Menu of Press Releases

26 February 2008 - Avon Wildlife Trust welcomes brighter future for water voles!
22 January 2008 - The Wildlife Trusts welcome the Severn feasibility study...
10 December 2007 - Wildlife charity captures Simon King
October 2007 - Ten years of science swept away
3 October 2007 - The Severn Barrage
31 August 2007 - September is prime time to become climate-friendly
30 July 2007 - Wildlife trusts unite for climate-friendly campaign
24 July 2007 - Government’s latest housing proposals could lead to increased flooding
28 June 2007 - Fight future flooding by working with nature
30 April 2007 - Festival of Nature
30 April 2007 - Royal Approval
14 February 2007 - Introducing the Avon Pondways Project
31 January 2007 - Biffaward makes Willsbridge Valley Wilder!
31 January 2007 - Splash of spring colours
7 January 2007 - Wildlife could be under threat from Bristol Airport expansion
1 December 2006 - VIPs agree to become our VPs
2 October 2006 - Folly Farm - work begins!
1 October 2006 - Bird Watch 2006
26 September 2006 - Crayfish and cannibals
18 September 2006 - Pondlife special
4 September 2006 - Save our wildlife in Radstock!

26 February 2008

Avon Wildlife Trust welcomes brighter future for water voles!

The Wildlife Trusts celebrate as the water vole becomes a protected species

A century after the publication of The Wind in the Willows, and six years after a change in the law was first recommended, ‘Ratty’ is finally to receive full protection from the law, under new proposals announced today by Defra.

This important announcement has been a long time coming. The recommendation for full protection was made as part of the Quinquennial Review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 2002. However, it has taken six years for the recommendation to reach the Minister for the Environment and to be accepted by Defra.

It will now be against the law to intentionally kill a water vole or to intentionally, or recklessly, damage or disturb the places they use for shelter or protection, meaning that their future is a safer one.

Threatened by habitat loss and predation by American mink, the water vole is the UK’s fastest declining native mammal. In 1990 there were seven million water voles in the UK. By 1998 numbers had crashed to less than a million and they have since continued to fall. Previous legal protection for water voles, introduced in 1998, extended only to the animal’s habitat, not to the animal itself. This has proved a source of confusion, resulting in the loss of important water vole colonies.

For the past decade, The Wildlife Trusts have been working hard to ensure that water voles survive, by improving wetland habitats and working to protect water voles from mink predation. TheTrust’s reserve at Avonmouth Pools have recently shown signs of a healthy population of water voles persisting in the heavily industrial area of Avonmouth, and following the sighting of a water vole at Walborough nature reserve last year, James Field, the Trust’s North Somerset Levels and Moors Officer, has been working hard to find out where it came from. An examination of the habitat around Walborough revealed that the area most suitable for water voles was the Bleadon Levels.

Lydia Robbins, the Trust’s Pondways Project Officer said “We’re absolutely delighted water voles have finally been given this life line. Water voles have been lost from many parts of the UK, including areas where they were once widespread, but this excellent news will undoubtedly help our efforts to bring the water vole back from the brink.

“Full legal protection should ensure remaining water vole populations are not damaged during development works and that incidents of trapping do not go unpunished.

“Over the last 10 years, The Wildlife Trusts have worked closely with the Environment Agency, Natural England, water companies and others to ensure the water vole remains a feature of our rivers, streams, canals and other watercourses.”

Notes to editor
Avon Wildlife Trust, a registered charity number 280422, is a member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. It is the largest membership-based wildlife organisation in the area, dedicated to inspiring people about wildlife, acting as a wildlife champion, creating wildlife havens and encouraging sustainable living. The Trust is supported by over 16,000 local members and manages 38 sites as nature reserves.

For more information, call Lydia Robbins or Pat Ellingham on 0117 9177270

How to spot a water vole
Water voles are amongst the easiest mammals to watch because they are active during daylight and particularly in the early morning and evening. Do not assume, however, that a swimming rat-sized animal is a water vole; brown rats are also aquatic. If you do spot an animal, move only when it's under water to reduce distance without startling it, and try to look for the features described below. If you do think you've seen a water vole please contact Matt Hamilton on 0117 917 7270 email matthamilton@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk

22 January 2008

The Wildlife Trusts welcome the Severn feasibility study, but will the study go far enough?

The Wildlife Trusts today welcome the Government’s announcement of a feasibility study into tidal energy generation in the Severn - but will the study go far enough to take full account of the impacts of a barrage on the environment and whether this is the best use of a potentially huge investment to reduce UK carbon emissions ?

This is a positive step towards working out how best to cut UK carbon emissions. However, we believe the feasibility study must consider the range of renewable energy options available in the Severn Estuary- recognizing its dual role as both an international wildlife haven and a tidal energy resource. Full account needs to be taken of the carbon implications of any development and the contribution that different renewable technologies make to both climate change mitigation and adaptation

We believe the Severn feasibility study should follow The Wildlife Trusts’ tests for renewable energy (see below) to provide the right solution for our economy, environment and society. Failure to do so could mean the green light for a scheme that has little overall benefit to carbon emissions whilst destroying forever, the vital services provided by the Severn tidal ecosystem.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said:

“This study on tidal energy generation in the Severn estuary is a test case for our approach to renewables across the UK- such developments must help reduce carbon emissions and respect our natural environment if they are to be truly sustainable.

