Countryside Jobs Service Professional -
The leading monthly for countryside
staff across the UK
Published on the second Thursday every month
CJS is endorsed by the Scottish Countryside
Rangers Association and the Countryside Management Association
Please remember: If you are
interested in a particular advert or item please contact the advertiser,
not CJS, and remember to tell them you saw their advert in CJS
Professional.
flexibility to work from home, you should expect to work
regularly at Three Hagges Woodmeadow, Escrick, near York.
(three-year contract, with a six-month probation period)
Still very quiet on the volunteering front. But we are getting some
enquiries so now would be a good time to ensure you have a listing on
the Volunteers Directory, a simple description about your organisation
and the types of volunteering you (normally) offer can be
added free here.
See what's already listed here.
What a year it's been!Somehow another year has come and gone and once
again it's our 'official' birthday - CJS is 26 years old this month.
In January 2019 we excitedly entered our silver anniversary year
announcing a change in logo for the special year. We gave away birthday
presents and shared our birthday wishes, wrote articles about CJS,
launched a new website (a little later than planned) and opened our
first Photography Competition. I should be announcing the winners today
- but a global pandemic put paid to that! As I'm sure you'll agree the
last few months have been a rollercoaster. Even a round, spikey virus
can't keep CJS down for long and we have one or two new developments to
come before our next birthday. [more]
It's the last month for entries in our Photography Competition,
the suggested theme is Hidden Gems and the prize is a bundle of goodies
from The Mammal Society and others. [more]
And we have a winner for June, the theme was From my Window. We all agreed
that this month was the most difficult choice yet, you sent us some
amazing photos. From a shortlist of six we managed to whittle it down to
three and then ended up taking a vote which was narrowly won by this
lovely photo of a young robin waiting patiently for its turn on the fat
feeder which the photographer Adrian Button tells us is just out of
shot. [more]
Graduate and undergraduate talent is always just around the
corner with The Open UniversityBy J. Renshaw
The last few months have been tough for most organisations across
the country, and it has shown just how vital it is for the graduate
labour market to be flexible and able to adapt. Luckily, with The Open
University, your next talented recruit is always just around the corner.
[more]
We know times are tough for everyone right now so CJS want to
give every graduating student a graduation gift of a year's subscription
to CJS Weekly. [more]
Nominations for NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2020 will
close in just a few short weeks on 26 July.
The annual Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding
contributions made by individuals and groups to wildlife recording,
there are five categories. [more]
Having paused the Focus editions for this year we're
increasing the number of features and in depth articles we publish.
And we're asking you what information would you like to see in CJS?
[more] Or go straight to tell us waht you'd like
to see
here.
Furlonteer.com: the new non-profit project connecting furloughed
employees with the charities and good causes who need it most.
A brand new, organically-grown community initiative aiming to connect
people on furlough with remote volunteer opportunities for charities and
good causes. With seven in ten UK firms having furloughed staff and the
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme recently extended to the end of
October, Furlonteer.com is rapidly gaining traction. [more]
Go Jauntly launches smartphone ‘nature diary’ to boost mental
health
A free smartphone-based ‘nature prescription’ for mental health
developed by the team behind the popular walking app Go Jauntly along
with researchers at the University of Derby has been launched. [more]
Coping in the Countryside – Post Lockdown by Andy
Bloomfield, Senior Warden, Holkham NNR
2020 will undoubtedly go down as one of the most dramatic years our
country has faced probably since the Second World War. A World-wide
pandemic and the catastrophe of thousands of deaths here in the UK,
dealing with a forced Lockdown for those fortunate enough to stay virus
free, alongside all manner of civil unrest; sometimes it didn’t feel it
could get much worse. Out in the countryside it seemed different, a
slight cause for celebration almost.
A follow up article to: Holkham National Nature Reserve – Changing
Times during the Covid 19 Pandemic published in April 2020. [more]
National Meadows Day: Why saving and protecting wild flower
meadows can help deliver a green recovery By Ian Dunn,
Plantlife Chief Executive
Plantlife is one of a national partnership of organisations calling
for a National Nature Service as part of the government’s response to
the pandemic. We are calling for Government to invest in a scheme that
will create tens of thousands of jobs, improve the health of nature,
people and the planet, and contribute to a green, sustainable recovery.
That is to build, build, build a green economy. The restoration and
creation of wildflower meadows can act as a central plank of the green
recovery we need. A staggering 97% of British wildflower meadows have
been eradicated in less than a century and species-rich grassland now
covers less than 1% of the UK. [more]
The next edition will be published on 12 November
looking at: Ecology and Biodiversity BUT is dependent on the status of
the ongoing coronavirus outbreak nearer the time.
CJS Weekly: subscription only weekly
newsletter. Receive details of
all vacancies and information advertised with CJS.
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Working within Community and Leisure team you will help guide the day
to day management of our nature reserves and green spaces throughout the
borough.
The position calls for a knowledge and understanding of ecological
issues, legislation and policies as well as the ability to write,
implement and then monitor the effects of site management plans. You
will be confident dealing with contractors and happy to manage our
livestock which graze some of our sites.
Your ecological knowledge will be matched with your enthusiasm and
commitment to lead practical volunteer work parties with the community
and inspire schools, universities and the local community to the
importance of nature conservation.
To be successful you will need to be a confident communicator, and be
able to demonstrate a good understanding of practical terrestrial and
aquatic habitat management, ecological surveys and experience of leading
volunteer and school groups. A licence to enable you to survey and
handle great crested newts is an essential requirement for this role.
An ecological / countryside management qualification and the ability
to use Microsoft applications are essential as is your ability to work
evenings and weekends.
For an informal discussion about the post please contact Boyce
Jeffery, Senior Countryside Officer, on 01264 368823.
In return we offer a competitive salary, good terms and conditions,
uniform and the option to join the Superannuation pension scheme.
For more information or if you are interested in applying for this
position please visit the Current Vacancies page on our
website.
Closing date for return of application forms - Monday 20 July 2020
Committed to equality of opportunity in employment and services.
The
Aire Rivers Trust
Catchment Officer - River Aire
Are you looking for the chance to make a BIG difference to the
aquatic environment?
The River Aire Catchment ranges from the limestone pavement uplands
of Malham, through deeply rural and massively urban environments down to
the lowlands where it meets the Ouse at Airmyn. It has its glories as
well as its challenges and we are looking for someone to take a lead in
making it a great river again.
We are recruiting for a Catchment Officer to develop and help deliver
the River Aire Catchment Plan as part of the River Basin Planning
process currently underway. This will bring together stakeholders with a
wide range of affiliations across the catchment to understand the
ecological and other pressures on the catchment, develop a deliverable
plan and then work with those stakeholders to develop and seek funding
for projects.
You will lead, develop and support the Aire Catchment Network, a
Catchment Host.
You will need to be:
Committed to improving our rivers and catchments
Experienced in the use of GIS to explore and work with the
challenges
A strong influencer, comfortable at all levels and across all
media
Familiar with and passionate about collaborative approaches
Prepared for and equally committed to ‘desk work’ and ‘wet feet,
dirty hands’ activity
You will be working as part of a team of 4 or 5 people in our rapidly
expanding Trust and will get the chance to share skills and workload
across the team This full-time post will have a salary of £25-28,000 pa
plus expenses. You must have your own transport, for which an
appropriate mileage allowance will be paid and we may require you to
have a DBS check.
We are looking for experienced Ecologists, Consultant
Ecologists and Senior Ecologists
Contract type: Permanent
Working hours: Full or Part Time
Are you an experienced Ecologist looking for a new challenge? We have
an exciting opportunity for Ecologists, Consultant Ecologists and Senior
Ecologists to join our growing business and friendly team based in
Nottingham city.
If you’re interested, please send your CV and covering letter
outlining your experience to emecvacancies@emec-ecology.co.uk
without delay!
We are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourage
applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless
of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity,
religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. As an
employer we are committed to promoting and protecting the physical and
mental health of all our staff.
Interested? Find out more...
As a commercial subsidiary of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, we have
the conservation and restoration of nature at our heart. When delivering
our clients’ projects and objectives, we look for biodiversity net-gain
wherever possible and through our ecology, land management and
arboricultural services we deliver innovative solutions to benefit
habitats and species.
The Roles: We are seeking experienced and passionate Ecologists at
different levels in their careers. For the minimum experience levels
required for each role please see below:
Ecologist £19,461 - £22,142
Ecological survey and assessment experience; Demonstrable ID skills;
Knowledge of current legislation, policy and industry best practice;
Excellent communication skills; Good reporting writing skills; Efficient
administration and organisation skills.
Consultant Ecologist
£22,908 – £25,208
Protected species survey licence(s); Substantial experience in
conducting protected species surveys and developing appropriate
recommendations; Excellent species ID skills; A good working knowledge
of current legislation, policy and industry best practice; Excellent
communication, project management, reporting and organisational skills.
Senior Ecologist
Up to £34,500
Extensive experience in a Senior Ecologist role within consultancy
setting; Protected species survey licence(s); Extensive experience in
protected species surveying and mitigation design, including being Named
Ecologist on EPS mitigation licences*; Excellent species ID skills,
including botanical (phase-1 habitat survey); In-depth understanding of
current legislation, policy and industry best practice; Excellent
communication, project management, reporting and organisational skills;
Experience of managing the work of others; Ability to forge strong
client relationships.
*If you are a competent bat surveyor (Natural England Class 2 Licence
holder) and have experience in being the Named Ecologist on EPS bat
mitigation licence applications this would be advantageous.
A full driving licence is required for all posts.
Benefits of working for us
We are a close-knit, friendly and supportive team
The majority of projects are within an hour of our office
Our staff are involved in all aspects of projects, (tendering,
client liaison, surveying and reporting, and where required,
long-term monitoring). This enables them to see a project all the
way to completion.
External and internal training is offered to enhance careers
28 days annual leave plus public holidays
Competitive Pension scheme
Health payment plan
Payment of professional memberships
Flexible working options and healthy work-life balances
encouraged
Further information on EMEC and this role (including role profiles)
is available at
emec-ecology.co.uk/careers
Manx
BirdLife (Isle of Man)
Reserve (Site) Manager
Contract: Initial two-year contract. Secondments will be considered.
Based: Isle of Man
Salary: Negotiable
Expressions of interest: by 31 July 2020
Role commencing: As soon as possible
This is an exciting opportunity to use your expertise in gravel pit
restoration and site management to develop a major new nature reserve at
the Isle of Man’s famous Point of Ayre.
Initially comprising 105 acres, the reserve has potential to grow to
400+ acres as quarrying concludes in further areas across the site. The
mix of open freshwater, dry scrub and heathland is unique within the
Isle of Man, attracting a similarly unique assemblage of fauna and
flora.
Joining us as Reserve (Site) Manager at this early stage of this
long-term project gives you every opportunity to make your mark on the
reserve’s goals and design. You’ll be responsible for all aspects of
reserve development, management, monitoring and improvement.
Essential skills and knowledge:
● Principles
of quarry restoration and management for nature ●
Business management including budgeting, planning ●
Health and safety in the countryside ●
Supporter, visitor, volunteer, supplier and public relations
Essential experience:
● Proven
record of reserve/site management ●
Planning applications, liaising with regulatory authorities ●
Visitor management ●
A relevant qualification (e.g. ecology, environmental management)
is required.
For full details (including more about the Point of Ayre, Job
Description, Terms of Work) click
here.
For an informal conversation, contact Neil Morris, Managing Director
at
neil@manxbirdlife.im.
Expressions of interest are requested by Friday 31 July 2020.
[The Isle of Man is a great place to live and work, with convenient
transport links to the UK and other parts of the British Isles. See
https://www.locate.im. The role will
suit someone wishing to move temporarily or permanently to the Island.]
Nottinghamshire
Wildlife Trust
Reserves Manager (North)
We are looking for a passionate and committed professional to manage
our Reserves in the North of the county. This is a key role within the
Trust with responsibility of habitat management, safeguarding of
species, reserve engagement experiences and management of the Trusts
flagship Idle Valley Nature Reserve.
The ideal candidate will have a senior level experience of practical
land management for nature conservation.
About us: The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is the
county's leading conservation charity run by local people for the
benefit of local wildlife, with nature reserves across the county - part
of a UK network of 46 local Wildlife Trusts working to protect wildlife.
Salary: £27,735 per annum
Contract: This is a permanent, Full Time role
Location: The post is based at the Idle Valley Rural
Learning Centre, North Road, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 8RQ. There
will be also be regular travel to various locations throughout the
county.
How to apply
For more information on the role and full details on how to apply
please head to our
website.
The closing time and date for applications is 17:00 on Thursday 16
July 2020.
The Trust and its subsidiaries are an equal opportunities employers
and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and
eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual
orientation, gender identity, religion or belief, marital status, or
pregnancy and maternity. As an employer we are committed to promoting
and protecting the physical and mental health of all our staff.
Biodiverse
Consulting Ltd
Senior / Principal Ecologist
Based: Home / Ponteland, Northumberland
Salary: Negotiable
Hours: full & part time considered
Closing Date: Wednesday 15th July 2020
We are seeking a talented, professional ecologist at a senior or
principal level, who can offer creative solutions for clients and
wildlife alike.
You will bid, win and deliver a range of ecological survey,
assessment and net gain projects that exceed client expectations without
compromising your passion for wildlife and habitats. Alongside the
Managing Director you will be responsible for the co-ordination and safe
delivery of projects on time and on budget, working with collaborators
and sub-contractors where required. Training and mentoring of junior
members of the team will be a key aspect of your role. Your input into
the design of the ecology services will be sought and there will be a
requirement for proactive marketing.
Demonstrable track record in commercial consultancy and experience of
Biodiversity Net Gain are essential alongside a minimum of 1 protected
species class 2 licence & CIEEM membership.
We are keen to offer the right role to the right person and
so flexible working patterns and hours (part of full time) that
meet your needs as well as ours, are available.
The Heart of England Forest is an exciting and ambitious charity
working hard to create a huge new woodland in the heart of the country
that will benefit people and wildlife for generations to come. Already
the largest new native broadleaf woodland in the country, we take our
mission very seriously; it has never been more important to invest in
our natural environment. Planting trees and creating new woodlands is no
longer just a positive ambition for the country, it’s absolutely
essential. It is the simplest solution to help mitigate climate change
and create new green spaces that can help reconnect people and
communities with nature and the natural environment.
Our goal is to reach 30,000 acres of semi contiguous forest by
planting 13 million native broadleaf trees. To date we have planted more
than 1.8 million trees. The significance and scale of our work cannot be
underestimated: The Heart of England Forest - already the largest new
native forest in the country – will become one of the largest forests in
the UK.
Not only is our Forest expanding, so, to, is our team. If you share
our ambition, we have a number of exciting opportunities for you to join
us. The charity is a rewarding place to work and offers its staff a
number of benefits.
Please visit
www.heartofenglandforest.com/get-involved/jobs/ to download a job
description / person specification and an application form. Please note
that CVs will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application form.
Biodiversity Officer - Salary £25,000 plus benefits
Are you an enthusiastic and experienced conservation professional
looking for a rewarding role involved in optimising biodiversity within
a national charity?
With our changing climate it is now more important than ever to
provide nature recovery networks for wildlife on a landscape-scale. The
Heart of England Forest is well placed to provide such a haven for
wildlife, and for the enjoyment of local people.
Optimising Biodiversity is already a core activity in the Forest. The
Forest is a mosaic of habitats, including ancient woodland, new native
broadleaf plantations, grassland, wetland, heathland, and farmland. The
Forest is a home to many rare and threatened species, such as brown
hairstreak and purple emperor butterflies, as well as Red List bird
species such as skylark and woodcock. We aspire to create and enhance
biodiverse habitats, providing a nature recovery network, to ensure
species survival and resilience in the face of our changing climate.
The Biodiversity Officer is responsible for delivering biodiversity
enhancement projects within the mosaic of habitats which form the Heart
of England Forest. We are looking for someone with habitat creation and
enhancement experience, particularly in relation to wetland habitats and
natural flood management, who is keen to learn and has a “can do”
attitude, and who will be a passionate ambassador for the charity.
The ideal candidate will be a team player, comfortable in delivering
biodiversity enhancement projects from development to implementation,
drawing up projects, working with and supervising contractors and
volunteers.
We would love to hear from an experienced conservation professional
able to use their own initiative, looking for their next challenge, who
is committed to conservation and enthusiastic about making a positive
contribution to landscape-scale conservation.
Closing date: Sunday 9th August 2020
Interview date: Thursday 20th August 2020
The
Heart of England Forest
Forest Ranger
The Heart of England Forest is an exciting and ambitious charity
working hard to create a huge new woodland in the heart of the country
that will benefit people and wildlife for generations to come. Already
the largest new native broadleaf woodland in the country, we take our
mission very seriously; it has never been more important to invest in
our natural environment. Planting trees and creating new woodlands is no
longer just a positive ambition for the country, it’s absolutely
essential. It is the simplest solution to help mitigate climate change
and create new green spaces that can help reconnect people and
communities with nature and the natural environment.
Our goal is to reach 30,000 acres of semi contiguous forest by
planting 13 million native broadleaf trees. To date we have planted more
than 1.8 million trees. The significance and scale of our work cannot be
underestimated: The Heart of England Forest - already the largest new
native forest in the country – will become one of the largest forests in
the UK.
Not only is our Forest expanding, so, to, is our team. If you share
our ambition, we have a number of exciting opportunities for you to join
us. The charity is a rewarding place to work and offers its staff a
number of benefits.
Please visit
www.heartofenglandforest.com/get-involved/jobs/ to download a job
description / person specification and an application form. Please note
that CVs will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application form.
Forest Ranger - Salary £22,000 plus benefits
2 roles: 1 permanent, 1 temporary (6 months fixed term contract with
a possible extension)
We are seeking an experienced practical forestry team leader (s).
This is an interesting role which will give the successful candidate an
opportunity to grow and shape England’s largest new native broadleaf
woodland. We are looking for an enthusiastic individual who is keen to
progress their career, has a “can do” attitude and will be a passionate
ambassador for the charity.
You will lead a small team responsible for forest access and
maintenance working anywhere within the 7,000 acre estate. The winter
months will predominantly be tree planting when you will join the rest
of the forestry team establishing new woodland within the Heart of
England Forest.
In this role you will work with, and be supported by, our wider
forestry team to deliver operational plans to ensure that the Heart of
England Forest achieves the aims and objectives set out in its strategic
plan. This will include working with the staff team, volunteers,
corporate supporters and contractors to achieve our vision of a
30,000-acre contiguous woodland.
As well as practical forestry you will be involved in maintaining and
widening public access, improving our diverse habitats and championing
the Heart of England Forest.
Closing date: Monday 3rd August
Interview date: Tuesday 18th August
Chris
Arnold Tree Surgery Ltd
Machine Operator
Far Stanley, Cheltenham
We are looking for a friendly and reliable machine operator to assist
us with our expanding forestry business. Must be capable of driving
various size diggers, forwarders, tractors and use winches etc. Must be
able to do hand cutting where necessary and in the winter months may be
required to do some ground works on tree surgery.
Chris Arnold Tree Surgery Ltd, The Oakleys, Far Stanley, Nr
Cheltenham, GL54 5HF. 01242 621051 07917866912
Test
Valley Borough Council
Senior Arboricultural Officer
£32,048 - £35,220 pa plus essential car allowance
Andover (ref 50361013)
We are looking or a highly professional Arboriculturalist to take the
lead with the sustainable management of the boroughs tree stock.
You will be joining Test Valley Borough Council at an exciting time
where good tree management, tree protection and increasing tree cover
have never been more important. This set against the challenge of
climate emergency, ash dieback and oak processionary moth.
To be successful you will have a minimum qualification of a
Professional Diploma in Arboriculture, you’ll be confident and
conversant with all aspects of arboriculture including tree biology,
hazard assessment and tree protection legislation. A working knowledge
of best practice in tree surgery work will be coupled with good
communication and negotiation skills.
This role will see you come into contact with members of the public
and councillors as well as other Council departments so excellent
communication skills are a must.
We pride ourselves on our positive and supportive working
environment, and feedback from our employees continually shows high
levels of staff satisfaction. Amongst the benefits we offer are a
defined benefits pension scheme, generous holiday allowance, free
parking on site, staff restaurant and discounted leisure facilities
For an informal discussion about the post please contact Kevin
Harrington, Parks and Countryside Manager, on 01264 368815
For more information and to apply please visit the careers page on
our website
Closing date for return of application forms - 27 July 2020
Committed to equality of opportunity in employment and services.
