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Headlines from week beginning 31 July 2017 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
To mark the start of National Countryside
Week:
Public starkly unaware of the tough realities of farming
- The Prince’s Countryside Fund According to new research by The Prince’s Countryside Fund, the UK
public appears to have a rosy view of farming life, with 1 in 4 (25%) UK
adults liking the idea of giving up their day job and working on a farm. However, the findings of the ‘Who’d be a Farmer Today?’ report,
launched to mark the start of National Countryside Week (Monday 31st
July to Sunday 6th August) highlights a disconnect between the positive
perception and the tougher realities of the profession. When asked to estimate the annual incomes of UK farmers, the study
found the public’s guess averaged at £46,801, with 9% of people
estimating farmers’ salaries to be over £75,000. DEFRA reported in 2015
that average incomes fell below £20,000; the lowest point since 2007.
Furthermore, the Fund’s previous
Cash Flow Crisis in Farming report found 50% of farmers no longer
make a living from farming alone. Lord Curry, Chairman of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said: "The true
reality of what it takes to be a farmer is not widely understood. Many
of us envisage the picturesque countryside lifestyle with a comfortable
living. Unfortunately, for one of the oldest professions which
contributes over £108bn a year to the economy, the reality can be very
different. Farmers work long hard hours, receive modest pay for their
efforts, have financial instability and are now faced with growing
uncertainty. The farming industry needs support from the British public
through the buying of home produced food to help maintain its viability
for the future."
You can view the full report here. (PDF)
£200 million boost for rural England - defra Grants expected to generate more than 6,000 new jobs overall and
support growth of rural businesses and broadband projects. Funding for rural businesses that will generate thousands of jobs and
provide new support to expand and improve their premises has been
announced as part of a £200million grant offer. Announcing the latest round of
Rural Development Programme funding, Lord Gardiner confirmed that
for the first time under the current scheme specific funding will be
available to support new rural broadband projects, and provide
significant amounts of funding to on-farm businesses to invest in new
infrastructure such as new buildings and machinery. The current Rural Development Programme for England is expected to
generate 6,750 new jobs. Already more than 1,400 projects have been
agreed which are expected to create over 2,300 jobs. The grants will also fund landowners to improve farm productivity and
invest in rural tourism opportunities. This funding will make sure businesses in remote locations can get
online, help farmers install cutting-edge technology, create new tourist
hotspots and bring high quality jobs to rural communities across the
country. This round of funding will include:
Scientists develop ranking system to scale the impact of alien species
- University College London A transparent ranking system for measuring the socio-economic impact
of plants and animals that are introduced by humans to areas where they
do not naturally occur (termed “aliens”) has been developed by an
international team of scientists, from UCL, Université de Fribourg and
Stellenbosch University. The ‘Socio-Economic Classification of Alien Taxa (SEICAT)’, described
in a study published today in Methods in Ecology and Evolution and
supported by an EU COST Action grant, will help to capture the impact
that alien species have on human livelihood and well-being. “Alien species can cause harm in many ways in areas to which they are
introduced. Besides the effects on biodiversity, which can lead to
extinctions of native species and transformations of whole landscapes
and ecosystems, they can also have wide-ranging effects on human health,
livelihoods, and well-being,” said Professor Tim Blackburn, Chair of
Invasion Biology at UCL. “All aspects of human well-being, such as health, material assets,
safety, and social and cultural relationships are measured at the same
scale, which allows for the impact of different species to be compared
and ranked. In contrast to monetary approaches, SEICAT assessments can
be made even when data are scarce; this should allow us to rank large
numbers of alien species in a relatively short time,” explained Dr
Sabrina Kumschick, Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch
University. It is considered that this unique system for comparing and ranking
alien species according to their effects on human well-being and
livelihood can also be used to underpin decisions on how management
resources are allocated. “Such insights are crucial in an age when managers simply cannot
afford to tackle all invasive species,” said Professor Dave Richardson,
Director of the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University. Read the paper: Bacher S, Blackburn TM,
Essl F, et al.
