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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Thriving water vole population - Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs & Northants Despite national decline, a new report based on water vole surveys in
two areas of the Fens carried out at five year intervals over the last
10 years shows that water voles are continuing to thrive
Water
vole by Georgette Taylor
Leading the survey, Ruth Hawksley Wildlife Trust Water for Wildlife
Officer, said: 'Surveying for water vole signs can be very enjoyable but
also very demanding along Fenland drains. Our survey only covered two of
the 36 districts in the Middle Level catchment, but it revealed that IDB
drains can provide a large connected area of good water vole habitat.
Our results support the Wildlife Trust’s belief that the Cambridgeshire
fens are a regionally, and possibly nationally, important stronghold for
water voles.' Trust staff and volunteers surveyed 307 ditch sections,
covering over 80km of ditch on foot or by boat,
Puffins Installed on Calf - Manx Wildlife Trust Puffin decoys installed as part of Trust project to encourage birds
back to breed Puffins are back on the Calf. Well, decoy ones at least! Decoy puffins on the Calf of Man. Lara Howe In conjunction with the continued rat eradication programme as part
of the Manx Shearwater Project it is hoped that puffins will be
returning to the Calf in the next few years. Puffins were once numerous around the Calf of Man, with historic
reports identifying over eight hundred individuals seen in coastal
waters in 1996, an exceptional year. However, numbers have declined in
recent years, with recent records of fewer than ten birds observed each
year. In 2014, only two individuals were seen. Furthermore, 1985 is
likely to be the last time we can say with confidence that puffins
actually bred on the Calf.
A
year since its launch last April, the £1.3 million seabird centre at
RSPB Bempton Cliffs has exceeded all expectations, and staff and
volunteers are celebrating its hugely successful first year.
The centre on the Yorkshire Coast, which forms the gateway to the
largest and most accessible mainland seabird colony in the country, saw
85,000 visitors pass through its doors last year – 25,000 more than in
the previous years. It was also host to 2000 school children, who
visited as part of the reserve’s education programme. Keith Clarkson, RSPB Bempton Cliffs Site manager, said: “The visitor
numbers surprised even us. We expected the new facility to attract more
people, but the increase was exceptional. This success wouldn’t have
been possible without the initial backing of our parish and local
councils and, of course, our funding partners – The Heritage Lottery
Fund, Coastal Communities, Biffa, and LEADER. We are incredibly grateful
for their faith in our vision.” Many people were prompted to visit RSPB Bempton Cliffs after seeing
the reserve on two BBC TV favourites: Springwatch at Easter, which the
reserve hosted, had 2.2 million viewers, and a whopping 5.9 million
viewers watched Countryfile when it featured the reserve. It’s a credit to the Bempton team that, despite unprecedented demands
made of them – like brewing some 25,500 cups of tea – the reserve’s
standards of customer care never faltered. The level of success achieved has paid dividends within the community
too. The reserve now employs the equivalent of 15 full time staff,
assisted by an amazing team of 118 volunteers. And those visiting have
had a significant impact on the tourism economy, with 50 per cent of
visitors to the reserve staying locally. The other beneficiaries of all this hard work are the 250,000
seabirds, which flock to the cliffs each year during the breeding
season. The colony is regularly monitored, and the data provided helps
the RSPB focus its vital conservation work in areas where it will be
most effective.
A step back in time could be the way forward
- Natural Resources Wales Natural Resources Wales Land Management Team have turned back the
clock by using traditional forestry skills to thin an area of sensitive
woodland in south east Wales.
Horse
loggers taking a break, image NRW In Gwern Ddu woodland, near Rudry, red cedar and Norway spruce trees
have been felled around mature ash trees to improve light levels and
increase natural regeneration rates of broadleaf species. As a PAWS (Planted Ancient Woodland Sites) woodland this work will
help to restore it while improving the natural environment. Three Ardenne horses from Rowan Working Horses, Monmouth were
employed to fell and extract the trees identified for removal. The trees
were felled by hand and the horses moved the whole tree length to an
open area where they could be cross cut into smaller sizes. This timber
was then taken to a stacking area by a horse drawn forwarder. In the four days the three horses hauled a total of 47 tonnes of
timber, providing logs for a local sawmill and wood for the biomass
plant in Baglan.
Environmental scheme makes New Forest fit for the future - New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme Image: New Forest Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Scheme A multi-million pound environmental scheme continues to benefit the
New Forest. Restoring lost grazing lawns, re-introducing meanders to
artificially-straightened rivers, supporting commoners, and saving
archaeological sites are just some of the ways in which the scheme is
helping.