Chris
Arnold Tree Surgery Ltd
Tree Surgeon
Cheltenham
Salary dependent on experience £24,000 plus.
An ideal candidate would look like this:
Willing to be flexible if this is not exactly met:
An experienced tree surgeon required with two or more years’
experience to join our established and thriving company within the
Cheltenham area. Must be able to work well as part of a friendly team.
We work for both domestic and commercial clients so good communication
skills with members of the public is a must. The candidate will be able
to climb confidently and be able to perform all aspects of tree surgery
from reductions to felling. Must have at least CS30, CS31, CS38 and CS39
and further training can be given to continue with professional
development if required.
Chris Arnold Tree Surgery Ltd, The Oakleys, Far Stanley, Nr
Cheltenham, GL54 5HF. 01242 621051 07917866912
KLP Estate
Gardener / Couple - Kingstone Lisle Park
KLP House is a 17th century house standing in 10 acres of gardens.
The House was purchased as part of a larger estate in 2018, the new
owners have the vision of transforming the gardens and surrounding
landscape back to their former glory.
The position requires an enthusiastic, self-motivated person with
exacting standards.
The position could ideally be suited to a couple, the partner
assisting with the gardens and main House.
An attractive package available with two bedroom cottage, salary
dependant on qualifications and experience.
£25.2 to £27.9 with potential progression to £31.3K.
Would you like to have a long term beneficial impact on the landscape
and wildlife of the North York Moors National Park?
This is an exciting opportunity to join our woodland team to help
establish new woodlands within the National Park. This is a permanent
post to help deliver our ambitious long term woodland creation targets
associated with the Woodsmith Mine’s Section 106 agreement.
We are looking for someone who has experience of working with
landowners to grant aid conservation work, particularly tree planting
schemes. You will need to have a practical understanding of land
management and woodland creation as well as a methodical and organised
approach to work.
To back this up, you will need to tell us about your;
● Knowledge
of woodland ecology; ●
Skills in achieving good quality work from contractors; ●
Grant processing skills; ●
Success working with volunteers; and ●
Positive experience of working in a team.
Based in Helmsley but with substantial travel around the National Park.
Application forms and further details can be obtained by looking at
the Job Opportunities page on our
website
Closing date: 9am on Friday 24 July 2020
Interviews are scheduled for Thursday 6 August 2020 (the interview
will be face to face (social distancing rules apply)
Somerset
Wildlife Trust
Somerset Nature Connections Project Manager
Up to £30,000 per annum pro-rata to 4 days or 30 hours per week.
Three year contract
Based in Taunton but with opportunities for home working by
agreement.
The role will involve some travel throughout the county, including
time in the offices of Blackdown, Mendip and Quantock Hills AONB’s.
Somerset Nature Connections is a new project designed to support
mental wellbeing through the delivery of nature connection activities.
It is run in partnership between Somerset Wildlife Trust and Blackdown,
Mendip and Quantock Hills AONB’s and funded by the National Lottery
Community Fund and Somerset County Council
We are seeking an exceptional individual for this exciting role,
hosted by Somerset Wildlife Trust. The role exists to oversee the
successful set up and delivery of this project, managing three delivery
officers who will work across the county and ensuring the project
outcomes for improved wellbeing amongst participants are met.
You will have proven experience of engaging and working with diverse
communities on initiatives that support physical and mental wellbeing
and you will have a good understanding of the role that nature can play
and the evidence base that demonstrates this. The successful candidate
will need a track record in large scale multi-partner project
management, directly managing staff, complex work programmes, external
relationships and substantial funding streams.
We are looking for an enthusiastic and skilled individual, who will
be a passionate and effective champion for nature and its role in
supporting public health. You will be innovative, resilient and
self-motivated – a solution seeker – who is an excellent and persuasive
communicator. It is a fantastic opportunity for a highly capable and
motivated individual.
Closing date: All applications must be received by 8am Friday 24th
July 2020.
John
Muir Trust
Land Operations Manager (South)
Salary: £35,000 p.a.
Hours: Full-time (35 hours a week)
Term: Permanent
Location: Home-based with travel to Trust properties and offices, as
required
Holidays: 34 days per year inclusive of bank holidays
Pension: 5% employer contribution to a group auto-enrolment pension
scheme
The John Muir Trust is looking for a Land Operations Manager to
oversee John Muir Trust property management, partnerships and liaison
with communities, in Scotland and the Lake District.
This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference for wild land.
The post will oversee Trust-managed properties at Ben Nevis,
Schiehallion, Glenlude and Glenridding / Helvellyn including: staff
management; budget setting and monitoring; and project development and
delivery. This role will support and liaise with John Muir Trust land
partners and explore and develop new partnerships and wider community
engagement.
For full details and to apply, go to the John Muir Trust
website.
Derby College
Trainer / Assessor - Agriculture
We are looking for a well-motivated Trainer / Assessor with a
knowledge of the Agricultural world.
Derby College Farm is a very busy, forward thinking centre. The team are
ambitious and proud of their achievements and work environment. We are a
small, hands-on and extremely hard working team, striving for excellence
at all times, we adopt a professional and industry correct manner and
create an environment where the welfare of the animals is our primary
concern. You should be organised and have excellent interpersonal skills
together with a commitment to working effectively as part of a team.
Your primary focus will be delivering national qualifications, NPTC
qualifications including Tractor and Trailer, telescopic fork lift, ATV
and other learning programmes within a variety of settings, ensuring
achievement of agreed performance and quality targets. You will be
expected to strive to maintain above average success rates in all areas,
using innovation within your teaching and assessing and utilising
e-learning opportunities where appropriate.
The successful candidate will have proven experience of providing
outstanding support for learners and will be flexible, self-motivated
and dedicated to student achievement and quality.
Do you have a demonstrable commitment to volunteer and community
engagement and a passion for mammal conservation?
Vincent Wildlife Trust, a national charity working to deliver
significant change to the fortunes of threatened mammals, is offering an
opportunity for someone experienced in working both with volunteers in a
conservation setting and with local community groups and stakeholders.
You will need to bring to the table a combination of proven capabilities
in these fields.
Your primary purpose will be to drive forward our volunteer
programme, building on existing success, and undertake effective
communication activities as part of VWT’s awareness raising and
public/stakeholder engagement programme.
In return, the Trust offers a quality employment package, the chance
for training and professional development and the learning of new skills
and experiences.
This is a permanent, full-time role based near Ledbury in
Herefordshire.
For a Job Application Pack, please visit our website:
www.vwt.org.uk
Interviews will be held on 3 or 4 August, either in person or via video
conferencing.
Closing date for applications: 17:00 on 24 July 2020
Lulworth
Estate
Visitor Services Manager
A Visitor Services Manager with extensive experience of car parking
is required at our three very popular locations on the Lulworth Estate.
This includes the most visited spot on the magnificent Jurassic Coast.
The area is popular with a wide range of holiday makers, all of whom
share a love of this idyllic, unspoilt coastline and countryside. This
role requires a manager who can ensure that the visitor experience and
car parking is welcoming, efficient and pleasant.
Experience of managing a busy car park is essential, as are strong
problem solving skills; a track record of successful project management;
excellent leadership and a can do attitude. The successful candidate
will be responsible car parks for ensuring the ongoing efficiency,
profitability and safety of our car parks. They will also take
responsibility for the management of related activities such as litter
control, waste management and patrols in a wider area.
Long hours will be expected in the summer but this can be balanced
with time off in the winter. Salary will be competitive, according to
experience.
Application by CV with a covering letter to sue.raywood@lulworth.com
or call Sue to find out more: 01929 400 352
Woodmeadow
Trust
Woodmeadow Officer
Woodmeadow Trust is a pioneering charity taking practical action for
nature and people by creating woodmeadow habitat and inspiring others to
plant and look after these exceptional ecosystems. This will help our
threatened native wildlife recover and allow people greater and easier
access to the joy and beauty of nature. The charity has established
Three Hagges Woodmeadow near York as an exemplar woodmeadow ecosystem
for the benefit of research and public engagement. We now aim to
increase the impact of our approach by extending the Woodmeadow
Initiative throughout the UK, further developing and disseminating our
replicable methodology.
We are looking for an experienced person capable of advocacy as well as
practical habitat creation in the field. You will influence current and
potential stakeholders and develop our approach to biodiverse habitat
creation, designing and establishing new woodmeadows across our region
and further afield. This is an exciting opportunity to grow our
ground-breaking and newly funded Woodmeadow Initiative across a range of
environments and sectors. The position is offered as a three-year
contract, with a six-month probation period. Whilst you will have the
flexibility to work from home, you should expect to work regularly at
Three Hagges Woodmeadow, Escrick, near York.
Please read full job description before applying for this position
click here
Please apply with curriculum vitae setting out details of your
qualifications and experience to date. Please ensure there are no
unexplained gaps in your work experience. Your CV must be accompanied by
a letter of application (no more than two sides of A4) setting out the
qualities you feel you can bring to the job role and how you meet the
requirements of the person specification.
The Heart of England Forest is an exciting and ambitious charity
working hard to create a huge new woodland in the heart of the country
that will benefit people and wildlife for generations to come. Already
the largest new native broadleaf woodland in the country, we take our
mission very seriously; it has never been more important to invest in
our natural environment. Planting trees and creating new woodlands is no
longer just a positive ambition for the country, it’s absolutely
essential. It is the simplest solution to help mitigate climate change
and create new green spaces that can help reconnect people and
communities with nature and the natural environment.
Our goal is to reach 30,000 acres of semi contiguous forest by
planting 13 million native broadleaf trees. To date we have planted more
than 1.8 million trees. The significance and scale of our work cannot be
underestimated: The Heart of England Forest - already the largest new
native forest in the country – will become one of the largest forests in
the UK.
Not only is our Forest expanding, so, to, is our team. If you share
our ambition, we have a number of exciting opportunities for you to join
us. The charity is a rewarding place to work and offers its staff a
number of benefits.
Please visit
www.heartofenglandforest.com/get-involved/jobs/ to download a job
description / person specification and an application form. Please note
that CVs will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application form.
Forestry Intern - Salary £19,344 p/a plus benefits
Fixed term contract – 1 year
This training role is ideal for a budding forester early in their
career wishing to develop a wide range of forestry skills, experience
and competencies for career progression. Ideally suited for someone
starting or changing to a career in forestry as no experience is
necessary, but a clear need and commitment to the environment must be
demonstrated. This is a unique role which will give the successful
candidate an opportunity to grow and shape England’s largest new native
broadleaf woodland, whilst gaining practical experience on the job.
In this role you will work with and be supported by our forestry team
to deliver operational plans to ensure that the Heart of England Forest
achieves the aims and objectives set out in its strategic plan. This
will include practical forestry planting and maintenance working with
the staff team, volunteers, corporate supporters and contractors to
achieve our vision of a 30,000-acre contiguous woodland.
As well as gaining skills in practical forestry focused mainly on
woodland establishment you will be involved in widening public access
and encouraging people and wildlife. You will also be supported to
undertake your own specialist project across the duration of the
internship, and evidence gathered as part of the project delivery can
then be used to form a portfolio in order to demonstrate skills and
experience gained throughout the internship.
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual who is keen to learn
and has a “can do” attitude, who will be a passionate ambassador for the
charity.
Closing date: Sunday 9th August
Interview date: Tuesday 25th August or Wednesday 26th August
North
York Moors National Park Authority
Countryside Worker Apprentice
Based in either Castleton or Helmsley
North York Moors National Park and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
are working together to offer fantastic apprenticeship opportunities
thanks to the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
This is a great chance for you to develop practical countryside
skills, working as part of a team, alongside the railway and in the rest
of the National Park. You will need to:
● enjoy
working outside (in all weathers!); ●
have the ability to learn practical skills; ●
want to do a Level 2 qualification in Environmental Conservation ●
enjoy working outside and want to learn practical skills ●
be really interested in countryside issues and want to help with
the work of the NYMR and the National Park.
The apprenticeship is for an initial period of 2 years and you’ll be
working alongside our experienced staff who are looking forward to
sharing their skills with you. If you think that you fit the bill, we’d
love to hear from you.
You will be paid a training allowance of £9,539 in year 1 and this
will increase considerably as you go into year two.
Application forms and further details can be obtained by looking at
the Job Opportunities page on our
website.
Closing Date: 9.00 am on Friday 24 July 2020
Interviews are to be held on Wednesday 5 August 2020
Still very quiet on the volunteering front. But we are getting some
enquiries so now would be a good time to ensure you have a listing on
the Volunteers Directory, a simple description about your organisation
and the types of volunteering you (normally) offer can be
added free here.
See what's already listed here.
Advertise your voluntary roles with CJS - it's free!
Click here.
In January 2019 we excitedly entered our silver anniversary year
announcing a change in logo for the special year and giving a brief
history of CJS over the years; we also started giving away 'birthday
presents' to our lovely readers. As CJS's many friends and
colleagues began to send us birthday greetings we happily shared
those too. We've always counted the first edition in July as 'our
birthday' edition as the very first Countryside Jobs Service was
printed and sent out to readers on 1 July 1994, although being a
print edition by first class post most were actually received on
Monday 4 July and last July I wrote a 'how to build a CJS Team' post
explaining how we all came to be here and then Niall added some
thoughts. You can read all our anniversary articles and birthday
wishes on this page which will remain online as part of archive. Due
to many inevitable delays our wonderful new website wasn't ready for
launch until the end of the year but we think it was worth the wait.
The official 25th birthday in July also saw the launch of our
Photography Competition and I should be announcing the winners in
this edition - but a global pandemic put paid to that! As I'm sure
you'll agree the last few months have been a rollercoaster. The
official lockdown in March caused an immediate upheaval with a
virtual
cessation in recruitment advertising, we hastily built a
Volunteering From Home page on the website and for many weeks it was
the most viewed section (here).
We collated resources from many different organisations and posted
links to their information hubs as well; all whilst getting to grips
with working remotely. As remote and home working looks to be part
of the 'new normal' we have also built a working from home page
section for the main
CJS Online section here. Coronavirus also put a dampener on our
planned developments for this year which are slowly surfacing again.
The review of subscription rates planned for March didn't happen
until April but when it did we were delighted to be able to reduce
them to an all time low of just 60p per week and when the following
week the Chancellor took the VAT off digital publications we hit our
target of 50p per week. Instead of holding the announcement until
now as a 26th birthday present we decided to make the change
immediately.
Another major development which was slow to mature was the
creation of an index of every organisation that has content on the
website: that's jobs, training, features, news, volunteers; we've
been busily tagging them all and the web designer built a new
section so you can browse through and see what organisations have to
offer and share. With 1838 (at time of writing) and growing every
week it's a monster task but although they might not all have their
logos and website links added yet you can have a
browse through here in theory only organisations with anything
current should be on the list but apologies if one or two have
slipped through! This also means that we've been able to add links
to further content from organisations or on similar subjects to
every feature article which should allow you to explore the website
more easily and find the information you want.
At the start of June we relaunched the photography competition
for a further two months of submission with lockdown-friendly
suggested themes and you'll get a chance to pick your favourite in
August with the Reader's Choice selection. We will now be announcing
the winners in September.
We've increased our features output although one Focus edition
was dropped from this year's schedule and later this month will ask
you for your suggestions and which sort of features you're enjoying
and want to see more of. The coronavirus outbreak has affected us
all and in recognition of how particularly hard hit our new
graduates are we've given them a gift of a year's free subscription
to CJS Weekly (sign
up here) The CJS Team has (more or less!) adjusted to working
from home, although the office dogs are missing their extra pats and
ear scratches, we are looking at new flexible working arrangements
for the team when 'it's' all over'.
Even a round, spikey virus can't keep CJS down for long and we
have one or two new developments to come before our next birthday.
So here's to many more and as one reader said last year: " Great
service and keep it going for your 'Golden Jubilee' !".
It's
the last month for entries in our Photography Competition and the
suggested theme is Hidden Gems and the prize is a bundle of goodies from
The Mammal Society and others.
Hidden
Gems is another theme open to interpretation,you might chose something ephemeral and only seen occasionally
like this spiders web which you can only see clearly because of the way
the light caught it first thing in the morning whilst covered in dew.Perhaps you'll think of a gateway to a secret garden, if could be
something hiding in the undergrowth, hiding under leaves or carefully
camouflaged from view.There
again it might be your favourite landscape that's not well known, a view
that makes your heart sing every time you see it. The choice is yours
and we wait to see what you'll pick.
The
bundle consists of a bag, pen and badge from our featured charity The
Mammal Society plus a handbook from RSPB and wooden rulers from CIEEM
Entries Simply email your photo
(jpegs please) to photo@countryside-jobs.com
along with your name and any information you want to include about your
photo: what it shows, where it was taken and a caption for a funny one
would be welcome too - and this month remember to include your job
title. If you'd like us to tag you (or site / project) if we share your
photo to social media please include the relevant handles and details.
You can enter as many photos as you like, but each image may only be
entered once.
Full rules are here
- please read them before sending your photos, we'll assume you have.
All the information about the competition can be found here: c-js.uk/CJSPhoto
Please bear in mind at all times that your health, and the health of
those around you, is more important than any photograph and you should
not do anything to put it at risk.
June PhotographyCompetition winner
Having relaunched the competition in June after pausing for a few
months due to the exceptional circumstances brought about by the
coronavirus pandemic we changed the remaining themes to make them more
appropriate to the current climate on living with coronavirus, lockdown
and the 'new normal'.
The
June theme was From my Window. We all agreed that this month was
the most difficult choice yet, you sent us some amazing photos. From a
shortlist of six we managed to whittle it down to three and then ended
up taking a vote which was narrowly won by this lovely photo of a young
robin waiting patiently for its turn on the fat feeder which the
photographer Adrian Button tells us is just out of shot. Sub Ed Tracey
sums up our deliberations: "Just been reconsidering the photos to see if
I still come to the same conclusion as I did last night and I do.
I kept looking at them and changing my mind! But my favourite is
the young robin diner. Every time I looked I liked it better.
I think it's the way the bird stands out, framed by colour, especially
the contrast of the brightness of its eye."
Congratulations to Adrian who has won a beepot planter from
Green&Blue - now he can house bumblebees and other beneficial insects to
help the wildlife in his garden.
Reminder that July is the final month for entries and the theme is
Hidden Gems with a bundle of prizes from our featured Charity the Mammal
Society plus others.
Please bear in mind at all times that your health, and the health of
those around you, is more important than any photograph and you should
not do anything to put it at risk.
Graduate
and undergraduate talent is always just around the corner with The Open
University
By J. Renshaw
The last few months have been tough for most organisations across the
country, and it has shown just how vital it is for the graduate labour
market to be flexible and able to adapt. Luckily, with The Open
University, your next talented recruit is always just around the corner.
The
Open University Employer Engagement team’s motto is “diverse talent
everywhere”. The OU has 170,000 students across the country, and we’re
the only university guaranteed to have students in every region of the
UK. As recent studies from graduate labour market experts show,
graduates more often than not end up working in an entirely different
location to the university in which they studied. If you want to foster
undergraduate and graduate talent guaranteed to be available in your
local area, the OU is what you’re looking for. We’re everyone’s local
university.
One of the best ways to foster a relationship with undergraduate
talent is to
hire an
intern. Internships come in all shapes and sizes and can help inject
extra energy and perspectives into your organisation. Our experienced
staff can help you set up a meaningful internship, and you may be
eligible to receive
funding for
your internship from Santander. This internship programme supports
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage students on
placements that last 4-8 weeks full-time or the equivalent part-time.
Of course, your employees don’t necessarily need to be within a
commutable distance of your workplace... Our well-established
Virtual
Internship programme has attracted a lot of attention in recent
months, as employers and universities alike strive to provide
socially-distanced, online working opportunities. Hosting a Virtual
Internship can open you up to the entire breadth of Open University
talent, can be more flexible for both you and the student, and doesn’t
require valuable office space or IT equipment.
It takes a lot to be an OU student. When you hire an OU student or
graduate into a job or internship, you’re hiring someone who has the
resilience, determination, and time-management it takes to complete
remote, part-time study on top of work and family commitments. There is
no typical OU student. People of all ages and backgrounds study with us,
for all sorts of reasons – to update their skills, get a qualification
or to start, boost or change their career direction.
