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Headlines from week beginning 15 May 2017. |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
an annual event in May organised by the Campaign for Learning since
1999. It aims to put a spotlight on the importance and benefits of
learning and development at work.
The purpose of providing rural skills training however, should not be
limited to the development of expertise alone. Here in the Cotswolds
AONB, we have been running rural skills training courses for over 14
years. In that time it has been noticeable how the interest in heritage
crafts has increased. Why the sudden clamour for traditional skills you
might think? From our experience, many people attending our courses do
so out of an intrigue for the skills in question. ‘I’ve always wanted to
give it a go’ is a phrase I often read when the feedback forms come in.
While their interest may seem short-term and somewhat wistful, this
‘give it a go’ crowd are integral to the long term survival of rural
skills.
Retailers urged to act after pesticides linked to bee decline discovered
in “pollinator friendly” garden plants -
Friends of the Earth Garden centres and retailers are being urged to take urgent action
after new research,
revealed today , found some outlets were selling garden plants grown
with pesticides linked to bee decline – including plants carrying
‘pollinator friendly’ labels. Thousands of people have already taken part in a Friends of the Earth
online action launched earlier this week, calling on Homebase
and Wyevale to ensure their plants are free from neonicotinoids linked
to bee decline. The action was launched after B&Q announced it
was to ban neonicotinoid pesticides from all its flowering plants from
next year. Next week Friends of the Earth launches its
Great British Bee Count (19 May-30 June), which enables people to
find out more about the bees that visit their neighbourhoods and to take
action to help these under-threat pollinators – such as creating
bee-friendly gardens and other spaces. The research on neonicotinoids and plants, the first of its kind to
be carried out in the UK, was led by leading bee expert Professor Dave
Goulson. Of 29 plants examined at Sussex University, over 70% contained
neonicotinoid pesticides – including three pesticides restricted across
Europe that have been found to pose a ‘high acute risk’ to honeybees. Today’s article says “the report concludes: ‘All of the retailers we
tested were selling plants containing highly variable combinations of
potentially harmful chemicals, so that any purchaser is playing “Russian
roulette” with their garden pollinators.’ “ Friends of the Earth bee campaigner Nick Rau said: “Green-minded
gardeners will be understandably concerned that some stores and garden
centres are selling plants treated with pesticides linked to bee decline
- including some plants that are labelled as ‘pollinator friendly'.
Retailers should urgently investigate their supply chains and make it
clear to growers that they don’t want these chemicals in their plants."
Conservation partnership launches "floating islands" in bid to save rare
duck - RSPB
An unprecedented partnership of organisations from industry and the
conservation sector has come together in a bid to save the common scoter
as a breeding bird in the Highlands of Scotland. The birds, which breed
on the edges of a small number of lochs, will be helped by the creation
of artificial floating islands made from redundant materials from fish
farms. It is hoped that the scoters will choose to nest on the islands
and this will make the nests safer from the unwelcome attention of
predators and the risk of being flooded. RSPB Scotland’s Dr Alison MacLennan said, “Within the last forty
years the population of the now inappropriately named Common Scoter has
fallen from several hundred pairs, with a wide distribution over the
north and west of Scotland, to around fifty pairs found in a few
isolated lochs. We are in real danger of losing this lovely bird as a
breeding species in Scotland and I am delighted that this partnership
has come together to help provide them with a future.” Research has pointed to a number of causes for this decline, many of
which are linked to changing uses in the landscape. In addition,
mammalian predators have been identified as having a significant
detrimental effect on the survival of common scoter nesting attempts and
their success in hatching ducklings. In an attempt to address this
problem in some of the Inverness-shire lochs, the partnership group
joined forces with Fusion Marine and Marine Harvest to produce floating
islands that will provide the ducks with safer nest locations with a
reduced risk of predation. Two of these islands have now been sited in common scoter breeding
lochs in Inverness-shire as a trial to see if their use can boost the
ducks’ success in rearing their young.