“We welcome this feasibility study, but it must be independent, it must consider all available options and it must take proper account of the environment.”

The Wildlife Trusts’ Tests for renewables proposals

Mitigation

• Is this the most cost effective way to reduce UK carbon emissions or would the same investment in energy saving or small-scale local generation achieve more?

• What is the lifetime of the development and the lifetime carbon budget- is this the most efficient and cutting edge use of renewables technology?

• Does it reduce current or future natural capacity for carbon storage and sequestration, e.g. in peat, organic sediments or shallow-water marine deposits?

• How much carbon is likely to be emitted in construction, transmission and maintenance, and how much energy is wasted in transmission?

• Will it cause or attract associated development - roads, houses, industry, airports? If so, what is the carbon impact of each of these?

• Does it improve people’s understanding of carbon budgeting, and promote behaviour which reduces their emissions?

Adaptation

• Will the development protect existing wildlife sites of local, national or international importance? These are critical biodiversity hotspots and will remain so for a wide range of biodiversity in future climates; and they are crucial in allowing wildlife to adapt to climate change.

• Will the development enhance existing natural habitats and/or create new ones?

• Will the development improve landscape connectivity, so wildlife can move around to adapt to climate change? Wildlife highways can also provide more carbon-free travel for local people - footpaths and cycle ways through wildlife-rich green space.

• Will it help moderate expected extremes of local climate for the benefit of people and/or wildlife?

• Can any loss of ecosystem services be compensated in the same geographic area?

• If any damage to ecosystems or wildlife habitats is unavoidable, is there a proven way of replacing the damaged wildlife habitat, and appropriate alternative sites? Is that cost-effective in carbon terms?
  
  

Notes:
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is launching its feasibility study into tidal energy generation in the Severn today (22 January 2008). This will be a two-year study at a cost of £9 million on the potential for energy generation from the Severn Estuary’s tidal range. It will address the question of whether the Government can support a tidal range power project and if so on what terms.

John Everitt

10 December 2007

Wildlife charity captures Simon King!

Simon King, one of today’s top TV natural history presenters, has agreed to become the President of local wildlife charity Avon Wildlife Trust.

Simon learnt his skills as a naturalist through a childhood spent roaming through Blaise Woods in Bristol and on the Somerset Levels, and wildlife has always been his main passion. Though he has quite literally travelled the world and spends much of his life in Kenya, he remains passionate about nature in general, being fascinated as much by the antics of a family of goldfinches as he is by the behaviour of cheetahs and lions. He has been widely tipped as the next David Attenborough, and currently fronts Big Cat Diary, Springwatch and Autumnwatch .

Simon said:
“I am delighted and honoured to take up the presidency of the Avon Wildlife Trust. I care passionately about wildlife and the fate of our wonderful and precious natural heritage, and so the work of the trust is of great significance to me. I also love this region. Bristol and Bath are among the greenest and most wildlife friendly cities in the world, and the more people realise just what they have on their doorsteps, the more they will care about what happens to it.”

Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of Avon Wildlife Trust said:
“The Trust is thrilled that Simon has become our president - this is a very exciting time for us, with the huge growth in local membership a true testimony to the concern of the people of the Bristol and Bath area for their marvellous local environment. Simon’s support demonstrates a real link between global and local wildlife issues and we are delighted to have him on board!”

About Simon King
Simon King left school at 17 to make his first wildlife film as a cameraman and went on to become presenter, producer, director and principal cameraman of more than 100 wildlife films. He has presented and produced numerous films for the BBC, including a four-year project to hand rear two cheetah orphans, culminating in the films Fast Track to Freedom and Toki’s Tale. Meerkats, Part of the Team saw him habituating a family of meerkats for a year in the Kalahari, and he has filmed for many major series such as The Trials of Life, The Life of Mammals, Life in the Freezer, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth. He has won several major awards for his camera work, including an Emmy for Blue Planet and an RTS for Planet Earth.

October 2007

Ten years of science swept away

Sir David King’s report on bovine TB in cattle and badgers sweeps away 10 years of science, say The Wildlife Trusts.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “It is a clear attempt to bring culling back on the agenda and flies in the face of science, public opinion and common sense. The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) has already given us the definitive scientific view that badger culling provides ‘no meaningful contribution’ and is ‘not cost effective’ as a control measure for combating bovine tuberculosis (bTB).”

The Wildlife Trusts accept TB in cattle is a significant problem for farming in the UK and that urgent action is required to combat the disease. We particularly recognise the important role the livestock industry can play in the environmentally-sensitive management of the countryside and the serious disruption and anxiety caused to farmers experiencing a herd breakdown.

However, The Wildlife Trusts believe the report produced by Sir David King does not provide any new data to inform the scientific debate on badgers and bovine TB. It ignores issues such as the cost effectiveness or practicality of any action and does not provide a balanced view of the issue. It also fails to consider the efficacy of cattle controls which are important mechanisms for controlling the spread of the disease. We do not believe Government should use this report as the basis for future policy on bovine TB.

With no background or terms of reference, this report has been developed behind closed doors despite the significant public interest. We are therefore concerned that it is more about political expediency than science, particularly in the face of overwhelming evidence provided by the ISG in June. The ISG report represents 10 years of science, millions of pounds of research and the involvement of tens of scientists. It concluded:

“Badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain. Indeed, some policies under consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better.” And that badger culling is not a ‘cost-effective’ control mechanism.