Working with The Open University is scalable, and free of charge.
Some organisations will solely make use of our online vacancy portal
OpportunityHub, while others will work more closely with us on
careers fairs, forums, and Insight Visits. All the organisations we work
with are valued.
If you would like to find out more about working with The Open
University, please don’t hesitate to email us at
careers-service-employers@open.ac.uk
We know times are tough for everyone right now so CJS want to give
every graduating student a graduation gift of a year's subscription to
CJS Weekly.
All our graduating students who should be celebrating the end of
three (or more) years hard work to gain their diplomas and degrees are
having to do so in isolation with virtual graduation ceremonies if any
at all. They are leaving the world of academia behind and heading off to
start their careers looking at a more uncertain future than any of us
can imagine. It's a hard enough time setting out looking for your first
'real' job in a profession that you hope is going to sustain you, body
and soul, for the rest of your working life and we all know how
difficult it is in the countryside and conservation sectors at any time.
To help our next generation of rangers, ecologists, wildlife warriors,
landscape managers and environmental educators CJS wants to give each of
the class of 2020 a graduation present of a full year's subscription to
CJS Weekly.
More information and sign up here
Nominationsfor NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2020 will close in justa few
short weeks on 26 July.
Building on the success of the previous five years, the National
Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust) is launching the 2020 NBN Awards
for Wildlife Recording.
Developed in partnership with the National Forum for Biological
Recording and the Biological Records Centre in 2015, these annual Awards
recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions made by
individuals and groups to wildlife recording – which is helping to
improve our understanding of the natural world within the UK and
enabling evidence-based environmental decision making.
These contributions can include anything from the number of records
made by an individual or group, the number of records openly shared on
the NBN Atlas or other systems, the number of participants at a BioBlitz
and the quantity of data generated, plugging of gaps in knowledge in a
specific area of the UK, technical innovation in recording wildlife or
encouraging participation through the development of apps or games etc.
There are five categories of awards:
NBN Award for wildlife recording - terrestrial (open to
individuals 21 years +)
NBN Award for wildlife recording - marine (open to individuals
21 years +)
NBN Group Award (no age restrictions)
NBN Young Person’s Award (open to individuals aged 11-20)
NBN Newcomer Award (open to individuals 21 years +)
Nominating someone for an award couldn’t be simpler, you can even
nominate yourself! Just visit:
bit.ly/NBNawards20 and complete the appropriate Awards nomination
form either online or email the edited MS Word document back to
support@nbn.org.uk by 26 July
2020.
Having
paused the Focus editions for this year we're increasing the number of
features and in depth articles we publish. And we're asking you what
information would you like to see in CJS?
We commission a range of articles and features according to what we
find interesting and think you, the reader, might enjoy and find useful.
However, you might have noticed that we've also started including small
snippets about life at CJS and some photos. The interactions with the
posts give us a vague idea of what you like to see but now's your chance
to tell us so that we can be sure to look for the right content for you.
These features are shared in our publications, across our social media
streams and included in the daily email.
If you'd like to contribute a piece find out how to do that
here.
As I'm sure you can imagine CJS is receiving many enquiries about
changing careers and working in the countryside / outdoors / with
animals. The Covid-19 lockdown has made many of us reassess our
lives and to consider major changes which previously would have been
too great of an upheaval. Whilst much of the advice we give had not
altered, certain aspects, such as suggesting weekend volunteering
and workdays, are, of course, not currently possible. Therefore, we
want to gather as much of that information in one place to make it
easier for potential career changers to understand what's really
involved in the newly picked "dream job". We're asking if you would
complete a job profile questionnaire about your working life, we'll
publish what we receive*; you can choose to be identified on the
published profile or to remain anonymous.
Whilst CJS doesn’t want to turn away any genuine potential
countryside workers we do want people to know it's not all sunshine
and roses and in so doing perhaps help organisations from receiving
speculative enquiries and make sure the recruiter's task is made
easier by ensuring they receive only relevant applications from
suitable candidates who have done their homework and know exactly
what it is they're looking at and applying for.
If you would like to help us out and send us details of your job
please download the
word document questionnaire from here. Any questions
please contact Kerryn on kerryn@countryside-jobs.com, this is also
where to send your completed questionnaire.
We're looking for any and all countryside jobs, ranger to
reception, ecologists to educators and all points in between.
*We may edit for content and reserve the right not to publish.
Furlonteer.com: the new non-profit project connecting furloughed
employees with the charities and good causes who need it most
Stella Norris (Furlonteer.com)
Furlonteer.com is a brand
new, organically-grown community initiative aiming to connect people
on furlough with remote volunteer opportunities for charities and
good causes. With seven in ten UK firms having furloughed staff and
the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme recently extended to the end of
October, Furlonteer.com is rapidly gaining traction. The initiative
received over 1,000 sign-ups in the first 48 hours and over 50
charities have been matched with ‘furlonteers’ over the past week.
Today it has grown to more than 5,000 volunteers and over 500
charities.
Organisations helping animals and wildlife are among the top
charity preferences of volunteers who have signed up, and while most
roles are remote, Furlonteer is placing volunteers with a range of
charities helping these causes including
Every One of
Us, promoting action for the environment for people with busy
lives and educating about climate change,
The Irish Horse Welfare
Trust, rescuing and rehoming neglected horses and ponies in
Ireland,
Stour Valley Dog Rescue,
Our Only World, inspiring and raising awareness of our fight
against marine plastic pollution and Springwood Mindfulness
Sanctuary, a vegan horse sanctuary that encourages visitors to
appreciate nature.
‘Furlonteers’ are matched with volunteer roles for charities
based on criteria such as their skills, experience and amount of
time they have available, which can range from a few hours a month
to several hours a day, the majority based from their homes. Remote
roles include anything from digital marketing, fundraising and IT to
bookkeeping, HR and business development, with other ‘in person’
roles involving helping out outdoors.
Adam Barton (Furlonteer.com)
In addition, Furlonteer.com has partnered with Champion Health to
support wellbeing in offering free online mental health training to
those who register.
The initiative was conceptualised over a lockdown takeaway curry
on Zoom between Hamish Shephard, co-founder of Hello Fresh and
founder of Bridebook, Rosie Shephard, founder of the Luxury
Communications Council and Sam Tasker- Grindley, Director at
accounting firm RSM UK.
Sam says, “Furlonteer.com was born from a simple idea: we
realised that so many causes need help, while at this time so many
people want to help them, and have time to do so. We decided to
bring them together.
The novelty of being furloughed has worn off for many, and we’ve
had an incredible response so far with a huge number of skilled and
talented people willing to volunteer, either in charities or to help
create the Furlonteer.com team.
Using digital platforms like Zoom, it’s amazing to see a group of
strangers in lockdown with a common passion coming together,
combining their expertise to create a movement like Furlonteer.com
within days. We’re growing and excited to see what the future holds,
both for Furlonteer.com and for the charities we’re able to help”
Visit furlonteer.com for more
information or to register to be a furlonteer or as a charity or
cause. Alternatively, follow @furlonteer on Facebook, Instagram or
Twitter.
Go Jauntlylaunches smartphone ‘nature diary’
to boost mental health
A free smartphone-based ‘nature prescription’ for mental health
developed by the team behind the popular walking app Go Jauntly along
with researchers at the University of Derby has been launched.
The Nature Notes feature has been integrated in the Go Jauntly iOS
app, which also enables its users to discover, create and share walking
routes. By using Nature Notes, users can now record the good things that
they notice in nature.
Photo by Go Jauntly
Nature Notes was developed as part of the £1.3m Improving Wellbeing
Through Urban Nature project.
Studies led by the University of Derby’s Nature Connectedness Research
Group (NCRG) found that using a smartphone app to prompt people to
notice the good things in urban nature not only increased their
connection with nature, but brought key wellbeing benefits to users.
Crucially, the research found it brought clinically significant
improvements in quality of life for people living with a mental health
difficulty.
The NCRG was the first dedicated research centre to be established to
examine the relationship between humans and the rest of the natural
world, and has developed some of the first interventions to bring about
sustained increases in nature connectedness, enhanced wellbeing, and
changes in conservation behaviours.
Photo by Go Jauntly
Miles Richardson, Professor of Human Factors and Nature Connectedness
at the University of Derby, said: “We are delighted to have teamed up
with Go Jauntly to provide the Nature Notes feature. At a time when
mental health is being tested by the lockdown, but we still have access
to nature, it could provide a helping hand for many people.
“Our research shows the importance of noticing the simple things in
nature for wellbeing, particularly for those who are less connected and
don’t spend much time outdoors. Making use of the ever-present
smartphone to prompt people to engage with nature is a great way to
encourage people to take a moment to look after their mental health and
wellbeing.
Photo by Go Jauntly
“We hope it will motivate more people to notice the good things in
nature, and, by doing so, experience the positive psychological impact
and the lasting connection that those simple interactions can generate,
in conjunction with the physical benefit of walking. It also provides a
useful tool to help organisations which manage urban green spaces to
make the most of those areas for people who live near them.”
Hana Sutch, co-founder and CEO at Go Jauntly, said: “We’re so pleased
to be able to launch the new Go Jauntly feature, Nature Notes, with the
University of Derby. Research into this area has really accelerated in
the last 10 years, in part due to the mental health crisis. Now more
than ever, we're all experiencing the real link between contact with
nature and our mental health. We hope that through familiar technology,
Nature Notes can help us all appreciate the positive moments, no matter
how small, and ultimately improve our wellbeing”.
Go Jauntly is available to download on the App Store and the Play
Store. The new Nature Notes feature is available on iOS and is coming
soon to Android. More information about the app can be found here:
https://www.gojauntly.com/
To find out more about the work of the Nature Connectedness Research
Group, visit the
University of Derby website.
2020 will undoubtedly go down as one of the most dramatic years
our country has faced probably since the Second World War. A
World-wide pandemic and the catastrophe of thousands of deaths here
in the UK, dealing with a forced Lockdown for those fortunate enough
to stay virus free, alongside all manner of civil unrest; sometimes
it didn’t feel it could get much worse. Out in the countryside it
seemed different, a slight cause for celebration almost. In many
instances it was like nature sighed with relief. The sun shone
relentlessly, the skies, normally like a cross stitch of vapour
trails, were painted only with ever changing cloud formations. Just
as nature intended as air traffic all but disappeared. The
pronounced lines between man-made and enforced urbanisation
alongside the natural world became blurred. Birds, plants and
animals started to move more freely, establishing themselves where
previously they had been unable to colonize. Nature started to spill
over the boundaries from where it had been banished.
One evening's litter - should the sign say - or leave for
someone else to collect????? (James Cowan)
Post Lockdown we find ourselves in yet another different world.
The countryside is open to all and everyone wants a piece of it.
Being locked up and told not to travel is something few in this
country have ever experienced and now seems the time to get out
there, enjoy the open spaces, flock to the beaches, explore those
green lanes and take in all that fresh air. It is good for the soul
without question. And this is where the population has become
divided. For those that work in the countryside, be they farmers,
wardens, rangers, game keepers or simply those that just care, have
had to face another seemingly country wide pandemic that for many of
us is even more apparent than the results of the often fatal
coronavirus. Rubbish: litter from day trippers on a scale that again
most of us would have deemed unimaginable, has become the norm. It
shows a total disregard and lack of care and respect for the
beautiful places large numbers of people are now descending upon.
The rare sight these days of a Ringed Plover with a chick (Andy
Bloomfield)
Amidst the horror of all the discarded trash, there are fire
sites and barbeques in abundance. The results in such a hot period
of drought have been inevitable - beauty spots and nature reserves
ravaged by fire. Totally unacceptable surely? On top of this,
anarchic car parking has taken hold, creating accidents on narrow
roads and denying our precious emergency services access. These
services are themselves overstretched with first time visitors,
desperate to visit the last wilderness areas that are frequently
romanticised in the media without highlighting the dangers. Tidal
salt marshes and offshore sand bars are as dangerous as ever and
this has been proven with ever more frequency since lockdown, with
lifeboats and coastguards taking the brunt of it. Everyone is
desperate to get to the great outdoors regardless of the
consequences. Wild camping has surged with fires and rubbish again
going hand in hand. Nesting bird enclosures, vital in giving ground
nesting birds such as Terns and Ringed Plovers a chance at survival,
are blatantly ignored. Where nature started to spill over, it is now
being pushed back further than where it started. For those of us
that work in the countryside it has now become the norm for most of
our days to be taken up with clearing up, trying to maintain the
beauty all come to enjoy. The answer has got to be greater
widespread education from an early age. Remember Keep Britain Tidy?
Those of us old enough will and that mantra from back in the 70s
stuck. So, let us start again! Let’s ban instant barbeques, let’s
get the Government debating the ravages of the countryside. Signage
and interpretation are all well and good but often only those
concerned will read and comply, the perpetrators of this new
epidemic of environmental stupidity do not.
The subtle beauty of Holkham NNR with Matted Sea Lavender (Andy
Bloomfield)
Here at Holkham we have suffered more so than in the past and in
a small window of time, making it seem all the worse, but certainly
not to the degree of sites on the south coast. The cleaning up of
Holkham beach and dunes has been constant, wardening has been
essential to guard nesting colonies of Little Terns and prevent
fire. We have already seen egg and chick losses of Ringed Plovers
and Oystercatchers due to dog and people disturbance, although
others have simply sat it out, saved by the few extra metres of
safety our simple enclosures offer. One particular day I spent
several hours with my faith in humanity lost as I watched dogs
chasing Oystercatchers, collecting a truck of discarded litter and
turning away illegal wild campers. Yet in doing my duties I
marvelled at the abundance of Matted Sea lavender and Sea Bindweed
(both subtle coastal plants of North Norfolk) as chunky Dune Chafer
beetles courted amongst the marram grass. A Hobby flashed by
overhead sending the Little Tern colony noisily skyward for a brief
moment before they returned to their precious eggs. It instantly
restored my faith and mental state. Nature soothes the soul and
sights such as these are sometimes all that are required. It’s what
makes us want to work in conservation and continue to fight a
sometimes fraught battle in maintaining a countryside where nature
can still thrive.
Although it seems a very long time ago, in 1984 my first job
after graduation was as a team leader with a job scheme established
to help minor repeat offenders re-enter the workforce through taking
on environmental work. Responsible for a small team, we spent six
months planting trees, clearing streams of debris and loading
fly-tipped tyres in their hundreds into skips. We undertook manual
jobs that today would need a plethora of health and safety sign-offs
but we were outside and contributing.
It is so far back in time that I can no longer recall the scheme
name but it was local council run and had a truly amazing impact.
Besides the satisfaction of a cleared, free-flowing stream or a
tyre-free layby, by the end of the contract all three of my team had
jobs to go to and were on their way again to long term employment.
This tiny, local scheme I was involved in in 1984 acts as a
memory jolt to what we were once doing and how we might do so again.
Although small and local it was impactful for the environment and
for those it employed – simply put – it offered green employment.
There are plenty of conversations about ‘tipping points, or
bifurcations’ but it is clear, whatever we call it, that as a
society we need to take a new road. I believe we need a nation-wide
focus on nature, supported by a ‘Marshall Plan’ on green recovery,
green jobs and nature based solutions. I’m not just talking of lots
of small schemes like the one I was involved in all those years ago,
but a broad, well-funded, government-backed job supporting programme
to make lasting change; change in the health of nature, health of
people and equal access to gainful employment and development.
Meadow in Wiltshire Photo credit: James King
Plantlife is one of a national partnership of organisations
calling for a National Nature Service as part of the government’s
response to the pandemic. The challenges we face today are
unquestionably on a scale that can be daunting. As a consequence of
Covid-19, we have both a major health problem and a major economic
one to contend with. The health problem goes far beyond the lives
lost and includes those who have lost loved ones and had life
changing health interventions delayed of postponed. The mental
health crisis and the additional deaths this year say it all.
Economically, experts advise we are heading towards an unemployment
rate of between 10-15% and a debt larger than our entire annual GDP.
Our Government is not coming out of this crisis covered in glory.
Challenges enough? Now place this on top of the growing climate
change challenge, the increasing loss of biodiversity, broad ranging
social inequality, progressive degradation of oceans and soils,
plastics infiltrating all areas of our planetary systems and
desertification alongside the loss of tropical rainforests at an
unprecedented scale – and you have a rather compelling call to
action.
It was hugely disappointing therefore that from a £5 billion
‘ambitious’ new funding deal announced by the Prime Minister on June
30th less that 0.01 percent is dedicated to nature. That is less
than zero point zero one percent! Are memories of how important
nature was to us all during the worst of shutdown so short? Contrary
to suggestions, this is the complete opposite of being ambitious –
it is rehash of old policies and old ways and will further
contribute to climatic, environmental and nature degradation. It is
simply not good enough.
We are therefore calling for Government to invest in a scheme
that will create tens of thousands of jobs, improve the health of
nature, people and the planet, and contribute to a green,
sustainable recovery. That is to build, build, build a green
economy.
We have so much we must do and we need a work force to do it: we
must make our open spaces wilder with greater biodiversity; we must
mitigate and hold back the impact of climate change through holistic
and effective nature based-solutions: flood management, soil
regeneration, healthy food systems, we must insulate our houses and
accelerate the reduction of emissions; not just carbon but nitrogen,
methane, water vapour. Where we can, we should be capturing carbon
and looking at sensible geoengineering, we need a step change in
financial markets and ethical investment; the list is endless.
The National Nature Service is a scheme that finally recognises
nature at the heart of all aspects of our economy and therefore at
the heart of all aspects of employment. It would fund extensive
training across schools, colleges, universities, short-term courses
and all aspects of adult education. It would support employers with
funds directly leading to nature facing jobs. It would measure and
deliver tangible benefits to the natural world we love and rely
upon.
The restoration and creation of wildflower meadows
can act as a central plank of the green recovery we need. A
staggering 97% of British wildflower meadows
have been eradicated in less than a century and species-rich
grassland now covers less than 1% of the UK. This devastation of
meadows, and
loss of wild flowers like wild strawberry, ragged robin and harebell,
is driving disastrous declines in our bee and butterfly populations.
The remaining isolated fragments of meadows that have survived the
bulldozer or the plough are home to an unprecedented richness of
plant species that have evolved over millennia and they must be
better protected under law. But protection of existing meadows alone
is not enough. In addition to making forests and we must make more
meadows for the myriad of benefits they bring including
biodiversity, carbon storage, flood prevention, and water
purification. They can be a cornerstone of the green recovery;
building back better for nature while stimulating a boom in skilled
jobs in the rural economy. Creating new and healthy grassland
habitats also means creating homes for a fifth of all priority
species requiring active conservation.
Plantlife has a great deal of expertise in the practical
restoration of native wildflower meadows and pasture. Working in
partnership with farmers, communities, Councils and local
businesses, there is tried, tested and costed model ready to be
rolled out across the UK. To achieve this there needs to be a
scaling up of the harvesting, growing and use of native wildflower
seed. There also needs to be a scaling up of contractors with the
right skills who can carry out this work and deliver restoration and
seeding of wildflower meadows. Once restored wildflower meadow
management will contribute towards larger scale provision of
high-quality grass-fed livestock production, and permanent
pollinator habitat beneficial for crops and wildlife. All these will
support skilled new jobs in the rural economy.
This Saturday, Plantlife is helping everyone celebrate the magic
of meadows even if they are not able to physically get to one this
year. The #NationalMeadowsDay online celebration will demonstrate
the value and vulnerability of meadows and also provide an uplifting
summer experience after months of lockdown. In these strange and
challenging times there is more need than ever for increased
connectedness to nature and that is why Plantlife will be sharing
the sights and sounds of a meadow in all their glory this Saturday.
Please tune in and share and show the love for these special,
vulnerable habitats that can act as an engine room for economic and
societal recovery.
We collate together news from across the internet; sent out in real
time via
twitter and each day we pick a handful of stories of interest which
are included on the
Headlines page, the daily email update and here grouped according to
subject.