Socio-economic impact classification of alien taxa (SEICAT). Methods
Ecol Evol. 2017;00:1–10. doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.12844
Funding boosts for local authorities to transform local communities and
release land for new homes – Local Government
Association The Government has today (Tuesday 1 August) launched a £54 million
package to transform local communities and release land for thousands of
new homes. This comes as part of a new cross-government partnership to
make smarter use of government-owned property. DCLG’s £45 million ‘Land Release Fund’, launched in partnership with
the Cabinet Office and Local Government Association’s One Public
Image: Local Government Association Councils can now bid for funding for land remediation and small-scale
infrastructure, which will help bring sites forward for housing that
would not have otherwise been developed. Alongside this, One Public Estate is making £9 million funding
available to support more councils to deliver ambitious property-focused
programmes. The programme channels funding and support through councils to
deliver ambitious property-based projects. By 2020, councils on the
programme are expected to deliver £615m in capital receipts, £158
million running costs savings, create 44,000 new jobs and release land
for 25,000 new homes. This partnership between DCLG and One Public Estate will give local authorities greater access to support from across government and help them to release more land, more efficiently.
Improving habitats for bats – University of
Stirling The effects of 160 years of woodland creation on bats has been
revealed by a natural experiment. A study led by the University of Stirling has produced evidence of
the characteristics of planted woodlands that are likely to benefit bats
and other
The research is part of the innovative Woodland
Creation and Ecological Networks (WrEN) project between the
University of Stirling, Forest Research and Natural England, which is
using a novel large-scale natural experiment to assess the impact of 160
years of woodland creation on current biodiversity. Taking advantage of
the well-mapped changes in landscapes in England and Scotland since
1840, the researchers have identified woodlands planted between 10 and
160 years ago; there, they are studying a wide range of woodland species
to understand their habitat requirements at different spatial scales. Dr Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor, Research Fellow, led
the study (University of Stirling) The results, published
in the journal ‘Ecological Applications’, show species of bat
respond differently to local woodland attributes and the surrounding
landscapes, depending on their mobility. The study also shows that landscape characteristics, such as woodland
connectivity, are most important for bats in intensively farmed
landscapes where woodland loss and fragmentation have been more severe.
Benefits of dikes outweigh costs - effective measures for reducing
future flooding – University of Bristol In the first study of its kind, an international team of scientists –
including the University of Bristol – has concluded, on a global scale,
that the economic and long-term benefits of building dikes to reduce
flood damage far outweigh their initial cost.
The authors also assessed how much flood damage could be avoided in
the future per state, if new dikes are constructed or dikes that are
already in place are heightened.
They then assessed how much it would cost to build and maintain these
dikes, and whether the benefits would outweigh the costs using a range
of hydrological and economic models. The study, published today (Monday 31 July) in the journal Nature
Climate Change, was led by Dr Philip Ward from the Institute for
Environmental Studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He said: "It is well-known that economic damages from floods are
expected to increase over the coming decades due to climate change and
an increase in population and assets in flood prone areas. However, in
this study we show that flood damages in the year 2080 can actually be
reduced to below today’s level, if we effectively invest in flood
protection measures.”
Major project to protect Orkney’s internationally important wildlife
wins Heritage Lottery Fund support – Scottish
Natural Heritage An ambitious project to save Orkney’s native wildlife has received
initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) it was announced
today (Tuesday 1 August). The Orkney Native Wildlife Project is a partnership between Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) and RSPB Scotland and is set to be the largest
project of its kind in the world. It will safeguard the unique and internationally important native
wildlife of Orkney now and into the future by addressing the threat it
faces from an invasive non-native predator: the stoat. Development funding of £64,600 has been awarded to help the
partnership progress plans for an ambitious stoat eradication project
before applying for a full grant of more than £3 million in 2018. Orkney is an important home for wildlife. Despite the combined land area of Orkney’s 70 islands accounting for less than 1% of the UK, the islands are home to more than a fifth of the UK’s breeding hen harriers, internationally important numbers of seabirds and one of the few places in the UK in which waders such as curlews are still a common breeding species.
