|
|
|
||||||
|
Headlines from week beginning 2 November 2015 |
|
A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Heritage Lottery Fund announces latest round
of funding in the Landscape partnership programme. HLF’s Landscape Partnership programme – which has now been running
for over a decade - is the most significant grant scheme available for
landscape-scale projects. To date, £177m has been invested in 99
different areas across the UK helping forge new partnerships between
public and community bodies and ensuring people are better equipped to
understand and tackle the needs of their local landscapes. Over its
life-span, the LP programme has helped repair over 100 km of dry stone
walls, enabled 810,000 people to participate in learning activities and
helped more than 45,000 volunteers get involved – the equivalent of
64,000 working hours.The next closing date for LP applications is 1 June
2016 for decisions in October 2016.
£6m National Lottery win for Welsh landscapes Three of Wales’s most distinctive landscapes – a remote mountain
range, a windswept estuary and heather topped valleys – are set to
benefit from more than £6m worth of investment, the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) has announced. The Gwent Levels, Clwydian Range and Dee Valley, and the Elan Valley
are the three funding recipients. All are recognised as areas of great
beauty – and they all have the potential to use their natural landscapes
and wildlife, distinctive buildings, local traditions and stories and
even industrial archaeology to increase tourism and boost jobs through
carefully planned conservation and renovation activity. Welcoming the announcement today, the Welsh Government’s Minister for
Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant, said: “These areas are being rightly
recognised, not only for their beauty but for the significant role they
play in representing the Wales people think of and love – and come to
visit. The support awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund will allow these
areas to flourish from an environmental perspective, but the areas will
also be able to reap increased economic benefits from tourists and
business too through new jobs being created and significant training
opportunities.” Clwydian Range and Dee Valley (£1,382,300) The project centres on the landscape of the Dee Valley and the
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site, and is focussing on
the journeys that have been, and continue to be, a key feature of the
area which is cut by the canal, Telford’s A5 and the River Dee. The
five-year project will invest in key visitor sites and engage
communities living locally, while reinterpreting this rich landscape for
a new generation. Elan Links – People, Nature & Water (£1,713,300) Elan lies at the heart of the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales. Its
unique landscape combines remote hill land, isolated farmsteads,
steep-sided wooded valleys and an extraordinary feat of Victorian
engineering that brought clean water to the then rapidly expanding
industrial city of Birmingham. The project’s vision is to further
develop all aspects of this special place to benefit people, as well as
the environment itself. Living Levels Partnership (£2,865,300) The Gwent Levels is a South Wales estuarine landscape, rich in both
historical and natural heritage. Reclaimed from the sea in Roman times,
the land is a criss-crossed network of fertile fields and historic
watercourses, known locally as reens. This unassuming yet appealing
landscape of high skies and low horizons lends it its status as one of
the finest examples of a ‘natural’ landscape really crafted by people in
Europe; and one of the largest tracts of bio-diverse wet grassland left
in the UK. Living Levels formally brings together like-minded
stakeholders to work together to collectively restore, enhance and
protect the historic area for all to enjoy.
£7.5million to care for Scottish landscapes Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced almost £7.5million
investment in three large-scale Scottish landscapes from the remotest
islands of Orkney to the rivers of Galloway. The North Isles in Orkney, Callander’s Pass on the eastern edge of
the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park and the Galloway Glens
will benefit from this major funding package which is set to impact on
916 sq km of countryside while providing training for over 260 people,
full time jobs for 13 people and a further 310 volunteering places. Today’s awards brings HLF’s total investment in land and biodiversity
projects in Scotland to over £150million helping to conserve key
habitats, save rare species and reconnect communities with the natural
heritage on their doorstep. Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Food and the Environment, Richard
Lochhead, said: "These three large-scale landscapes are amongst the most
iconic in Scotland and it is great to see that £7.5million has been
awarded to allow these important and ambitious projects to be realised. North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme, Orkney £2,998,600 including £169,400 development grant The Landscape Partnership will protect and celebrate this rich
natural heritage in a way which helps support the fragile island
communities, encouraging young people to stay and work on the islands.