RSPB calls on England's City and Metro Mayors to lead green recovery
from Covid-19, as new survey shows overwhelming public support for
protecting and investing in nature
New figures released by the RSPB reveal
Strong public opposition to Government reducing spending on
nature or putting less emphasis on protecting nature;
People see access to nature as important for health and
wellbeing during and in recovery from the Coronavirus crisis;
Potential inequalities in access to nature between high and
low-income households, and between people in urban and rural areas;
4 out of 5 people in England (84%) support the suggestion that
Government should increase the number of accessible nature-rich
areas in the UK;
4 out of 5 people in England (80%) oppose the idea of Government
reducing spending on nature;
3 out of 4 people in England (76%) support the suggestion that
nature could contribute to economic recovery in the UK.
The RSPB has written to England’s City and Metro Mayors asking them
to listen to the people and build back better by putting nature at the
heart of their recovery plans.
The UK’s largest nature conservation organisation, the RSPB, today
called on the elected leaders of England’s biggest cities and most
populous metropolitan areas to listen to the public and put nature at
the heart of plans for a green recovery from the Coronavirus crisis.
The letter to the country’s City and Metro Mayors accompanied the
charity’s publication of a report on the results of a recent YouGov poll
that asked people about their views on the importance of nature both
during, and in our recovery from, the pandemic.
The
report reveals that nature and access to natural greenspace have
been seen as important for people’s health and wellbeing since the
Coronavirus crisis began, and that there is overwhelming public support
for protecting and investing in nature and increasing accessible natural
greenspace as part of our recovery from Coronavirus.
It also points to inequalities in access to nature between those in
the highest and lowest income households, and between households in
urban and rural areas, suggesting the impact of the Coronavirus crisis
has not fallen equally across society.
A Scottish Environment LINK survey published today shows the public
want a less wasteful economy with lighter demands on the planet . These
findings come at a critical time, with Governments now considering how
best to stimulate the economy as part of the recovery from coronavirus.
The survey showed that respondents would support moves by the
Scottish Government that reduce our use of valuable raw materials.
People also expressed frustration with the way that products are made
and how it is often impracticable to get things repaired.
There was widespread support for businesses to become more responsible
for the environmental impact of their products, with clear support for
supermarkets to report on their own waste levels and waste in their
supply chains.
The survey of 1,027 people in Scotland, conducted by Survation, found
87% agreed with the statement that ‘In Scotland we should use
raw materials more wisely and waste less’.
78% agreed with the statement that ‘The Government should
introduce a target and a plan on how to reduce the amount of raw
materials used’.
91% agreed with the statement ‘When possible, products should be
made so that they are easy to repair and their components can be
re-used’
90% agreed with the statement that ‘Producers and retailers have
a responsibility for the environmental impact of their products’
83% agreed that Supermarkets should report publicly on their
waste and 77% agreed that they should also report on the waste from
their supply chains.
74% of respondents agreed that ‘The Government should, wherever
possible, only allow materials that are practicably and safely
recycled to be sold in Scotland.’
The Covid-19 crisis has shed light on the vulnerability of our
wasteful and unsustainable economy, often characterised by long and
‘just-in-time’ supply chains. Prior to the recent abrupt downturn in
economic activity, our economy was eating its way through the world’s
natural resources at a rate that was both environmentally unsustainable
and undesirable from an economic resilience point of view. Environmental
experts say we need to re-programme our economy to extract less from the
planet, reuse what we’ve already taken and reduce our waste.
Investment in nature recovery could provide a major boost in
employment in England and help create a more resilient economy as part
of a green economic recovery from Covid-19 according to new figures put
together by conservation groups. In addition, it would also help
Government and society tackle the nature and climate crises.
A
list of 330 projects that are ‘ready to go’ - including a mix of
well-tested and innovative approaches, from micro forests to huge
coastal realignment schemes - has been put together by Wildlife and
Countryside Link to showcase the scale of opportunities available for
England through a green recovery. In the short term, these projects
could support around 5,000 jobs in the environment sector and 5,000 jobs
in delivery, plus supply chain benefits.
Additionally, if the government delivers on its ambition in the
25-year plan for the environment of half a million hectares of restored
habitat, this could mean a further 15,000 jobs in other similar
projects. The scalability of many of the projects mean that they can be
replicated in multiple locations to fit local needs.
Richard Benwell, Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link
said, “Investing in nature can provide a short-term boost with thousands
of jobs, and it can provide long-term, cost-effective protection against
costly risks like flooding, soil degradation, and climate change.
Helping the poorest, most nature-deprived communities first can help
improve people’s way of life at the same time as helping wildlife. This
is the Chancellor’s chance to grow back better by including funding for
these projects in July’s budget announcement.”
Not only would these projects deliver much needed jobs in a
post-Covid world, they would also provide a significant boost towards
Government nature and climate targets by -
Creating or enhancing at least 200,000ha of priority habitat,
including woodland, scrub, heaths, bogland, peatland, grassland,
hedgerows, marshes, wetlands, streams, rivers, marine and coastal
habitats. This would deliver two fifths of the 500,000ha 25-year
plan priority habitat target in just a few years.
Planting at least 4.5 million trees, helping to meet UK targets
to plant 30,000 new hectares of woodland every year, and capturing
around 3 million tonnes of CO2
Storing a minimum of 100,000 tonnes of CO2 per year initially,
rising significantly over time. Early investment in these
nature-based climate solutions is essential to delivering the carbon
capture levels of matured habitats and trees to meet the Government
2050 net zero targets.
Giving a lifeline to hundreds of threatened UK plant, animal and
fungi species. From seahorses to hedgehogs, to bats and rare birds.
Vulnerable and declining habitats would also be restored.
Pledge your support for a National Nature Service to provide paid
work for people to restore nature, and to help develop the skills and
knowledge we need to create a healthier, greener economy.
Show
you support and sign the pledge here.
A fund of up to £40 million will create jobs in nature recovery and
conservation.
Plans to create thousands of new jobs to kick-start the nation’s
green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic were unveiled by the
government today.
The £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund will bring forward
funding to help charities and environmental organisations start work on
projects across England to restore nature and tackle climate change.
The fund will help conservation organisations and their suppliers
create up to 3,000 jobs and safeguard up to 2,000 others in areas such
as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling
climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with the
outdoors.
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund will be funded by the Department
for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by bringing forward £10
million of money from the Nature Recovery Fund and £30 million of Nature
for Climate Funding, so that the money can be spent now when it is most
needed. [This is not new money, but previously announced funds made
available sooner - Ed]
It is envisaged that the fund will create a broad range of short and
long term jobs such as ecologists, surveyors, nature reserve staff and
education workers in environment organisations; and support their
suppliers in areas such as agricultural engineering, horticulture, and
equipment and seed supply.
Organisations will be invited to bid to the fund and details will be
set out in due course.
The upcoming future strategy for conserving biodiversity must
include a prominent target to lower extinction rates, according to
group including UCL scientists.
Biodiversity loss has continued unabated at an alarming rate, and
so far, action to deliver on the global agreements in place has
failed to prevent further declines. Strong science-based action is
needed, the scientists argue, driven through the recognition of a
prominent biodiversity target, comparable to that of the two-degree
climate target.
In proposals published today in the journal Science, conservation
experts are suggesting a long-term goal to reduce species
extinctions towards natural rates, with an easily measurable
objective of fewer than 20 extinctions a year.
It would apply to all described species across the major
taxonomic groups (fungi, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates) and
ecosystem types, whether freshwater, marine or terrestrial.
Report co-author Professor Dame Georgina Mace (UCL Centre for
Biodiversity & Environment Research) said: “There are many ways to
record biodiversity loss but we argue here that extinction is
special. Once a species has gone, it has gone forever, and with it
goes all the exquisite adaptations and interactions that it has
developed, often over millions of years.”
Much of the failure to make progress on existing biodiversity
goals and targets can be attributed to a lack of mainstreaming of
biodiversity in public policy, and limitations in raising the
profile of species loss for politicians and the public. The
post-2020 stage has become vital to define an agenda which offers
solutions to biodiversity loss.
With the irreplaceable loss of a species being simple to assess
and communicate, having this scientifically defensible prominent
target will help to galvanise both policy and public support for
nature, as well as continuing to support the overall goals of the
CBD.
Professor Richard Gregory (UCL Centre for Biodiversity &
Environment Research and RSPB) said: “We need a ‘North Star’ for
nature. A bright, visible destination for global society to move
towards so that we bend the curve of biodiversity loss from the top
down, and bottom up, recovering species populations by protecting
and restoring our vital ecosystems.”
Some of the UK’s leading nature conservation charities have
produced a blueprint for how plans for up to a million new homes can
include nature to create happier and healthier communities for
people and wildlife.
Nature must be at the heart of plans to build new houses. With
plans starting to take shape to build up to a million new homes in
what is known as the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, conservationists are
asking the Government to look at this as the perfect opportunity to
invest in nature, improve people’s lives and realise the green
recovery by building the new nature friendly towns and communities
everyone wants to see.
This year the importance of being able to get out into nature and
discover wildlife where we live has become clear. This has been
underlined by figures released last week by the RSPB that showed
widespread public support for investing in and increasing nature and
natural green space in our recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
To show how this could be done, the Wildlife Trust for
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN);
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT);
the RSPB and the Woodland Trust have jointly published a set of
principles for protecting and restoring nature and tackling climate
change as part of growth and development proposed for the
Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
Volans, a global think tank and strategic advisory firm founded
by John Elkington, the originator of the ‘triple-bottom-line’ of
profit, people and planet, and advisor to major companies across the
globe, has called out a pioneering Scottish partnership as a
potential model for global economic recovery.
The River Leven Programme, a regional regeneration partnership
pioneered by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, aims to
transform an area once at the centre of Scotland’s industrial
revolution, locking in sustainable, inclusive growth.
The Programme is the first living case study in Volans’ ‘Green
Swan Observatory’, propelling the project to the global ‘one to
watch’ list for innovative approaches.
“The alignment of environment and economic agencies with private
partners to accelerate regeneration in Leven can be a model for
Scotland’s green recovery,” says Elkington.
Comes as the Scottish Government’s Economic Advisory Group on
Economic Recovery calls for “a strong green spine to… recovery.”
The announcement comes as five new partners - Network Rail, The
Coal Authority, Zero Waste Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland,
and Fife Coast & Countryside Trust - join another ten private and
public partners on the one-year anniversary of the partnership.
Investment in nature recovery could provide a major boost in
employment in England and help create a more resilient economy as
part of a green economic recovery from Covid-19 according to new
figures put together by conservation groups. In addition, it would
also help Government and society tackle the nature and climate
crises.
A list of 330 projects that are ‘ready to go’ - including a mix
of well-tested and innovative approaches, from micro forests to huge
coastal realignment schemes - has been put together by Wildlife and
Countryside Link to showcase the scale of opportunities available
for England through a green recovery. In the short term, these
projects could support around 5,000 jobs in the environment sector
and 5,000 jobs in delivery, plus supply chain benefits.
Additionally, if the government delivers on its ambition in the
25-year plan for the environment of half a million hectares of
restored habitat, this could mean a further 15,000 jobs in other
similar projects. The scalability of many of the projects mean that
they can be replicated in multiple locations to fit local needs.
Richard Benwell, Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link
said, “Investing in nature can provide a short-term boost with
thousands of jobs, and it can provide long-term, cost-effective
protection against costly risks like flooding, soil degradation, and
climate change. Helping the poorest, most nature-deprived
communities first can help improve people’s way of life at the same
time as helping wildlife. This is the Chancellor’s chance to grow
back better by including funding for these projects in July’s budget
announcement.”
Saving the Health Service £2bn a year makes parks a smart
investment for a Green Recovery
Today, The Parks Alliance (TPA) has published ‘Making Parks
Count’ making the business case for parks, why they matter and why
they are a ‘smart investment’. The case illustrates how parks in
England deliver over £6.6bn of health, climate change and
environmental benefits each year including £2.2bn in avoided health
costs alone and worth £140 per year for each urban resident. For
every £1 spent on parks in England an estimated £7 in additional
value for health and wellbeing and the environment is generated. The
case clearly demonstrates that parks are a smart investment.
Unfortunately, because these returns have never been properly
understood, parks have suffered from years of underfunding and there
remain gross inequalities in access to quality green spaces across
the country. Making Parks Count presents the case for turning this
around.
During the COVID19 “lock down” parks were quite rightly
championed by politicians and scientists as critical to people’s
physical and mental wellbeing and people flocked to their local
parks to take exercise, relax or just see their neighbours at a safe
distance. Parks have always the most favoured community space[1] and
the pandemic strengthened this relationship revealing a greater
appreciation of their everyday benefits whilst for parks services
and researchers it exposed their proven, and multiple, wellbeing
benefits.
The government is committed to a post pandemic Green Recovery
that is science-led, clean and resilient and will create employment
in the industries of the future while ensuring we address the linked
challenges of public health, climate change, and biodiversity[2].
Although finalised just before the pandemic struck ‘Making Parks
Count’ underlines how parks are uniquely placed to tackle these 21st
century challenges and provide a significant return for any
investment made to kick start the economy post COVID19 or as part of
a comprehensive Green Recovery.
New report from The Wildlife Trusts shows how investing in nature
would reap big dividends in tackling climate crisis
Today The Wildlife Trusts publish a report
‘Let nature help – how nature’s recovery is essential for tackling
the climate crisis’. Drawing on the latest research, the report
shows how a variety of natural landscapes in the UK can store carbon
and could absorb a third of UK emissions if these degraded habitats
were to be expertly restored. It makes the case for addressing the
climate and nature emergencies together, head on.
The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the Government, industry and
local authorities to step-up investment in nature’s recovery and
climate change mitigation by:
Restoring a wide range of land habitats such as grasslands,
peatlands and wetlands to store carbon. Government have missed
targets to plant trees and help peatlands recover and now must
identify, map and protect a wide array of ecosystems and restore
them locally as part of a national Nature Recovery Network.
Restoring nature at sea by introducing effective management
for our network of Marine Protected Areas and by designating a
suite of Highly Protected Marine Areas. These measures would
bring our oceans back to health and enable them to function
properly and absorb more human-made CO2 emissions.
The Wildlife Trusts know from experience that restoring nature
can help soak up UK emissions whilst also contributing many
additional benefits. For example, better natural habitats reduce the
risk of flooding, help prevent coastal erosion, improve people’s
health and ensure thriving ecosystems which provide the pollinators,
soils, food and water which sustain us. Nature is, itself, at risk
from climate change – yet its potential to store carbon means it can
help us address climate catastrophe.
In a new report published today (29 June), the independent
environmental think-tank Green Alliance sets out a vision for the
UK’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic that puts people,
climate and nature at its heart.
The publication, ‘Blueprint
for a Resilient Economy’, includes new analysis of the latest
government data showing that the UK’s infrastructure pipeline is
incompatible with the Government’s long-term climate targets.
That data from the National Infrastructure and Construction
Procurement Pipeline for 2020/21, published in June this year, shows
over £8 billion worth of planned procurements in high carbon
transport. The UK government is estimated to have spent £9 billion
supporting new high carbon transport infrastructure since 2017 - and
it has confirmed it will spend another £27 billion over the next
five years on 4,000 miles of new roads - but even with the current
2035 phase-out date for petrol and diesel cars, we can’t shift to
electric vehicles fast enough to meet our carbon budgets: we can’t
afford further road expansion.
Similarly, since 2017 the government is estimated to have invested
nearly £9bn to support new housing projects, with an additional £1.5
billion worth of investment to support housing projects expected
this year. The scrapping of the zero-carbon homes standard in 2015
means most of these new homes are not net-zero compatible by
default, locking in future costs and carbon.
We estimate there is a gap of £14.1 billion in annual public
investment to 2023 in the new low carbon transport, buildings,
natural capital and industry infrastructure required in the UK. The
biggest investment gap, of £8.7bn per year, is in low carbon
transport. If the Government were to reallocate the average annual
investment committed to new road building towards low carbon
transport infrastructure, it could already close 60% of that gap.
An initial economic stimulus package is due to be announced
imminently by the government. Green Alliance’s report highlights
that all decisions made at this point must resist the
short-sightedness of returning to business as usual and urgently
prioritise the UK’s long term resilience to future crises.
A green economic recovery package totalling £100 billion could
create 1.8 million new green jobs in industries such as energy,
transport and housing, while helping to cut Britain’s
climate-heating emissions, a new report published today (Tuesday 30
June) by Greenpeace UK has found.
The findings come ahead of an announcement from the Prime
Minister later today, in which he is expected to set out the
government’s plans to revive the economy, with tens of billions of
pounds expected in stimulus packages.
The research – which was carried out by sustainability advisors,
3Keel, on behalf of Greenpeace UK – looked at the possible
employment outcomes of the transformative policies and investments
set out in Greenpeace’s manifesto for a green recovery, published
last month.
Of the £100 billion that should be injected into zero-carbon
industries to revive the economy over the next four years, almost
half (£48 billion) should go towards cleaning up our transport
system. This would create 890,000 new jobs in areas such as electric
vehicle manufacturing, expanding and improving the public transport
network and creating new infrastructure for walking and cycling all
across the country.
A £25.2 billion stimulus package for smart power and renewable
energy would create 320,000 jobs in offshore and onshore wind and
solar power generation, as well as upgrading the electricity grid to
ensure it is smart, flexible and able to cope with demand.
Increasing energy efficiency of homes and buildings, such as
schools and hospitals, has the potential to create a huge number of
nationwide jobs immediately, as programmes are ‘shovel-ready’ to
roll out. A £17.2 billion investment in upgrading and retrofitting
existing buildings would create a total of 400,000 jobs.
The Wildlife Trusts are deeply disappointed by today's (Tuesday
30 June) Government announcement to spend billions on roads at a
time when serious investment in nature could address the twin
emergencies of our age - climate change and nature loss - as well as
provide jobs and improve people's lives.
Today the Prime Minister announces a
new deal for Britain “which puts jobs and infrastructure at the
centre of the government’s economic growth strategy.”
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech, Craig Bennett, chief
executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Today the Government has
announced billions for road building projects and just £40 million
for nature. This is hugely disappointing. Serious investment in
nature could provide a green recovery which addresses the twin
crises of our age – climate change and loss of the natural world –
while simultaneously providing many more jobs. Instead, the
Government have chosen to spend billions of pounds on roads which
will take us in precisely the wrong direction and mean that we keep
lurching from one crisis to another. Serious investment in nature
could provide a green recovery which addresses the twin crises of
our age – climate change and loss of the natural world – while
simultaneously providing many more jobs. It’s vital that we look to
solutions that will help address nature loss and climate change, not
make them worse. An economic recovery which puts investment in
nature first would reap big dividends in tackling climate crisis –
helping to absorb up to a third of UK emissions* – as well as
tackling health inequalities, and providing more jobs, skills and
opportunities to support the next generation.”
In his speech, the Prime Minister made specific reference to
building fast and removing wildlife that presents an obstacle. The
Wildlife Trusts are extremely concerned that this would jeopardise
species such as dolphins and newts and also the abundance of our
wildlife that is already deeply depleted. The Habitats and Birds
Regulations have been reviewed by DEFRA numerous times and in 2012
were declared fit for purpose.
CPRE today sets out our vision to regenerate the countryside and
ourselves – and says the government’s plans make a mockery of its
‘so-called green recovery’.
The PM’s ‘new deal’ speech came just a day before CPRE, the
countryside charity, launches our own detailed ‘manifesto’ for a
green recovery that can support the regeneration of the economy, our
wellbeing and the environment. This vision urges the government to
use this post-coronavirus moment as an opportunity for real change,
laying out recommendations for ways to stimulate the economy while
making life greener and more resilient for the countryside and its
communities.
Amongst other key proposals, Regenerate our countryside,
regenerate ourselves: A manifesto for a resilient countryside after
coronavirus emphasises that our Green Belts, the countryside next
door for 30 million people, and other countryside around large towns
and cities, should see funding significantly increased to make sure
they’re used better for people and to help mitigate climate
breakdown. It also presses for the support of greener farming
techniques that could make our food supply more resilient.
The recommendations in the CPRE manifesto, with their emphasis on
sustainable, community-led development and progress, are starkly at
odds with Boris Johnson’s proposed approach. Tom Fyans, our
campaigns and policy director, said: ‘With road building at its
heart, the PM’s “new deal” makes a mockery of the government’s
so-called green recovery. At this historic moment, the government
must show real ambition and build back better, not worse, and in
doing so balance our health and wellbeing, nature and countryside
and the economic recovery.’
New funding announced to protect rare wildlife and vulnerable
habitats across the globe
The Government has awarded £10.9 million for global projects to
protect rare wildlife and vulnerable habitats to mark this year’s
World Environment Day (5 June).
