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Headlines from week beginning 2 December 2019 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Helvellyn Assessors celebrate ‘White Friday’ winter season launch
- Lake District National Park While many people were looking for Black Friday's deals, the Lake
District’s three Fell Top Assessors are hoping for some of the white
stuff. At the 2019 winter season launch on Friday (29 Nov), the National
Park’s newest Fell Top Assessor, Wes Hunter, joined colleagues Jon
Bennett and Zac Poulton as they kicked off their daily ascent of
Helvellyn to bring the popular ‘boots on the ground’ reports for outdoor
enthusiasts. Wes can’t wait to get started in his new role which will see him or
one of his colleagues ascend to the summit of Helvellyn to take
condition readings which, coupled with Met Office data, will provide the
Lake District’s walkers and climbers with advice on how to summit
safely. The team does this each day between now and April including
Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Fell Top Assessor’s reports are published daily on
www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk and the Assessors also use
@lakesweather on Twitter
to communicate with their 13,000 followers. Throughout the season the
team also gives invaluable insights into their recommended equipment and
safety skills and provides details of how you can join them for a winter
skills course. Now in its 32nd year the Lake District National Park’s team of Fell
Top Assessor provides this invaluable safety service daily. The team,
who is sponsored by Mountain Hardware, Julbo, La Sportiva and Petzl,
also provides small group and one-to-one winter skills courses to ensure
people are as prepared as they can be for the fells during the winter.
CNPA considers climate emergency as snow cover report is published
- Cairngorms National Park Biodiversity loss, disruption to water supplies and flooding are just
some of the global challenges that are likely to be caused by rising
temperatures – and the Cairngorms National Park is not immune. However,
the Park is well placed to help tackle the climate emergency through
nature based solutions according to a paper going before the Cairngorms
National Park Authority (CNPA) board on Friday (6th December).
Furthermore, a new study looking at temperature trends and snow cover
in the Park is published today (Monday 2 December) which models possible
future changes to snow cover caused by climate change on the sub-arctic
high mountains of the Cairngorms National Park. Chief Executive of the CNPA, Grant Moir will present the paper titled
‘Net Zero with Nature’ to the board on Friday, outlining where the
organisation and the Park should be focusing efforts to contribute to
the Scottish Government’s 2045 net zero greenhouse gas emissions target.
At the same time, board members will consider the ‘Snow Cover and
Climate Change in the Cairngorms National Park’ report. Commissioned by the CNPA and ClimateXChange – Scotland’s centre of
expertise connecting climate change research and policy – the snow cover
report suggests that in the next ten years, snow cover patterns may
remain the same as the previous ten years, but from 2030 onwards there
is likely to be a substantial decline in the number of days of snow
cover. To read the board paper ‘Net Zero with Nature’
please click here. To read ‘Snow Cover and Climate Change in the
Cairngorms National Park’
please click here.
Excellence in Forestry 2020 – from Wales to Northern Ireland
- Royal Forestry Society The Royal Forestry Society’s Excellence in Forestry Awards 2020 will
be reaching across the Irish Sea for the first time as they seek to
identify the very best in woodland management in Northern Ireland, the
Isle of Man and Wales. Urging owners and managers of woods of all sizes and those running
woodland education and learning projects to take part, Excellence in
Forestry Awards co-ordinator Rachel Thomas says: “At a time when we hear
a lot about the need to plant new trees to combat climate change, it is
equally important that we manage our existing woods to optimise their
benefits for climate change, rural economies and health and wellbeing.
