drinking all that lot.
04:17 So yeah, so it's about 70% littered and 30% upcycled.
04:21 So friends and family send me lids that they use
04:24 and then now other litter picking groups
04:26 across the country send me bags of lids
04:29 that they've litter picked as well.
04:31 - And explain this one next to you.
04:32 There's a nice story behind this one.
04:33 - Yeah, so this one was recently featured.
04:35 - If you just grab it here,
04:36 so we'll be able to see it on the screen
04:37 when you talk about it.
04:38 - In an exhibition, a nucleus art gallery.
04:40 So that's called Death at Sea
04:42 and the idea behind it is that on first viewing,
04:44 you think it's a shark, it's blood,
04:47 but in actuality, the shark is out littering
04:50 and obviously it's going down to the sea floor
04:52 and it's filling it.
04:52 So we're essentially the deathers.
04:54 As humans, polluting our wonderful oceans.
04:56 - So there's a key message behind all of this for you.
04:59 Has it been something that's been really important to you
05:02 for a long time?
05:02 I know you said you litter pick and stuff,
05:03 but the environment more generally
05:05 and on a wider scale here in the UK.
05:06 - Yeah, yeah, like litter's always really annoyed me,
05:09 even as a child, which I didn't realise.
05:10 Apparently I used to pick things up at school,
05:12 like between the age of 11 and 16.
05:15 - Eco warrior in primary school as well.
05:17 - I wasn't aware of this,
05:18 but friends have told me when I've talked about this
05:21 and yeah, litter's always really annoyed me.
05:23 And then I just wanted to, I'm very creative,
05:27 so I wanted to create something out of the litter
05:29 and for some reason I decided to choose
05:32 my outdoor seven foot pool table to do it on.
05:34 - I think sometimes it's really important
05:36 to do it in a way that's really eye catching
05:38 for us to understand why are you putting plastic bottle tops
05:40 on top of a pool table?
05:41 It's so random, but it's brilliant to show the message
05:45 and to stand out as well.
05:46 And we can see you on the screen there
05:48 collecting all of those and sorting through all the colours.
05:51 Now there is one in here that I did want to talk about
05:54 as well, now this.
05:55 The camera might have to focus quite a lot on this
05:58 'cause it's quite small and you might not be able to see it,
06:00 but could you explain what this is please?
06:02 - Yeah, so those are three millimetre circular prints
06:06 of my favourite pieces.
06:08 So there's about 100 pieces in total
06:09 and then they are framed individually
06:12 by the small piece of metal that the ring pool
06:15 is connected to.
06:16 So the idea being that I'm framing the art in litter
06:22 and then as part of a bigger collection
06:27 within a bigger frame.
06:28 - And they're all the really tiny, tiny bits of ring pools.
06:31 I think there's something similar there next to you.
06:33 - Yes, then these are whole ring pools, yeah.
06:34 - But I can see, you won't be able to see at home,
06:36 but you can see within those tiny circles,
06:38 rather a millimetre, you can see the pictures
06:41 that you've got here as well.
06:42 It's fascinating.
06:43 - Within those three millimetre circles
06:46 are 1500, 1600 lids.
06:48 A world within a world almost.
06:53 - Have you seen anything like this done anywhere else?
06:55 - A lot of people are making litter art,
06:58 but I don't think anyone's mad enough to put it
06:59 on a pool table, let alone an outdoor pool table.
07:02 So yeah, people keep asking me why I decided
07:06 to do it on the pool table.
07:08 I'm not actually sure.
07:09 - It's a beautiful canvas, isn't it?
07:11 - Yeah, I kind of make up a different reason every time
07:13 just to keep you on my toes.
07:15 But I think the idea of the rectangle, I guess,
07:18 and then I have to climb up a ladder.
07:20 It's actually my neighbour's ladder,
07:21 so I have to always ask her for the ladder.
07:23 - That's quite a collaborative community project.
07:24 - Yeah, absolutely.
07:25 - What do you do with all the lids?
07:26 Do you keep them for the next draw, the next creation?
07:29 - Yeah, so the heartbreaking bit is I make the art,
07:32 I go up a ladder, take a photograph of it.
07:35 It's that that's then printed on these canvases
07:37 and then I take it all apart and put all the lids in boxes.