Wildlife set to benefit include turtles in the British Virgin
Islands, penguins in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,
coral reefs in Comoros and endangered chimpanzees in Uganda.
Over the next three years, 17 projects will receive £5.7 million
through the Darwin Initiative – a world-renowned scheme that
protects wildlife and the natural environment across the world. In
addition, £5.2 million will be given to 21 projects through the
Darwin Plus scheme for conservation of the unique and globally
significant plants and animals that reside in UK Overseas
Territories.
Wildlife to benefit from this funding include:
The British Virgin Islands’ turtle populations and their
reefs and seagrass meadow habitats through increasing local
understanding of turtle conservation and fisher needs
Endangered chimpanzees in Uganda through supporting local
communities and providing training for reforestation efforts
Coral reefs in the Comoros by helping small-scale fishers to
effectively manage these habitats
A number of species, such as Antarctic fur seals, albatross
and penguin species including macaroni, king and Gentoo, in
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands will be surveyed
through drones to establish their baseline populations to help
monitor and manage their long-term recovery
International Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith said: “World
Environment Day provides us all with a stark reminder of the need to
take urgent action to reverse global biodiversity loss.”
Thanks to a £48,000 National Lottery grant, wardens can continue
to care for the vast colonies of rare seabirds that nest on Skomer
and Skokholm.
Normally the puffins that nest on Skomer and Skokholm Islands,
off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales, draw visitors from around
the world.
But the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has brought tourism to a
standstill, devastating income for the Wildlife Trust of South and
West Wales (WTSWW) which cares for the islands.
Sarah Kessell, WTSWW’s Chief Executive Officer, explained: “We
earn over half of our income from tourism – visitor centres, cafes,
shops, holiday accommodation and day visits to the island. That
income has been turned off overnight. It has left us with a gap in
our budget of more than £500,000.”
They were faced with the prospect of withdrawing their four
island wardens – two each for Skomer and Skokholm. But thanks to a
£48,000 grant made through our Heritage Emergency Fund, the wardens
can now continue protecting the islands' seabirds and other fragile
wildlife.
Sustainability, Climate Change, Pollution
and Litter.
We've received more than 21,600 reports of animals injured or
caught in litter over the past five years, our new stats reveal.
We're urging people who are going out more since lockdown
restrictions were eased to ensure they're taking their litter home
with them or disposing of it properly and responsibly.
Over the past five years (2015-2019), our emergency hotline in
England and Wales has received 6,466 calls about animals affected by
general litter - like tin cans, plastic bottles and elastic bands.
There have also been 15,183 reports relating to animals injured or
caught in angling litter. There have been a further 12,904 reports
of animals and birds trapped in netting, which includes netting
discarded as rubbish but this also includes sports netting or
netting put on bushes or trees to deter birds.
Our frontline officers are regularly called to help cats, birds
and wildlife who have got themselves tangled in netting, injured in
fishing litter or stuck in rubbish. They can find a fox with a tin
can stuck on its head or a seal with fishing netting wrapped around
its neck cutting into the flesh.
Head of our wildlife team, Adam Grogan, said: “Our staff are
dealing with thousands of incidents every year where animals and
birds have been impacted by litter - and they're the ones that we
know of. I'm sure for every animal we're able to help there are many
that go unseen, unreported and may even lose their lives. Litter is
one of the biggest hazards our wildlife faces today - and it's
something that's very easy to resolve. That's why we're calling on
the public to take extra care to clear up after they've been out for
a walk or enjoyed a picnic in the woods. Now that the Government has
eased some of the lockdown restrictions, we're sure lots of families
will be out and about in nature. But it's our job to protect nature
and that includes properly and responsibly disposing of our litter
so that animals can't be hurt.”
The Education and Ranger teams from the North York Moors National
Park Authority are taking steps to instil a positive change in those
who are unaware of the damaging impacts of litter.
The Authority has increased the staff and volunteer presence to
deal with this issue across the National Park and now members of the
Education team will work alongside rangers at visitor hotspots.
Staff and volunteers will engage with visitors and help them to
enjoy the countryside responsibly to everyone’s benefit.
Mary-Jane Alexander, Youth Engagement Officer for the Authority,
said: “Following recent littering, including one scenario where our
rangers had to pull 20 bags of rubbish from the water, we just want
more people to be aware of the impacts this will have on both our
wildlife and the local communities who call the National Park their
home. Since social distancing measures were first put in place, many
people have revaluated what the countryside means to them. By not
being allowed to travel, more people recognise just how important it
is to be able to get out and explore nature, but we must understand
the importance of protecting such spaces. Therefore, myself and
others will be out and about to encourage others to do so.”
The new initiative also includes working alongside the
Authority’s Young Rangers, aged between 11 and 17.
Mary-Jane added: “Our Young Rangers have come up with some
wonderful ideas and we will be looking to roll some of these out in
the weeks to come. These young people are the perfect role models of
how to safely and responsibly enjoy the National Park and we would
hope for others to look to them for inspiration.”
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been shocked to see beaches, parks
and public spaces suffering the scourge of litter and single-use
plastic, from cups to gloves, takeaway food containers and face
masks. So we’re asking for your help to spread the message that
anyone enjoying time outdoors this summer should #KeepItClean and
take their litter home.
It’s easy to think that litter on land has no role to play at
sea, whereas in fact, 80% of ocean litter comes from land.
In a recent survey, 63% of those asked were very or extremely
concerned about marine plastic pollution and 61% were very or
extremely concerned about the health of our oceans. The concern for
the health of our ocean must be echoed in our actions on land,
whether on the beach, in a park or strolling down our local high
street.
Almost a third (30.4%) of all litter found across the UK’s
beaches over our Great British Beach Clean weekend last year was
from the public, whether left on the beaches, blown in off the
street or carried by waterways to the coast. The top ten most
prolific items included cigarette stubs (42.6 per 100m); crisp,
sweet and sandwich packets (30.9 per 100m); caps and lids (20.4 per
100m); alongside plastic or polystyrene pieces (143 per 100m).
‘On-the-go’ convenience packaging is amongst the most common types
of litter, and one which could be easily avoided.
Lizzie Prior, Beachwatch Officer said: “There’s no doubt that the
pictures of litter on beaches across the UK from this past few weeks
are the worst I have ever seen, yet the awareness of marine
pollution is the highest I have ever known. We know the impact
litter, particularly plastic, has on our marine environment so
please remember, wherever you go, take your litter home”
Today (8 June) sees the launch of 'Developing the evidence-base
to support 'climate-smart' decision making around Marine Protected
Areas (MPAs)', a report produced by our experts working on behalf of
UK Government. This new research reveals that half of MPAs could
contain habitats important for climate resistance.
Dr John Goold, Director of Marine Evidence and Advice at JNCC
said: "This report, released today on World Oceans Day, provides
important evidence to further understand the susceptibility of
protected features within MPAs to climate change and their
functional role in building overall resilience to the impacts of
climate change. Outputs from this collaborative project will help
support concepts such as climate-smart decision making in the marine
environment."
Defra Minister Rebecca Pow said: "Our Blue Belt of marine
protection around our coast is now an area twice the size of England
and truly a world-leading level of protection; however, there is
always more that can be done. We have a duty to ensure that our
marine life recovers and thrives for future generations. This
research published on World Ocean Day gives us the tools to measure
the impacts of climate change on some of our most sensitive habitats
and provides an important insight into the benefits of Marine
Protected Areas – not just for nature but for our own resilience in
the face of a changing climate."
Forestry on peat bog, bog pools in the midst of Lonielist
plantation near Forsinard Credit: Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
The RSPB has identified how much carbon is being stored in areas
important for wildlife
Much of these areas is in poor condition and unprotected, however
restoration could lead not only to reduced emissions but actually to
higher levels of sequestration
Restoring these areas to good condition could counterbalance
nearly a third of the UKs agricultural emissions every year
Restoring the UK’s important habitats for nature could help lock
away 14 million tonnes of CO2e per year, nearly a third our annual
agricultural emissions, according to a new study led by RSPB
scientists.
The UK has recently committed to ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050 under the 2008 Climate Change Act. In order to
reach this target, all sectors must commit to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, as well as removing gases from the atmosphere.
In a paper
published today in the journal Biological Conservation, experts
calculated the contribution made to achieving this net zero target
by analysing how much carbon was already stored in areas important
for conservation, and how much more could be sequestered each year
if some of those areas were restored.
Dr Rob Field, lead author of the paper said: "Currently our
nature-rich lands are already doing an excellent job; they hold a
massive store of around 0.5 Gigatonnes of carbon, around 30% of our
land-based store on just 20% of its area, as well as capturing an
additional 8.7 million tonnes CO2e every year.
A new report, produced by Keep Britain Tidy and commissioned by
Defra, reveals just how much litter is being dropped and what it is.
The research reveals that the bulk of the litter that is being
thoughtlessly thrown on our streets, parks and beaches is the result
of our insatiable thirst for drinking on the go.
The survey, carried out at a representative sample of sites
across the country in 2019, looked not only at the number of items
dropped but at the volume of that litter and it revealed that almost
three quarters of the litter – a staggering 75% was the result of
drinks consumption.
The most littered item, by volume, was the small plastic bottle
(up to 750ml) for non-alcoholic drinks, which accounted for 24.4% of
the total, but these are joined by cans, larger bottles, glass
bottles, coffee cups, takeaway soft drinks cups and cartons to
create a mountain of waste, much of which could and should be
recycled but is, instead, polluting our environment and costing
millions of pounds to clean up.
As we consider what a post-Covid green recovery should look like,
we should allow ourselves to imagine a world without litter and
plastic pollution. It is clear that we urgently need new measures to
tackle all types of littering but particularly to address the issue
of drinks containers, which make up nearly three quarters of the
volume of litter in this country.
This is why we need a well-designed and comprehensive deposit
return scheme as soon as possible, for all sizes of plastic, glass
and aluminium drinks containers. In more than 40 countries and
regions around the world, such schemes can drive up collection rates
for drinks containers to over 90%, creating clean material for
recycling and reducing littering.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has written to
the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson MP, calling
for the Countryside Code to be taught in schools.
It comes following reports of worrying incidents taking place in
rural areas as the country emerges from the Covid-19 crisis. These
include fly-tipping, littering, trespassing, country lanes being
blocked, gates being left open, dogs chasing livestock and a lack of
social distancing.
There has been a spike in these types of actions occurring as
more people have flocked to the countryside to enjoy the hot weather
since lockdown rules were eased.
CLA President Mark Bridgeman said: “The countryside is a
wonderful place and we want to see everybody enjoy it. But we also
want them to be safe, and respect the countryside as a place of
work. A lack of education on how to treat the countryside has left a
generation without a basic understanding of what is an acceptable
and indeed necessary standard of behaviour in a rural, working
environment which produces food for the nation. We all have a part
of to play in improving that understanding, but help in the
classroom would be a great start. With the recent problems arising,
including the tragic death of another walker attacked by cattle, we
strongly believe this is the right time to get the Countryside Code
into classrooms. There is an opportunity for lessons to be learned
from the crisis. It is imperative we set standards and expectations,
while promoting an ethos of respect for the countryside in schools
up and
To read the letter sent to Secretary of State for Education,
Gavin Williamson MP,
click here
The National Trust is urging people not to bring a barbecue or
light a campfire when they visit the coast and countryside,
following a spate of wildfires during lockdown.
Despite recent rainfall, a record-breaking spring of sunshine has
left many landscapes dry and created the perfect conditions for
fires to ignite and quickly spread.
Since the start of April, several large blazes have broken out on
the Trust’s land, including one near the Devon coast that was
started by a barbecue and required six fire engines and a police
helicopter to extinguish; one at a heathland site on the Wirral that
is home to lizards and tiger beetles; and a 2km moorland blaze in
West Yorkshire that tore through the nests of rare ground-nesting
birds.
Rangers at the Trust have reported a rise in people bringing
barbecues to the countryside, as extended spells of good weather
have coincided with the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The late May bank holiday saw beauty spots including Formby Beach in
Merseyside, Birling Gap in East Sussex and the North York Moors
recording their busiest day ever for visitor numbers.
At Studland Beach, where the risk of wildfire was extreme, fire
crews extinguished 30 unattended barbecues in a single night.
Many sites have also noticed an increase in litter – which not
only blights the landscape and poses a threat to wildlife but can
fuel wildfires.
With drier weather set to return this weekend, the charity is
calling on those making trips to the coast and countryside not to
bring a barbecue or leave litter behind.
Ben McCarthy, Head of Nature Conservation at the National Trust,
said: “We know that people have missed the outdoors and open spaces
these past few months – and we’re really pleased to be welcoming
them back. But we’re urging people not to bring barbecues to the
countryside or the coast. They can lead to real problems,
particularly after such little rain in April and May. Many areas of
land are still very dry and all it takes is a single spark from a
barbecue or a dropped cigarette to cause a serious fire. Fires like
these undermine our work to care for nature and respond to the
climate emergency, which are priorities for the National Trust. Our
local teams and the fire services are working hard to keep the
countryside and coast safe for everyone, but resources are
stretched. Please think of others; think of the wildlife; think of
our emergency services; and don’t bring barbecues to the beach or
countryside.”
Ministers must seize the opportunity to turn the COVID-19 crisis
into a defining moment in the fight against climate change, the
Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says today.
In its annual report to Parliament, the Committee provides
comprehensive new advice to the Government on delivering an economic
recovery that accelerates the transition to a cleaner, net-zero
emissions economy and strengthens the country’s resilience to the
impacts of climate change.
Important steps have been taken in the last year, but much
remains to be done. For the first time the Committee sets out its
recommendations government department by government department.
These are the urgent steps that must be taken in the months ahead to
initiate a green, resilient COVID-19 recovery. They can be delivered
through strong coordination across Whitehall. Doing so will propel
the UK towards more rapid climate progress and position the country
as an international climate leader ahead of the pivotal COP26
climate summit in Glasgow next year.
CCC Chairman, Lord Deben, said: “The UK is facing its biggest
economic shock for a generation. Meanwhile, the global crisis of
climate change is accelerating. We have a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to address these urgent challenges together; it’s there
for the taking. The steps that the UK takes to rebuild from the
COVID-19 pandemic can accelerate the transition to a successful and
low-carbon economy and improve our climate resilience. Choices that
lock in emissions or climate risks are unacceptable.”
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published its Reducing
UK emissions: 2020 Progress Report to Parliament.
Commenting on the report, CLA President Mark Bridgeman said: “The
CLA is committed to helping the government reach the net-zero target
by 2050. Through the Agriculture Bill, Environment Bill, Tree
Strategy and Peatland Strategy there is a fantastic opportunity to
transform the sector and the way we use our land to reduce emissions
and increase sequestration. Uncertainties about Brexit, trade
negotiations and Covid-19 disruptions have delayed legislation and
the development of policies for agriculture and land use that will
support climate action. Farmers and land managers are increasingly
looking at what they can do, but until there are clear policies and
programmes for woodland creation and woodland management, alongside
programmes to help shift the sector to low carbon farming, the
progress will be slow. Addressing GHG emissions from agriculture and
using nature to sequester and store carbon, and providing renewable
energy, has many benefits for climate, nature and the economy. But
this needs clear and long-term polices, and funding for programmes,
that will encourage farmers and landowners to change how they farm
and their land use.”
Our volunteers are amazing - meet Josh who is helping to remove
plastic, nurdle by nurdle, from Trimley Marshes.
Joshua Drake, from Ipswich, has a passion for improving the
environment and has recently made a huge difference at Trimley
Marshes nature reserve.
Josh was shocked by the quantity of plastic waste he saw when he
and his mother were taking their exercise walk at the reserve, and
instead of just walking by he took it upon himself to clear it up.
This was no small task, the rubbish along the tide line was a thick
tangle of fishing line, rope, plastic sheets, bags and bottles; much
of it degraded so it shredded into smaller and smaller fragments as
they cleared it. Some of the plastic had become entwined amongst the
grasses and plants, and it was a delicate process to safely remove
it. He also found thousands of nurdles; tiny pellets of plastic used
in manufacturing, which sadly end up polluting our rivers and seas.
As you can imagine, clearing these small nurdles was a huge
challenge, with hours spent checking the soil with a pair of
tweezers in hand.
Josh feels very strongly that people need to reconsider their
plastic use: “It’s terrible and very sad that there is so much
plastic on the reserve, which is polluting the habitats of the birds
and wildlife there. The ground is covered in nurdles and micro
plastics that can be eaten by the birds and it will eventually kill
them. I feel that the Docks and nearby companies need to take more
care and responsibility for handling plastic safely and deal with
any spillages straight away. It would also be better if everyone
could use much less plastic so that nature stands a better chance of
surviving.”
A new method of restoring sand dunes to their pristine and
natural condition is being trialed by Forestry and Land Scotland at
Morrich More, a site near Tain in East Sutherland.
The project aims to remove trees – planted decades ago in a
misguided attempt to help prevent dune erosion – and create the
conditions that will allow dune vegetation to once more take hold
and allow natural processes to conserve the coastline.
Suzanne Dolby, FLS Environment forester (North Region), said:
“Sand dunes are vulnerable to coastal erosion, especially in the
face of rising sea levels and more frequent severe weather events.
Decades ago, the thinking was that planting trees on dunes would
help to prevent them from being eroded and that this would help
protect Scotland’s coastline. However, tidal and wave action
continued to drive erosion under the tree roots and actually
encouraged erosion. These days, the awareness and understanding of
the cycles that sand dunes go through – and their value as habitats
in their own right - is much more prevalent so we are looking at how
best we can restore sand dunes to their natural state.”
Sand dunes help to protect the coastline and are likely to be an
increasingly important defence against sea level rise as a result of
the Climate Emergency.
The environmental, cultural and financial value of UNESCO
designations is highlighted in a report published today.
The Isle of Man is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and encourages
balance between people and their environment and promotes
sustainable living.
The Island’s Biosphere is one of 160 sites that come under the UK
National Commission (UKNC) for UNESCO. As well as eight fellow UK
and Ireland Biospheres, there are World Heritage Sites, Global
Geoparks and Creative Cities.
‘The National Value of UNESCO Designations to the UK’, published
by the UKNC, is the first report to comprehensively examine the
environmental, cultural and financial contribution UNESCO
designations make to their locations.
UNESCO projects help build a greener, more equal and more
peaceful world, as aspired to in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), the report says.
UNESCO and the UKNC play a crucial role in developing and
strengthening partnerships between designations and the institutions
and people in them.
The report examines 76 UNESCO designations in the UK and
estimates that they generated £151 million for their economies
annually.
The new AI system will identify potentially damaging plant
species such as Japanese knotweed Picture: Crown
Copyright/GBNNSS
Invasive plant species like Japanese knotweed cause damage across
the UK, but finding them and tracking their growth can be
time-consuming and expensive, especially along roads and railways.
Now, scientists from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
(UKCEH) and Keen AI, a Birmingham-based artificial intelligence and
machine learning company, are developing a new artificial
intelligence (AI) system that can quickly survey large and
inconvenient areas for invasive and potentially damaging plant
species.
The team has been funded by Innovate UK to run a 10-month pilot
project for the new system in two locations: north Wales and the
Midlands.
They will place a high-speed camera on top of a vehicle and
survey up to 120 miles of vegetated roadside per day. The captured
images will be tagged with their GPS location and uploaded to an
online platform where UKCEH ecologists will identify the plants in
the photographs.
The next task will be to teach the AI how to correctly identify
invasive species like Japanese knotweed, rhododendrons, Himalayan
balsam and cherry laurel. The team will also add ash trees to its
learning: these are native to the UK, but currently at risk of ash
dieback disease.
Nature and soil health are flourishing at Wimpole Home Farm near
Cambridge according to the results of a full ‘health-check’ into its
biodiversity, carbon levels and levels of public accessibility.
The results, announced as the landmark Agriculture Bill which
starts its next crucial stage in the House of Lords tomorrow (10
June), show increases in the numbers of breeding pairs of rare
farmland birds, invertebrates and how the land can significantly
capture carbon.