We know there are many fine woods and forests in Wales, Northern Ireland
and the Isle of Man and we want to be able to shout about them. These
awards will throw a spotlight on those who are achieving the very best,
helping to share and promote best practice.” There are five categories:
Deadline for entries is Tuesday 3 March 2020, judging will be held in May with an awards event in July. Full details are available here
There’s no arguing that the British do love to be beside the seaside
- RSPB But our addiction to plastic is polluting our gorgeous Great British
coasts- with devastating effects for wildlife. This week the RSPB launched an ambitious partnership with
world-leading household cleaning manufacturer SC Johnson to help clean
up 50 beaches and stop the plastic pollution cycle with an educational
programme. SC Johnson will fund
Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally every year,
according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,
with at least 8 million tons ending up in the ocean. The impact on the
marine environment is horrifying with ingestion, suffocation and
entanglement causing the death of millions of marine wildlife each year.
Seabirds, whales, fish and turtles all mistake plastic waste for prey
with many dying of starvation as their stomachs are filled with plastic.
They also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim
and internal injuries. To find out more about taking part in a beach clean up contact jack.taylor@rspb.org.uk or visit the project pages on the RSPB website.
Report finds SNH nature reserves generate £28m in benefits
– Scottish Natural Heritage
Nature reserves owned by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) generate
£28m worth of climate, tourism, recreation, and health benefits a year,
research published today (Tuesday 3 December) reveals. The report – the first of its kind produced by a public body in
Scotland – measures the value of the natural capital of the 56,000ha of
land owned and managed by SNH, which is mainly comprised of National
Nature Reserves (NNRs). Natural capital is the stock of Scotland’s plants, wildlife, air,
water, and land providing benefits to the people and businesses across
the country. Assessing the monetary value of natural capital is one way
to show how nature provides many benefits to everyone in their everyday
lives. Using the natural capital approach to understand nature’s wider
benefits can in turn help businesses and other organisations make more
informed decisions based on a broader picture which includes the
environment. The report’s calculations include volunteers contributing 4,659 days
of work (£421k); SNH land sequestering carbon, mainly through its
woodland and saltmarsh habitats (£2m) and air quality filtration
benefits (£73k). Other benefits valued in the report include food,
education, renewable energy production, and health and well-being. Annual management costs were estimated at £3.5million, which means we
estimate the benefits of SNH land outweigh the costs by eight to one.
The true capital benefits may be much higher, however, as it isn’t
currently possible to measure other advantages, such as water quality,
mental health benefits and flood risk mitigation. SNH Chief Executive Francesca Osowska said: “This innovative report
vividly illustrates that our nature reserves are providing an
outstanding return on investment of time, money and resources.”
Time to plant – and harvest – more trees –
Policy Exchange All political parties agree that the UK needs more trees, but
stimulating markets to support forestry and supporting sustainable wood
use also needs to be part of land policy after Brexit, argues a new
paper from Policy Exchange’s award-winning Energy and Environment unit. Bigger
Better Forests sets out how, once the UK is free of the Common
Agricultural Policy, woodland can be restored to its central role in
land use and land management policy. Policy Exchange proposes a ‘Forest of Britain’, connecting Land’s End
to John O’Groats via Wales, as a lasting monument to mark the Queen’s
platinum jubilee in 2022. This would be a two mile wide corridor
connecting conservation sites along the country to raise the profile of
woodlands, containing 300 million trees. In a Foreword, former BBC broadcaster and tree lover John Humphrys
writes: “We all want to see more trees in our not-sufficiently-green and
pleasant land. The scientific case is unanswerable. The brutal reality
is that those who own the most land in this country need incentives to
grow trees in the numbers that are needed, which is where this report
may prove so valuable. As it makes clear, most land managers think
forestry is simply not worth the effort. What this report suggests is
not rewilding, but the development of farm woodlands and agroforestry as
a central plan of our agricultural policy. Trees can be used to
protect soil and grazing livestock from wind and rain. Orchards can be
integrated with arable crops so one patch of land produces more food and
more profit. And much more public good. It is not so very long ago that
we regarded our home-grown woodland as a great natural resource. We must
do so again. We must reduce our dependence on imported timber and give
farmers the incentive they need to see their woodland for what it is: a
potentially great natural asset.”