The Wildlife Trusts believe the following cattle-based control measures must be rigorously enforced to control bovine TB:

• Improved cattle testing (including use of the gamma interferon test) and monitoring of testing

• Stricter movement restrictions including pre and post-movement testing

• Improved husbandry and biosecurity on farms

• Continued research and trials for vaccine development

We also accept that bovine TB is in the badger population and that badgers, along with other native mammals, may act as a reservoir for the disease and a source of bovine TB infection in cattle. We believe that research to reduce potential re-infection from wildlife populations should be progressed, specifically looking at demographic trends behind the perturbation effect and the development of an effective vaccine for badgers

For further information please contact:

Anna Guthrie
senior press officer
Tel: 01636 670075
Email: aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org

3 October 2007

The Severn Barrage

The Wildlife Trusts fully support the sustainable development of renewable energy generation in the UK and elsewhere.

The Severn Estuary is a unique and vitally important ecosystem supporting a myriad of wildlife - from the nematodes, worms and snails at the bottom of the food chain to all the birdlife, fish, and mammals, at the other end (see attached for data on key species).

A barrage would have a catastrophic impact on all this wildlife as it is likely to half the tidal range of the Severn (up-stream of its location) with the loss of half of all the mudflats , other inter-tidal habitats, and marshes.

We believe that there are viable and effective alternatives to a barrage (utilising lagoon and in-stream turbine technologies) and we urge the Government to include these in the feasibility studies announced last week. These are serious alternatives to a barrage, that can harness the tidal power without disrupting the entire ecosystem of the Severn Estuary.

Barrage construction would contribute millions of tons of CO2 emissions and use huge quantities of aggregates. It is also highly likely to trigger more road building and business development on both sides of the Severn.

The Severn Estuary is a vital landscape for Wildlife that is having to adapt to climate change impacts that are happening now. These impacts will continue to worsen over the next 50 years, regardless of how successful we are at cutting carbon emissions in the future. Government must focus on measures which help people and wildlife adapt to climate change, as well as curbing its causes through mitigation.

We are part of nature - not separate from it - we mustn't sacrifice the ecosystems we need to survive climate change in an attempt to build our way out of this man made environmental crisis. Our ecosystems are a crucial part of the solution!

It is an economic argument rather than an environmental one that favours a barrage. Environmentalists want the Government to put tax payers money into options that deliver renewable energy AND healthy ecosystems.

31 August 2007

September is prime time to become climate-friendly

If ever there was a time to get more climate friendly in Bristol, September is it according to Avon Wildlife Trust.

Throughout the month there are an unprecedented number of climate-related events happening in the Bristol area, including the Trust’s own Climate Friendly Fortnight (15-30 Sept) initiative. 

The plethora of events includes walks, talks, exhibitions and festivals all of which will will be dealing at some level with climate change, its causes and effects and what people can do to help mitigate them. 

The Trust’s own Climate Friendly Fortnight is the idea of the South West Wildlife Trusts (SWWT), a regional umbrella group including Avon Wildlife Trust which will be spearheading activities locally.  The initiative has come about due to ongoing worries that not enough is being done to safeguard the region’s rich natural heritage from forecast changes in climatic conditions. 

“September will be a great time for people to get better informed and inspired to take action,” says Pat Ellingham of Avon Wildlife Trust.  “The area’s wildlife is already under pressure from changing conditions.  For some, long term survival will depend on whether we can persuade lots more people to take action to reduce their carbon emissions, so that we create a future that is both carbon low and wildlife rich.

“We’re keen for people to realise that if the climate can change, we can change too, and that many of the most effective changes we can make are cheaper and easier than we might think.”

Throughout the South West it’s hoped that up to 200+ events will take place during Climate Friendly Fortnight showcasing how the region can become carbon low and wildlife rich.  In the Bristol area, this will include a guided walk around the new ‘Wildlife in the City’ route starting at the Create centre (details below).

A recent survey of Avon Wildlife Trust’s members showed they are well above the UK average in both their concern about climate change and the actions they are taking to mitigate it.  Results indicated that a majority will be supporting Climate Friendly Fortnight.

The Trust’s own staff will be supporting Chooseday (www.chooseday.org) on 18th September, when staff will leave cars at home and find an alternative way to get to work.  It will also be launching some new elements to its schools programme at Willsbridge Mill, including the ‘Keep Cool for the Planet’ campaign involving a new exhibition and activity trail.  Also new is the ‘Lunchbox Challenge’, where visiting schools will weigh the combined landfill rubbish from their lunchboxes, with the lowest weight winning a prize.  Approximately 4000 children from the Bristol area will take part through the course of the year.

For further info on Climate Friendly Fortnight click here

See here for the full list of events

30th July 2007

Wildlife trusts unite for climate-friendly campaign

Diary dates: Saturday 15 to Sunday 30 September, inclusive

Climate Friendly Fortnight - South West
200+ events across the South West showcasing how theSouth West can become carbon low/ wildlife rich

A campaign will be mounted this autumn to show and to share what needs to happen to reduce the threat that climate change poses for the people and wildlife of the South West.

The plan is for Saturday 15 September to Sunday 30 September to be a Climate Friendly Fortnight, with more than 200 events taking place across the region to showcase how organisations and individuals are meeting the climate change challenge in ways that benefit wildlife as well as people.

