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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Further measures to eradicate bovine TB -
defra Farming Minister George Eustice announces new measures to tackle
devastating disease Further measures to tackle bovine TB in England were announced today
as part of the government’s 25-year strategy to eradicate the disease
and protect the livelihoods of dairy and beef farmers. Bovine TB costs taxpayers over £100 million every year and England
has the highest incidence of the disease in Europe. In 2015 alone over
28,000 cattle had to be slaughtered in England to control the disease,
causing devastation and distress for farmers and rural communities,
where herds have often been built up on family farms over many
generations. The government’s strategy includes tighter cattle measures, improved
biosecurity and badger control in areas where the disease is rife.
Advice from the Chief Veterinary Officer makes clear that dealing with
the disease in both cattle and badgers is essential to tackle the
disease effectively. This strategy is already delivering results: we are
on track to achieve TB freedom to more than half of the country by
2020—the first time anywhere in England will have this status. New measures outlined today include:
Farming Minister George Eustice said:
There is a range of documentation and three
new consultations published today across various section of defra.
Details are gathered here. Defra Policy paper: Advice to Natural England on setting minimum and maximum numbers of badgers to be controlled in 2016 Download:
Bovine TB: Setting the minimum and maximum numbers in licensed badger
control areas in 2016 - Advice to Natural England (PDF) Updated Defra Research and analysis:
Bovine TB: badger control policy value for money analysis Animal and Plant Health Agency analysis:
Bovine TB: analysis of the effect of badger vaccination on incidence of
TB in cattle Animal and Plant Health Agency analysis:
Bovine TB: incidence of TB in cattle in licensed badger control areas in
2014 to 2015 Download:
Report of the incidence of bovine TB in cattle in 2014 - 2015 in
Somerset and Gloucestershire exposed to 2 years of badger control
(PDF) Defra / Natural England report:
Bovine TB: authorisation for badger control in 2016 Download
Badger control policy: value for money analysis 2016 (PDF) Consultations
Bovine TB: controls in the High Risk and Edge Areas of England Proposals to introduce enhanced bovine TB surveillance and control
measures in the High Risk and Edge Areas of England.
Bovine TB: improving testing in the High Risk Area of England Options for changes to the TB testing of cattle herds in the High
Risk Area of England. This is a call for views and, depending on the comments we receive, a
formal consultation may follow.
Bovine TB: controlling bovine TB in non-bovine animals Proposals to introduce more effective control measures to reduce the
risk of TB in non-bovine animals. Our proposals will help us to achieve national official TB-free
status for England by 2038.
Reactions
New badger cull imminent: Wildlife Trusts call for end to flawed policy
– Herefordshire Wildlife Trust Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT) is opposed to the planned cull in
south Herefordshire, as the evidence overwhelmingly supports vaccination
of cattle over a badger cull. The Trust, as part of the federation of Wildlife Trusts, understands
the impact that TB has on cattle farmers but thinks that the cull is an
inherently flawed policy. It is also a waste of public money that could
be better spent in developing a vaccine for cattle. HWT will oppose any
decision by Natural England to grant new licences for culling badgers
and calls on the Government and the newly appointed Secretary of State,
Andrea Leadsom, to overrule and reverse this decision immediately. Andrew Nixon, Conservation Manager at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust,
says: “Herefordshire Wildlife Trust believes that the combined approach
of cattle vaccination and badger vaccination is essential to combat
Bovine TB. The evidence shows that badgers are not the primary culprits
in the spread of TB in cattle: the primary route of infection is via
cow-to-cow contact. Cattle are vital to the Herefordshire economy, and
investment should be made in both vaccination routes – a badger cull
diverts attention and funding away from the main solution.” Opinion polls clearly show that the public is overwhelmingly against
the killing of badgers. It is also extremely costly and poor value for
money. The 2013-14 culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset cost the
taxpayer more than £4.9 million in policing costs. This is equivalent to
the annual salary costs of over 120 police officers over a two-year
period. Paul Wilkinson, head of Living Landscapes at the federation of
Wildlife Trusts, says: “The results of the previous badger culls
indicate that this policy is flawed and unsupported by the evidence.