Harbour porpoise calves exposed to neurotoxic PCBs in mothers’ milk
– ZSL
A harbour porpoise ready for postmortem at ZSL
Copyright: CSIP-ZSL Harbour porpoise calves around the UK are carrying a more neurotoxic
cocktail of PCBs than their mothers, as females unknowingly detoxify
themselves by transferring the chemicals while feeding their young, new
research reveals today. Published in the Science of the Total Environment today (Tuesday 3
December 2019) and led by Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme
(CSIP) scientists from international conservation charity ZSL
(Zoological Society of London) and Brunel University London, the study
shows that the 209 variants of PCBs have varied levels of persistence in
marine mammals, with some types of the chemicals proving less toxic and
more efficiently metabolised than others throughout an animal’s
lifetime. Critically however, the most persistent toxins remain in a mother’s
body until they are transferred to infants during lactation – exposing
their young to dangerous doses of the chemical pollutants, that are
particularly toxic during brain development. PCBs were once used in the likes of electrical equipment, surface
coatings and paints back in the mid-1980s, before being banned across
Europe due to their toxic effects on both people and wildlife. However,
the group of persistent toxic chemicals continues to enter the marine
environment through terrestrial run off, dredging and atmospheric
transport, resulting in a complex mixture of the chemicals entering the
food chain. Access the paper: R. S. Williams, D. J.
Curnick, J. L. Barber, A. Brownlow, N. J, Davidson, R. Deaville. M.
Perkins, S. Jobling, P. D. Jepson (2019)
Juvenile harbour porpoises in the UK are exposed to a more neurotoxic
mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls than adults. Science of the
Total Environment. (open access) DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134835
Almost 1000 squirrel sightings reported in one week during national survey
- Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has published the results of this
year’s Great Scottish Squirrel Survey, when over 600 people reported 828
sightings in just one week. The results will enhance conservationists’
understanding of squirrel populations across Scotland.
Dr Mel Tonkin, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels Project Manager said:
“Sightings records give us a good indication of how red and grey
squirrel populations are distributed. Monitoring changes in these
populations over time helps us understand the situation and make better
conservation decisions. “We’d like to thank everyone who took the time
to get outdoors and take part in the survey” The results map shows that red squirrels are still widespread across
the north of the country, with a large number of sightings reported in
Scotland’s Central Lowlands to the north of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In
the North East, the only grey squirrel sightings were concentrated in
Aberdeen. Targeted control work has significantly reduced this
population in recent years, and efforts have been rewarded with
increasingly frequent red squirrel sightings in city locations such as
Duthie Park and Aberdeen University. The majority of grey squirrel sightings during the Great Scottish
Squirrel Survey came from the Central Belt, especially the two major
cities, but were also scattered northwards across Tayside and much of
the south of Scotland. However, the National Lottery-funded project
appears to be making good progress in its ambition to maintain Loch
Lomond and the Trossachs National Park as a ‘red only’ zone, with work
in the wider Stirling area also beginning to having a positive impact. The concentration of red squirrel sightings interspersed with fewer
grey squirrel records across Stirling and Tayside supports the project’s
assessment that concerted control efforts by project staff, landowners
and volunteers is helping to boost red squirrel numbers across the
region.
Future Trees Trust announced today the publishing of the 'Where we
are with Elm' review. Future Trees Trust funded Karen Russell, an independent woodland
management and tree improvement consultant who has spent 25+ years
specialising in broadleaved trees. Karen is also a Future Trees Trust
Secretary for the Cherry and Sweet Chestnut species groups. Karen Russell gathered the information relating to the use of elm,
plant collections, trials, breeding work, mature trees and population
locations plus research from a wide range of individuals and
organisations. Most were predominately located in England and
contributed freely to this project. Discussions with the key private
individuals and the Conservation Foundation, Woodland Trust, Royal
Botanic Gardens Kew and Forest Research determined the interests,
strengths and opportunities for collaboration plus priorities for
further work. Karen said: “‘In undertaking this project, it has become very
apparent to me that elm, as a tree and for its timber, is held in great
regard. It was our second most important timber broadleaf tree after
oak. Elm still supports a wide range of biodiversity. By working
together to promote the use of elm, and to understand why some trees are
able to avoid or resist Dutch Elm Disease, private individuals and
organisations now have a great opportunity to enable the return of elm
to our countryside and communities’.