Mark Harold, Director of Land and Nature at the National Trust
said: ‘Sustainable, productive and profitable farming is underpinned
by a healthy environment. Coronavirus has shown how important it is
to have a resilient food and farming system. We know that climate
change and sustainability pose the greatest threats to food
security, as this year’s flooding and now drought have shown. The
Agriculture Bill – and the principle of public money for public
goods at its heart – is an opportunity to deliver this. With a focus
on sustainable land management, wildlife and soil health can recover
quicker than we might think. The story at Wimpole paints one of hope
and optimism – and the government’s forthcoming “environmental land
management scheme” will be crucial to replicating this across the
farming industry, as will the new Agriculture Bill in prioritising
government support for this scheme. Together, these two mechanisms
will ensure all farms have a sustainable future which will be good
for the environment, good for farm businesses and good for people.’
The organic farm has been focusing on nature-friendly,
sustainable farming methods for the past 12 years to reflect our
goals for farming models which are good for nature, good for the
public and are profitable.
A flock of woolly warriors introduced by the Scottish Invasive
Species Initiative into woodland alongside the River Deveron have
made a great start in their mission to munch away invasive Giant
hogweed plants.
The sheep were introduced into the strip of woodland along the
river beyond the Macduff distillery as part of a hogweed grazing
trial last spring and have now arrived back to the woodland to
recommence their important work after a well-earned winter break.
There are fewer sheep on site in 2020 compared to last year to avoid
overgrazing impacts detected in the monitoring of the 2019 season.
Many walkers continue to use the site and are welcome to do so,
but are being reminded to be aware of the sheep and act responsibly
– including by keeping dogs on leads. As there are fewer animals
present in the woodland they might not always be visible.
Karen Muller, Project Officer for the Scottish Invasive Species
Initiative, said: “We are really pleased with how the first year of
the trial has gone. The sheep did what we hoped they would do and
ate away at the Giant hogweed plants with no ill-effects. We’ve made
a few adjustments this year and will continue to monitor closely how
this season goes.”
An application for International Dark Sky Reserve status for the
Yorkshire Dales National Park has been endorsed by the National Park
Authority’s board, after research showed the quality of the dark sky
in the Dales to be ‘exceptional’.
Yesterday’s annual general meeting of the Yorkshire Dales
National Park Authority (YDNPA) heard that more than 400 light
measurements had been taken at night across 290 locations in the
National Park from late 2018 through to early spring this year.
More than 100 locations had readings of 21.2mpas (magnitudes per
square arcsecond) or more, which is the minimum requirement for a
Dark Sky Reserve.
Members of the board agreed that the core area of the Dark Sky
Reserve could comprise a large arc of land around but not including
Hawes, taking in the upper ends of Swaledale, Rawthey Valley,
Garsdale, Littondale and Wharfedale. The core area would cover 30%
of the entire National Park.
Members also adopted a Light Management Plan. It contains
principles on external lighting which will be given effect in the
next Local Plan.
Nick Cotton, the YDNPA’s Member Champion for Recreation
Management, said: “I would like to thank the National Park Authority
volunteers who worked alongside members of local astronomy groups to
gather the light readings necessary to support our Dark Sky Reserve
application. The dark sky in the National Park has been recognised
as one of its special qualities for many years. Now we’ve got the
data to back it up. Dark Sky Reserve status will help us gain
international recognition and preserve the dark sky of the National
Park. It has the potential to boost the tourism economy too. On a
clear winter’s night in the National Park you can see the Milky Way,
planets, shooting stars and sometimes even the northern lights.
People will come to stay in the National Park for that. Our dark
skies festival, run with local businesses, goes from strength to
strength and shows the high level of interest amongst visitors and
residents alike.”
A dossier of new evidence on peatland protection has highlighted
a raft of scientific findings that could help shape future
conservation of some of the UK’s most iconic landscapes.
New research on key issues including carbon storage, water
quality, biodiversity and wildfire reveals that conclusions drawn
from previous science are now out of date and not safe to be used as
the basis for key political decisions on the management of peatland.
The dossier comprises four reports from university researchers
and scientists and focuses on the evidence surrounding the use of
controlled burning to help restore, maintain and improve peatlands.
Key findings from the reports include:-
• Burned areas of blanket bog are capable of increased levels of
carbon capture.
• Production of charcoal during managed burning has a positive
impact on long-term carbon storage.
• Burning does not appear to cause water discolouration.
• Controlled burning reduces fuel loads and may, therefore, help to
prevent and limit wildfires.
• Overabundance of heather is limited by burning.
• Environmentally important Sphagnum capillifolium moss recovers
from ‘cool’ managed burning within three years.
• The ending of managed burning in the USA resulted in declines in
bird life and an increase in devastating wildfires.
• Greenhouse gas emissions from controlled burning are insignificant
compared with emissions from wildfire or severely degraded lowland
peatlands used for agriculture.
Mark Ashby, of Lancaster University and Whitebeam Ecology, who,
in the latest report, conducted an extensive review of evidence on
heather burning, said: “The debate around heather burning remains
unresolved. The review of the latest evidence demonstrates that some
previously held assumptions are now unsafe and should, therefore,
not be used as the basis for policy. This newly reviewed scientific
evidence should be taken into account when determining how best to
protect peatland in the future. The time is now right to review
Natural England’s February 2018 position statement which takes a
largely negative view of controlled burning and critically examine
the circumstances in which burning may be an appropriate peatland
restoration tool. The increased threat and impact from severe
wildfires must now also be taken into account in terms of mitigating
damage to the structure and function of blanket bog.”
A small herd of cows will be tagged with GPS in a new scheme by
the Woodland Trust to track their “moovements” and how they can
boost diversity.
Six Dexter cows started roaming Avon Valley Woods, Devon, at the
weekend. At least one of these will be fitted with a GPS collar, and
visitors to the wood will be able to track online where the cows
are.
The tracking system will allow the Trust to assess where the cows
have been and what impact they’ve made in helping to regenerate the
wood and its wildlife. It will also allow the cows’ health and
wellbeing to be monitored.
Conservation grazier John Severn, of Cows in Clover which has
supplied the cows, said: “The trampling of cows’ hooves will stir up
the soil, releasing and encouraging seeds to germinate and new
plants to flourish. Their dung will attract insects which will in
turn provide food for birds and bats.
Trees and woods belong at the heart of any green recovery.
(Credit: Adam Burton / WTML)
Darren Moorcroft, CEO of the Woodland Trust said: "Despite huge
interest in trees and woods, these new statistics show we are a long
way from where we need to be. To get us moving in the right
direction, the Government's planned England Tree Strategy needs to
deliver a bold vision for trees and woods. That means not just more
trees in the ground, but planning as part of the landscape, so they
deliver for carbon, nature and people, with firm quality not just
quantity targets. We must also do far more to look after the trees
and woods we already have, restoring and protecting our precious
ancient woodlands and stopping the risk of imported tree disease by
sourcing and growing the trees we plant in this country. Action to
rebuild our economy and society after the coronavirus epidemic must
also invest for the long term in our precious natural environment.
Protecting, restoring and expanding native tree cover – with all the
social, economic and environmental benefits that will bring -
belongs at the heart of any ‘green recovery’ worthy of the name. We
also need to strengthen supply chains so we can make good on
commitments to expand trees and woodlands to 2050 and beyond.”
Confor has warned the UK Government that it will fail to meet its
planting targets unless it makes rapid progress in getting many more
trees into the ground in England.
Stuart Goodall, Confor CEO, specifically highlighted the need to
stimulate the planting of new productive forests to provide the
supplies of wood needed for a future green economy.
According to new official figures, overall tree planting across
the UK totalled 13,460 hectares in the year to March 31, 2020 - very
similar to the 2018-19 figure of around 13,400 hectares.
planting figures via confor
This means no real progress has been made towards achieving the
UK Government's ambitious target of planting 30,000 hectares of new
woodland every year by 2025. In fact, in England the level of
productive conifer planting actually fell to a “miserable” 230
hectares.
Mr Goodall said: "While we were pleased to see the UK Government
commit to an ambitious planting target, these figures show the
Government is way off track. The 2025 target is in line with what
Confor has said is achievable, and shows that Government is
listening to the Committee on Climate Change who have emphasised
repeatedly that tree planting must be a key component in the fight
to reduce atmospheric carbon and tackle climate change. However, to
hit such targets will require large-scale planting of both conifers
and broadleaves in England, and that simply isn’t happening – 230
hectares of conifer is a miserable achievement. We need to be
planting far more productive forestry if we are to reduce our global
carbon and environmental footprint – the UK is the second largest
net importer of timber in the world after China."
The figures showed Scotland is still planting more than 80 per
cent of trees in the UK - 10,860 hectares, including around 7,570
hectares of conifers and 3,890 hectares of broadleaves. More
on the Scottish figures here.
Government consults on plans to update its policy for trees,
woodland and forestry through creation of a new England Tree
Strategy.
Consultation to run for 12 weeks, seeking views on how to
increase tree planting and tree and woodland management.
Trees are a unique natural asset that play a crucial role in
combating the biodiversity and climate crises we face.
The government’s environmental programme will play its full
part as we build back better and secure a fair, green and
resilient recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Everyone – from farmers, foresters and land managers, experts and
environmental organisations, to members of the public – is being
invited to give their views on the future creation and management of
our trees, woodlands and forests.
Subject to consultation, the new strategy will set out policies
to expand tree cover, support woodland management and increase
public engagement with trees and woodlands. It will help ensure the
government’s tree planting commitment – to increase tree planting to
30,000 hectares per year across the UK by 2025 - is delivered,
working closely with the devolved administrations, communities and
landowners to do so.
The government is asking for views on:
how to expand, protect and improve our public and private
trees and woodlands,
the increased role that trees and woodlands can play in
supporting the economy,
how best to further connect people to nature, and
the most effective way in which trees and woodlands can be
created and managed to help combat climate change.
Ocean charities and organisations including Greenpeace, Marine
Conservation Society, Surfers Against Sewage, Whale and Dolphin
Conservation and WWF are calling for a sea change in ambition in
Government marine policy to restore our marine environment by 2030.
The calls come in a new ‘Ocean
Recovery Manifesto’ launched today, World Oceans Day 2020 (8
June), by the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition. The
organisations are also launching a photo competition for the public
to show how much our seas mean to them, and help raise the issue up
the political agenda.
Our ocean is suffocating, with overuse, pollution and climate
change all causing severe declines in marine habitats and wildlife.
The group welcomed the Government’s action for our seas so far, with
designation of Marine Protected Areas, its new seabird action plan,
and its strong leadership in the Global Ocean Alliance, but
highlighted the scale of change needed to achieve healthy seas
around our own shores.
UK Governments have a legal target to achieve healthy seas by
2020, but in 2019 our waters failed to meet 11 out of 15 indicators
of good sea health. Ocean campaigners in the Wildlife and
Countryside Link coalition want the Government to take legal and
practical action now, including fully protecting 30% of our waters,
to get English seas healthy again. A first step should be the swift
designation of Highly Protected Marine Areas around England, as
recommended by a government-commissioned report published today.
Chris Tuckett, of the Marine Conservation Society and Chair of the
Wildlife and Countryside Link Marine Group, said: ‘Our ocean is
vital to the health of all of us. It is the lifeblood of the planet,
producing more than half of the air we breathe, food and medicines,
including the first experimental drug trialed for covid-19. But the
ocean that we rely on is in trouble and without help it won’t be
able to support future generations. This World Oceans Day we’re
asking the Government to up its ambition for our seas ahead of COP26
and give the global leadership we need for our ocean starting on our
own doorstep.’
Review recommends introduction of Highly Protected Marine Areas
as essential for marine protection and recovery.
An independent review led by former Fisheries Minister Richard
Benyon, and published today on World Ocean Day, is calling for the
introduction of Highly Protected Marine Areas in English waters. The
review was commissioned on last year’s world ocean day by then
Environment Secretary Michael Gove as part of the Government’s drive
to protect our waters.
These highly protected marine areas would enable a greater
recovery of the marine ecosystem and enhance the Government’s
commitment to a national ‘Blue Belt’, which has already seen an area
of 92,000 square km protected - 40% of English seas.
The UK currently has a range of protections in place through a
network of 355 Marine Protected Areas, which offer protections for a
designated feature or habitat within their boundaries. Highly
Protected Marine Areas would go further by taking a ‘whole site
approach’ and only permitting certain activities within their
boundaries such as vessel transit, scuba diving and kayaking.
Activities that could have a damaging effect on habitats or
wildlife, including fishing, construction and dredging would be
banned. The review claims the introduction of such areas could lead
to a significant biodiversity boost for our seas by giving our
marine life the best chance to recover and thrive.
The Wildlife Trusts back new form of protection for the sea and
call on Government for ambitious delivery plan for Highly Protected
Marine Areas within a year.
The Benyon review of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) is
published by Defra today. The Wildlife Trusts back its
recommendations that HPMAs should be an essential part of the UK
network for protection and recovery of the marine environment, and
the government should introduce HPMAs within existing protected
areas.
The review is published on World Oceans Day by an independent
panel of members from academia, industry and conservation
backgrounds and chaired by former MP and Fisheries Minister Richard
Benyon. The Wildlife Trusts believe that there is an overwhelming
case for HPMAs across our seas which would see a ban on all damaging
activities. We are calling for an ambitious HPMA delivery plan
within a year.
One of the Review panel, Joan Edwards, director of marine
conservation at The Wildlife Trusts says: “Our seas are in an
impoverished state and it’s hard for our generation to comprehend
how abundant our waters once were. Cod were once as long and wide as
humans are tall, and whales, dolphins and basking sharks were many
times more common than they are today. We need to let the sea show
us what it’s capable of. Today’s publication proposes a vital way of
achieving marine recovery. We want to see real ambition from the
Government with a commitment to a HPMA delivery plan agreed before
World Oceans Day in 2021.”
A Greenpeace investigation has revealed that supertrawlers spent
2963 hours fishing in UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in 2019, the
equivalent of 123 days.
Spertrawlers are freezer trawlers over 100m in length. They can
catch hundreds of tonnes of fish every day using nets up to a mile
long.
25 supertrawlers were active in UK waters in 2019 [1] and spent
time fishing in 39 UK MPAs [2]. None of the supertrawlers active in
UK waters in 2019 are UK owned. All were operating legally.
Greenpeace has today launched a petition urging the UK government to
ban supertrawlers, which are not compatible with properly protected
marine areas, from fishing in MPAs.
The 39 MPAs affected by supertrawler operations in 2019 are all
in offshore waters (beyond 12 nautical miles from the coast). They
protect important marine ecosystems and species, including porpoises
and reefs. One of the areas most heavily fished in by supertrawlers
in 2019 was the Southern North Sea (east coast of England), created
to safeguard porpoises which are particularly threatened by
supertrawlers. 1105 porpoises died in fishing nets in 2019 [3].
Chris Thorne, Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Our
government allowing destructive supertrawlers to fish for thousands
of hours every year in Marine Protected Areas makes a mockery of the
word ‘protected’. Even an hour of supertrawler activity inside an
ecologically sensitive marine environment is too much, let alone
almost 3000. For our government to be taken seriously as a leader in
marine protection, it must ban supertrawler operations in the UK’s
Marine Protected Areas. Will our government heed the recommendations
of the Highly Protected Marine Area review and seize the historic
opportunity Brexit provides to fix the UK’s broken network of Marine
Protected Areas, or will it allow the flawed status quo to
continue?”
Recreation, Volunteering and Environmental
Education.
A poll commissioned by the National Trust has revealed how an
increased relationship with nature appears to have helped people
across the UK since the coronavirus pandemic outbreak in March.
With this weekend’s summer solstice, the conservation charity is
encouraging people all over the country to make the most of the
longest day by noticing and enjoying the moment, either by
experiencing a dawn or sunset in their garden or local green space;
or noticing the wildlife and flowers active at dawn or dusk in their
garden or local park.
Findings in the YouGov poll revealed that more than two-thirds
(68 per cent) of adults either agreed or strongly agreed that
spending time noticing the nature around them has made them feel
happy during lockdown. Three-quarters of all the women who responded
(75 per cent) either agreed or strongly agreed that this was the
case, versus approximately two-thirds (62 per cent) of all men.
More than half the population (55 per cent) also agreed or
strongly agreed that they plan to make a habit of spending as much
time in nature once things go back to normal.
Findings also revealed that since lockdown interest in nature has
risen by a third (33 per cent), with interest growing the most in
the 25-34 year old age group (40 per cent). And with lockdown
restrictions easing over the past two weeks, 41 per cent of
respondents said they were still spending a little or a lot more
time in nature in the past two weeks compared to this time last
year.
Announcing the results ahead of this weekend’s longest day, Andy
Beer, Noticing Nature Project Lead at the National Trust said:
“Although we suspected that nature was providing the nation some
level of comfort during these distressing and unprecedented times,
we wanted to get a better understanding of how it was helping people
through this period. The results tell us that people have found
spending time in nature or seeing nature has had a positive effect
on their mood, and hopefully therefore, helped their mental
wellbeing. Mounting evidence shows that everyday connections with
nature has a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. The
fact that people are recognising so fully how nature has helped them
during the crisis can only be a good thing for people, nature and
wildlife.”
Research by the University says the artificial structures and
reclaimed land of coastal cities are often poor surrogates for the
natural environment
The world’s waterfront cities should not be deluged with
apparently green developments because they still carry the potential
to cause damage to the marine and coastal environment, scientists
have warned.
Coastal urban areas all over the world have expanded at an
increasingly fast pace in recent years, with developers innovating a
variety of ways to try and minimise their impact on natural
habitats.
However, an international team of scientists has said the
artificial structures and reclaimed land that have resulted are
often poor surrogates for the natural environment they replace.
They say that where societal and economic demand makes
development inevitable, more attention must be paid to claims over
biodiversity gain because a ‘greened’ development will always
impinge on natural systems.
The calls are made in a commentary article, accepted for
publication in the Journal of Applied Ecology and written by
eco-engineers, ecologists and marine biologists from the UK, Italy
and Malaysia.
Led by researchers from the University of Plymouth, it
particularly focuses on the application of so-called integrated
greening of grey infrastructure (IGGI).
Despite it already being implemented in many places, they believe
there is considerable scope for it to be misused, leading to the
‘greenwashing’ of new developments including seawalls, breakwaters
and artificial islands.
Instead, the scientists say it can undoubtedly be used to enhance
previously-developed or degraded environments, and those projects
should act as a testbed for where IGGI can have a positive – and,
just as importantly, a negative – impact.
Replacing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a new “ecosystem”
measure reveals the enormous value of the natural world, new
research shows.
GDP – widely used by decision-makers around the world –
summarises the value of all goods and services bought and sold in a
country during a specific period as a single figure.
But it takes no account of how nature contributes to economic
activity and human wellbeing.
The new study, by an international team including the University
of Exeter, calls this a “critical omission” and suggests a new way
to measure that missing value of nature: “Gross Ecosystem Product”
(GEP).
This new approach is demonstrated in action through a case study
in China, where the government is working to develop and implement
GEP as a comparable compliment to GDP.
“To achieve sustainable development, we need to move beyond
conventional economic measures like GDP,” said Professor Ian
Bateman, Director of the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy
Institute (LEEP) which is in the Department of Economics at the
University of Exeter Business School. “The global economy, as
conventionally measured by GDP, more than doubled between 1990 and
2015. However, at the same time our stocks of ‘ecosystem assets’ –
such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, fertile soils and
biodiversity – have come under increasing pressure. These things are
obviously valuable in many ways – including to human wellbeing.
However, in this study we examine the benefits they bring us
measured in a way that governments and business can understand.”
Pathogens that attack agricultural crops show remarkable
adaptability to new climates and new plant hosts, new research
shows.
Researchers at the Department of Biosciences, University of
Exeter studied the temperature preferences and host plant diversity
of hundreds of fungi and oomycetes that attack our crops.
The researchers found that plant pathogens can specialise on
particular temperatures or host plants, or have wide temperature or
host ranges.
Lead author Professor Dan Bebber, a member of Exeter’s Global
Systems Institute, said: “Traditionally, scientists have considered
species to be specialists or generalists. Generalists are sometimes
called ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. Our analyses show that
many plant pathogens are ‘Jack of some trades, master of others’.”
Tom Chaloner, an SWBIO DTP PhD student, said: “We have collated
the largest dataset on plant pathogen temperature responses, and
made this available for the scientific community. Our data allow us
to test some of the most fundamental questions in ecology and
evolution. For example, we found that temperature preferences are
narrower when pathogens are growing within plants, demonstrating the
difference between the so-called fundamental niche and the realised
niche.”