Space invaders! – Zoological Society of
London Collaborative study suggests nature reserves enable greater
resilience for ecosystems against foreign invaders. Nature reserves, national parks and marine protected areas have been
proven to effectively shield native wildlife from the impacts of
invasive species, in a new study published this week in the
journal Global Change Biology. Led by the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE) alongside co-authors
from institutions including international conservation charity ZSL
Invasive species – non-native organisms that are introduced to an
ecosystem and can often thrive at the expense of native wildlife, such
as the invasive grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) which displaced red
squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the UK – have been implicated in 58 per
cent of recent extinctions worldwide and are unanimously recognised by
conservationists as posing a serious threat to global ecosystems. Until now, however, conservationists have lacked evidence of how
effective protected areas are in mitigating against the threats and
challenges these species cause, such as competition for food and
territory, inter-species predation and invasive diseases. Evaluating the current and future distributions of 100 of the most invasive terrestrial, freshwater and marine species in Europe – from the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) to the red-swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkia) – the team assessed the combined threat these animals pose to existing protected areas, when combined with the overarching issue of climate change.
Hen harriers return to the Dales - Yorkshire
Dales National Park One of England’s rarest breeding birds, the hen harrier, attempted to
nest in the Yorkshire Dales National Park this spring for the first time
in 10 years. The National Park has large areas of potentially suitable nesting
upland habitat for the birds of prey, but several factors – including
persecution – have precluded breeding. Several hen harriers, however, lingered in the Cumbrian part of the
National Park this spring and started to display. One male paired up
with two separate females: an adult female and an immature female. This
behaviour – called polygyny – is rare in most bird species but is often
found in hen harrier breeding populations. Both females laid eggs in nests sited on the edge of a moor managed
for grouse shooting. The birds were watched by a small team of staff
and volunteers from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA)
and Natural England. The monitoring was undertaken with the close
co-operation and support of local landowners, including the shooting
estate, and residents. Unfortunately neither nesting attempt was successful. One failure
happened very early in the season, the other midway through the
incubation period. Both attempts are thought to have failed because of
predation by foxes. There was no evidence of human interference. The
male and both females were seen in the area after the nesting attempts
had failed. The YDNPA’s Chief Executive, David Butterworth, said: “Given it had
been ten years since hen harriers nested in the National Park, the
presence of these birds was extremely welcome. It was, therefore,
incredibly disappointing that the nesting attempts failed, despite the
best efforts of all involved. The Authority is fully aware of all the
issues surrounding hen harriers in the uplands, so it was really
encouraging that the birds’ presence was welcomed by all
stakeholders. We would like to thank them all for their cooperation
during the nesting period. We hope that the enlightened attitude
towards the presence of these birds is the start of a more positive
outlook for this species, which will lead to the hen harrier returning
as a regular breeding species within the Yorkshire Dales National Park”.
10 Hen Harriers dance in the Northumbrian sky
- Northumberland National Park The Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection Partnership is pleased to
announce that five pairs of hen harriers attempted to nest in
Northumberland fledging ten young.
After another very poor season for hen harriers elsewhere in England,
with no successful breeding attempts, the Northumberland population is
once again bucking the trend. In 2015 eight young from two nests
successfully fledged and last year six young from two nests fledged.