Orkney College will be involved in providing training while a new
heritage trail and interpretation will encourage visitors to the
archipelago. Callander’s Pass – Mind the Gap – Loch Lomond & The Trossachs
National Park, Scotland £1,551,200, including £119,600 development funding Ambitious plans in this community-led project include transforming
the town of Callander into the 'Outdoor Capital of the National Park',
developing both cultural and natural heritage, creating a cycling and
walking network and enhancing visitor interpretation to encourage people
to make the most of getting active in the outdoors. Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership £2,915,700 including £185,500 development funding The Landscape Partnership will work with communities in conserving
and restoring this fragile landscape. Practical works will allow fish to
negotiate the power station, peatland will be restored and forestry
restructured. There will be training for 16-24 year-olds in heritage and
business skills while local businesses will be trained in promoting
nature-based tourism.
Lough Erne to receive £2.9million National Lottery funding boost Heritage Lottery Fund to support preservation of uniquely beautiful
Fermanagh Lakelands. Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has granted over £2.9million to preserve
and enhance one of Northern Ireland’s greatest natural treasures, Lough
Erne, Co Fermanagh. The money is to go to the Lough Erne Landscape Partnership which is
led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It will be
used to conserve at risk heritage buildings; to preserve and improve
wildlife species and their habitats and to better manage a 500 square
kilometre area of Fermanagh’s famous Lakelands.
Future of Northumbria’s frontier landscape secures National Lottery
support Immortalised in the Border Ballads, home to the famed Border Reivers
and key military site since Roman times – the Redesdale landscape is a
step closer towards major National Lottery investment. Today fewer than 2,000 people live here, the economy is facing
problems and the landscape’s incredible heritage is largely overlooked. Natural England has set out to change that. Its Revitalising
Redesdale scheme has just gained support from the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HLF) as well as a grant of £115,700 to develop the project and apply
for a full sum of £1.8m through HLF’s Landscape Partnerships scheme.
Nearly 1,600ha of land will be restored; plans will be put in place with
farmers to reduce silt build up, pollution and riverbank erosion in the
River Rede and 50 volunteers will help to monitor and tackle non-native
invasive species. Built heritage will also benefit thanks to repairs and
management plans for Scheduled Ancient Monuments and listed buildings.
The project aims to reconnect people with the landscape’s heritage.
Those who currently just pass through will be encouraged to become
visitors with an awareness and engagement programme to tell the frontier
story. Residents and land managers will receive training and new
business and training opportunities will be developed.
Broads Landscape Partnership secures £2.6m from Heritage Lottery Fund
- Broads Authority The Broads Landscape Partnership has received an earmarked grant¹ of
£2.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its Landscape
Partnership (LP) programme² for the Water, Mills and Marshes project, it
was announced today. The project aims to enrich and promote heritage sites in the area
between Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Acle and Loddon, unlock the
benefits of this distinctive landscape for local people and give them
the skills to protect it as a legacy for future generations. Development funding of £226,000 has also been awarded to help the
partnership progress its plans to apply for a full grant at a later
date. Work on the development phase will begin this year while the
second round is scheduled for 2017. Fifty-five organisations will then
be involved in implementing 38 individual projects over a five-year
delivery phase. The project will be worth a total of £4.5m including
match funding.
More training opportunities for biodiversity volunteers
- Field Studies Council Field Studies Council (FSC) has secured support from the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF) to start expanding its highly regarded biodiversity
training work across a new region. It has received ‘earmarked funding’
for a £1.2m bid from HLF for the BioLinks project. The project will provide more taxonomic training for underrepresented
species, especially those difficult to identify. It will support,
signpost and mentor volunteers to help them become more proficient
biological recorders. BioLinks aims to ‘link together’ volunteers so they can help mentor
and support each other and link together the existing volunteers and
those involved professionally in natural history. FSC has been providing volunteer training in biological recording for
many years and has learnt how to effectively support people, helping
them to become more confident and competent so they are able to provide
more accurate and validated biological information. An HLF development
grant of £41,000 will help FSC to prepare to deliver this work in a new
area. London and the South East has been chosen because of the number of
active biological organisations in the region. FSC aims to involve existing and new biological recorders in the
project, hoping to extend not only the number of active natural history
observers but also increase their age range and diversity. The
Development work will get underway in January 2016 and towards the end
of the year FSC will prepare its final application for the full £1.2m
grant.