UK Awards
for Biological Recording and Information Sharing
– nominations open! The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) is now accepting nominations
for the 2016 UK awards to celebrate biological recording and information
sharing. These awards have been developed by the National Biodiversity
Network, the
National Forum for Biological Recording and the
Biological Records
Centre. Following the success of last year’s awards, when we received 53
nominations overall, we are excited by the prospect of even more
nominations for amazing people in 2016! There are five award categories:
Download the NBN Awards nomination form 2016 (editable PDF)
Download more information on the NBN Awards for biological recording
2016 Nominations open on 20th April and close on 31st July 2016.
Third osprey egg laid at Loch of the Lowes reserve The female osprey nesting at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of
the Lowes Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld has laid her third and likely
final egg of the season. Charlotte Fleming, Perthshire Ranger for the Scottish Wildlife Trust,
said: “This is an important milestone in the osprey breeding season, but
there is still a long way to go before we can relax. “Our pair will need to sit tight and carefully incubate their clutch
whatever the weather for at least 30 days, and protect their eggs
against any predators that might dare to intrude, and just this morning
our female had to see off a pair of crows that ventured too close to her
nest. “It’s possible for ospreys to lay four eggs, and the previous female at Loch of the Lowes did so on two occasions. We will be keeping a close eye on her behaviour over the next few days just in case she has another surprise for us, but all of our staff and volunteers are more than happy with a clutch of three eggs for now.”
Saline solution at Blue House Farm - Essex
Wildlife Trust A bold project to remove non-native invasive New Zealand Pygmyweed
(Crassula helmsii) from our Blue House Farm nature reserve, on the north
bank of the Crouch Estuary, has progressed well. Crassula chokes waterways and has invaded the channels in the
‘Flooded Fields’ area of the reserve. While wildfowl and waders have
remained numerous, the Crassula has had a detrimental effect on Water
Voles numbers and would have serious consequences for other native flora
and fauna, should it spread elsewhere on the reserve. Crassula is
difficult to control or eradicate but studies have shown that it cannot
survive inundation by sea water. The flooded fields are not adjacent to
the seawall, so we could not simply open a sluice gate; however, we
hatched an enterprising plan to use pumps and newly dug ditches to bring
the sea to the fields. Nonetheless, Blue House Farm is a Site of Special Scientific
Interest: could we get permission for the work? After various
assessments, Maldon District Council granted planning permission and
Natural England and the Environment Agency (EA) also agreed that the
project should go ahead. The EA granted a licence to abstract sea water
from the river and the Crouch Harbour Authority gave permission to site
a pump on the seawall, with a pipe into the estuary. Digging began, with an archaeologist present in case anything of
historical interest was found – not this time. Next, heavy-duty,
eight-inch pipes were laid to link various ditches. Pumping an estimated
20,000 cubic metres of sea water took about three weeks, during November
2015. The salt water will remain on the field until drained early
this autumn (2016), when we will survey to ensure that no Crassula
remains. The fields will refill with freshwater from winter rains.
New £1m project to celebrate Solent and Wight marine heritage
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust We are set to develop a landmark five-year project celebrating the
Solent and South Wight’s marine heritage, thanks to support from the
Heritage Lottery Fund. The grant for the ‘Secrets of the Solent’ project could unlock a
five-year £1m investment in inspiring local people to get involved in
protecting the unique habitats and heritage within our local Marine
Protected Areas - effectively ‘national parks of the sea’. As well as being an incredible example of the UK’s marine wildlife -
home to internationally-important seagrass beds, chalk reefs, and rocky
sponge gardens - our local seas are also busy shipping routes, are
highly valued as a source of building materials, support a small fishing
industry, and are popular with recreational users. Tim Ferrero, Head of Marine Conservation at Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Wildlife Trust said: “The Solent is packed with nationally and
internationally important wildlife – yet many people don’t realise that
we have everything from seals to seahorses living so nearby. With
Secrets of the Solent, we want to celebrate the diversity of our local
marine wildlife and habitats to ensure that their importance and the
benefits they bring us is understood and valued. We all use and benefit
from our seas in different ways, so it’s only right that we work
together to come up with ways of protecting them and securing those
benefits – now and for future generations.”
GWT receives M4 Compulsory Purchase Order for part of Magor Marsh!
- Gwent Wildlife Trust Gwent Wildlife Trust (GWT) have just received a Compulsory Purchase
Order, part of Welsh Government’s proposed M4 Relief Road development,
for a section of GWT’s Nature Reserve at Magor Marsh near Magor on the
Gwent Levels.
Magor
Marsh at dawn (image: Amanda Jones The compulsory purchase order aims to take an area of wet grassland
and ditch rich in rare wildlife that includes meadow thistle, otters,
water voles and ancient pollarded willows. This area is representative
of many parts of the Levels expected to be compulsory purchased for the
motorway relief road development, much of which is nationally designated
for its wildlife importance. Gemma Bodé Living Landscapes Manager says “The M4 relief road
proposals including the Compulsory Purchase Order if successful would
rob an area of the Magor Marsh reserve and bring dark times for the
Gwent Levels as a whole and the nationally important wildlife that
thrives here. The drainage system on the Levels is extremely complex and
2500m of ditch and reen, full of nationally rare plants and insects
would be lost if the proposed relief road goes ahead. There is no way to
replace these with brand new ditches never mind maintain the integrity
of the drainage system that ultimately prevents many villages and towns
on the Levels from flooding.”