NGO helps get wildlife officers back on the beat in Wiltshire
- National Gamekeepers Association The NGO has been instrumental in getting dedicated wildlife officers
back on the beat in Wiltshire after police budget cuts led to them being
removed. The NGO Regional Chairman Nick Stiff met the Police and Crime
Commissioner to say that wildlife officers were an absolute necessity,
not least because of a surge in poaching and hare coursing in the county
since the cuts. Officers from the force had been provided with
training free of charge by the NGO, in a one day course which covered,
among other things, the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the Poaching
Prevention Act, trapping and the economic benefits of shooting. A Rural Crime Partnership group was established by Wiltshire police
to bring together representatives from a number of organisations with a
vested interest in tackling rural crime in the county. As a result
funding has been secured to train up to 20 Wiltshire Rural and Wildlife
Crime Officer. They will enhance the work already carried out by the six
existing force Wildlife Crime Officers across the force. The new
officers will work as part of the community policing teams to offer
support and advice on rural matters to the local community. The
NGO worked alongside the National Farmers' Union and the Country Land
and Business Association and other partners to achieve this result and
communicated with its local members by email throughout the process. NGO Regional Chairman Nick Stiff said: 'We are very encouraged that
Wiltshire Police has worked with us and other organisations to help in
the fight to tackle rural crime, which unfortunately has affected many
of our members in the county. We will continue to help the police in
reducing rural criminality and would urge members to report all
incidents by calling 101. This will help police in helping the keepering
community.'
The North York Moors National Park Authority looks after around 1400
miles (2200km) of public rights of way within its boundary. This network
of paths enables people to venture out and explore every nook and cranny
of the North York Moors but, with close to 25,000 residents in the
National Park and visitor days numbering around the 10 million mark
every year, the potential wear and tear on the area’s rights of way is
considerable. The damage that can be caused by lots of feet tramping the same route
can be illustrated by The Lyke Wake Walk. This 40 mile walk crosses the
National Park from Osmotherley in the west to Ravenscar in the east
following a line of ancient burial mounds high on the moorland ridges.
It was devised by local farmer, mountaineer and journalist Bill Cowley
in 1955 and quickly became a test of stamina for walkers to complete the
route within 24 hours. In 1955, 191 people completed the walk; by the
1970s, 15,000 people were walking the route each year.
Northern Powergrid To Get ‘Buzzy’ Helping Make B-Lines
- Northern Powergrid Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for keeping the lights on
for 8 million customers across the North East, Yorkshire and northern
Lincolnshire, is set to help wildlife charity Buglife create a network
of wildflowers stretching across the UK to help pollinators. The electricity distributor, with its network of more than 63,000
substations and some 60,000 miles of overhead power lines and
underground cables spanning 9,650 square miles, is looking at how it can
help Buglife’s campaign to create more ‘B-Lines’ across the region. B-Lines are a network of wildflower rich areas which provide
important habitat for bees, butterflies and other insect pollinators,
enabling wildlife to move across the landscape and making local areas
more attractive for people to live and work in. Paul Evans, B-Lines Manager at Buglife, said: “It’s fantastic to be
working with Northern Powergrid and exploring the opportunities its
extensive power network holds to help us create vitally important areas
for our pollinators and other wildlife. One of every three
mouthfuls of our food and eight out of ten of our wildflowers depends on
pollination by bees, butterflies and other insect pollinators, but we
are losing many of these creatures as the wildflowers they depend on for
food disappear from our countryside and towns. It’s more important than
ever to ensure that we are able to link wildflower rich areas together
to provide food, homes and networks for our pollinating insects and
other wildlife.”
Huge volume of debris discovered on remote Pacific Island
- Marine Conservation Society Henderson Island, part of the UK's overseas territory in the South
Pacific, has been found to be littered with an estimated 37.7 million
pieces of plastic. Beaches around the island were thoroughly surveyed between the end of
May and middle of August 2015 by researchers from the University of
Tasmania and the RSPB. The researchers found up to 671 items of plastic
for every square metre of beach surveyed.