This year, three of the five nests were ultimately successful and
produced the ten young. This spring we saw an increase in activity with even more birds
performing their spectacular courtship displays known as “sky dancing”
and five pairs eventually nesting, four of them once again on land
managed by the Forestry Commission. A dedicated team of raptor
conservation volunteers together with specialists from the partnership
worked together to watch over all of the nests. Despite some atrocious
weather, ten young birds have successfully fledged. All of them were
checked and ringed and the partnership is using satellite technology to
monitor birds. The Partnership is also delighted to learn that a young hen harrier
named Finn that fledged in Northumberland in 2016 is successfully
raising her own chick in South West Scotland. Finn was fitted with a
satellite tracker before leaving her nest in Northumberland last year
and has been closely monitored ever since. Finn was named after teenage
conservationist and blogger, Findlay Wilde, who together with
energy company, Ecotricity, sponsored Finn’s tag. Andrew Miller, Head of Programmes and Conservation at Northumberland
National Park, and Chair of the Northumberland Hen Harrier Protection
Partnership said: “Hen harriers are still facing an uphill battle to
re-establish themselves in the uplands of England. However with the
positive support of all our partners including key landowners, ten young
birds have successfully fledged. Working together and using the latest
scientific techniques is also increasing our knowledge of this amazing
species. We will continue to monitor our birds throughout the year and
hope that this year’s youngsters will stay safe and be as successful as
Finn”
River areas overrun by invasive plants -
Radboud University Rivers are high-speed corridors for the spread of invasive exotic
plants. Increasingly, these plants are pushing out native species and
making floods more likely. A study conducted by Deltares, Utrecht
University, Radboud University and the German Institute for Flood Plain
Ecology has shown that exotic varieties like the Japanese knotweed and
the Himalayan balsam grow faster and form denser vegetation in European
flood plains than the native vegetation. The phenomenon is also seen
Dutch river areas. Particularly where a river deposits new sand, exotic species spread
like a plague. The dense plant growth slows down the flow of the river
and increases the flood risk in the summer and autumn. River development calculated for a century and a half
Historical wildlife trends reliable for predicting species at risk
- University of York Scientists at the University of York have shown that using historical
wildlife data provides a more accurate measure of how vulnerable certain
species might be to extinction from climate change.
Some of the methods used to predict at risk species are trend-based –
an indicator of what happens gradually over time – while others are
trait based, which uses signs of climate change in the current
environment. Mix these methods together, however, and you get an
unreliable set of results, scientist have found. The researchers are calling for guidelines produced by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the
world’s main authority on species that are at risk of extinction, to be
updated to include cautionary messages on some methodologies of climate
change risk assessment. Researchers tested 12 methods of assessing the potential risk of
climate change on British birds and butterflies by running the
assessment as though the data was being collected in the 1970s.
They then looked at whether the results matched the reality of the
British bird and butterfly population today. Professor Chris Thomas, also at the University’s Department of
Biology, said: “We found that methods relying on historical climate
change trends from the 1970s to today identified high risk species that
have consistently declining populations over time. Those methods
that relied on species trait information showed very little pattern, and
therefore it was difficult to use this data to explain the populations
that we see today.” Access the paper: Wheatley CJ, Beale
CM, Bradbury RB, Pearce-Higgins JW, Critchlow R, Thomas CD.
Climate change vulnerability for species—Assessing the assessments.
Glob Change Biol. 2017;00:1–12. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13759
Now for something different….
Using new technology to bring new visitors to Forestry Commission
woods and forests in England
(This article was commissioned for CJS Focus on Fundraising and
Promotion but due to the snap election had to be held until the period
of purdah was over)
50th Kielder osprey chick fledges -
Northumberland Wildlife Trust The Kielder ospreys have now fledged 50 chicks since they began
nesting at Kielder Water & Forest Park in 2009.