Culling has been shown to be more expensive, less effective than other
Bovine TB (bTB) control mechanisms and the free-shooting of badgers has
been shown to be an inhumane method of killing.”
Defra TB strategy announcement - NFU response Now on with the rest of the news!
Conservation partnership unites to protect precious dune habitat in
Sutherland from development - Scottish
Wildlife Trust, RSPB Scotland, BugLife and Plantlife The Scottish Wildlife Trust, RSPB Scotland, BugLife and Plantlife
Scotland have come together to campaign against a proposal to build a
golf course at Coul Links in East Sutherland. The four organisations are
aghast at a proposal which would destroy one of Scotland’s last
remaining undeveloped coastal dune habitats. The partnership is highlighting its importance for wildlife and the
fragility of its habitats, particularly its network of sand dunes and
the sheltered areas between them that provide a home for a host of rare
wildlife. The partnership has written to the developers urging them to think
again. The partnership stated that it fully expects the government agency
Scottish Natural Heritage to share its concerns about the proposal, and
that it would make a full submission detailing its objections if the
proposal goes forward into the planning process.
Best year for Britain's rarest butterfly since 1930s
- Butterfly Conservation The once-extinct large blue butterfly, reintroduced to the UK in
1984, flew in its highest numbers for at least 80 years this summer,
belying widely-reported warnings that 2016 could be the worst year on
record for British butterflies.
Large
Blue (© David Simcox, Butterfly Conservation) Thanks to meticulous conservation management, south-west England now
supports the largest concentration of large blues known in the world.
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Royal Entomological Society’s Daneway
Banks and Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Green Down saw over 10,000 adult
large blues in 2016 according to Professor Jeremy Thomas, chair of the
Joint Committee for the Restoration of the Large Blue Butterfly – which
equates to roughly 60% of the UK population. Together they laid more
than a quarter of a million eggs on the abundant thyme and marjoram
flowers. This is no mean feat, for the large blue is the only UK butterfly
species that is sufficiently threatened worldwide to be listed in the
IUCN’s global Red Data Book, and our only one designated as an
‘Endangered Species’ across Europe. The success of the large blue
reintroduction is due to the combined efforts of the Large Blue Project.
As well as the Wildlife Trusts in Gloucestershire and Somerset, partners
include Natural England, Butterfly Conservation, the University of
Oxford and the National Trust. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s CEO, Roger Mortlock, says: “This is
fantastic news for this globally endangered butterfly whose
extraordinary life cycle makes its conservation very challenging. Scrub
clearance and careful grazing of wildflower-rich grasslands is key to
ensuring a future for this beautiful insect. This special management
also helps a huge diversity of wild plants and other insects to thrive.” Professor Jeremy Thomas (Chair of the Royal Entomological Society’s Conservation committee, Emeritus Professor of Ecology at the University of Oxford, and chair of the Joint Committee for the Restoration of the Large Blue Butterfly) said: "The success of this project is testimony to what large scale collaboration between conservationists, scientists and volunteers can achieve. Its greatest legacy is that it demonstrates that we can reverse the decline of globally-threatened species once we understand the driving factors."
Scotland’s Forests: Plan to complete devolution of £1bn forestry sector.
– Scottish Government The Scottish Government is seeking views on its
proposals to safeguard the future of one of Scotland’s most precious
assets.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and
Connectivity Fergus Ewing said: “The Scottish forestry sector is at the
heart of many rural communities, worth £1 billion annually and
supporting 25,000 jobs. It also plays a pivotal role in tackling climate
change, protecting and growing biodiversity, natural flood management
and in improving general health and wellbeing across Scotland. Today
(31/8), we are launching a consultation on plans to complete the
devolution of forestry. The consultation responses will inform and shape
our policy, supporting forestry as one of our most important natural
assets for generations to come and ensuring that it continues to deliver
for the nation and communities across the country.” The consultation paper can be read in full.