This huge density of litter is despite Henderson's extremely remote
position, and the fact that it is not inhabited by humans. However, it
is close to the centre of the South Pacific Gyre, the circulatory ocean
that carries huge volumes of floating litter on the sea's surface. Dr Jennifer Lavers, lead researcher, said "Far from being the
pristine 'deserted island' that people might imagine of such a remote
place, Henderson Island is a shocking but typical example of how plastic
debris is affecting the environment on a global scale. Based on our
sampling at five sites we estimated that more than 17 tonnes of plastic
debris has been deposited on the island, with more than 3,570 new pieces
of litter washing up each day on one beach alone." Dr Laura Foster, MCS Head of Pollution, says "This truly highlights
the global problem of marine litter which is why, through our Beachwatch
project, we not only encourage beach cleans to remove litter but we also
ask our volunteers to survey what they find. This data can then be used
on a local, national and global level to stop litter getting into our
oceans and ending up in places like this." Access the paper: Laversa, JL & Bond AL (2017). Exceptional and rapid accumulation of anthropogenic debris on one of the world’s most remote and pristine islands PNAS doi/10.1073/pnas.1619818114
A quarter century of saving Sand lizard - ARC
Trust Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (ARC), Natural Resources Wales and
Natural England have formed a partnership to run an important rescue
programme to safeguard the future of the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis).
One of Britain’s rarest reptiles, sand lizards are only found in two
habitats: sand-dune and lowland dry heath; both of which have declined
in area in the UK over the past 100 years, due to development and land
use changes. As a result of this large-scale habitat loss and
fragmentation, sand lizards have been lost from large parts of their
former range including: North and West Wales, Cheshire, Kent, Sussex,
Berkshire, Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall; and native populations now
only remain in Merseyside, Surrey, and Dorset. Even here, losses of 97%,
95% and 90% have occurred respectively.
The strategy for sand lizard recovery has three main aims: to protect
existing sites, to manage these sites for sand lizards and, to
reintroduce sand lizards to well-managed and suitable sites in their
former historic range Currently there are ten captive breeding centres for sand lizards;
these centres have special outdoor enclosures or ‘vivaria’ that mimic
the sand lizard's natural environment. From here, the captive bred
juveniles are released onto suitable reintroduction sites in early
September to allow the animals to gradually get used to their new
surroundings before hibernation in October. We are delighted to be able to report that the findings of this
important programme, which has been running for 28 years, have now been
published. Access the paper: Woodfine, T., Wilkie,
M., Gardner, R., Edgar, P., Moulton, N., & Riordan, P. (2017).
Outcomes and lessons from a quarter of a century of Sand lizard Lacerta
agilis reintroductions in southern England. International Zoo
Yearbook. doi:10.1111/izy.12155
Phenomenal success story celebrates first birthday
- Lake District National Park An innovative joint mission to establish a walking route in one of
the Lake District’s most spectacular valleys is celebrating the first
year of a phenomenal success story. With the potential to become
one of the national park’s most loved and respected classic routes,
Ullswater Way has been hailed as remarkable. Chair of the Ullswater Association, Heather James, said the 12-month
milestone heralded classic partnership working and an amazing outcome.
She explained: “The enthusiasm with which locals and visitors alike have
embraced the Ullswater Way has exceeded all our expectations. You get
the feeling people have taken it to their hearts and already regard it
with great affection.” The multiplicity appeal of a 20-mile serious hike, or gentler five or
10-mile sections, along with glorious unexpected vistas, have brought
widespread acclaim. Enthusiastically supported by the Ullswater
community, businesses and public bodies, the route was established from
upgraded existing rights of way and quiet roads which circumnavigated
the lake.
Cities need to “green up” to reduce the impact of air pollution on
residents as well as buildings - University
of Surrey The harmful impact of urban air pollution could be combated by
strategically placing low hedges along roads in a built-up environment
of cities instead of taller trees, a new study has found. The study, just published in the journal Atmospheric Environment,
points out that low hedges reduce the impact of pollution from vehicles
in cityscapes where there are large buildings close to roads, far more
effectively than taller trees. In some environments, trees actually make
the pollution more concentrated depending on prevailing wind conditions
and built-up configurations. Higher trees only have more of an impact in reducing air pollution in
areas which are more open and are less densely populated by taller
buildings. Urban air quality continues to be a primary health concern as most of
the world’s population currently lives in urban areas (54% in 2014), and
percentage is projected to rise to 66% by 2050; this is coupled with the
fact that one of the main global sources of air pollution in cities is
traffic emissions. Professor Prashant Kumar, who is Chair in Air Quality & Health at the
University of Surrey, said future urban planning need to consider
designing and implementing more “green infrastructure”, such as trees or
hedges in the built environment to create a more healthy urban
lifestyle. Access the paper: Abhijith, K.V.,
Kumar, P., Gallagher, J., McNabola, A., Baldauf, R., Pilla, F.,
Broderick, B., Di Sabatino, S., Pulvirenti, B., 2017.
