A new West Dorset initiative to encourage residents and communities to reduce their carbon footprint has launched.

'Help Our Planet' will include a series of monthly lectures from acknowledged specialists. The speakers include journalists, marine biologists, ecologists, climatologists, botanists and geologists of international standing.

They will explain all the causes of climate change and the adverse impact it is having on the local environment and on the health of the planet. They will also highlight some of the many things that as individuals and local communities can do to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

These talks will be held on the first week of every month at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis and will cover topics ranging from the impact of climate change on marine life in the English Channel, marine reserves, butterfly conservation, re-wilding, the preservation of tropical rain forests, saving the coral reefs in the Caribbean, monitoring extinctions, management of protected sites and reserves, citizen science projects and more.

Some of the talks will be live by the speaker and where the chosen expert is living away it will be pre-recorded and screened in the theatre. All events will include a panel discussion with well-known experts and an open discussion. There will be a downloadable free filmed version later.

Over the coming months, those attending will be able to share expertise and their own enthusiasm with others in West Dorset.

All the lecturers in this series have agreed to waive their usual fee and donate the money to a charity of their choosing.

The first lecture will be 'Tropical rain forest destruction, a major cause of climate change', by Prof Sir Ghillean Prance FRS and will be screened on Tuesday, June 1 at the Marine Theatre at 7pm. It will be presented by Helen Stiles, the editor of Dorset Magazine, and followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

For more information about Help Our Planet and upcoming speakers, visit howsepe.co.uk

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