Archer, the 50th chick to fledge at Kielder on
Nest 3 (centre). © Forestry Commission England
Extremely wet weather at times has affected a number of UK osprey
nests this season, including Kielder. The overall productivity of just
over two fledges per nest is still above the average for many UK osprey
projects. Joanna Dailey, Kielder Osprey expert volunteer, said: “Kielder Water
& Forest Park has proved to be a successful home for ospreys, with
excellent habitat and food supply. A special pleasure this year has been
seeing the Nest 3 adults, breeding here since 2014, raise three chicks
for the first time. It is apt that the official 50th Kielder fledge is
from that nest.” Visitors can still watch the antics of the birds until late August through nest cameras broadcasting at Kielder Castle Café. For a chance to see these magnificent birds, join Northumberland Wildlife Trust volunteers at Northumbrian Water’s Kielder Waterside every Saturday, Sunday and Monday to view Nest 1A and 2 through a scope and see live footage broadcast from the nest to a screen in the cabin.
Volunteers pitch in to tackle balsam blight -
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Volunteers have spent 120 hours 'bashing' a rampant non-native plant
from the banks of the river Wallington and one of its tributaries.
Himalayan balsam flower © HIWWT In a bid to help reduce the spread of the plant across the whole of
the river system, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust teamed up
with East Hampshire Catchment Partnership to remove the invasive plants. Volunteers from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust,
Purbrook & Widley Residents Association and energy company SSE cleared
about 2km of river banks of the invasive plant. The area was on the
Potwell Tributary was east of Southwick Village, including a section at
the Wildlife Trust’s Hookheath nature reserve. Meanwhile a couple of km away at Durley Mill, volunteers from
Portsmouth & District Angling Society, Sparsholt College, and Groundwork
got to work.
Lynx UK Trust
announce sheep welfare program - Lynx UK
Trust Following their application for a trial reintroduction of Eurasian
lynx in the Kielder Forest region of England and Scotland, the Lynx UK
Trust has outlined a sheep welfare program providing farmers with grants
to boost flock health and reduce sheep predation.
Since the Lynx UK Trust began their lynx reintroduction project two
years ago, the farming industry, most vocally led by the National Sheep
Association (NSA), has focused on a perceived threat to sheep. The Trust
have maintained the threat is minimal; individual Eurasian lynx kill
sheep less than once a year across almost every country they live in,
rising to two or three times a year in parts of France and Austria. “Farmers are skeptical and I understand that; many predators cause
much more damage, and science is often misrepresented to farmers and the
wider general public.” comments Steve Piper, the Trust's chief
communications advisor, “But we are quoting real-world examples and the
studies are consistent; lynx are ambush hunters, they need forest cover
to do that, and so their diet is almost all roe deer killed in the
forest. Of course, the sheep farming sector's concerns have been
rigorously recorded and submitted with the application. Their feedback
has been critical shaping our application to ensure local farmers get a
significant benefit from a lynx trial, resulting in a sheep welfare
program covering health, disease and predation, funded from lynx
eco-tourism.” Read the full release
(PDF)
NFU responds to Lynx UK Trust's sheep welfare plan The NFU continues to raise members' serious concerns about animal
welfare and the safety of livestock after the announcement of a sheep
welfare grant programme by Lynx UK Trust. Further to its application for a trial reintroduction of Eurasian
lynx in the Kielder Forest, the Lynx UK Trust has outlined plans for a
sheep welfare programme, in response to concerns from the farming
sector. A grant programme funded by lynx eco-tourism would be available to
local farmers to help build lambing shelters and maintain fencing. The
trial would also be used to survey predatory killing, maiming, and
stressing of sheep and introduce preventative measures, such as the use
of llamas as guardian animals. NFU countryside adviser Claire Robinson said: “Any species
reintroduction, particularly if it hasn’t been in this country for
hundreds of years, can have a massive impact on the many benefits that
the countryside delivers – local wildlife and biodiversity. Our biggest
concerns would be the impact on animal welfare and safety of livestock.
The Kielder Forest is a remote upland area dependent on sheep farming
and our fear is that these predators would prey on lambs. We have
not seen any evidence that there are adequate plans to mitigate this
concern and there is no evidence that lynx will stay within woodland or
forestry. The proposals to monitor impacts on sheep is not acceptable." UK Biodiversity indicators - defra / National Statistics This is an update to the report on UK progress towards meeting the
biodiversity goals and targets ‘the Aichi targets’ agreed in 2010.