A thrill for the shrill in Cardiff -
Buglife The Shrill carder bee, Bombus sylvarum, the
UK’s rarest bumblebee, was spotted at an Urban Buzz site in Cardiff. Sinead Lynch, Conservation Officer, Wales for the
Bumblebee Conservation Trust has been working to conserve the Shrill
carder bee in Wales. She said “The record of Shrill carder bee at Hendre
Lake is a really exciting find. This species is very threatened in the
UK and its distribution is very limited. It is a distinctive bee with a
high pitched buzz, it seemed to be enjoying the abundant wildflowers
around Hendre Lake”
Deadline looms for nominations in 2016 UK National Parks Volunteer
Awards – National Parks Less than a month remains in which to nominate
inspiring individuals, groups or projects for the 2016 UK National Parks
Volunteer Awards. The Awards are a way of thanking volunteers for
the thousands of hours of service they offer up each year to help make
the National Parks some of Britain's most treasured landscapes. Nominations are being accepted in four categories
– Individual, Young Person, Group, and Project. The group and project
winners will receive a £1,000 bursary toward future volunteering
efforts. The individual and young person winners will receive outdoor
gear. Nominations are being accepted until midnight 23rd September 2016. "The Volunteer Awards always stand out as one of
the highlights of the year for us" said National Parks UK Director
Kathryn Cook. “They afford us the opportunity to show just how grateful
we are to all of our amazing volunteers for their selfless dedication
and countless numbers of hours of hard work that they put in.” The awards recognise the hard work of volunteers
deemed to have gone above and beyond the usual expectations of volunteer
service. Nominate a deserving individual, young person, group, or project here.
WDC picks up prestigious education award
– Whale and Dolphin Conservation WDC’s outreach and education work has been
recognised at this week’s
ASCOBANS
meeting - a regional agreement by a range of nations regarding the
protection of certain species of whale and dolphin. The ASCOBANS Outreach and Education Award was
presented to WDC CEO, Chris Butler Stroud, and recognizes the crucial
role of education in motivating people to protect the natural world. Education can increase public awareness the need
and ways to conserve small species of whale and dolphin. The award
also highlighted WDC’s role as an international leader in educating and
exciting people of all ages about whales and dolphins, and the
organisation’s work to promote its core belief that whales and dolphins
have the right to exist as nature intends, not as humans decide. The awards panel commented; ‘Thanks to the work of
WDC, more people are informed and perhaps motivated to protect the
incredible whales and dolphins that make their homes across the world.
Their dedication to creating a world where every whale and dolphin is
safe and free is admirable.’
It’s time to pick the nation’s ten favourite parks It's time to launch the annual People's Choice
award which officially opens today (1 September) and gives the public a
chance to vote for their favourite. Whether it's a small local park, a large municipal
park or a community garden - as long as it's a Green Flag Award winner
you can vote for it. But there is a difference this year as it is the
20th year of the Green Flag Award. There won't be one overall winner,
there will be a top ten voted by the public along with a top five for
Scotland. Paul Todd, Green Flag Award manager said: "We all
have a favourite park, whether it's our local green space or a special
park we'll travel miles to visit. Following another record-breaking year
for the Green Flag Award, we are urging everyone to vote for their own
favourite park, so we can put together a list of the ten most popular
parks in the UK. It will be great to celebrate ten of the public's
favourite parks and for them to become the People's Choice 2016."
Carole Noble, Director of Operations at Keep Scotland Beautiful
said: "Our judges have had the difficult task of deciding which parks
will be granted the coveted Green Flag Award in Scotland but now it’s
the public’s turn. We know how popular the open spaces in our cities,
towns and villages are, so we expect huge interest in the People's
Choice Award. This contest will see the best of Scotland’s parks
up against others across the UK, so if you think your local park is
deserving of national recognition – vote for it. After all the hard
work of those who maintain and improve our parks year after year, we
hope that the country will want to get behind them.”
Voting closes at noon on Friday 30 September. The
ten most popular parks and green space in the UK will be announced in
October. To vote, simply go to
www.greenflagaward.org, select
your country or region on the interactive map, find your favourite park
or green space, click on more details and click the 'vote for this site'
button.