07:40 So I've got thousands upon thousands of lids
07:41 all sorted into different shades and colours.
07:45 That takes about three hours to make
07:46 and about 10 minutes to destroy at the end.
07:48 - And just lastly, very quickly, what's the bigger idea here?
07:51 Are you hoping to sell some of these
07:53 as a picture, as a canvas?
07:55 - Yeah, so these are available to buy on RubbishNuka.com
07:58 and they've slowly started featuring exhibitions
08:00 and I'm soon gonna be doing live talks
08:02 and workshops as well, like talking in schools
08:05 and libraries and local community groups.
08:06 - I can imagine it's something children
08:07 would absolutely love to get involved with as well.
08:09 - Yeah, sure, absolutely. - Really hands-on.
08:11 Thank you so much for coming in, Kieran.
08:13 It was really interesting, really fascinating
08:15 to learn about something we've never seen before
08:17 and here on Canson Climate.
08:18 Thank you so much for coming in.
08:20 And now, from Paul to having a dip in the ocean,
08:24 we're looking back to last year,
08:26 to the time that I went down to Pegwell Bay
08:28 for a story that is sure to get your seal of approval.
08:33 Life jacket fastened, safety briefing completed,
08:37 all aboard the River Runner to set our sights on seals.
08:42 We're just heading out now to where the seals will be.
08:44 We've got about a 45-minute boat ride,
08:47 but what a beautiful day for it.
08:49 But there's a reason we're looking out
08:51 for these marine mammals in particular.
08:53 Human disturbance is putting these globally rare seals
08:57 at serious risk.
08:59 So, seals are really vulnerable, actually.
09:01 They're impacted by climate change,
09:03 changing food stocks, river pollution.
09:06 But then when you add recreation on top of that as well,
09:10 it can actually start to impact
09:12 and it could actually threaten
09:14 the local greater Tens-Everest Sea Seals that we have here.
09:17 The impact of continuous stress,
09:20 because they feel vulnerable or threatened,
09:22 that means that their cortisol level goes up.
09:24 So, large mammals like seals and humans,
09:26 we're affected by stress hormones
09:28 and that can have actually long-term impact
09:30 on their health and their ability to breed.
09:34 Just on the bank behind me there,
09:35 there are about 50 seals relaxing in the sun.
09:38 Well worth the wait to come and see.
09:40 Now, there's a mixture of the harbour seal,
09:42 the common seal, and also the grey seal,
09:45 which are actually quite endangered.
09:48 Water sports like paddle boarding are dangerous for seals
09:51 as humans can approach silently on the water.
09:54 So, training schemes like WISE are being introduced
09:57 to help companies keep wildlife safe.
10:00 WISE is like a national training scheme for the UK
10:04 in order to reduce wildlife disturbance.
10:06 So, it trains, maybe that's tour boat operators,
10:11 it could be commercial recreational water users,
10:14 and actually individual participants
10:17 of water recreation can now train as well.
10:21 It gives you an accreditation to make sure
10:23 that you know how to behave responsibly about wildlife.
10:28 That's exactly what the River Runner is about,
10:30 education, awareness, and fun combined.
10:34 You'll see all the river wildlife on the way down.
10:37 We see a mixture of birds, oyster catchers, herons,
10:40 egrets, kingfishers, just a variety.
10:44 It's absolutely fantastic what we've got here.
10:46 I think people don't necessarily explore
10:49 what's on their doorstep here.
10:50 We tend to venture a little bit further out
10:53 than what's on our doorstep,
10:54 but Sandwich has so much hidden history
10:57 that unless you explore it, you never know it's there.
11:01 Soaking up the sun, seals, and safety advice
11:05 is crucial to maintaining our unique population.
11:09 So, if you come across these marine mammals,
11:12 the advice is to move slow, be quiet,
11:15 and stay at least 100 metres away.
11:17 Captain Hook for KMTV.
11:21 I had to do it because of the surname Hook.
11:25 You can't get away with not going out on the boat trip,
11:27 can you?
11:28 Well, now it's time for a very quick break,
11:29 but if you thought this was interesting,
11:31 seeing those seals, we have dolphins in Medway
11:34 coming up after this short break.