Celebrating the champions of Scottish Nature
- Scottish Natural Heritage Last night the winners of the Nature of Scotland
Awards 2019 were announced by Gordon Buchanan. RSPB Scotland and co-sponsor Scottish Natural Heritage were proud
to celebrate some of the people and projects from across the country
that are doing their best to save nature, at the eighth annual Nature of
Scotland Awards. The awards presentation was held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in
Edinburgh, hosted by wildlife cameraman and TV presenter Gordon Buchanan
and BBC Scotland radio and TV presenter Euan McIlwraith. The beautiful
trophies were designed by Bryony Knox and sponsored by Turcan Connell. The evening highlighted how dedicated the people of Scotland
are to helping wildlife and looking after the country’s unique and
special places. Nine awards were presented to passionate
and inspiring projects, including a school of conservation in Glasgow, a
community of nature-based enterprises in Perth and Kinross, and a
Scotland-wide marine citizen science project now in its third decade! The full list of winners:
The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Simon Pepper OBE for
his incredible contributions to nature and wildlife throughout his
lifetime.
Lights on fishing nets save turtles and dolphins
- University of Exeter Placing lights on fishing nets reduces the chances of sea turtles and
dolphins being caught by accident, new research shows.
A green turtle caught in a fishing net (image
credit: ProDelphinus) The study, by the University of Exeter and Peruvian conservation
organisation ProDelphinus, looked at small-scale vessels departing from
three Peruvian ports between 2015 and 2018, and found the lights didn’t
reduce the amount of fish caught from “target species” (ie what the
fishers wanted to catch). The findings support previous research which suggested LED lights
reduce bycatch of seabirds in gillnets by about 85%. Gillnets, which can be either anchored or move with the ocean
currents, are designed to entangle or snare fish by the gills, and are
the largest component of small-scale fisheries in many countries. “Gillnet fisheries often have high bycatch rates of threatened marine
species such as sea turtles, whales, dolphins and seabirds,” said lead
author Alessandra Bielli, who carried out analyses as part of her
masters research at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter’s
Penryn Campus in Cornwall. The researchers placed lights every 10m along the float line of 864
gillnets, pairing each with an unlit net to compare the results.
Nature campaign raises £9,413 for rare butterflies on
Dartmoor
Rare butterflies in Dartmoor National Park will benefit from £9,413 of funding thanks to the ‘Give Nature a Break’ campaign by Forest Holidays and UK National Parks.
New National Park ‘Ambassador’ centres are bringing the story of the Peak District to life for the region’s young people - Peak District National Park A range of outdoor activity, education and residential centres from
around the region have become Peak District National Park ‘Ambassador
Centres’. The new partnership agreements between the National Park Authority
and centres based in around the Peak District, deliver a commitment for
youngsters to learn more about the UK’s original National Park, how to
care for it and how to inspire others about the area’s special
qualities. Alongside showcasing the National Park to diverse audiences, centres
with ambassador status will also improve their own environmental
credentials around aspects such as use of plastics and renewable energy. Nottinghamshire County Council’s St Michael’s Environmental Education
Centre, in Hathersage, is the first to become an Ambassador Centre for
the Peak District National Park. It has been providing high quality
outdoor learning experiences for primary school children for over 34
years. More
information about our Ambassador Centres here.