in other news:
All Welsh waters reach tough new EU standards
- Welsh Government New EU water bathing results published today show all identified
bathing waters in Wales have met new stricter European classifications
for bathing water quality. A new system for testing bathing water across all EU member states
has been introduced in 2015 which aims to improve bathing waters across
the EU. 82 of the 102 bathing waters in Wales achieved the higher
classification of excellent, with 16 achieving good and 4 sufficient. No
Welsh bathing water was classed as poor. Welcoming the results, Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant said:
“One of the biggest attractions for the millions of tourists coming to
Wales every year is our beautiful coastline. By meeting these tough new
EU classifications all visitors to the Welsh seaside can enjoy the high
bathing water quality they have come to expect when visiting Wales. We
now need to keep up the high standards that have been set so we can all
continue to enjoy the environmental, social and economic benefits our
bathing waters bring.” The bathing water statistics in Wales are taken from samples taken by
Natural Resources Wales at regular intervals during the bathing season
(15 May to 30 September) and are verified by the European Commission.
There are currently 102 identified bathing waters in Wales
Bumper breeding season at Belfast Lough -
RSPB Northern Ireland It’s been another successful breeding season for threatened birds at
RSPB Northern Ireland’s Belfast Harbour nature reserve, according to new
figures.
This summer the charity carried out surveys across all three sites it
manages in the bustling Belfast Harbour Estate, including the recently
refurbished Window on Wildlife (WOW). These revealed that breeding
wader species, including lapwings, redshanks and snipe, were all present
on the reserve – indicating that the hungry konik ponies, who munch the
landscape into ideal habitat for these birds, are continuing to do an
excellent job! Meanwhile terns and gulls flocked to the man-made rafts on the
lagoon. Up to 500 pairs of black-headed gulls were recorded alongside
344 pairs of common terns and 83 pairs of arctic terns. It was good news
too for black guillemots, as more than 20 birds were spotted on Belfast
Lough adjacent to the lagoon at Belfast WOW. Sadly, black guillemot
numbers have declined in recent years and they are now amber-listed (of
medium conservation concern) in the UK and Ireland, making their
presence at Belfast Lough all the more important. Other species recorded during the comprehensive surveys included duck
species like teal and shoveler, as well as ‘garden birds’ like goldfinch
and robins. Peter Harper, RSPB NI’s Sea Loughs and Islands area manager,
commented: “I’m delighted to see that Belfast Lough continues to be a
great place for birds from all over the world to make their homes. “Now,
thanks to the major refurbishment that has taken place, Belfast’s Window
on Wildlife is an even better place for people to get close to
wildlife.”
American invaders in Lincolnshire - Buglife
The 4-5cm Gulf wedge clam (Rangia cuneata), is native to the Gulf of
Mexico and had never been recorded in Britain until now. The discovery
was made by expert Dr Martin Willing, Conservation Officer for the
Conchological Society,
whilst undertaking monitoring of a rare mussel in the River Witham for
Buglife and
Natural England. The species was discovered in large numbers
in South Forty Foot Drains which lead into the River Witham in Boston,
Lincolnshire. Dr Martin Willing said “Based on the size of the clam shells we think
the Lincolnshire population was probably established at least 5-6 years
ago. Interestingly these species are usually found in brackish (slightly
salty) water but on this occasion they were in freshwater.” Dr Sarah Henshall, Buglife’s Lead Ecologist said “This discovery
comes within a month of Buglife publishing an
eight prong strategy for freshwater invertebrates, one of which is
improving biosecurity, eradication and mitigation measures because of
the extreme vulnerability of freshwater species and habitats to damage
from invasive non-native species. There is an urgent need to establish the full extent of Gulf wedge
clam presence in Lincolnshire. Experts will use scientific techniques
to more accurately assess the origin and date of arrival of this
non-native species.