11:35 Can you believe it?
11:36 All the wildlife coming here.
11:38 We'll also be talking about the wave of blue tongue
11:40 hitting Kent's agricultural hubs,
11:42 and the restrictions are being lifted next Monday.
11:44 We'll hear more about that later in the programme
11:47 with our reporter, Gabriel Morris.
11:49 I'll see you in a few minutes.
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15:02 (music)
15:04 Hello and welcome back to Kent on Climate live here on KMTV.
15:11 Now, you might be wondering who this is next to me.
15:14 Well, today marks Clyde and Tolkien's 17th anniversary.
15:18 They're howler monkeys and live at Portland Reserve in Hithe.
15:21 Now, happily enjoying their retirement together,
15:24 I wondered what the secret behind such a long
15:26 and successful relationship was for a monkey.
15:29 Well, Jamie Robertson, head of primates at the park,
15:31 gave me the insight earlier on.
15:33 I think it's down to our male Clyde.
15:35 He is very patient, very loving.
15:39 So even when she's in a grump with him, he's just totally devoted.
15:42 He just follows her around.
15:44 And then when she sits still, he just sort of comes up
15:46 and cuddles up with his tail and he's just always there for her.
15:49 So sweet. How and why were they partnered?
15:51 Why did they make such a good match?
15:54 Well, Tolkien was born here.
15:57 And when it was time for her to leave her family group,
16:00 we tried to find a male for her.
16:02 So the studbook, which controls the genetic diversity of the species,
16:08 he recommended Clyde.
16:10 He was actually born in Singapore and came all the way from Singapore.
16:12 So he's very exotic.
16:14 So we put them together and they've been inseparable ever since.
16:18 And as a keeper, as someone that I imagine watches
16:21 and observes these animals every day,
16:23 it must be incredible to watch how they emotionally support each other.
16:27 Were you surprised by seeing that?
16:30 Yeah, I mean, they can be sometimes quite difficult to mix.
16:33 Just like humans, a lot of time they need to fancy their partner,
16:38 especially the ones that stay together for their whole lives.
16:41 So, yeah, it was nice to see,
16:43 especially as I've known Tolkien from birth,
16:45 to watch her grow up from a baby into an adult
16:49 and then to become a mum herself
16:51 and to have Clyde always there next to her, supporting her.
16:53 It's been very special.
16:55 How the monkeys themselves, the species, are endangered, I imagine.
16:59 I believe, been that way for more than 20 years.
17:02 Why is that and what as a park are you doing
17:04 to try and contribute to keeping them alive in the wild?
17:08 It's mainly for the howlers
17:12 just trying to get a good genetic diversity in captivity
17:16 so that when we get to the point where we can start to reintroduce them back into the wild,
17:20 we have a good, healthy population.
17:22 But it's also about educating the public
17:24 about all animals that have become endangered
17:27 and getting them to support the zoo,
17:30 both financially and in other ways.
17:34 So, yeah, it's all about trying to get, education-wise,
17:37 a good population that we can then look to to repopulate the wild.
17:42 And it's Clyde and Tolkien's relationship
17:44 that's the star of the show today on this day in particular.
17:47 But I wondered about your relationship with them.
17:49 Obviously, you were mentioning how you've known Clyde
17:52 since the very beginning all them years ago.
17:54 But what's it like as a keeper?
17:56 How close can we get as humans to this species, an animal in particular?
18:00 Do you try and keep a distance to keep them more wild?
18:03 For a lot of them, yes.
18:06 We try and take a step back
18:08 because a lot of them potentially will go back to the wild,
18:11 so you don't want them too humanised.
18:13 With Tolkien, it's...
18:17 Like I say, I've known her since birth.
18:19 She's always actually preferred humans, especially to our own family.
18:23 So when she was a baby and firstborn,
18:26 she was the first child that her parents had.
18:30 So she had no brothers and sisters to play with,
18:32 so she always used to play with her keepers.
18:34 And even from that early age, she's now very friendly towards us.
18:39 So although we do try and keep a healthy distance,
18:41 she very much wants to come over and say hello to us
18:44 every time we go and see her and feed her.
18:46 Unbelievably cute. I keep saying it, but they just are so sweet.