The campaign is the idea of the South West Wildlife Trusts (SWWT), an umbrella group for the region’s eight Wildlife Trusts, and is inspired by their worries that their work to safeguard the rich natural heritage of the South West won’t be enough if the local climate heats up drastically or suffers more frequent extremes of weather, like June and July’s heavy rainfall and floods.

Jane Laurie, the partnership’s newly-recruited Climate Change Champion, explains: "We’ve all seen how lives and livelihoods are upturned by overflowing rivers and floods. It’s heart-breaking. And wildlife also suffers when rain lashes down, rivers overflow, the sun blazes, or drought strikes - exactly the conditions we’ve been warned to expect if our carbon emissions aren’t reduced."

She added: "Individually and in combination, the Wildlife Trusts of the South West are doing terrific work to help wild places, plants and animals to adapt to a changing climate, but much of it depends on pegging the amount of change. That means persuading many more people in the region to get involved, so that’s what Climate Friendly Fortnight is all about: showing and sharing how we can all work together to create a future that is carbon low and wildlife rich."

As part of its work, the SWWT has commissioned a report examining what it will mean if South West wildlife favourites are faced with the higher sea levels, hotter summers, wetter winters and extremes of rainfall, drought and storms that are predicted in computerised regional climate models.

Jane Laurie says: "The forecasts are worrying, especially when we’re surrounded by evidence of what unusual weather means. But they aren’t inevitable.

There are many cheap and easy steps that ordinary people can take to bring their carbon emissions down, and help wildlife at the same time. During Climate Friendly Fortnight, we will be highlighting some of the positive actions that are already being taken, and inspiring others to take action, too."

The Wildlife Trusts’ contribution to Climate Friendly Fortnight will include open days at some of the sites where grand-scale adaptation projects are underway - to give wildlife ‘escape routes’ from places that become inhospitable, and to provide them with replacement havens and new territories.

Appeals are also being made for members to help with demonstrations of ‘quick climate fixes’, such as wildlife gardening and home composting.

In addition, a team of volunteer climate champions has been assembled to locate homes, gardens, businesses and other premises where visitors can see climate-friendly living in action, and to support communities who want to run their own Climate Friendly Fortnight events.

Jane Laurie says: "We’re keen to get as many people as possible to realise that if the climate can change, we can change too, and that many of the most effective changes are cheaper, easier and more effective than they might have thought."

Among the ‘climate quick fixes’ that the SWWT will be promoting are wildlife gardening, local foods use, carbon-low travel and home composting.

To find out how to get involved with Climate Friendly Fortnight, or order a campaign action pack, please email: climate@swwt.org.uk or telephone Jane Laurie on 07818 045 198.

Government’s latest housing proposals could lead to increased flooding

As the nation remains in the grip of devastating floods, The Wildlife Trusts urge the Prime Minister to re-think his government’s housing proposals contained within a Green Paper, published yesterday (23 July).

The draft Housing Green Paper indicates the government will continue to build houses on flood plains as long as proper flood defences are in place. The Wildlife Trusts argue that environmental limits should be respected when proposing the location of future housing and we should ensure that any building there is will incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage Schemes (SUDS).

We have damaged the fragile ecology of our flood plains with unsustainable housing and unnatural flood defences, destroying valuable wetlands in the process. These wetlands act as natural sponges, soaking up water and slowing it down in times of flooding. The last thing that our river valleys and flood plains need is more built development; they should function as living landscapes where wetlands can act as cost-effective natural flood storage areas.

The Government must now react by creating policies, through its housing green paper, which encourage developers and local planning authorities to build truly sustainable housing. It should avoid floodplains and protect and enhance wildlife habitats, such as wetlands, on a landscape scale. A three-pronged approach is needed; encompassing building homes in the right places and in the right way; restoring and creating healthy ecosystems and managing our uplands better to slow down run-off into rivers and streams. By working with nature, rather than against it, we will help society and species adapt to a changing climate, including increased rainfall.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: "The media has documented how our changing seasons are affecting wildlife. The recent large-scale and catastrophic flooding has shown how the consequences of climate change for affected communities and the economy are dire.

"In the face of climate change we must build our new homes in the right places and in the right way, we must restore our ecosystems and natural processes at a speed and on a scale we once would have thought impossible. We need to create ‘living’ landscapes to allow people and wildlife the room to adapt to climate change. The Government’s latest housing proposals must lead to a revolution in our approach to new housing development that respects the natural environment and encourages serious investment in habitat restoration and re-creation."

One of the counties worst affected by the recent floods is Gloucestershire. Gordon McGlone, chief executive of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, says: "Our county is in shock as a result of the appalling flooding this week.  In common with many businesses, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust today closed its headquarters due to water supply concerns.  This is another wake-up call to climate change and to the urgency with which this country needs to adapt its landscape to minimise the impact of these extreme events.  We must look at the management of our uplands to reduce the speed water runs into our rivers as well as seriously reviewing the location and type of new development.  Building impermeable new landscapes is not an option for the future."  

The Wildlife Trusts’ report, A Living Landscape, demonstrates how we are working at a landscape scale to prepare people and wildlife for climate change. The report has a four-point plan which calls for urgent Government action in addressing climate change and restoring the UK’s battered ecosystems across our towns and countryside.

For further information please contact Anna Guthrie on 07887 754659 or Jules Acton on 07917 574837.