This release and publication report on UK progress towards meeting
the biodiversity goals and targets ‘the Aichi targets’ agreed in 2010.
These targets were set out in the
Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. The UK is a signatory to
the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). All of the 2017 Biodiversity Indicators for the UK are available on
the Joint Nature Conservation
Committee website. Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth. It includes all
species of animals and plants, and the natural systems that support
them. Biodiversity matters because it supports the vital benefits we get
from the natural environment. It contributes to our economy, our health
and wellbeing, and it enriches our lives.
Download the UK Biodiversity indicators 2017 report (DPF) Response:
Biodiversity indicators highlight government failure on environment The UK Biodiversity Indicators 2017, published by the UK government
shows not enough is being done to protect our natural environment, with
too many indicators static or showing a decline in our biodiversity,
says Friends of the Earth. Reacting to the report Friends of the Earth nature campaigner
Paul de Zylva said: "Our birds, bees and butterflies are under threat
and the government’s response has been completely inadequate. In 2010
the UK government boasted about leading international efforts to restore
nature - but three years from the 2020 deadline too many indicators are
static or heading in the wrong direction. Ministers must make the
protection of our natural environment a top priority and stand up to the
vested interests who want to ride roughshod over our green and pleasant
land. If Michael Gove wants a Green Brexit, he must build on existing EU
regulations and develop a tough set of measures to boost habitats and
allow our precious wild species to thrive.” Light pollution as a new threat to pollination - University of Bern Artificial light disrupts nocturnal pollination and leads to a
reduced number of fruits produced by the plant. This loss of night time
pollination cannot be compensated by diurnal pollinators. The negative
impact of artificial light at night on nocturnal pollinators might even
propagate further to the diurnal community, as ecologists of the
University of Bern were able to show.
The number of bees and other diurnal pollinators is declining
worldwide – due to diseases, introduced parasites, pesticides, climate
change and the continuing loss of habitats. Now, Eva Knop's team from
the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Bern, shows
for the first time, that nocturnal pollinators can be affected by
artificial light leading to a disruption of the pollination service they
provide. "So far, nocturnal pollinators have been largely neglected in
the discussion of the worldwide known pollinator crisis", says Knop.
However, there are numerous nocturnal pollinators, and they play an
important role for plants, as the study in the Bernese Prealps shows.
Knop’s team found out, that flowers on meadows which were experimentally
illuminated with street lamps are visited around two thirds less
frequently by pollinators, than those that were on meadows without any
light sources in the vicinity. This has an effect on the fruit set, and
therefore the reproduction of plants. The study also shows, that the nocturnal pollinators indirectly
promote the diurnal pollinators, by visiting the same plants. According
to Knop, this still needs to be researched in detail, as well as the
long-term consequences of the pollination losses for the biodiversity.