SNH outlines volunteer action in drive to manage stoats on Orkney Further action to tackle the problem of non-native stoats on Orkney
has been outlined by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). A report commissioned by SNH highlighted the impact stoats have on
the ecology of Orkney threatening native wildlife. The presence of the
non-native mammal particularly affects Orkney vole, and the hen harriers
and short-eared owls which predate the vole. Stoats are well-established on the Orkney mainland and linked isles.
Sightings reported to SNH have increased from 290 in 2014 to 470 in
2015. Eventual eradication of stoats from Orkney is expected to cost at
least £500,000 over four to five years, and will require development of
a large-scale partnership project. This is dependent on external
funding. Priority now is control of numbers in the parts of Orkney in which
stoats are established and to minimise risk of spread to other islands
in Orkney, for example in shipments of straw and hay for overwintering
cattle. A single pregnant female has potential to enable stoats to
become established. Graham Neville, Northern Isles operations manager, said: “We are
committed to tackling the issue of stoats in Orkney and are setting up a
full-scale eradication project with a view to bid for external funding. “Our priority is the control of the population and distribution of
stoats in Orkney. Everyone can be assured that animal welfare is our top
priority and is central to the project. Any animal caught will be
handled and dispatched in a humane and legal manner. And we are
extremely grateful for the wealth of expertise that our volunteers are
able to offer to assist with this.” Rachel Cartwright has been appointed to the Orkney stoat project team as co-ordinator of volunteer trappers’ work. This dedicated team of trappers is working hard to limit the threat posed by stoats to wildlife and domestic poultry.
Rare breeding bird found at Scottish nature reserve for first time in
decades - RSPB
A bird which is extremely rare in Scotland, and the rest of the UK,
has bred at RSPB Scotland’s Balranald nature reserve in North Uist for
the first time in 31 years. Red-necked phalaropes are delicate wading birds that are well-known
for their reversed sexual roles in which the small, drab male is solely
responsible for incubating eggs and caring for the chicks. Phalaropes migrate to the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland
during the summer. However, they disappeared completely from the Uists
as a breeding bird in the mid-1980s. Now a survey, carried out this
year, has found a breeding pair at Balranald. Jamie Boyle, RSPB Scotland’s Balranald Site Manager, said: “Balranald
is already a fantastic place for wildlife with its corncrakes, bees and
waders but to have the phalaropes back this year made it extra special
and I hope to see them return next year.” Red-necked phalaropes are doing well elsewhere in Scotland too, with
record numbers counted in two locations. Shetland is the UK stronghold
for breeding phalaropes, particularly the island of Fetlar where RSPB
Scotland manages wetlands for these birds. The number of breeding males on the reserve has increased from only
six in 2008 to 36 in 2015; equalling the highest number that has ever
been recorded on the reserve. Shetland as a whole was home to a total of
60 breeding phalarope males this year – 20 more than the previous record
of 40 in 1996.
Every Child Wild: Making nature part of growing up - for all children
– The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts launch new initiative to make ‘Every Child Wild’. Evidence has been growing for a number of years pointing to the array
of health and social benefits to be derived from contact with the
natural world for all ages. However, results from a new YouGov poll,
commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, highlight the discrepancy between
what parents think is best for children and what they actually
experience. The Wildlife Trusts, who reach around half a million children each
year through their junior membership and work with schools, are
concerned about a loss of contact with wildlife during childhood.
Despite the fundamental importance of nature to childhood the signs are
that a generation of children is growing up at arm’s-length from the
natural world. Children’s freedom to roam and time spent outdoors has
shrunk disconnected from nature and with it their opportunities to
discover wildlife, with just one in ten ever playing in wild places. Our new poll shows that: 91% of parents of children aged 18 and under think that having access
to nature and wildlife is important for children, yet 78% of parents are concerned that children don’t spend enough time
interacting with nature and wildlife Sir David Attenborough, President Emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts,
said: “We will be physically, mentally and spiritually impoverished if
our children are deprived of contact with the natural world. Contact
with nature should not be the preserve of the privileged. It is critical
to the personal development of our children.” However, a generation of children is growing up disconnected from
nature, with just one in ten ever playing in wild places. The Wildlife
Trusts reach around half a million children each year, many with outdoor
experiences through their school, but we are concerned that many more
children are not getting the chance to get close to wildlife.