Editors' notes:

This report represents a call to arms to make ‘A Living Landscape’ a reality. In the report we outline a four point plan to overcome the barriers and act on the opportunities for landscape-scale conservation. Here we highlight some examples of the current policy changes to make this happen:

1. Use the planning system to enhance biodiversity
   The Government’s Planning White Paper sets out changes to the planning system, in particular for major infrastructure projects. The Planning system needs strong policies on adaptation to climate change to drive action and decision making by local planning authorities on landscape scale conservation. Policies should prevent development that would act as a barrier to movement of species or cause fragmentation of habitats, and encourage large scale habitat restoration, corridors and linkages.

2. Invest in landscape-scale management and restoration
   Defra’s Higher Level Scheme within Environmental Stewardship in England provides an essential tool for protecting and expanding important wildlife sites. However, the scheme is being squeezed with increased restrictions and higher thresholds for successful applications. Government and its agencies should ensure wildlife rich areas are not excluded by targeting to support landscape scale conservation, criteria that recognise the importance of Local Wildlife Sites and appropriate thresholds for applications. They should also increase the overall budget available so that more sites can benefit.

3. Tailor policy and practice for landscape-scale restoration
   The Department for Communities and Local Government’s new Local Government White Paper outlines the role that Local Area Agreements will play in ‘setting targets for improvement, tailored to local needs’. Government guidance on Local Area Agreements (LAAs) should give sufficient weight to the environment, alongside social and economic issues, to ensure local authority services support rather than work against landscape scale conservation. LAAs should contain specific indicators for the natural environment that support landscape scale conservation and ecological networks.

4. Buy time: address climate change
   The Government’s Energy White Paper sets out proposals to meet our long-term energy needs. Government should use the White Paper and budget opportunities to introduce additional fiscal measures to address some of the most rapidly increasing causes of climate change emissions (including air and car transport), and provide incentives for increased energy efficiency. More recognition should also be given to the role habitats play in carbon storage, and increased support to land managers to prevent its release.

• Wetlands
  The UK’s wetlands are not just important for biodiversity (ranging from ponds to rivers, reedbeds to bogs, they are home to a huge variety of plants and animals and a haven for wildlife lovers) they also play a major role in storing flood water and can reduce flooding in built-up areas, vital given the changing weather patterns associated with climate change. Climate change brings the risk of rising sea levels, warmer, drier summers and increasingly wet winters and wetlands play two key roles:

• They act as ‘sponges’, soaking up water and slowing it down in times of flood, allowing it to drain down to groundwater below the soil surface. This reduces the amount that reaches our towns and cities, where it has potentially devastating effects.

• They provide a barrier between the sea and inland development, with saltmarshes absorbing the energy of storms and providing a storage area for high tides.
  Far from posing a flood threat, wetlands should be viewed as buffers, to protect areas where people live.

• The Wildlife Trusts (TWT)  www.wildlifetrusts.org
  There are 47 local Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone.  With 670,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 108,000 of our members belong to our junior branch, Wildlife Watch.  We manage 2,200 nature reserves covering more than 80,000 hectares; we stand up for wildlife; we inspire people about the natural world and we foster sustainable living.

• The Wildlife Trusts' podcast - Wild World
  The Wildlife Trusts have teamed up with Aperçu Media - run by Nick Patrick, producer of Home Planet on Radio 4 - to launch a pilot podcast which features interviews and news from local Wildlife Trusts around the UK.  It is the first time the conservation charity has worked on such a project.  The free Podcast, in association with Aggregate Industries, is available to download at www.wildlifetrusts.org

Current big issues:

• A Living Landscape
  This report maps the way forward in countering climate change and restoring the UK’s battered ecosystems, for both wildlife and people; from inner cities to rural communities.  To download the report, click here A Living Landscape

• Breathing Places  http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/
  The UK’s leading wildlife and environment conservation organisations, The Wildlife Trusts and BTCV, have joined forces to work in partnership with the BBC to develop the Communities campaign for Breathing Places.  

• Marine
  The Wildlife Trusts have been campaigning for many years for comprehensive legislation to achieve better protection for marine wildlife and effective management of our seas.  For more information, click here Marine

• Wild About Gardens
  Wild About Gardens aims to bring the worlds of gardening and nature conservation closer together.  The project’s website, www.wildaboutgardens.org, hosts an online discussion forum for visitors to share tips, ideas and their experiences of wildlife in the garden on a county or UK-level.

28 June 2007

Fight future flooding by working with nature

As the nation now analyses the flood devastation suffered over recent days, The Wildlife Trusts urge Gordon Brown and his new government to make the environment the top priority and work with nature in dealing with the impacts of climate change.

This current crisis stems from years of building on flood plains, our over-reliance on man-made flood defences, and the removal of wetlands which can act as natural sponges, soaking up water and slowing it down in times of flooding.

The Government can now react in one of two ways; by creating hard large-scale flood defences or take a different approach to flood management and work with nature. The Wildlife Trusts believe working with nature is vital. We need to revise our policies on water, agriculture, planning and regeneration. We need to restore ecosystems on a landscape scale. We need to re-create wetlands and manage our uplands to slow down run-off into rivers and streams. And we need to ensure that, when we do need to build, that this is in the right place and done in the right way.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: "Over the last 12 months, the media has documented how our changing seasons have affected wildlife. These recent floods show only too brutally how climate change is also affecting people.