18:52 Now, next night, it's time for another look back
18:54 over some of our climate content from last year,
18:57 this time involving some, quite frankly, adorable leopard cubs
19:00 born right here in the county.
19:01 It really is abbey on animals this evening.
19:03 As always, you can find more climate content like this on our website,
19:06 kmtv.co.uk, but here, take a look.
19:09 On the 1st of July, CCTV at the Big Cat Sanctuary
19:14 captured the birth of two snow leopard cubs,
19:17 now known as Spot and Stripe.
19:19 Extremely excited, the sanctuary have been preparing for this moment for months,
19:24 following a successful ultrasound with mum, Leila.
19:27 All of us here at the sanctuary, we're just over the moon
19:29 to have our third litter of snow leopard cubs born earlier this month.
19:33 So we are just so, so, so excited.
19:36 Mum, Leila, is doing a fantastic job of looking after the cubs herself,
19:39 but what we're doing is monitoring them closely
19:41 via the cameras that we've got set up.
19:43 And then every couple of days, what we're doing is we're letting Leila...
19:46 We're shutting Leila out so she can just have some time to herself
19:48 to get some air, to stretch her legs,
19:50 and that gives us the opportunity to go in, weigh the cubs,
19:53 just give them a check over and make sure they're nice and healthy
19:56 and growing nicely.
19:57 Whilst only weighing one kilogram each,
19:59 with no teeth or claws to show so far,
20:01 you definitely don't want to bring one of these into your home.
20:05 By the time they're adults,
20:06 they'll be weighing 40 kilograms with inch-long claws.
20:10 I'm here in the snow leopard hut,
20:12 and this is actually the closest I'm going to get to seeing the cubs.
20:15 Reason being, they're staying indoors until they're fully vaccinated.
20:18 These vaccines, the same that you'd give your domestic cat.
20:21 The Big Cat Sanctuary is part of the European Endangered Species
20:25 Breeding Programme,
20:26 to help create a safe net for endangered species in the wild.
20:30 Snow leopards face significant threats in their natural habitat,
20:34 as they are poached for their fur and the illegal medicine trade.
20:37 Snow leopards are classed as vulnerable in the wild,
20:39 vulnerable to extinction.
20:41 There's thought to be about between 4,000 and 6,000 of them left in the wild,
20:46 and it's even been suggested that that might be an overcount of their population.
20:50 So they are very much at risk of extinction.
20:56 And it's just really important that we take part
20:58 in this conservation-based breeding programme.
21:02 That's a Europe-wide breeding programme.
21:04 Zoos are working together to keep this population healthy
21:07 and numerous in captivity,
21:09 so that if there's a need to reintroduce snow leopards into the wild in the future,
21:13 we'll have the animals to be able to start that process.
21:15 Whilst it's not yet a reality,
21:17 the sanctuary is looking to the future for rewilding.
21:20 But before this is possible,
21:22 threats like poachers need to be mitigated
21:24 and areas need to be protected.
21:27 Despite only being almost a month old,
21:29 spot and stripe are already important assets to the conservation
21:33 and are much adored by everyone around them.
21:36 Cameron Noble for KMTV in Smardon.
21:39 All the animal content this evening.
21:42 Now, let's take a look at the weather forecast.
21:45 (MUSIC)
21:47 Your Valentine's evening looking pretty miserable.
21:53 If you're heading out, make sure you take an umbrella.
21:55 Rain right across Kent, lows of 11.
21:57 But tomorrow morning, temperatures of 14 in north Kent,
22:00 some sun between the clouds and dry.
22:03 Afternoon, much of the same, between 12 and 14 degrees, little wind.
22:08 But enjoy the dry weather while it lasts.
22:11 Rain on Friday and rain on Sunday.
22:14 Temperatures between 11 and 13.
22:17 (MUSIC)
22:19 Now, a huge sinkhole has appeared only 300 metres from two schools in North Leeds.
22:31 Photos reveal the sinkhole, situated in Newhouse Lane near Gravesend,
22:36 is a number of metres wide and a number of metres deep.
22:39 After first forming this week, it has since been getting larger,
22:42 following the adverse weather conditions and rain.
22:44 Parents are having to tell their children to avoid this route to school.