The findings have driven the researchers to demand action: "Urgent
measures must be taken, to reduce the negative consequences of the
annually increasing light emissions on the environment", says Knop. This
will be big challenge, as residential areas are worldwide increasing. Access the paper: Knop E., Zoller L., Ryser R., Gerpe Ch., Hörler M.,
Fontaine C. (2017)
Artificial light at night as a new threat to pollination. Nature,
02. August 2017, doi:10.1038/nature23288 Public
backs call for continued investment in the countryside
- CLA More than eight out of 10 people (84%) think the Government should
spend money on preserving and managing the countryside. The findings were revealed by a poll of more than 1,500 people
undertaken by YouGov for the CLA. In addition, the poll showed that 61%
of the public think that the current spend of £3bn per year is either
the right amount of public money to spend on it (40%) or too little
(21%). Just over a quarter (27%) said the landscape was the
feature they most enjoy about visiting the countryside and just under
half (44%) knew that farmers and landowners are responsible for managing
it. A total of 42% of people surveyed thought food production should be
one of the top priorities for government investment in the countryside
with flood management, enhancing wildlife and planting trees coming
close behind. The CLA is running a campaign, The Countryside Matters, which aims to
unite people who love the countryside and believe investing in it should
remain a national priority for the UK Government. CLA President Ross Murray said: “It is reassuring to see that the
countryside matters to so many of the Great British public. Our survey
has shown a ringing endorsement of how important investing in the
countryside is so that we can continue to eat nutritious and wholesome
food, breathe clean air and enjoy a rich diversity of wildlife. (Full results to be published this weekend)
Scotland’s coastline at risk, New mapping tool highlights threat to
coastline - Scottish Government Nearly a fifth of Scotland’s coastline is at risk of erosion,
threatening some of the country’s most prized land and infrastructure
within the next 30 years. The potentially devastating effects of climate change and coastal
erosion came to light after experts from the Scottish Government,
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the University of Glasgow studied
coastlines dating back to the 1890s, to plan for the future of
Scotland’s coastal landscape. The ‘Dynamic Coast: Scotland’s National Coastal Change Assessment’
(NCCA) tool uses more than 2,000 maps and one million data points to
make its predictions. It identifies past erosion and growth rates, and
projects the data forward to show the potential change to Scotland’s
coastline. Speaking at the launch of Dynamic Coast in St Andrews, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Since the 1970s the rates of coastal erosion has doubled, and that pace will not slow down anytime soon. In fact, it will probably get worse and faster. The Dynamic Coast tool is a great new innovation that could help protect existing infrastructure and heritage sites from significant environmental change and damage. More than 9,000 buildings, 500 kilometres of road, 60 kilometres of rail track, 300 kilometres of water supply lines and vital airports runways, such as Islay, are protected by natural defences; however some of these already face serious damage and it’s vital that local authorities, transport agencies and other planning bodies investigate how they can work together to manage coastal change before it’s too late. Tools such as this will enable them to do just that.”
Scientific publications Nedelc, S. L. et al
Motorboat
noise disrupts co-operative interspecific interactions. Scientific
Reports 7, Article number: 6987(2017) doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06515-2 Wood, K.A. et al (2017)
Apparent survival of an Arctic-breeding migratory bird over 44 years of
fluctuating population size. IBIS. DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12521
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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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Estate
programme, will empower local councils to release their unused or
surplus land for housing. This will help to meet the Government’s
ambition to unlock enough council-owned land for at least 160,000 homes
by 2020.
wildlife.
They
found that in many parts of the world, it is even possible to reduce the
economic damage from river floods in the future to below today’s levels,
even when climate change, growing populations, and urbanisation are
taken into account.
(Zoological
Society of London), the University of Cambridge and CABI, the
international research shows that despite their effectiveness, these
areas could be compromised in future, as climate change impacts the
range of increasing numbers of species. 
Hen
Harrier chicks in Northumberland (image: Northumberland NPA)
Adonis
blue butterfly (image: University of York)
If
you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise, no not
teddy bears but Gruffalos!
The
Gruffalo Spotters campaign was launched in February 2017 at FC sites
across England and was delivered as a partnership between Forestry
Commission England and Magic Light Pictures. The campaign uses the
Gruffalo Spotter, an augmented reality app, to bring the Gruffalo and
other characters from the bestselling children’s book to life along an
interactive walking trail. The app and trail provide a unique
opportunity to engage visitors with the outdoors, providing learning
messages about the forests and the habitats within them in a fun and
innovative new way.
This
year, nine chicks have fledged from four nests including Archer from
Nest 3, who is officially the 50th bird to take its first flight at
Kielder.
(image:
Chris Godfrey)
Nocturnal
flower visitor on thistle: Beetle actively moving on the cabbage thistle
(Cirsium oleraceum) during night. Nocturnal pollination of the cabbage
thistle was disrupted by artificial light at night, leading to a reduced
fruit set. © UniBE/Eva Knop
