Adventure across sea, land and city celebrates nature’s power

Film maker Mairead Cahill – founder of Wonderoom – undertook a multi-terrain expedition that embraces the powerful positive impact nature can have on our lives.

And she captured the whole thing on camera in order to take us all along for the ride.

Her documentary, Sea, Land & City, explores nature-based solutions across the south west that are not only tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, but also rebalancing health, creating positive social impact and aiding businesses.

“It’s in that combination of the right solutions and storytelling that you can create something really magical,” Mairead told Bristol24/7 of the project, which has seen her not only on-screen but also co-directing and producing.

“I want more people to be aware that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world – we’ve lost half our biodiversity in the last 50 years.

“But it’s my belief that if we fix our relationship with nature – and we are nature too, but I mean our working relationship with nature – then we can combat so many of the other issues, whether it’s biodiversity loss, nature restoration, climate resilience, wellbeing, social good, business and economy.

“All of those can be positively influenced when we intrinsically rethink that relationship with nature.”

Cahill explored the mental health benefits of rainforest such as that found in Dartmoor with Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, a rewilder working to triple the amount of British rainforest in the next 30 years – photo: Josh Craddock

On the journey, Cahill found her own eyes opened by projects and people that brought nature’s power to life.

“It’s a really tangible visual story of how much nature can affect our own mental health and wellbeing,” she says, recounting a walk in a south west rainforest with Merlin Hanbury-Tennison, founder of the Thousand Year Trust which aims to triple the amount of British rainforest over the next 30 years from 330,000 to one million acres.

“He shares that there’s proof that 30 minutes in a forest affects our physiological body for two weeks afterwards. That’s really interesting in the context of the UK mental health epidemic. Our connection to the outdoors and nature in all its forms is so compelling and important.”

Another highlight for Cahill was setting off in a canoe in search of the River Avon’s beavers.

“For such small, quiet ecosystem engineers, they have such an important impact on our waterways and flood management,” she says. “We’re going to face a lot more floods and droughts; flooding costs us about £2bn a year in the UK, and beavers are doing the work for us for free.”

At this year’s Festival of Nature, Cahill helped to plant up huge ‘living ecosystem’ pontoons that have been released into Bristol harbour to clean up the waterways – photo: Anna Barclay

Bristol was the setting for the ‘city’ element of the film. Cahill is keen to encourage a connection with nature on the doorstep where, today, 70-80 per cent of the UK population is city-based.

“We fundamentally have to look at how we reconnect with nature in cities,” she says, sharing that serendipity meant she was in Bristol ready to film at the time of the Festival of Nature.

“Living ecosystem pontoons were going to be launched into Bristol harbour. They clean the waterways, improve public access to the harbour and support biodiversity underwater. That really captured my imagination, as a replicable model.

“Bristol is leading the way in some ways. It was a beautiful moment as it speaks to this idea of us working with nature, as nature, with community, in quite a fresh way in our cities.”

Cahill’s not only tackling biodiversity loss in the film; she’s also taking on conversations around representation and diversity.

“Where there were opportunities to feature women that’s what I did, so there’s a good gender balance in the film. We’re so underrepresented in media, in climate and nature, in film making, and in adventure,” she says, explaining that a good racial diversity balance was much more difficult to achieve given the environment is the least diverse profession in the UK.

In the film, Cahill talks with Bristol-based activist Dominique Palmer about her experiences growing up without seeing herself represented in the environmental movement. “It has to change, it has to represent better,” says Cahill.

Cahill is keen to encourage people to connect with the nature on their doorstep: she went diving with a marine biologist to find sea grass in the Solent which he says rivals that found in Indonesia – photo: Matt Riley

Storytelling, and film in particular, is one effective way of increasing visibility to encourage people from across society to get involved in nature-based activities.

It’s also a powerful way to connect people with the environmental crises and feel empowered to act.

“Film is uniquely placed and there’s a lot of opportunity to use it more imaginatively,” she says.

“I wanted to do a positive solutions-led film that doesn’t shy away from the issues, but weaves in really creative pioneering solutions and how they can advance us forward, culturally, economically and individually.

“We’re saying nature can help your mental health, but it also makes business sense and can help rebuild our economy – which is important for people aware of both cost of living and the climate.

“My vision was to strike a balance between really inspiring, fresh and positive, but also informed by credible viewpoints and science.”

The film is available to watch for free on Waterbear, and screenings across the UK aim to get the word out. Cahill hopes it will be an educational and inspiring film for the public and encourage direct action, including investing and supporting projects, from UK businesses.

The next step is working together, she says:

“I really believe that, right now, we have the chance to create a new story – as people, as businesses, as community in the UK, in which we have a deeper, more healthy connection to nature,” she says.

“But we can only do that together. We need really radical collaboration. We’re calling on businesses and leaders in the south west and across the UK to join us and get behind nature-based solutions. Together we can make a real impact.”

Triodos Bank is hosting a screening of Sea, Land and City in Bristol on the afternoon of Wednesday 20 November. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Mairead Cahill, who will be joined by climate activist Dominique Palmer, Simon Crichton of Triodos Bank, Helen Avery, nature programmes director at the Green Finance Institute and Roger Hoare, WECA’s environment director. Email events@triodos.co.uk for further details. 

Find out more at www.wonderoom.co/sea-land-city and watch the film at www.waterbear.com/watch/sea-land-city

Main image: Josh Craddock

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