CS scheme 'too complex' - survey reveals – National Farmers Union
Farmers and growers say the new agri-environment scheme in this country is too complex to take part in, according to a new survey by the NFU. Image: NFU The NFU is now urging the Government to undertake an urgent review of
the scheme’s implementation and to introduce a raft of changes in order
to make it more accessible to the industry. NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “This scheme is an important tool
in enabling farmers to continue to maintain and enhance biodiversity,
water, soils and to address future challenges such as climate change and
we are very clear - farmers must to be able to continue the very good
work that has been achieved in agri-environment schemes. However, final
application numbers for the scheme have confirmed the poor uptake that
we had feared. This is bitterly disappointing especially as we do not
believe it is due to lack of interest or engagement from farmers – our
survey shows that 93% were aware of the scheme and that 42% looked at it
in detail. The new scheme is simply just too complex for many.”
General licences restricted in wildlife crime hotspots
- Scottish Natural Heritage Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has restricted the use of general
licences on four properties in two wildlife crime hotspots - one in
Stirlingshire and one in the Borders - this week. The decision was made
on the basis of evidence provided by Police Scotland of wildlife crime
against birds. Nick Halfhide, SNH Director of Operations, said: "There is clear
evidence that wildlife crimes have been committed on these properties.
Because of this, and the risk of more wildlife crimes taking place, we
have suspended the general licences on these four properties for three
years. They may though still apply for individual licences, but these
will be closely monitored. This measure should help to protect wild
birds in the area, while still allowing necessary land management
activities to take place, albeit under tighter supervision. We consider
that this is a proportionate response to protect wild birds in the area
and prevent further wildlife crime." General licences allow landowners or land managers to carry out
actions which would otherwise be illegal, including controlling common
species of wild birds to protect crops or livestock. The new measure complements other recent actions to reduce wildlife
crime, including vicarious liability for offences against wild birds,
which was introduced in 2011. Restrictions will prevent people from using the general licences on
the land in question for three years. This period will increase if more
evidence of offences comes to light Reaction:
RSPB Scotland welcomes General Licence restrictions in areas of
confirmed wildlife crime Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has restricted the use of General
Licences on four properties in Scotland this week where they believe
there is sufficient evidence of crimes against birds of prey in recent
years. In response, Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management at
RSPB Scotland, said: “We welcome the continued commitment of the
Minister and Scottish Government to tackling wildlife crime, and this is
confirmation that the Open General Licence will be removed from land
where Scottish Natural Heritage is satisfied that there is sufficient
evidence of crimes against birds of prey in recent years. The use of the
Open General Licence to control what are considered by some to be “pest
species” of bird, including crows and magpies, for conservation and
other legal purposes, is a privilege and not a right. This activity is
undertaken as derogation from the provision under the European Union
Birds Directive, which affords protection to all native bird species, so
it is right that the highest standards are met.
Launch of new SNH Protected Nature Sites web tool
- Scottish Natural Heritage Information on trends affecting more than 2,000 species and 3,000
habitat features in Scotland is available on an interactive tool,
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has confirmed. The ‘Protected Nature Sites’ interactive database was launched by SNH
last week (29 October). It is a powerful new way of accessing and
viewing this wealth of information on Scotland’s Environment Web
(SEWeb). It searches through habitat type (woodland, upland,
wetlands), species (birds, plants, mammals), geographically (by local
authority, national park, or by site). And it can identify the
condition of special features, associated pressures, and underlying
trends within Scotland’s protected nature sites. SNH uses Site Condition Monitoring (SCM) as its flagship dataset to
record the condition of almost 2,000 sites of national and international
importance for wildlife and geodiversity. This technique is used
in tracking policy delivery through Scotland’s Planning Policy,
Biodiversity Strategy, Land Use Strategy and Rural Development
Programme. SCM can also inform the National Indicator in the
Scottish Government National Performance Framework and in assessing the
health of the environment, such as for Scotland’s biodiversity
assessment 2010 and to inform policy and action towards 2020. It is expected that the interactive website tool will mainly be used
by land managers and estates, and those with an interest in land
management.