Air Pollution Abatement Performances of Green Infrastructure in Open
Road and Built-up Street Canyon Environments – A Review. Atmospheric
Environment, DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.014
Complete the Parks Alliance survey about the state of the UK’s parks
- The Parks Alliance The recent Communities and Local Government Inquiry into Public Parks
found Parks “at a tipping point and face a period of decline with
potentially severe consequences unless their vital contribution to areas
such as public health, community integration and climate change
mitigation is recognised.” The Inquiry encouraged local authorities to
evaluate what they are doing, and share the learning across the country
to encourage innovation and new ways of working. The Parks Alliance
wants to develop its role and services to meet these challenges in a way
that makes it sustainable as an organisation and ensures its supporters
get the benefits they require. The Parks Alliance would therefore be very grateful if you could
complete a short survey, which includes 16 questions about you, about
parks and about The Parks Alliance itself. Your responses will help The
Parks Alliance to develop its offer and continue to promote and protect
parks into the future. The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes
to complete.
Take part in the survey by clicking here
State of the World's Plants – Kew, Royal
Botanic Gardens
New plant species discovered in 2016 (image: Kew)
Scientists from around the globe have worked in collaboration with
Kew Science to scrutinise databases, published literature, policy
documents, reports and satellite imagery to synthesise the latest
discoveries and knowledge into this horizon-scanning report. Explore the data and download the State or World's Plants report here.
National Bat Monitoring Programme Annual Report 2016
- Bat Conservation Trust We are pleased to announce the release of the National Bat Monitoring
Programme Annual report for 2016. It’s thanks to the 960 volunteers who
surveyed 1,984 sites in 2016 (equating to approximately 17,700 hours)
that we are able to present these findings for 11 of Great Britain's 17
resident bat species. Of 11 species surveyed, all are considered to have been stable or to
have increased in comparison to the baseline year of monitoring (1999
for most species). It should be remembered that these trends reflect
relatively recent changes in bat populations. It is generally considered
that prior to this there were significant historical declines in bat
populations dating back to at least the start of the 20th century. This
suggests that current legislation and conservation action to protect and
conserve bats is being successful, and it is vitally important that this
continues. If you would like to find out more about how to contribute to the
National Bat Monitoring Programme please see http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/nbmp.html
The latest updates of the UK and England bird indicators based on population trends of wild birds, were published on 18th May 2017. Yellow Wagtail by Jill Pakenham
The full report shows it’s not all bad news. Key messages for the UK
Protection for living reef - Scottish
Government Loch Carron flame shell beds designated as Marine Protected Area. An endangered seabed habitat off the north west coast has been
designated as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) by the Environment Secretary
Roseanna Cunningham. The protection for Loch Carron’s flame shell beds follows an
investigation by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Government
into claims the vulnerable habitat had been damaged by scallop dredging. The inquiry confirmed damage to the flame shell beds was consistent
with the impact of scallop dredging. The investigation also found there was a viable prospect of recovery
because part of the bed had survived and another nearby bed had remained
intact. Flame shells are orange coloured molluscs which hide in nests they
build on the seabed, providing a rich and diverse habitat for other
creatures. The MPA means any proposed development or use of the sea will have to
take the need for recovery into account. To manage fishing activity, an
urgent Marine Conservation Order will be put in place to prevent mobile
gear fisheries, such as dredging, in the area - initially for one year. See more about the assessment and the
including comparative video from 2009 & 2017 in this blog from
Scottish Natural Heritage:
SNH divers assess Loch Carron flame shell bed damage
Response from
Marine Conservation Society -
New protection measures for Scottish Sea Loch announced. MCS says action
for Loch Carron must be just the start of further protections “The decision shows how crucial the efforts of dedicated Seasearch
divers were rapidly recording video footage and submitting records
shortly after the event. It's good to see this response from Scottish
Natural Heritage and Marine Scotland Science to the harm done to Loch
Carron, corroborating the citizen science evidence, " says Calum
Duncan. MCS Head of Conservation Scotland
Environmental first as Glenmorangie reintroduces native oysters to the
Dornoch Firth - Marine Conservation Society MCS is part of a ground-breaking environmental project which has seen
Native European oysters reintroduced to coastal waters around Dornoch
Firth after a century's absence. In 2014 MCS forged an ambitious partnership known as the Dornoch
Environmental Enhancement Project (DEEP), with project funders
Glenmorangie Distillery which is based on the banks of the Firth, and
Heriot-Watt University. The re-introduction of the oysters to the
Dornoch Firth comes as Glenmorangie officially opens its €6million
anaerobic digestion plant at its Distillery in the Highlands of Scotland
today.