22:47 Locals situated near the sinkhole are worried about it opening up near their home.
22:51 Currently, work is being carried out by Southern Water to repair the hole.
22:55 The roads between Harden and Dashwood have been closed for these repairs to take place.
23:00 Now, the tropical waters of Medway have had some visitors.
23:05 Spotted by local Tasha Lee Williams on a fishing trip with her dad over the weekend,
23:10 you can see what look like dolphins smashing in and out of the water by Medway City Estate.
23:15 On rather quite a grey day as well, many say, however, they could be porpoises.
23:19 This part of the river Medway, sorry, is tidal,
23:22 and such majestic mammals aren't usually seen.
23:25 But Kent is proving a popular attraction,
23:28 as three more were spotted off the coast of Folkestone at the weekend.
23:33 Common dolphins can be found in waters all around the UK,
23:36 but are more common to the southern and western coastal areas.
23:40 And finally, a zone set up to stop Kent's livestock getting infected with blue tongue will be lifted.
23:46 After a Canterbury farm found the virus in five cows in November
23:50 and then three in Sandwich by December,
23:53 the temporary control zone halted the movement of animals.
23:56 A few months on, the UK's chief veterinary officer says Kent is low-risk
23:59 and restrictions will be removed.
24:01 Well, Gabriel joins me now with more.
24:03 Gabriel, what can you tell us about this story?
24:06 For farmers, the restrictions will be lifted on the farm,
24:09 but will it be lifted on Monday?
24:11 It is good news for most of the farmers,
24:14 because this has seen farmers having to put in increased paperwork
24:17 just to move their cows in the area.
24:19 If they are going to send cows to an abattoir,
24:22 they have to send them within a 100-kilometre zone.
24:25 Now, that might sound like quite a wide area,
24:28 but if you're a dairy farmer, for example,
24:30 Kent isn't exactly the most well-known place for dairy farms.
24:33 So for a farm where you might send a cow for an abattoir,
24:36 when it comes to the end of its milking life,
24:38 most farms tend to be in the West Country and down in Devon.
24:42 That, if you could do your maths, is further than 100 kilometres,
24:45 and it does mean having to find a new abattoir
24:49 to be able to slaughter the cows, which increases costs,
24:51 but also means cows are staying longer on the farm,
24:55 and that means increased feed, increased labour,
24:57 alongside having to test all of the cows for blood samples.
25:02 It's around about two they have to take,
25:04 and that is quite expensive as well.
25:06 So it'll be good news for many farmers when it is lifted next Monday.
25:10 How is it exactly spread, Blue Tongue?
25:13 Well, it's spread by midges,
25:15 and this outbreak was first detected in Holland last year,
25:20 and they come over in a storm. That's what was expected.
25:24 That's why we saw the first cases in November.
25:26 There probably would have been a storm a couple of weeks, months before that,
25:29 which blew them over across the Channel.
25:33 Since then, across England,
25:35 there's been cases found in Kent and up in Norfolk.
25:40 There's been around about 90 across around about 50 different farms.
25:44 So it has spread, but having spoken to the NFU,
25:49 they say, well, actually, it was antibodies that they found.
25:52 They're concerned, though, with warmer summers, this could be getting worse.
25:56 I think, as far as Blue Tongue is concerned,
26:04 they've got to forget the guarded control zones.
26:06 Are you going to heft a midge? Are you going to make sure a midge...
26:08 We have hefted sheep and livestock that stay in a zone.
26:11 The midges aren't hefted. They're going to blow on the wind.
26:13 They're going to travel all over the place. You can't control that.
26:16 Therefore, you've got to use other measures.
26:18 Vaccination is the first one that should be pushed and really encouraged.
26:22 The fact that it's now been put back, we think, till March 25,
26:26 is a real, real heartache,
26:28 because if the midges start earlier this year and we get it incurring,
26:31 it could spread all over the country very quickly
26:33 or right over the southern areas of the country.
26:35 And that will not be good for the agriculture in the area.
26:38 But if you stick with zones,
26:40 you're crippling a very few farmers for the sake of the rest.
26:43 And I...
26:44 Gabriel, thank you very much for bringing us those details.
26:48 That's all we've got time for this evening. See you soon.
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