BBOWT nature reserves offering haven from climate change, survey results show - BBOWT
Butterflies, birds and dormice impacted by increasing extreme weather events
The highest number of glow worms ever recorded at a nature reserve was one of the highlights of the year for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).
The Trust also saw record numbers of orchids, a rare golden hoverfly and goshawks breeding at a woodland for the first time.
However numbers of butterflies, dormice and other beloved species continued to decline and the Trust has warned people that urgent action is needed to help wildlife on our doorsteps - or it could be lost forever.
Colin Williams, Senior Ecology Officer at the Trust, said: "I am so pleased with some of the fantastic wildlife we've recorded on our nature reserves this year. Getting record numbers of glow worms or seeing new dragonflies is great - but this is almost entirely down to decades of incredible work by our staff and thousands of tireless unpaid volunteers creating robust and diverse habitats. We're also indebted to the 125 volunteers who helped us carry out this year's wildlife surveys, along with our staff and wildlife trainees – we couldn’t do what we do without them. However the wider picture for wildlife in our three counties is incredibly distressing, and nature is in crisis across our region. I've been at BBOWT for 15 years, and this has been another year that shows the sad decline of wildlife. What we are doing is slowing that decline to, hopefully, reach the point where we'll be able to reverse the damage humans have caused and start to see improvements. We're doing our best to hold onto things we still have until we can reverse those trends."
Posted On: 18/12/2023
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