Underlining the Distillery’s commitment to a ‘susTAINable’ future,
the project’s vision was to restore long-lost oyster reefs to the Firth,
to enhance biodiversity and also act in tandem with the anaerobic
digestion plant to purify the by-products created through the
distillation process – an environmental first for a Distillery. Calum Duncan, Head of Conservation Scotland for the Marine
Conservation Society said “Great strides have been taken in recent years
to put in place new sites and measures to help improve the health of
Scotland’s seas. Active re-instatement of living seabed habitats such as
oyster reefs can play a crucial role in ocean recovery, which is why we
are delighted to be part of this partnership and look forward to a
successful trial paving the way for larger-scale restoration.”
Corporate Plan 2017-2018 - Scottish Natural
Heritage Our Corporate Plan describes how we support the Scottish Government's
Purpose to focus government and public services on creating a more
successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish,
through increasing sustainable economic growth.
Download the plan (PDF) And let's finish the week with a happy
ending.
‘Pressure hose’ otter returned to wild in Llandovery after RSPCA
rehabilitation - RSPCA An otter has been returned to the wild in the Llandovery area, after
a period of rehabilitation with RSPCA Cymru.
Video footage captures the moment the otter was returned to the
wild, after a one-month spell in RSPCA care. The otter was reported to the charity after being found by a member
of the public on 17 April, curled up in a puddle of water from a
pressure hose.
She was very weak, quiet and extremely tired – and was struggling
with a fever and dehydration. The otter was rehabilitated at a specialist RSPCA wildlife facility –
West Hatch in Taunton – where she recovered, ready for the return to the
wild. She was released on 15 May – with the extent of her recovery
highlighted by her gain in weight – from 2.8kg when found, to 4.8kg when
returned to the wild. RSPCA animal collection officer Ellie West said: “This beautiful
otter turned up at a Llandovery property in a deeply worrying state –
dehydrated, appearing confused, and desperately tired. She was so
exhausted, she simply collapsed in a pool of water left from a pressure
hose. It was clearly no place for such a beautiful wild animal.
Fortunately, she was taken into RSPCA care and rehabilitated. She’s
gained more than 70% in weight, which is testimony to her turnaround at
a specialist wildlife facility. It was a fabulous feeling to be able to
safely return her to the Llandovery wild. Happy endings like this are
the best part of the job, and rescuing and rehabilitating animals like
this is such an important part of what RSPCA Cymru does.”
Scientific Publications Heard, G. W., Scroggie, M. P., Ramsey, D. S. L., Clemann, N., Hodgson, J. A. and Thomas, C. D., Can habitat Management Mitigate Disease Impacts on Threatened Amphibians?. Conservation Letters. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/conl.12375
Michael V. Bell and John Calladine
The decline of a population of farmland breeding waders: a
twenty-five-year case study Bird Study Vol. 64 , Iss. 2,2017
DOI:10.1080/00063657.2017.1319903
Josh A. Firth, Bernhard Voelkl, Ross A. Crates, Lucy M. Aplin, Dora Biro, Darren P. Croft, Ben C. Sheldon Wild birds respond to flockmate loss by increasing their social network associations to others Proc. R. Soc. B 2017 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0299.
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CJS is not responsible for content of external sites. Details believed correct but given without prejudice. Disclaimer: the views expressed in these news pages do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of CJS. |
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This
year's theme is 'Curious & Creative'.
Flock
of common scoters sleeping (Image: Graham Catley, RSPB)
Plastic
littered beach (Image: Jennifer Lavers, MCS)
Sand
lizards (image: ARC Trust)
Kew
Science has launched its second State of the World's Plants report,
providing a cutting-edge horizon scan and taking stock of the world's
most valuable and vulnerable plants.
Oysters
(image: MCS)
(Image
RSPCA)