"In the face of climate change we must restore our ecosystems and natural processes at a speed and on a scale we once would have thought impossible. We need to restore and create 'living' landscapes to allow people and wildlife the room to adapt to climate change. Gordon Brown's government can lead a revolution in our approach to the natural environment through serious investment in habitat restoration and re-creation."

The Wildlife Trusts' report, A Living Landscape , demonstrates how
we are working at a landscape scale to prepare people and wildlife for climate change. The report has a four-point plan which calls for urgent Government action in addressing climate change and restoring the UK's battered ecosystems across our towns and countryside.

For further information please contact Anna Guthrie on 07887 754659 or Jules Acton on 07917 574837.

Editors' notes:

This report represents a call to arms to make 'A Living Landscape' a reality. In the report we outline a four point plan to overcome the barriers and act on the opportunities for landscape-scale conservation. Here we highlight some examples of the current policy changes to make this happen:

1. Use the planning system to enhance biodiversity
   The Government's Planning White Paper sets out changes to the planning system, in particular for major infrastructure projects. The Planning system needs strong policies on adaptation to climate change to drive action and decision making by local planning authorities on landscape scale conservation. Policies should prevent development that would act as a barrier to movement of species or cause fragmentation of habitats, and encourage large scale habitat restoration, corridors and linkages.

2. Invest in landscape-scale management and restoration
   Defra's Higher Level Scheme within Environmental Stewardship in England provides an essential tool for protecting and expanding important wildlife sites. However, the scheme is being squeezed with increased restrictions and higher thresholds for successful applications. Government and its agencies should ensure wildlife rich areas are not excluded by targeting to support landscape scale conservation, criteria that recognise the importance of Local Wildlife Sites and appropriate thresholds for applications. They should also increase the overall budget available so that more sites can benefit.

3. Tailor policy and practice for landscape-scale restoration
   The Department for Communities and Local Government's new Local Government White Paper outlines the role that Local Area Agreements will play in 'setting targets for improvement, tailored to local needs'. Government guidance on Local Area Agreements (LAAs) should give sufficient weight to the environment, alongside social and economic issues, to ensure local authority services support rather than work against landscape scale conservation. LAAs should contain specific indicators for the natural environment that support landscape scale conservation and ecological networks.

4. Buy time: address climate change
   The Government's Energy White Paper sets out proposals to meet our long-term energy needs. Government should use the White Paper and budget opportunities to introduce additional fiscal measures to address some of the most rapidly increasing causes of climate change emissions (including air and car transport), and provide incentives for increased energy efficiency. More recognition should also be given to the role habitats play in carbon storage, and increased support to land managers to prevent its release.

Wetlands

The UK's wetlands are not just important for biodiversity (ranging from ponds to rivers, reedbeds to bogs, they are home to a huge variety of plants and animals and a haven for wildlife lovers) they also play a major role in storing flood water and can reduce flooding in built-up areas, vital given the changing weather patterns associated with climate change. Climate change brings the risk of rising sea levels, warmer, drier summers and increasingly wet winters and wetlands play two key roles:

• They act as 'sponges', soaking up water and slowing it down in times of flood, allowing it to drain down to groundwater below the soil surface. This reduces the amount that reaches our towns and cities, where it has potentially devastating effects.

• They provide a barrier between the sea and inland development, with saltmarshes absorbing the energy of storms and providing a storage areafor high tides. Far from posing a flood threat, wetlands should be viewed as buffers, to protect areas where people live.

• The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) www.wildlifetrusts.org
  There are 47 local Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney. We are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. With 670,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK's habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 108,000 of our members belong to our junior branch, Wildlife Watch. We manage 2,200 nature reserves covering more than 80,000 hectares; we stand up for wildlife; we inspire people about the natural world and we foster sustainable living.

• The Wildlife Trusts' podcast - Wild World
  The Wildlife Trusts have teamed up with Aperçu Media - run by Nick Patrick, producer of Home Planet on Radio 4 - to launch a pilot podcast which features interviews and news from local Wildlife Trusts around the UK. It is the first time the conservation charity has worked on such a project. The free Podcast, in association with Aggregate Industries, is available to download at www.wildlifetrusts.org

Current big issues:

A Living Landscape
This report maps the way forward in countering climate change and restoring the UK's battered ecosystems, for both wildlife and people; from inner cities to rural communities. To download the report, click here A Living Landscape

Breathing Places
The UK's leading wildlife and environment conservation organisations, The Wildlife Trusts and BTCV, have joined forces to work in partnership with the BBC to develop the Communities campaign for Breathing Places. For more information, click here Breathing Places

Marine
The Wildlife Trusts have been campaigning for many years for comprehensive legislation to achieve better protection for marine wildlife and effective management of our seas. For more information, click here Marine

Wild About Gardens
Wild About Gardens aims to bring the worlds of gardening and nature conservation closer together. The project's website, www.wildaboutgardens.org, hosts an online discussion forum for visitors to share tips, ideas and their experiences of wildlife in the garden on a county or UK-level.

 

Festival of Nature

Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 June 2007

We are a partner in the Natural History Consortium which is planning another fantastic free festival at Harbourside in Bristol on the weekend of 2 - 3 June 2007. We'll have our own dedicated area, which will showcase our activities as THE major local environmental organisation with a committed membership - that's YOU! This is also the regional launch of BBC Breathing Places 2007. Come and join in the fun - thousands of people visited the festival last year and this year's festival promises to be even bigger and better.

