‘The Planet We Share’ is the theme of this year’s National Non-Fiction Month.

Students can visit the Library to discover books and poetry celebrating the natural world, texts that explore the nature of and impact of pollution and climate change, and manifestos from conservationists expounding their visions for the future. Through our display they will encounter a number of women who have been influential in the fight to protect and preserve the environment.

Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, who bequeathed fifteen farms and over 4,000 acres of land in the Lake District to the National Trust; Rachel Carson, marine biologist, whose book Silent Spring documented the adverse environmental effects caused by the use of pesticides and led to the banning of DDT in the United States; the women of the Chipko Movement in India who protected trees from deforestation through non-violent protests; Professor Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize, who established the Green Belt Movement in Kenya – an organisation that seeks to simultaneously empower women, and their communities, and combat climate change through tree-planting; Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmentalist whose protests in 2018 and beyond have made her a household name; Dr Tara Shine, co-founder of Change by Degrees, whose new book How To Save Your Planet One Object at a Time is set to inspire its readers to take small actions which together can make a big impact (she will also be one of the speakers at this year’s Royal Institute Christmas Lectures). And of course, we have a booklist for those who want to dig a little deeper.