Neath community reach for their spades to help tackle the climate
emergency! Back in June this year the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) launched
ambitious plans to create 165 acres of new native woodland on land above
Gnoll Country Park in Neath. Five months later, following a successful
fundraising appeal, the first trees were planted at the site on Saturday
30 November.
The 150,000 native trees that the Woodland Trust eventually hopes to
plant at Brynau will buffer and protect the small area of ancient wood
that already exists there, linking it to the surrounding landscape with
new hedges, and of course fighting the effects of climate change by
purifying the air, locking up carbon and soaking up excess water which
would otherwise run down the hills and contribute to flooding risk in
Neath below. The tree planting the Trust aims to undertake across the
whole site would capture over 23,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and lock
up the carbon in their wood. Another, novel element of the plan is that parts of the land are now
being grazed by a small herd of seven heritage Welsh White cattle, an
ancient breed. They will play a key role in increasing the biodiversity
of the site, by helping to establish and maintain areas of wood pasture
beneficial to lower plant life species. Brynau Wood will become their
main home.
Leading Edge: Countryside Rangers - Maximising inclusiveness in events
and nature spaces for mental health benefits
- Scottish Natural Heritage Sharing Good
Practice (SGP)
https://www.nature.scot/leading-edge-countryside-rangers-maximising-inclusiveness-events-and-nature-spaces-mental-health The mental health benefits of being outdoors and connecting with
nature are increasingly well recognised. To ensure that everyone is able
to access and enjoy the outdoors, we need to consider different needs
and provide appropriate adjustments and support for those who need it. This Sharing Good Practice event looked at maximising inclusiveness
in outdoor events and nature spaces to enable everyone to participate
and experience mental health benefits. It was a fully participative day
of sharing ideas, techniques, experiences and opportunities for working
with people with various mental health problems.
Click through to watch a clip of the World Economic Forum - Green
Health film, presentations and download documents from presentations and
workshops. Scientific Publications Robin Reid, Paul F. Haworth, Alan H. Fielding & D. Philip Whitfield
(2019)
Spatial distribution of undulating flight displays of territorial Golden
Eagles Aquila chrysaetos in Lewis, Scotland, Bird Study,
DOI: 10.1080/00063657.2019.1693963 Jonathan Lewis-Phillips, Stephen J. Brooks, Carl D. Sayer, Rachel
McCrea, Gavin Siriwardena, Hannah Robson, Anne L. Harrison & Jan C.
Axmacher (2019)
Seasonal benefits of farmland pond management for birds, Bird Study,
DOI: 10.1080/00063657.2019.1688762
Salinas-Ramos, V.B., Ancillotto, L., Bosso, L., Sánchez-Cordero, V.
and Russo, D. (2019),
Interspecific competition in bats: state of knowledge and research
challenges. Mam Rev. doi:10.1111/mam.12180 Anthony Caravaggi, Sandra Irwin, John Lusby, Marc Ruddock, Lorcán
O’Toole, Allan Mee, Tony Nagle, Shane O’Neill, David Tierney, Alan
McCarthy & John O’Halloran (2019)
Factors influencing Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus territory site
selection and breeding success, Bird Study, DOI:
10.1080/00063657.2019.1692778
Smith, T, Beagley, L, Bull, J, et al.
Biodiversity means business: Reframing global biodiversity goals for the
private sector. Conservation Letters. 2019;e12690. doi:
10.1111/conl.12690 (open access)
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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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Loch
Morlich (Image: CNPA)
Beinn
Eighe NNR - credit SNH-Lorne Gill-CSIP-ZSL.jpg)
New ZSL study reveals mothers detoxify themselves by passing on
most neurotoxic PCBs through lactation.
The
campaign, which ran from 23 – 29 September, encouraged the Scottish
public to spend some time exploring the outdoors while keeping a lookout
for both red and grey squirrels. Sightings were reported on the project
website.
'Where We Are With Elm’ Review Released
LED
lights along the top of floating gillnets cut accidental “bycatch” of
sea turtles by more than 70%, and that of small cetaceans (including
dolphins and porpoises) by more than 66%.
(image:
Dartmoor National Park)
Neath
people reach for their spades to help tackle the climate crisis.