We'll be updating you with further information shortly - watch this space.

30 April 2007

Royal Approval

We were delighted to receive an endorsement of the Folly Farm project from Prince Charles just in time to make an announcement at the Planet Earth event to launch the public phase of the Folly Farm Appeal on 2 April. The distinctive notepaper with the crest of the Prince of Wales was shown on screen, and we’ll reproduce the message from HRH in the next edition of Wildlife. A strict protocol prevents us retyping any of it here but we can let you know that it is gives very enthusiastic support for Folly Farm.

APPEAL UPDATE
Many thanks too to all the members who have donated to the Folly Farm Appeal - within two weeks of the letter being circulated to members we had topped the £20,000mark and donations are still coming in.

February 14 , 2007

Introducing the Avon Pondways Project

Pondways is a new Heritage Lottery funded two-year project run by the Avon Biodiversity Partnership with Avon Wildlife Trust as the lead partner. It has received further funding from Bristol Water and Wessex Water. Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre (BRERC) will play a key role by processing the data.

The project aims to raise public awareness of ponds and pond networks in our landscape, their heritage value and the plight of our most strictly protected amphibian, the great crested newt Triturus cristatus. Pondways will also actively engage the local community in pond conservation by training volunteers to survey Avon’s public ponds for biological quality and the presence of great crested newts. The British Isles’ largest newt and a Biodiversity Action Plan species, it has specific habitat requirements. Its decline in recent decades is due to the loss of good quality ponds and pond networks, plus a reduction in suitable surrounding terrestrial habitat.

Such surveys will add to the currently limited knowledge of great crested newt distribution within Avon and help to identify where pond networks, crucial to population growth, could be restored or created through management. Findings will also contribute to national surveys - The National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme (NARRS) and The National Pond Monitoring Network (NPMN), as well as be made available to the public through the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) and a Pondways website.

This is a great opportunity for the local community to learn about an essential feature in the landscape for a large variety of wildlife, along with its rich associated cultural history.

For further details please contact Lydia Robbins, Pondways Project Officer at Avon Wildlife Trust.
Email: lydiarobbins@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk Telephone: (0117) 917 7270

See details of last year's event here

January 31, 2007

Biffaward makes Willsbridge Valley wilder!

With thanks to a generous grant from Biffaward for £4970, a range of projects are taking place to improve the wildlife value of Avon Wildlife Trust's urban fringe nature reserve at Willsbridge Mill.

One of the projects includes some major hedgerow planting. On Saturday 11 February at 11 am, the weekend volunteer group will be planting up a fruity hedge between the pond and stream areas of the reserve.

Ruth Worsley, the Trusts Community Education Officer coordinating site developments said,

'We are delighted to have received support from Biffaward. The grant has made possible a number of wishes on our ever increasing nature reserve job list. '

Projects already funded included planting wild flowers in the newly renovated Wild Waste Garden and a major overhaul of the popular teaching pond with improved access for everyone.

Next Saturday, a diverse range of berry and fruit bearing hedgerow trees are being planted and will provide a welcome feeding station for insects and birds.

Ruth Clarricoates, one of the Mill's volunteers, who manages the Saturday volunteer crew welcomes new recruits to the February hedge plant.   She explains,

'I recently started up a new group of volunteers who meet every second Saturday of the month. We meet from 10am - 2 pm. It's a great way to help the planet locally and keep healthy too! Thanks to the Biffaward funding we have already built steps in the woodland, and put up a series of bird boxes around the valley. New volunteers are welcome at our next February fixture'.

Willsbridge Mill is signposted off the A431 in Longwell Green, Bristol and is served by buses from Bath and Bristol. Cyclists can reach Willsbridge Mill from the Bristol Bath Railway Path, by exiting at the Avon Valley Railway station at Bitton and following the A431 through Willsbridge village.

For more information please ring Ruth Worsley, Avon Wildlife Trust, Bristol 0117 932 6885.

Splash of spring colours

DATE: Saturday 10 th March 2007

TIME: 2 - 6pm

VENUE: Willsbridge Valley Local Nature Reserve

PRICE: FREE

Celebrate 'Holi' the festival of colours marking the coming of Spring at the Willsbridge Valley Local Nature Reserve. A custom originating in India, 'Holi' involves the throwing of bright colours to celebrate the wonderful vibrant colours that the season of Spring brings to our natural environment

The event will provide many exciting opportunities for local communities to get close to and engage with nature. The 'Spring Colours' event will celebrate the many wildlife aspects associated with the coming of the Spring season including butterflies emerging from hibernation, woodland plants beginning to flower and trees bursting into bud. The event also celebrates the colourful Hindu festival of Holi and gives local communities the chance to share their cultural heritage.

Alison Logan, education officer for Avon Wildlife Trust said: 'The Spring Colours event is a lovely way to let local people experience the wonder of spring, how other cultures celebrate the changing seasons, and to have the opportunity to get close to nature.'

The event takes place in Willsbridge Valley Local Nature Reserve. The event will have workshops for all ages to prepare for a colourful procession around the garden and Mill at 5pm led by Desai Diva's, a youth dance group from the South Gloucestershire Asian Project. Activities running throughout the afternoon include banner painting, mask and kite making, story telling and 'Splash of Spring colour' walks - family 'Earth' walks focussing on nature's colourful palette.