Relying on voluntary measures won't solve environmental problems
- RSPB Regulations play a vital role in protecting nature and the
environment in the UK and across Europe, indicates a new RSPB report,
published today (5/11/15). However, concerns about the costs of
regulation to business have increasingly led both UK and EU policymakers
to promote the use of voluntary alternatives to regulation in seeking to
achieve environmental policy objectives. To date, a lack of evidence has hampered efforts to prove the value
of regulation when protecting wildlife and the environment. To fill this
void the RSPB has today published a new report – Using regulation as a
last resort? The report, which assesses the performance of voluntary
approaches, has reviewed the effectiveness of over 150 voluntary schemes
across a range of sectors and issues to determine how well they perform. This research shows the impact of most voluntary schemes is limited.
Over 80 per cent of schemes were found to perform poorly on at least one
key measure. The majority of schemes set unambitious targets, with many
also failing to achieve ‘unambitious’ targets. In addition, many
schemes were undermined by low rates of private sector participation and
the resultant lack of a ‘level playing field’ for those participants
seeking to improve their performance. The research found nothing to
support the claim that voluntary approaches can be an effective
alternative to regulation. The RSPB’s Donal McCarthy is the report’s lead author. He said: “Our
report is the largest assessment examining the performance of voluntary
schemes. Our findings confirm that relying on voluntary action alone is
insufficient to tackle the serious market failures that exist when
trying to curb environmental destruction and degradation. Without
environmental legislation, wildlife right across Europe would be in a
far worse state, exploited for short-term gain without proper
consideration of the long-term consequences.” A key example highlighted in the report is the voluntary ‘codes of
practice’ for tackling the spread of invasive non-native species – one
of the key threats to wildlife. These codes have consistently failed to
deliver, and new binding legislation to tackle the problem was
introduced last year. Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director concludes: “The
failure of the voluntary approach to site protection in the UK and
Europe was a key motivation underlying the introduction of the EU Birds
and Habitats Directives from the 1980s. These policies represent
the cornerstone of efforts to halt the decline of wildlife and special
places. Thanks to these vital laws, the losses of important wildlife
sites have declined dramatically. There are clear lessons from the
success of these policies that provide a robust yet flexible legal
framework for achieving sustainable development at the same time as
providing a level playing field for businesses and certainty for those
that want to do the right thing.” The report can be downloaded
here. (PDF)
Minke Whale Baby Boom? Highest number of young recorded since surveys
began - Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust
The charity’s 2015 research season also recorded the highest annual
number of common dolphin sightings since its expeditions began, with 723
individuals observed over 63 encounters. The common dolphin was once
uncommon in the Hebrides, but the trust’s encounter rate with the
species has more than doubled over the past 12 years, also for reasons
that remain unclear. While an increase in the encounter rate with young minke whales is
encouraging, there are still very serious issues regarding the
conservation of this migratory species. To the north of Scotland, both
Iceland and Norway still hunt minke whales. It remains unknown whether
or not the minke whales that swim through Scottish waters frequent the
waters where they risk being hunted. The record number of common dolphin sightings – coupled with the most
northerly sighting of the species ever recorded in September this year,
off Tromso in Norway – suggests that changes are underway within our
seas and oceans. The causes, and wider effects on the marine environment
and other species, are still unclear – underlining the importance of
on-going research.
Breaking new ground on protecting our waterways
- Natural England A ground-breaking agreement between Natural England and the Canal and
River Trust sets sail a new way of working to improve our inland
waterways.