Winning Schemes Plant More Trees in The National Forest
– The National Forest Four new woodland creation schemes have been
awarded funding through the National Forest Changing Landscapes Scheme
this year. The National Forest Company Board met last month and
approved the applications which will contribute nearly 9,000 trees and
5.5ha of new woodland and other habitats to the Forest. The proposed schemes offer permissive access over
almost 90% of their total area, along with a range of biodiversity and
landscape benefits, linking into existing woodlands to contribute to
woodland connectivity. Simon West, Head of Forestry for the NFC, said:
"We welcome these new schemes which add to the growing Forest cover
within the 200 square miles of The National Forest, and deliver a range
of community, access, landscape and wildlife benefits. Each scheme will
also be eligible for the National Forest Carbon Scheme to draw in
additional funds."
New Forest fungi - a feast for your eyes
– Forestry Commission
Fungi
(image: Forestry Commission) This autumn, the Forestry Commission is launching
a new campaign to highlight the importance of the New Forest for fungi,
and to appeal to people to support a ‘no-picking’ code on the Site of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). There has been an increasing trend for foraging in
recent years and this puts additional pressures on areas such as the New
Forest. Due to the growing concern from conservation bodies and very
real fears from members of the local community, the Forestry Commission
is no longer permitting picking on any scale from the SSSI. In
previous years, a ban on commercial collection and a personal collection
limit have been in place. For the first time, the Forestry Commission
feels it necessary to take a precautionary approach and, with the
support of partners aims to spread the message about just what a special
place the New Forest is. Bruce Rothnie, Deputy Surveyor for the Forestry
Commission, explains: “We want people to get out into the Forest to
enjoy the autumn spectacle of fungi, we just ask that they don’t pick.
Fungi are great to admire and marvellously photogenic too. By
appealing for a no picking rule everyone can enjoy this seasonal
display. The Forestry Commission will continue to review our position on
fungi picking on the New Forest SSSI, taking advice from Natural England
and other conservation bodies. We are working with partnership
organisations to help develop national codes of good practice for
foraging.”
LED-lighting influences the activity of bats
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research The widespread replacement of conventional bulbs
in street lighting by energy-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has
considerable influence on bats as urban nocturnal hunters. Opportunistic
bats lose hunting opportunities whereas light sensitive species benefit.
This was shown in a recent study by Christian Voigt and Daniel Lewanzik
from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW). Conventional high pressure mercury bulbs have a
broad spectrum of wavelengths, including those in the ultraviolet range.
As a consequence, insects are magically attracted to street lighting and
indirect light spilling out from houses. Insects circle around lamps and
often become victims of insect-eating predators. For instance, some
light-tolerant bat species frequently forage on insect aggregations at
lights; for them street lamps are a lit “buffet”. Yet, the new LEDs that
are used in street lamps do not emit UV light; thus, insects ignore
them. The scientists from IZW therefore studied how the increasing use
of LED light bulbs may influence the activity of urban bats. Previously, it was well known that opportunistic
species such as pipistrelles and the common noctule tolerate light and
hunt even in lit areas in cities at night. Light sensitive species that
shun the light such as many mouse-eared bats mainly hunt in dark parks
and forests. Scientists installed bat recorders on 46 street
lamps in six German cities. By recording echolocation calls of hunting
bats, bat recorders automatically detect the presence of bats at
conventional and LED street lamps. The results were interesting:
whereas the activity of the common pipistrelle diminished by 45 % near
LED lamps, light sensitive species that usually avoid artificial light
increased their activity by a factor of four-and-a-half. A few species
such as the Nathusius pipistrelle were not affected at all by the
reduced spectrum of wave lengths of the LEDs. “We therefore conclude
that bats which are sensitive to light might benefit from the increasing
use of LED, but opportunistic species will suffer from it”, says Voigt.
The latter will probably have to travel longer distances in order to
find sufficient food. One thing seems to be sure: Bats will adjust their
foraging behaviour to the new situation and, therefore, the composition
of species within local bat assemblages is likely to change in urban
environments. “Both the use of LED lights and the change in activity of
bats will have a substantial effect on insect populations, since bats
are the top predators for insect populations in the urban environment”,
emphasises Voigt. Access the paper:
Lewanzik D, Voigt CC (2016):
White is not white: Pervasive transition from conventional to LED street
lighting changes activity of urban bats. Journal of Applied Ecology;
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12758.
