Nature Matters: The film project telling environmental stories from across Yorkshire - and how you can get involved

Looking at the archives through an environmental lens, it has catalogued and digitised hundreds of films for people to access online or through special events such as screenings, workshops, festivals and exhibitions.

Now, it has launched a new contemporary collecting strand to the project and is on a mission to find and preserve 21st century footage that tells environmental stories from Yorkshire and the North East.

“It could be anything from climate marches to someone growing something in their allotment basically,” explains Martha Cattell, Nature Matters delivery manager. “It’s trying to collect things now that will be useful for future generations."

Over the past two decades, a vast amount of moving image has been created and then stored on the likes of memory sticks, laptops and phones – or uploaded to the internet.

But the big question the archives is grappling with is how to ensure the content survives for future generations to see.

Through Nature Matters, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, it is asking people to submit footage with an environmental theme to become protected in the archives and looked after for future use.

It means making a mark in a part of environmental history, those behind the scheme say, “so crucial, as our natural landscapes are ever-changing”.

Films can be professional or amateur, shot on first-rate equipment or mobile phones, drones and hand-held cameras.

They may feature anything from climate marches and tree planting, to community recycling schemes, local wind farm, walks in the park or visits to areas of outstanding beauty.

Some examples of footage already collected are Osbaldwick Applefest (2019) in North Yorkshire, which celebrates a community coming together to pick, preserve and press local produce, and a Saltburn Pier Protest (2021), which focuses on recent sea pollution protests from the perspective of local young resident.

Alexandra Stockdale-Haley, curator for Nature Matters, says: “The archive has a huge variety of analogue content, which wonderfully showcases our past. However, we need to look to the future. The majority of films today are born-digital, and now is the time to start preserving these ready for future generations to access.

"Nature Matters explores themes which are so relevant and important to the conversations of today, so we are excited to be calling out for films that display our present-day attitudes to the environment, and the way we engage with the world around us, so that these too can be included in our all-important film heritage.”

Nature Matters as a whole focuses on personal relationships with nature and the environment. It looks at the places people live, visit and value, as well as industrial and urban redevelopment, changing energy sources, and threats to wildlife, flora and fauna, all of which have been captured on film over the decades.

The archives’ wealth of moving images have already revealed a fascinating record of environment issues, causes and concerns that people and communities have wrestled with and championed over the years.

“It’s shown me how throughout the ages there’s always been people taking a stand for the environment and that could be in small ways such as recycling or taking part in a big protest,” Martha says. “That’s been really heartening to see that there has always been this tradition of people wanting to protect and look after what we’ve got.”

“Our archives are not static; the story always continues,” Martha adds. “Today, filmmaking is a lot more accessible with phones and cameras offering multiple ways to capture the nature and the environments we live and interact with, so anybody can be part of this story.

"Unfortunately, we can’t collect everything, but we would really like to hear from you if you think you have what we are searching for.”

To find out more or submit footage, visit www.yfanefa.com/your_stories. Enquiries can be sent to [email protected].