The researchers used recently-developed statistical methods to
investigate the co-evolution between pathogens and their hosts,
showing that pathogens can readily evolve to attack new host plants.
The first-of-its-kind study reveals that subsidies for the
planting of commercially valuable tree plantations in Chile resulted
in the loss of biologically valuable natural forests and little, if
any, additional carbon sequestration.
Campaigns to plant huge numbers of trees could backfire,
according to a new study that is the first to rigorously analyze the
potential effects of subsidies in such schemes.
Tree planting is widely proposed to curb climate change and
biodiversity loss. However, examining the results of a reforestation
policy in Chile revealed that planting trees may have minimal
effects on carbon sequestration and negative effects on
biodiversity.
The analysis, published on June 22 in Nature Sustainability,
reveals how efforts such as the global Trillion Trees campaign and a
related initiative (H. R. 5859) under consideration by the U.S.
Congress could lead to more biodiversity loss and little, if any,
climate change upside. The researchers emphasize, however, that
these efforts could have significant benefits if they include strong
subsidy restrictions, such as prohibitions against replacing native
forests with tree plantations.
“If policies to incentivize tree plantations are poorly designed
or poorly enforced, there is a high risk of not only wasting public
money but also releasing more carbon and losing biodiversity,” said
study co-author Eric Lambin, the George and Setsuko Ishiyama
Provostial Professor in Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy &
Environmental Sciences. “That’s the exact opposite of what these
policies are aiming for.”
There is no question that forests have an outsized role to play
in efforts to slow global biodiversity loss and combat climate
change by sequestering carbon as biomass. So it makes sense that
tree-planting as a solution has gained traction in recent years with
ambitious commitments, such as the Bonn Challenge, which seeks to
restore an area of forest more than eight times the size of
California by 2030, and Trillion Trees, which seeks to plant as many
trees as its name implies.
Street lighting creates an artificial glow in the night sky
above Plymouth and the surrounding areas (Credit Thomas Davies,
University of Plymouth)
A new study shows the skyglow created by street lighting in towns
and cities can lead to certain species travelling towards the sea
and away from food
The artificial lighting which lines the world’s coastlines could
be having a significant impact on species that rely on the moon and
stars to find food, new research suggests.
Creatures such as the sand hopper (Talitrus saltator)
orientate their nightly migrations based on the moon’s position and
brightness of the natural night sky.
However, a study by the University of Plymouth and Bangor
University shows the presence of artificial light originating from
cities several kilometres away (also known as artificial skyglow)
disrupts the lunar compass they use when covering long distances.
In some cases, this can lead to them travelling towards the sea
and away from food, while in others it reduces the chance of them
venturing out on forays for food at all.
Writing in Current Biology, researchers say this could pose a
distinct threat not just to the health of sand hopper populations
but also the wider ecosystem, since they play an important role in
breaking down and recycling algae washed up on strandlines.
The study was conducted as part of the Artificial Light Impacts
on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE) project, funded by the Natural
Environment Research Council.
Conservation management around the margins of agriculture fail to
protect butterfly species at greatest risk from the intensification
of farming, a new study says.
The research, from the University of York, says the subsidised
schemes are likely to help common, more mobile grassland species
like the Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) or the Meadow brown
(Maniola jurtina) but not rarer species like the Duke of Burgundy
(Hamearis lucina) or the Dingy skipper (Erynnis tages).
Grassland: Agri-environment schemes financially reward farmers managing land
in ways which aim to reduce the environmental impacts of
agriculture. Common options include setting aside small areas of
land out of production, including leaving grassland strips at the
edges of agricultural fields.
The study examined whether these strips helped support insects
including grassland butterfly populations. It used ecological models
to look at whether the schemes improved butterfly survival locally
and also if set aside land helped species expand their range and
move across landscapes. This expansion is important so that species
can move in response to climate change.
Landscapes: Katie Threadgill, PhD student from the Department of Biology
said: “These kind of set aside schemes help mobile, common butterfly
species move across landscapes but they do not help all species. The
greatest benefits were seen in species which were either highly
mobile or which live in high densities. High density species which
could travel further were already successful expanders regardless of
set-asides although expansion rates were still improved when
set-asides were added. Overall, set-aside strips did increase rates
of range expansion across landscapes by up to 100% for some species
but they did not boost long term butterfly survival locally."
In a new study, scientists from around the world warn that the
threats posed by invasive alien species are increasing. They say
that urgent action is required in order to prevent, detect, and
control invaders at both local and global levels.
Alien species are plants, animals and microbes that are
introduced by people, accidentally or intentionally, into areas
where they do not naturally occur. Many of them thrive, spreading
widely with harmful effects on the environment, economy, or human
health.
Plastic rope transporting living corals, washed ashore on Easter
Island. Photo by James T Carlton
The study, published in Biological Reviews, was carried out by an
international team of researchers from 13 countries across Africa,
Asia, Australasia, Europe, North and South America. It states that
the number of invasive alien species is increasing rapidly, with
over 18,000 currently listed around the world.
The researchers attribute the escalation in biological invasions
to the increase in the number and variety of pathways along which
species spread, and to the increasing volume of traffic associated
with those pathways. They highlight the role of emerging pathways
such as the online trade in unusual pets, and the transport of
species across oceans on rafts of plastic.
The study also shows how other drivers of global change, such as
climate change, land-use change, alongside international trade are
exacerbating the impacts of biological invasions. For example,
species transported through shipping can now thrive in new regions,
owing to climate warming; and the permanent opening of the Arctic
Ocean with global warming is allowing marine species to move between
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The paper is a part of the World scientists’ warning to humanity:
a second notice initiative*
calling for urgent change in our stewardship of the Earth and the
life on it. The authors stress that biological invasions can be
managed and mitigated. They point to approaches that are working
around the world and make specific recommendations for improved
management. For example, the introduction of more stringent border
controls, including X-ray machines and detector dogs, has led to a
progressive decline in the rate of fungal plant pathogens entering
New Zealand.
Environmental destruction may make pandemics more likely and less
manageable, new research suggests.
The study, by the University of the West of England and the
Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter,
presents the hypothesis that disease risks are “ultimately
interlinked” with biodiversity and natural processes such as the
water cycle.
Using a framework designed to analyse and communicate complex
relationships between society and the environment, the study
concludes that maintaining intact and fully functioning ecosystems
and their associated environmental and health benefits is key to
preventing the emergence of new pandemics.
The loss of these benefits through ecosystem degradation –
including deforestation, land use change and agricultural
intensification – further compounds the problem by undermining water
and other resources essential for reducing disease transmission and
mitigating the impact of emerging infectious diseases.
Lead author Dr Mark Everard, of the University of the West of
England (UWE Bristol), said: ”Ecosystems naturally restrain the
transfer of diseases from animals to humans, but this service
declines as ecosystems become degraded. At the same time, ecosystem
degradation undermines water security, limiting availability of
adequate water for good hand hygiene, sanitation and disease
treatment. Disease risk cannot be dissociated from ecosystem
conservation and natural resource security.”
Science finally unearths why soil carbon is so valuable
A radical new way of thinking about soil has solved the mystery
of why adding organic material like manure improves flood and
drought resilience, climate control and crop yields - universal
‘ecosystem services’ that are widely recognised as worth billions to
the global economy.
Founded on more than 50 years’ worth of data from a unique field
experiment, researchers have demonstrated that common farming
practices drain the soil of carbon, altering the structure of soils’
microscopic habitat and, remarkably, the genetics of microbes living
within it.
The team of microbiologists and physicists, led by Rothamsted
Research, considered almost 9,000 genes, and used X-ray imaging to
look at soil pores smaller than the width of a human hair, and in
concert with previous work, have started forming what they envisage
will be a universal ‘Theory of Soil’.
In healthy soils, relatively low nitrogen levels limit microbes’
ability to utilise carbon compounds, so they excrete them as
polymers which act as a kind of ‘glue’ - creating a porous,
interconnected structure in the soil which allows water, air, and
nutrients to circulate.
Writing in the journal
Scientific Reports, the researchers reveal that the
Victorian-era switch from manure to ammonia and phosphorous based
fertilizers has caused microbes to metabolise more carbon, excrete
less polymers and fundamentally alter the properties of farmland
soils when compared to their original grassland state.
Lead researcher Professor Andrew Neal said: “We noticed that as
carbon is lost from soil, the pores within it become smaller and
less connected. This results in fundamental changes in the flow of
water, nutrients and oxygen through soil and forces several
significant changes to microbial behaviour and metabolism. Low
carbon, poorly connected soils are much less efficient at supporting
growth and recycling nutrients.”
An offshore wind energy collaboration to better understand how
large-scale development may impact marine birds has completed a
successful pilot year, identifying high-priority ornithological
knowledge gaps.
The Offshore Wind Strategic Monitoring and Research Forum
(OWSMRF) led by six offshore wind developers – EDF-Renewables,
Equinor, Ørsted, RWE (formerly innogy), ScottishPower Renewables,
and Vattenfall – was launched 12 months ago following the
announcement of the joint government-industry Offshore Wind Sector
Deal which included plans to see offshore wind capacity reach 30
gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
Being delivered by JNCC, the initiative aims to improve the
understanding of how UK marine bird populations are affected by
offshore wind farms and reduce consenting risk for planned projects.
The objective is to identify knowledge gaps and define high-priority
scopes of work to address them.
Christie Paterson, Offshore Environmental Manager for
ScottishPower Renewables, speaking on behalf of the offshore wind
developers said:
“More large-scale renewable energy, like offshore wind, will be
vital to the UK reaching its net zero targets and to slowing down
the impacts of climate change. As more capacity is developed, it
will be key to analyse the cumulative effects on the environment,
which is why the industry is working together to better understand,
and mitigate, potential impacts. “The first year focussed
specifically on black-legged kittiwakes, and the work that was
carried out will provide an important basis on which to prioritise
further efforts to improve our understanding and to secure
co-existence with offshore wind development.”
John Goold, Director of Marine at JNCC said: “JNCC is delighted
by the success of the OWSMRF pilot year and is grateful to all
participants for their willingness to come together in the spirit of
collegiality to identify key evidence needs and research questions.
We look forward to continued collaboration, seeing the benefits of
OWSMRF realised and seeing more opportunities developed to support
the needs of this important sector”.
The pilot year has been a collaborative process with invaluable
input from academics, regulators, consultants and stakeholders,
including Natural England, the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds (RSPB), the Marine Management Organisation, Marine Scotland,
Scottish Natural Heritage and Natural Resources Wales.
Research led by Queen’s has found that whilst red squirrels are
responding positively to the increased presence of the pine marten
in Ireland and Britain, its ability to control grey squirrel is
limited by lack of forest and presence of urban refugia.
The research, carried out in partnership with National Museums
Northern Ireland, has been published today (Monday 15 June) in
Journal of Applied Ecology.
It found that despite the on-going recovery of the pine marten,
and its ability to provide natural biological control of the
invasive grey squirrel, isolated populations of grey squirrels in
parklands in towns and cities are still likely to persist.
The study used data from 332 sites across Northern Ireland
covering all sizes and shapes of woodlands in both urban and
non-urban areas. To collect the data, a team of 70 citizen
scientists deployed a camera trap at sites at randomly selected
locations. The researchers used data to measure the co-occurrence of
the species throughout the region. Models were then used to produce
predictions of the future distribution of the three species. The
probability of occurrence for each species was estimated in every
1km2 in Northern Ireland based on interactions between habitat
suitability and the presence of other species.
The results predict that grey squirrels will still persist in
parkland areas of towns and cities as pine martens were shown to be
forest specialists and displayed strong avoidance of human
settlement and disturbance in and around urban areas.
The research was only possible because of the code some swans
carry. Sightings of these tagged animals - often by citizen
scientists - offer insight into the whereabouts of individual
swans and changes therein. In winter, the swans favour areas
with an air temperature of 5.5 °C. Source: Bart Nolet/NIOO-KNAW
Wintering area Bewick's swans shifts hundreds of kilometres in 50
years
Nearly 13 kilometres per year: that is the rate at which the
wintering area of Bewick's swans has shifted east over the past 50
years. It's a discovery with consequences for the conservation of
this migratory species, writes a team of researchers led by the
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Global Change
Biology.
Why are Bewick's swans, a protected species, declining sharply in
Ireland and Britain? And to a lesser extent also in the Netherlands,
their main wintering area? "This decline in North-West Europe was
not consistent with our data on breeding success and survival", says
NIOO animal ecologist Rascha Nuijten. "That's why we started this
research."
The first indication the researchers had, was that in Germany,
the number of wintering swans was actually increasing rather than
declining. To find out more, an international team was formed that
also included members from Estonia and the United Kingdom (Wildfowl
& Wetlands Trust).
Around 194 million birds and 29 million mammals are thought to be
killed each year on European roads, according to a new study that
has ranked the most vulnerable species.
European Badger. Credit Joaquim Pedro Ferreira
An international research team used 90 roadkill surveys from 24
European countries to create a new method of estimating both the
birds and mammal species killed most often on roads, and the species
most vulnerable to being wiped out of certain areas.
The research, published in Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment, found that the species killed most often were not
necessarily the ones most vulnerable to disappearing completely.
This means action to preserve wildlife when new roads are built
risks being targeted at the wrong species based on current methods.
Dr Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez, an ecologist at the University of
Reading, and co-author of the study, said: “Road densities in Europe
are among the world’s highest, with 50% of the continent within
1.5km of a paved road or railway. Roads are therefore a significant
threat to wildlife, and evidence shows deaths on them could even
cause some species to disappear completely. Despite this, the
long-term vulnerability of species is not currently considered when
assessing the impact of new roads on wildlife, meaning we risk
channeling support to the wrong species, doing nothing to help those
most at risk. Better understanding which species are most vulnerable
to roads is therefore important if we are to take more effective
conservation action.”
The research team, led by the Centre for Environmental and Marine
Studies (CESAM) in Lisbon, calculated roadkill rates for 423 bird
species and 212 mammal species. They found that small animals with
high population densities and which reach maturity at an early age
were most likely to be killed on roads. Nocturnal mammals and birds
with a diet of predominantly of plants and seeds were also shown to
have higher death rates.
An international team of scientists is investigating how animals
are responding to reduced levels of human activity during the
Covid-19 pandemic.
In an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolution today (22
June), the leaders of a new global initiative explain how research
during this devastating health crisis can inspire innovative
strategies for sharing space on this increasingly crowded planet,
with benefits for both wildlife and humans.
Many countries around the world went into lockdown to control the
spread of Covid-19. Brought about by the most tragic circumstances,
this period of unusually reduced human mobility, which the article’s
authors coined ‘anthropause’, can provide invaluable insights into
human-wildlife interactions.
There have been countless posts on social media over the past few
months reporting unusual wildlife encounters. Anecdotal
observations, especially from metropolitan areas, suggest that
nature has responded to lockdown. There not only seem to be more
animals than usual, but there are also some surprising visitors:
pumas have been spotted prowling the streets of downtown Santiago,
Chile, and dolphins recently showed up in untypically calm waters in
the harbour of Trieste, Italy.
Plue, Jan, Cousins, Sara AO, De Pauw, Karen, Diekmann, Martin,
Hagenblad, Jenny, Helsen, Kenny, Hermy, Martin, Liira, Jaan,
Orczewska, Anna, Vanneste, Thomas, Wulf, Monika, and De Frenne,
Pieter
Biological Flora of the British Isles: Poa Nemoralis
Journal of Ecology doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13402
The warm spring weather, capped by the UK’s sunniest May since
records began, has led to the early emergence of many butterfly
species.
53 of the UK’s 59 resident and regular migrant butterfly species
had already been spotted by the end of May this year, the first time
this century that so many have been seen by the end of spring.
Dr Richard Fox, Associate Director of Recording and Research at
the charity Butterfly Conservation, who compiled the figures, said:
“Over the past 20 years, we’ve typically received reports of 39
species by the end of May, so 53 this year is amazing. Last year,
for example, only 43 butterflies had put in an appearance by this
point and the only other year to come close to the current total was
in 2011, when 50 species had started to emerge by 31 May.”
The sightings, made by members of the public and displayed on
Butterfly Conservation’s First Sightings web page, shows some
extremely early dates for particular species this spring. The first
Ringlet butterfly, for example, was reported on 24 May, but would
not normally be seen before 8 June, while the White-letter
Hairstreak spotted on 29 May typically doesn’t appear until 11 June.
The Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral, classic butterflies
of summer woodland in southern Britain, were both seen on 30 May,
two weeks earlier than usual. The rare Large Blue, successfully
reintroduced to Britain in the 1980s, made its earliest ever
appearance this year.
The unusually early emergences aren’t necessarily a worry for
these butterfly populations. Richard continues: “Butterflies are
able to adjust their emergence dates to suit the vagaries of the UK
weather, indeed they need to do so to remain in sync with the plants
that their caterpillars need to feed on. However, the trend towards
earlier emergence of butterflies and moths in Britain over recent
decades in response to climate change isn’t necessarily beneficial.
Recent research shows that emerging earlier leads to larger
populations of species that have more than one generation each year.
In such species, the earlier emergence of the first generation leads
to greater abundance in the second brood. However, for species that
only have one generation each year, this positive effect on numbers
was not found. Indeed, for some, more specialized species, there was
a negative impact – earlier emergence led to reduced population
size.”
BeeWalk is the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s national bumblebee
recording scheme. The scheme monitors the abundance of bumblebees
across the UK. Read on for the 2019 results.
2019 was the biggest year yet for BeeWalk since the Trust started
the scheme in 2008. The 2019 records are summarised in the latest
BeeWalk Annual Report
here.
Across Britain almost 500 people, mainly volunteer citizen
scientists, walked transects at 587 different sites, an increase of
38 over the previous year. BeeWalkers submitted nearly 31,000
records and counted more than 97,000 individual bees during the
year.
BeeWalk is unique as it allows staff at the Bumblebee
Conservation Trust to see patterns and trends that can’t be
extracted from any other dataset. The information collected is
crucial to understanding that key question “How are the bumblebees
doing?”.
The positive story coming from analysis of the 2019 results is
the recovery of some of the UK’s rarest bumblebees. Three species –
the Shrill carder bee (Bombus sylvarum), Brown-banded carder bee
(Bombus humilis) and the Ruderal bumblebee (Bombus ruderatus) – are
Continental European species at heart, and reach their northern
range edge in Britain. All three appear to be responding positively
to the combination of targeted conservation work and recent warm
summers, and all three did relatively well during 2019.
What's That Bee app in hand (Bumblebee Conservation Trust)
A wildlife app launched today (Tuesday 30 June) by the Bumblebee
Conservation Trust gives users a new view of bumblebees through an
augmented reality 3D function.
The free ‘What’s that Bumblebee’ app lets people engage with
nature in a different and fun way by bringing a three-dimensional
bumblebee to virtual life in the user’s own garden or living room,
for studying in detail and with the option of capturing images to
send to family and friends.
The app also makes it easy for bumblebee-beginners to identify
which of the UK’s most common eight species of these important
pollinating insects may be buzzing around their garden or local
park.
“In these difficult times, lots of people have been appreciating
nature and wanting to find out more. What’s That Bumblebee makes it
easy for people of all ages to discover and identify different
bumblebees visiting their gardens, outdoor spaces, parks or window
boxes,” said Andy Benson, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s
Education Officer.
The app is available for Apple and Android, and works on
compatible phones and tablets. It was developed by the Trust, with
National Lottery Heritage Fund support.
In total there are 24 bumblebee species in the UK, but the most
common ‘Big 8’ that people are most likely to see in their garden or
park are the Buff-tailed bumblebee, Common carder bee, Early
bumblebee, Garden bumblebee, Heath bumblebee, Red-tailed bumblebee,
Tree bumblebee and White-tailed bumblebee.
The Alcathoe bat. Photo credit - Cyril Schönbächler
Very little is known about one of Britain’s rarest mammals the
Alcathoe bat, after it was first ‘discovered’ in the country 10
years ago, but thanks to the support of energy bar brand, CLIF,
conservationists from the North York Moors National Park Authority
are looking to change that.
The tiny bat, very similar to the Whiskered and Brandt's Bats,
was only confirmed as a separate species in Europe in 2001 following
genetic analysis. It was then ‘discovered’ in the UK in 2010 but is
thought to have existed here much longer.