Meeting on the banks of the scenic Pocklington Canal – the focal
point of an ambitious £460,000 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
designed to engage communities in protecting its delicate ecology and
historical features - Natural England Chief Executive James Cross and
Canal and River Trust’s (the Trust) Chief Executive Richard Parry will
sign a memorandum of understanding, cementing their mutual collaboration
to protect England’s canals and make them more accessible to the public. The Pocklington HLF bid - to be submitted in November by the Trust,
supported by Natural England and partners, will enhance and protect the
special wildlife of the canal making it more accessible to visitors.
Forty years ago the canal had declined into abandonment and disrepair,
only narrowly escaping fate as a dumping ground for treated sewage
sludge. Thanks to the work of local volunteers and campaigners it was
saved from its fate, and is now almost completely protected as a Site of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Designated for its rare aquatic
plants, breeding birds and outstanding variety of dragonfly and
damselfly, it is a success story which Natural England and the Trust
hope to replicate across the canal network – as they work together to
encourage communities to take a more active role in canal management. Natural England will now begin the process of exploring an
organisational licence for the Trust, which will allow the movement of
protected species such as water voles, bats, badgers and native crayfish
during routine canal maintenance works. Organisational licences are
awarded on the basis of ‘earned recognition’ – in this case recognising
the expertise and competence of the Trust in understanding how to avoid,
mitigate and compensate for impacts on protected species. They have the
dual function of ensuring that protected species remain safeguarded,
whilst saving the time and money associated with applying for an
individual licence every time one is required. The Trust currently holds
a similar licence to handle floating water plantain – a European
protected species. Organisational licences form part of Natural
England’s efforts to cut red tape and create a more efficient
organisation.
Short list released in 2015 UK National Parks Volunteer Awards
- National Parks A volunteer who has walked more than 172 miles in service of
Yorkshire Dales National Park, a young wheelchair user working
tirelessly to ensure access in the New Forest, and a group that has
brought together two remote communities in the Brecon Beacons. These are
just some of the inspiring stories that make up the short list for the
2015 UK National Parks Volunteer Awards. The short list was revealed today and represents just a small portion
of the hundreds upon hundreds of men and women giving their time, energy
and expertise toward protecting and enhancing the special qualities of
Britain's breathing spaces. The annual Volunteer Awards were set up to recognise the hard work of
volunteers deemed to have gone above and beyond the usual expectations
of volunteer service. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the UK's 15
National Parks, putting in thousands of hours. With so many people doing
so much, it is always challenging to put together a short list for the
awards. "Every year, we look at the Volunteer Awards short list and think,
'This is amazing. This is as good as it gets,'" said National Parks UK
Director Kathryn Cook. "Then the next year comes along, and again we are
floored by the exceptional quality of entries. All the individuals,
projects and groups nominated for this year's Volunteer Awards are truly
inspiring. Putting together the 2015 short list sparked a lot of heated
discussion amongst our short-listing panel." View this year's short list here. Scientific Publications Decker, Daniel et al
Governance Principles for Wildlife Conservation in the 21st Century.
Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12211 Mcleod, Elizabeth et al Conservation organizations need to consider adaptive capacity: why local input matters. Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12210
Gemmell, B. J., Colin, S. P., Costello, J. H. & Dabiri, J. O. (2015)
Suction-based propulsion as a basis for efficient animal swimming.
Nature Communications. doi:10.1038/ncomms9790
Kilshaw, K. et al (2015)
Mapping the spatial configuration of hybridization risk for an
endangered population of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris
silvestris) in Scotland. Mammal Research. DOI:
10.1007/s13364-015-0253-x
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
An
invasive non-native mollusc species has been discovered in a
Lincolnshire River - posing a potential threat to our native fresh and
brackish water ecosystems. The findings are published in the latest
issue of the Journal of Conchology out today (2/11).
Image credit Matthew Roberts
Sightings
of juvenile minke whales off Scotland’s west coast increased in 2015 to
the highest ever recorded within a survey season, during marine research
expeditions carried out by Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust –
indicating either a significant increase in actual numbers or an influx
of minke whales from elsewhere.
Pocklington
Canal © Christopher J Hubbard, Canal and River Trust