Another step forward for Scottish woodlots
- Scottish Land and Estates Whilst land reform has been capturing political headlines in Scotland
in recent years, a determined band of men and women have been quietly
working away to actually deliver it on the ground – or rather, in the
woods. A new model of woodland tenure which offers affordable access to
woodland for woodsmen – woodlot licences – has been pioneered by the
Scottish Woodlot Association. The model allows an individual to rent an
area of woodland from a landowner on a long-term basis, to manage
productively. The Association’s success was highlighted earlier
this month with the signing of their seventh woodlot licence agreement
at Speddoch, near Dumfries. The site on the Speddoch Estate comprises a number of small woodland
parcels which have been combined into three separate woodlot licences
giving three different families the chance to benefit. One of the new
licence holders, Steffi Schaffler, is a horse logger who lives nearby
and plans to manage her woodlot using her own horses. The 14 ha woodlot
is ideal for them, as Steffi explains: “It’s a great site for horses,
not steep and not too wet. I am looking forward to thinning it, which is
what horses are really good for." Steffi and her partner recently
installed a log boiler in their home, so the poorer quality timber they
cannot sell as sawlogs will find a ready home in their firewood stack. Scottish Woodlot Licences have been inspired by the situation in
British Columbia (BC) where the Provincial Government has been running a
highly successful woodlot licence programme on Crown land for over 30
years. There, they are seen as an important part of a diverse forestry
sector, delivering particular local and community benefits, and as such
are being actively promoted and expanded by the Government of BC. The
SWA hope in time that woodlot licence tenure will also become an
important ‘family forestry’ model in a more diverse Scottish forestry. M4 motorway diversion to destroy the natural beauty of the Gwent Levels - RSPB
RSPB Cymru is urging the public to make their voices heard before
it’s too late, as the M4 motorway diversion threatens to cut through the
heart of the Gwent Levels and irreversibly damage one of the county’s
most important natural spaces. Over the last few years, RSPB Cymru has been working closely with the Welsh Government to develop and secure important legislation which is meant to ensure that Wales has a better, healthier and greener country. Arfon Williams, RSPB Cymru Countryside Manager, said: “You only have
to look around to see that the Gwent Levels is something special to
Wales. Sweeping the Severn Estuary coastline from Cardiff to the Severn
Bridge and beyond, the Levels is rich in nature it is an irreplaceable
patchwork of wildlife havens and landscapes. Many of these species
are in danger of disappearing from Wales and destroying their home by
building a new road straight through it would have a devastating and
irreversible effect. A diverted M4 motorway will create a lethal barrier
of traffic that would be impossible for wildlife to cross, resulting in
pollution seeping off the road surfaces into the surrounding waterways –
on which much the Levels wildlife depends.” RSPB Cymru have called on the Welsh Government to consider more
sustainable, solutions such as upgrading public transport through the
proposed new South Wales Metro. Katie-Jo Luxton, RSPB Cymru Director, says: “Our treasured wildlife
is sadly undervalued, ignored and already undergoing severe declines.
The wanton destruction of our natural heritage has to stop. These areas
are vital for nature in Wales and RSPB Cymru is urging the public to
stand up and protect them. This road proposal is a classic example of
out-dated government thinking, which sees our environment as simply an
inconvenience or a resource to be used and exploited for short term gain
– rather than something that we should be celebrating as part of what
makes Wales fantastic."
A new breakthrough on ash dieback -
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK scientists have identified the country’s first ash tree that shows
tolerance to ash dieback, raising the possibility of using selective
breeding to develop strains of trees that are tolerant to the disease. The findings, which could help ensure ash trees will thrive in UK
woodlands, have today (22 April) been published in a report co-funded by
Defra and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC). Ash dieback is spreading throughout the UK and, in one woodland in
Norfolk, a great number of trees are infected. However, there are
exceptions which demonstrate very low levels of infection by the ash
dieback fungus and here researchers have identified one tree, nicknamed
‘Betty’, as having a strong tolerance to the disease. The breakthrough comes after researchers from the government-backed
Nornex project, led by the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, published the
world-leading research report into ash dieback disease. The team compared the genetics of trees with different levels of
tolerance to ash dieback disease. From there, they developed three
genetic markers which enabled them to predict whether or not a tree is
likely to be tolerant to the disease – even whether it is likely to be
‘mildly’ or ‘strongly’ tolerant. Betty, they discovered, was predicted
to show strong tolerance. Defra spokesperson in the Lords, Lord Gardiner, unveiled the latest
findings at the John Innes Centre in Norfolk today. He said: “This
Government has invested more than any other country in research on ash
dieback, and today’s breakthrough is an excellent example of how the
UK’s cutting-edge science is leading the way to help support tree
health. “We want to guarantee the graceful ash tree continues to have a place
in our environment for centuries to come and this vital work is a major
step towards ensuring just that.” The Nornex report also indicates that the three genetic markers are
more prevalent in UK ash trees than in those from some other countries.
Reasons for this are as yet unknown but this could be taken into
consideration for any future tree development programmes.
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