Thanks to a £10,000 grant from CLIF, the Authority’s Ryevitalise
team is soon to embark on an ambitious citizen science project to
capture peoples’ interest and develop a deeper understanding of how
Alcathoe bats and other species use the habitats, particularly
veteran and ancient trees, in and around the project area. This
knowledge will help the team to enhance and protect the special area
of the Rye catchment now and for future generations.
Alexandra Cripps, Ryevitalise Programme Manager, said: “This is a
huge boost for our Small and Tall; the Rye’s Bats and Ancient Trees
project. Thanks to CLIF and the ‘National Parks Protectors’
partnership we will be able to engage with the community and
partners to collect vital information we need to inform habitat
management practices, enhancing and protecting bat populations and
other wildlife in the area for future generations.
“We cannot wait to get the project started as volunteers will
play a key role in what will be an ambitious landscape scale Citizen
Science project. So little is known about the Alcathoe bat that it
is currently considered 'Data Deficient' on the global IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. We really want to change that and help other
bat populations within River Rye catchment area thrive.”
Some of the baby bats found by Tim. (c) Steve Parker
Bat rescuers have been called out to an unusual case of 63 baby
bats found in daylight and struggling in the heat wave this week.
On Wednesday alarmed Manchester resident Tim Eaton started
finding tiny pipistrelle bat pups falling to the ground from his
roof, seemingly due to their loft maternity roost becoming too hot
during the day. Many more were still inside the roost, apparently
abandoned by their mothers.
He said: “I came home around 1.45pm on Wednesday and found 1 bat
outside my back door. That was just the start! After ringing the
RSPCA they put me in touch with the Bat Helpline. During the next
couple of hours myself and my daughters found 40 plus bats! I
contacted South Lancashire Bat Group and with their help we counted
60 plus young bats!
Maisy Inston from the emergency National Bat Helpline said: “When
the caller rang there were 16 bats walking around on the ground.
Lots more were exposed on the roof. Babies were falling down into
the garden. Bats were also falling into the neighbour’s property.
The caller was calm but wanted to know what to do. We advised him on
how to safely contain all the grounded bats in a shoebox, wearing
gloves. We put him in touch with bat carers from South Lancashire
Bat Group who came to the rescue.”
A natural flood management scheme in Essex has seen its "work
force" double after the birth of two healthy kits.
Back in 2019 a pair of Eurasian Beavers were welcomed back to
Essex for the first time in 400 years to help reduce flood risk in
Finchingfield.
18 months on we are thrilled to announce the pioneering
partnership project with the Environment Agency, Spains Hall Estate,
the Essex & Suffolk Rivers Trust, Essex Wildlife Trust, and the
Anglian Eastern Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) has been
a big success - and now there are four extra paws to help them
continue their vital flood defence work.
The beaver duo, recently named Woody and Willow, have been
working relentlessly over the last year in their Finchingfield
enclosure on the historic Spains Hall Estate.
They have been building dams to reduce flood risk to the village
and creating wetlands which release water during drier periods.
This is complemented by a human-made natural flood management
scheme on a second strand of Finchingfield Brook, which features a
“leaky dam” approach.
This consists of securing tree branches or trunks across a
watercourse, which helps slow the flow after heavy rain.
We are excited to see how much more the beavers manage with the
additional help.
Spains Hall Estate Manager Archie Ruggles-Brise said he was
excited to see how much more protection the new additions to the
beaver family will bring. He said: “We are delighted that our
beavers have settled in so well that they have bred successfully. We
always hoped that their woodland home would provide the right
habitat to support a family, and the arrival of two kits is
fantastic news. If they are anything like their parents the two kits
will become phenomenal dam builders, and we will be watching closely
as they expand the wetland and provide even more protection against
flood and drought, and provide homes for loads of other wildlife. We
are fortunate to have wildlife photographer, Russell Savory, keeping
a close eye on the family, and providing everyone with such
inspiring insights into their watery world.”
The Scottish Parliament will have the opportunity to ensure a
better future for Scotland’s beavers today, says a coalition of
leading environmental charities.
The Scottish Rewilding Alliance is calling on MSPs in Holyrood to
vote to ban the licensed killing of beavers in Scotland at least
until their conservation status is clearly secured.
The Alliance is urging the Scottish Government to back the ban
and to allow beavers to be relocated from areas where they affect
agriculture to areas where landowners would actively welcome them.
If lethal control continues at 2019 levels, there would be
serious concerns about beavers’ long-term future in Scotland, say
experts. Scottish Natural Heritage recently announced it had issued
licences for 87 beavers – one-fifth of the Scottish population – to
be shot in Tayside in the months following the Government’s May 2019
decision to give beavers protected status in Scotland.
Today’s Holyrood vote will be on an amendment by Mark Ruskell MSP
to the Scottish Government’s Animals and Wildlife (Penalties,
Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill. The amendment would prevent
the licensed killing of beavers unless the Government is sure the
species has reached a favourable conservation status in Scotland –
something currently unknown.
“Just a year ago the Scottish Government told us that beavers
would be protected in Scotland, and that beavers were hugely
important to the country’s biodiversity. But with a fifth of our
population of these special animals killed in just a few months last
year, the Scottish Natural Heritage-operated licensing regime seems
little better than a free-for-all,’ said Steve Micklewright,
Convener of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of
conservation charity Trees for Life. “Beavers’ activities around our
waterways help protect our towns and cities against flooding, and
they restore wetlands and create habitats for a wealth of wildlife.
Occasionally, as in Tayside, they can have local impacts on
agriculture too, and Ministers are putting landowners around the Tay
in an impossible position by blocking beavers’ relocation to other
more suitable areas of Scotland. We urge Parliament to support a ban
on killing beavers, given their fragile conservation status here,
and we’re calling on the Scottish Government to let those beavers in
more controversial locations be relocated to areas where landowners
would welcome their return for the first time since the sixteenth
century.”
A major project working across the Highlands, the Scottish
Invasive Species Initiative, is looking for people to get involved
in work to help remove American mink from the countryside.
The invasive American mink was brought to Scotland for
fur-farming in 1938 and, as a consequence of both escapes and
deliberate releases, became established in the wild in the 1960s.
Mink are opportunistic and ferocious hunters taking whatever prey is
available to them - often killing more than they require for food at
that time. Their presence in the countryside has a devastating
effect on native Scottish wildlife, particularly ground nesting
birds and water vole populations.
Ben Seaman, with the Cromarty Firth Fishery Trust, said: “We
monitor for mink presence using a network of mink rafts which are
looked after by volunteers. We already have a great volunteer team
running rafts for us, but we have gaps in the network we’d like to
fill - in particular, we’d love more help along the Cromarty Firth
and the Dornoch Firth. So if anyone living in Cromarty, Invergordon,
Alness and Evanton areas or in Bonar Bridge, Dornoch, Loch Fleet and
Golspie areas is interested in getting involved they should get in
touch for more information.”
Monitoring a mink raft requires no previous experience and is
easy to do. The local team provide all equipment, full training at
the start, will help set the raft up and are always contactable if
you need help or advice. All training and activities are carried out
in accordance with the current Scottish Government and NHS
coronavirus guidance.
The raft contains a clay pad hidden inside a tunnel and the
tell-tale sign of mink presence is when they leave their footprints
in the clay as they explore inside the tunnel. Once a raft is set up
the volunteer just needs to check it for footprints every couple of
weeks. If mink are detected a live-capture trap is set and the mink
caught before being humanely despatched by the local team.
Licences reissued on a temporary basis ahead of new licences
coming into force on 1 January 2021.
Defra has today (18 June) announced that six general licences for
the control of wild birds will be reissued on a temporary basis
ahead of new licences coming into force on 1 January 2021.
The current licences GL26, GL28, GL31, GL34, GL35 and GL36 will
be reissued from 1 August to 31 December. No action is required by
licence users, beyond the ongoing requirement to act in accordance
with the licence conditions.
Defra announced a longer-term review of general licensing in June
2019 which has made significant progress. The re-issue period is
necessary to thoroughly analyse the evidence and to fully develop a
general licensing solution for protected sites.
Defra is committed to achieving a general licensing regime for
wild birds which is both robust and workable for users, ensuring
that longer-term licensing arrangements are informed by the best
available evidence. As part of the process, Defra will seek Natural
England’s statutory advice.
The Countryside Alliance, Moorland Association and National
Gamekeepers Organisation have welcomed the announcement by DEFRA
that six General Licences for the control of wild birds will be
reissued on a temporary basis ahead of new licences coming into
force on 1 January 2021.
The current General Licences had been due to expire on July 31st.
The decision comes in the wake of a joint paper, “Wildlife
Licencing in England: Chaos, Crises and Cure” that was sent by
the three organisations to DEFRA Secretary of State, George Eustice,
at the beginning of this month.
The paper highlighted the complete chaos with which Natural
England has overseen wildlife licensing, both through the General
Licences and Individual Licences. Until last year, predator control
on European protected sites was possible under the General Licence,
but since then people hoping to protect wildlife in protected sites
have been forced to apply for an Individual Licence.
At a recent meeting, Natural England revealed that since January
this year they have received 1,200 applications for Individual
Licences, but to date had only managed to evaluate 700, with just 73
of those granting conservation action. Most of those only granted
some but not all of the planned activity.
Furthermore, many of those successful applications have been
issued with conditions that make them unworkable: such as not
allowing predatory gulls to be shot if the practitioner is within
750m of the nest site they are looking to protect.
73 approved licences out of 1,200 applications is a success rate
of just 6%. The catastrophic handling of Individual Licences by
Natural England has therefore meant that conservation action on
protected sites, often designated for their populations of
vulnerable red listed species, is down by 94%. One bird to suffer
has been the curlew, the species of highest conservation concern in
the United Kingdom. This is unacceptable from the Government’s
advisor for the natural environment of England, with responsibility
for protecting our nature and landscapes.
Hopes of a successful breeding season rose today after moorland
estates managed for red grouse across the North of England have
reported an encouraging number of Hen Harrier nests on their land.
These include six nests in Lancashire, four nests in Cumbria and
two nests in Yorkshire.
The dozen nests reported so far this year already matches the
total number of successful nests in 2019 from all types of land –
which was in itself a record-breaking year with 47 chicks fledging
from 12 nests, the majority on grouse moors.
Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, said:
“This is very encouraging news and further evidence that birds of
prey are welcome on land managed for grouse shooting by our members.
We obviously have to wait to see how many of the chicks fledge
successfully, but the signs are promising that 2020 will be another
good year for Hen Harrier breeding. It is heartening to see the bird
doing better in the north of England with the help of gamekeepers
protecting it from predators and encouraging a healthy habitat
teaming with prey species. Whilst there is a long way to go, we
believe we are on the right track as we try to rebuild the harrier
population.”
The government-led joint action plan to aid Hen Harrier recovery
has led to 99 chicks since 2016 thanks to partnership collaboration,
with 81 of those chicks fledging in the last two years since an
innovative Brood Management Trial was launched. Successful nests
have increased by 100% since 2015.
The UK’s largest breeding colony of Arctic Terns has vanished and
scientists need help to find out where the birds have gone.
At this time of year, the tern colony on the Skerries, a group of
rocky islets to the north of Anglesey, should be teeming with life,
with adult birds noisily shuttling back and forth to sea to feed
their growing chicks. This is the UK’s largest colony of Arctic
Terns (home to 2,814 breeding pairs in 2019) – an elegant species
known for their record-breaking pole to pole migrations from their
northern breeding grounds to Antarctica, for the southern hemisphere
summer. Arctic Terns experience more daylight than any other animal
on Earth. Several hundred Common Terns also normally breed on the
Skerries.
In 2020, this RSPB-managed seabird sanctuary has fallen silent.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic there are – for the first time in
over a decade – no summer wardens living on the islands and, in the
absence of this human presence, Peregrine Falcons have taken up
residence. The RSPB believes that disturbance from the Peregrines is
almost certainly the main cause of the desertion of the colony. The
question is, where have the birds gone?
Scientists are hoping that watchful members of the public might be
able to answer that question. Since 2013, a team of bird ringers
licensed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and supported by
RSPB have been attaching individually coded leg flags to a number of
terns each season. These leg flags, which are orange with a black
code for Arctic Terns and yellow with a black code for Common Terns,
can be read with binoculars or a telescope. People lucky enough to
observe them can report their sightings and therefore help track the
terns’ movements.
Turtle Dove North York Moors Forest Spring 2020. Credit Richard
Baines
Surveys carried out by staff and volunteers for the North York
Moors National Park Authority have indicated that Turtle Dove
numbers within the National Park have remained relatively consistent
for the last four years.
This is a good, be it small, win for a species that is at risk of
global extinction and is still considered to be the UK’s fastest
declining bird.
Since 2016, the North Yorkshire Turtle Dove Project, a scheme
funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Park
Authority and other partners, has been carrying out surveys
alongside a dedicated conservation team and over 70 volunteers. It
has also involved working with farmers and landowners to create and
improve habitats that can benefit the species.
Ecologist Richard Baines, who leads the project said: “We are now
mid-way through our surveys for 2020 monitoring 20 of our one km
squares which we visit every year. The first signs are very good and
we have had presence recorded in over 60% of visits. Virtually all
of the sites we surveyed for the first time in 2016 still have
Turtle Doves. This is great news as the species is still declining
fast across Europe and is consequently listed by Birdlife
International as vulnerable, having suffered a massive decline
across its breeding range.”
Twelve winners of In Tune with Nature, a national contest for
musicians of all genres to show their love of nature, were announced
today.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Fèis Rois partnered up on
this first-ever competition for Scotland to inspire people to
connect with nature by writing songs inspired by the coasts and
waters of Scotland’s beautiful nature reserves.
Entrants composed music ranging from classical to pop with songs
written in Gaelic, Scots, Shetland dialect and English.
The competition, called In Tune with Nature, was judged by a
panel of well-known faces from the Scottish music industry,
including Julie Fowlis; Vic Galloway; Gill Maxwell; and Karine
Polwart, and is part of the celebrations for the Year of Coasts and
Waters 2020.
Broadcaster, author and musician, Vic Galloway said: “This has
been an interesting and satisfying project to be involved in, and I
was honoured to be asked to assess so many brilliant applicants.
Although it has been an epic task listening to almost 150 musical
compositions, I've loved the sheer passion and diversity of music on
offer - from classical to traditional, acoustic song writing to
electronica, spoken word to rock, and way beyond. For these stunning
Scottish nature reserves, I think we have some worthy winners and
some extraordinary music to accompany them."
Enjoy these 'Living Landscape Prize' winning shots from the
Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition
the winning image by Kenneth Muir
We are delighted to feature the ten winning entries for the
latest John Muir Trust Living Landscape Prize – one of the
categories in the prestigious Scottish Landscape Photographer of the
Year (SLPOTY) competition.
The Trust team selected their favourites from a final shortlist
and we congratulate all ten winners for their superb 'Living
Landscape' images - including Inverness-based medical doctor Kenneth
Muir (his image is above) who was named overall winner and Scottish
Landscape Photographer of the Year by the SLPOTY judges.
Browse the Training Directory online
here
for short courses (up to 10 days long), or
here for longer
courses, distance learning and centres and providers
The Directory includes a wide range of courses
providing certification in practical skills
such as chainsaw use, need to learn how to identify dragonflies, or want
to find out the best way to get the community involved in your project
then this is the section to read. We include details of many professional courses in
the online short courses pages. There are also sections for longer
courses, training centres and other events (eg conferences).
This conference will demonstrate that “No one is too small to
make a difference” - Greta Thunberg – when it comes to the future of
our planet. We must seize the opportunity that Covid-19 has
inadvertently given us and act now if we want to ensure a ‘green
recovery’ and guarantee a better future.
Online Learning - Short Courses and
Webinars
17/07/2020 Acoustic ID - Horseshoes & Barbastelle 1 Day
Working with local Councils, we have developed a two day,
interactive, online course offering an in-depth look at CAT?s flagship
research project, Zero Carbon Britain. Connect with a network of others
working and studying in the field and explore the radical changes needed
to rise to the climate challenge.
Cost £50
22/07/2020 Ecology - Coaching & Mentoring Skills 1 Day
Online, 3-day course to prepare you for a job in ecology or
environmental sector. The course will cover species ID, surveying,
reporting and job workshop. Species included are mammals, amphibians,
reptiles and raptors. Book via our website or email Ally for more
information.
Cost £350
07/08/2020 Ecological Foundation Training 3 Days
Online, 3-day course to prepare you for a job in ecology or
environmental sector. The course will cover species ID, surveying,
reporting and job workshop. Species included are mammals, amphibians,
reptiles and raptors. Book via our website or email Ally for more
information.
3-day course to prepare you for a job in ecology or environmental
sector. The course will cover species ID, surveying, reporting and job
workshop. Species included are mammals, amphibians, reptiles and
raptors. Book via our website or email Ally for more information.
This two-day interactive online course gives you skills in taking
images collected from a UAV platform, processing images into a scene for
image processing, generating classified images. You will learn steps to
produce high quality and accurate maps for mapping vegetation and land
forms.
22/09/2020 Transforming Environmental Data in R 2 Days
The 2-day interactive online course will help you understand the
benefits of data transformation tools. You will learn about auditable
workflows, repeatability, time-saving, improving efficiency & reduced
risk of dataloss. You will participate in practical data transformation
exercises using real environmental datasets to combine & manipulate
datasets for analysis-ready data.
Above two courses with Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Contact:
01491 69 2225
UKCEHtraining@ceh.ac.uk
This interactive online workshop will boost your confidence and
ability to write a great science paper that will be cited again and
again. This workshop focusses on getting high citations. The workshop
will study the following using group and individual exercises. from
£179. 2 morning sessions.
Are you a wildlife student or early career wildlife professional? Are
you struggling to get a paid or long term wildlife role? Do you want to
stop feeling stuck & learn what you can do to move forward in your
wildlife career? YES? This free webinar is for you!
Online Learning - Longer Courses
Project Management for Wildlife Conservation at WildTeam
This is an online training workshop, run over 6 weeks (3 hours/week),
with weekly live teaching sessions and pre-recorded training videos to
work through in your own time. Developed specifically for wildlife
conservationists, you will learn the project management skills to
increase the efficiency and impact of any conservation project. 7th
September – 12th October (3 hours learning each week) 2 live sessions
available each week: 10am or 6pm [BST] £180 full price – bursaries
available.
Strategy Development for Wildlife Conservation at WildTeam
This is an online training workshop, run over 6 weeks (3 hours/week),
with weekly live teaching sessions and pre-recorded training videos to
work through in your own time. Working with our experienced team you
will learn the skills to design conservation strategies which have more
impact. 26th October – 30th November (3 hours learning each week) 2 live
sessions available each week: 10am or 6pm [BST] £180 full price –
bursaries available.
If you're running professional courses or events and would
like details to be included here and in the online Training Directory
click here for more information,
email your details to us or for further information please
contact the
CJS Team.
Free advertising available.
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published on: 13 August
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deadline is: 5pm Monday 10 August
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Valley Borough Council
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Trust
It's
the last month for entries in our Photography Competition and the
suggested theme is Hidden Gems and the prize is a bundle of goodies from
The Mammal Society and others.
Hidden
Gems is another theme open to interpretation,
The
bundle consists of a bag, pen and badge from our featured charity The
Mammal Society plus a handbook from RSPB and wooden rulers from CIEEM
The
June theme was From my Window. We all agreed that this month was
the most difficult choice yet, you sent us some amazing photos. From a
shortlist of six we managed to whittle it down to three and then ended
up taking a vote which was narrowly won by this lovely photo of a young
robin waiting patiently for its turn on the fat feeder which the
photographer Adrian Button tells us is just out of shot. Sub Ed Tracey
sums up our deliberations: "Just been reconsidering the photos to see if
I still come to the same conclusion as I did last night and I do.
I kept looking at them and changing my mind! But my favourite is
the young robin diner. Every time I looked I liked it better.
I think it's the way the bird stands out, framed by colour, especially
the contrast of the brightness of its eye."
Graduate
One of the best ways to foster a relationship with undergraduate
talent is to
Nominations
Matt%20Ptts.jpg "Meadow in north Wales © Matt Pitt")
TimPankhurst.JPG "Crested cow-wheat © Tim Pankhurst")
-Julie-Hatcher-WT.jpeg "Seahorse (C) Julie Hatcher")