Finding Risso’s dolphins – Natural
Resources Wales Work has started to monitor a unique species of
dolphin off the North Wales coast. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is working with the
Whale and Dolphin Conservation on a long term study of the Risso’s
dolphin around Bardsey Island.
This
is one of only a few sites around the UK where the dolphins can be seen
close to land.
The two week monitoring programme, starting on
Saturday 27 August, will provide experts at NRW and other organisations
with valuable information about the dolphins’ feeding habits and social
interaction Their round heads and white scars tell them apart from
bottlenose dolphins, and also helps with the monitoring work. Ceri Morris, Marine Mammal specialist, Natural
Resources Wales said: “Wildlife is an important part of our environment,
our heritage and our culture in Wales and it is important that we
monitor species like this to help protect them. Risso's dolphins
generally prefer deep water where they feed on squid and octopus. So
this area around Bardsey where they can be seen close to land is quite
rare in the UK. Part of our monitoring work will include identifying
individuals to see if they are returning to the same area, we can also
find out if they’ve been spotted elsewhere. All the information we
gather will help us estimate how many Risso’s dolphins there are around
Bardsey, and understand the importance of this area for breeding and
feeding.” Video footage of the dolphins playing can be seen on the NRW’s YouTube channel.
Where is the Small Tortoiseshell this summer?
– Butterfly Conservation
The
beautiful Small Tortoiseshell is one of the most recognisable and
widespread UK species and is a regular garden fixture in high summer.
But this year, numbers have been worryingly low as the cool spring and
slow start to the summer appear to have taken their toll on the
butterfly’s attempts to breed and feed.
Small Tortoiseshell sightings are significantly
down across the UK and gardeners are being asked to look out for the
butterfly by joining the Garden Butterfly Survey, sponsored by B&Q, to
help build a picture of what is happening. The Small Tortoiseshell has endured a tumultuous
recent history. The butterfly, whose population has plummeted by 73%
since the 1970s, had seen its numbers rise over the last few years and
hopes were high that it was on the path to recovery. But this
summer’s poor showing could mean the Small Tortoiseshell is set for yet
more years of decline.
Butterfly Conservation Head of Recording Richard
Fox said: “We don’t understand what is causing the drastic long-term
decline of this familiar and much-loved butterfly. Theories involve
climate change, pollution and parasitic flies that kill the butterfly’s
caterpillars, but we need more information.
£1.44 million lottery funding will help endangered heathland wildlife
– South Downs National Park Ambitious work to restore and reunite areas of
rare heathland in the South Downs National Park will start this autumn
thanks to a £1.44 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). South Downs heaths are not only home to rare
plants and animals – such as the sand lizard, woodlark and
silver-studded blue butterfly – they are also important spaces for
people. But heathland currently covers just one per cent of the South
Downs National Park and has shrunk into ‘islands’ where isolated plants
and animals are far more vulnerable to local extinction.
Less than one per cent of former heathland remains
in the National Park and what’s left is fragmented, reducing the
diversity of plants and animals that make heaths both interesting and
scientifically important.
The Heathlands Reunited project, led by the National Park Authority
with 10 partner organisations, aims to create and improve heathland at
41 sites – covering an area greater than 1,200 football pitches over the
next five years. Bruce Middleton, Heathlands Reunited Project
Manager, said: “Heathlands are ‘man-made’ and only exist because our
ancestors used them to dig peat for fuel, harvest heather and graze
animals, unwittingly creating a unique ‘mosaic’ of habitats which many
plants and animals now can’t survive without. Without people working the
ground our heaths have gradually returned to scrub leaving the wildlife
trapped and vulnerable in a few remaining ‘islands’. A staggering 60 per
cent of heathland species are dependent on bare, sandy, south facing
ground. A key part of our work will be with the local people who use and
enjoy the heaths, for example to get involved in scraping patches of
bare earth or even encouraging communities to adopt and take
responsibility for their heath.”
Scientific Publications Blicharska Malgorzata, Andersson Johan, Bergsten Johannes, Bjelke Ulf, Hilding-Rydevik Tuija, Johansson Frank, Effects of management intensity, function and vegetation on the biodiversity in urban ponds, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Available online 30 August 2016, ISSN 1618-8667, DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2016.08.012.
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