Free admission.

All events are at Willsbridge Mill, Willsbridge Hill. Longwell Green.
Car park is located in Long Beach Road which is signposted off A431 in Longwell Green, Bristol

Easy access from the Bristol Bath Cycle path.
Bristol Bus 45
Bath Bus 332

For further information, please ring Ruth Worsley or Alison Logan, Avon Wildlife Trust on 0117 932 6885

7 January 2007

Wildlife could be under threat from Bristol Airport expansion

Experts at Avon Wildlife Trust say more research is needed into the impact of the potential airport expansion on local wildlife.

The Masterplan produced by Bristol International Airport (BIA) does not have an accompanying Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and contains no information about the current wildlife numbers and what impacts the proposals will have on local wildlife and habitats.

The Airport is surrounded by wildlife sites of local, national and international importance. These include Brockley Hall, which is part of the North Somerset and Mendip Bats Special Area of Conservation due to its population of greater horseshoe bats.

Chief Executive of Avon Wildlife Trust, Steve Grainger, said: "We have raised a series of objections to the planners, flagging up species that could be under threat. An Environmental Impact Assessment should be carried out with all urgency."

Wildlife that could be in danger:

• BATS: A full assessment of the use of the site by bats is crucial as the site is near to the Brockley Special Area of Conservation. There are also known winter hibernation roosts just to the north of the airport. An earlier bat survey states that the southern boundary at Cornerpool Farm was used by foraging bats or bats commuting to foraging sites elsewhere, so a study must be carried out to determine bat usage of hedgerow flightlinesaround the site.
• GREAT CRESTED NEWTS: There are ponds in the vicinity which could be important for this European protected species.
• BADGERS: Badgers are protected under the Badger Act 1992. Four badger setts were identified in the 2005 EIA, including a large sett to south of site with 20 entrances. The EIA states there is a potential risk of injury or mortality to badgers if new roads and car parks are added to the airport complex. This must be fully assessed and appropriate mitigation proposed.
• DORMICE: Species-rich hedgerows are an ideal habitat for dormice, a European protected species. Plus, the airport is very close to an important site for dormice at Avon Wildlife Trust’s Goblin Combe to the west. Hedgerow surveys are required.
• SLOW WORMS: The site could be suitable for reptiles such as slow worm, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1982. Again, full surveys must be done.

The Trust is also calling for a thorough assessment of the impact of increased noise, light and vibration across the site - plus that of air and waterborne pollution. Steve Grainger said: "The Masterplan from BIA talks about potential changes to vegetation due to elevated Nitrous Oxide deposition from increased numbers of aircraft. But we don’t know if this is being monitored currently and what the evidence shows. And the structures proposed to reflect and screen noise could, in fact, interrupt bat flightlines."

Steve Grainger added: "As well as concerns about specific wildlife species, we are concerned about BIA’s proposals for a new nature conservation area to the south of the airport. It would be far better to allocate green spaces to the east of the airport, nearer other sites of wildlife importance such as Felton Common. This would enable wildlife to move freely between the conservation areas, creating healthier long-term environments for plants, animals and insects."

The Trust also has grave concerns about the issue of increased CO2 emissions on climate change. Steve Grainger said: "The Masterplan suggests that with improved aircraft design there will be lower fuel burn and lower emissions, but we believe that airport expansion can only lead to increased CO2 emissions and therefore is highly unlikely to contribute to the Government’s stated target of 60% CO2 reductions by 2050. Until we can be convinced that airport expansion will not lead to increases in CO2 emissions, we will object to the Masterplan."

The Trust has submitted its objections to the Masterplan to North Somerset planning department

1 December 2006

Phillipa Forrester (right) © Bristol Evening Post

VIPs agree to be our new VPs

We were delighted to learn at the Trust Annual General Meeting that Phillipa Forester and Dick King Smith have both agreed to become Vice Presidents of the Trust. They join natural history broadcaster and writer Barry Payne who has been Vice President since 1990.

Phillipa is best known as a presenter of many tv series, from Tomorrow's World, Crufts and the Heaven & Earth Show, to programmes for the BBC Natural History Unit. But she also has a first-class degree in ecology and conservation, is a published author and a mother of three young children. Together with her husband cameraman Charlie Hamilton-James, she has produced a number of award-winning BBC Natural World programmes filmed locally, including My Halcyon River, The Wild Wood, The Restless River and, most recently, On the Trail of Tarka. In this photo she's pictured with Jenny Hayward (previous Biodiversity Development Officer) launching the Avon Biodiversity Plan for the Trust in 2004.

Dick King Smith © Bristol Evening Post

Dick has been a member since 1990 and became involved with the Folly Farm project in the Trust's 25th anniversary year, when he was guest of honour at our Big Birthday Party at Folly Farm. He is a well-loved children's author whose book The Sheep Pig became the film Babe - and the symbol of the Children's Hospice South West Appeal. Last summer we interviewed him in his wildlife garden just outside Bristol.

Meet Dick King Smith, author of The Sheep Pig, long standing Trust member and Patron of the Childrens' Hospice South West Babe Appeal. Extract from Wildlife Autumn 2005

Dick King Smith has lived in a quiet hamlet on the edge of Bristol, for over 37 years. "I was born three miles away as an adventurous crow would fly," he began, with the flair of a storyteller, "and apart from the war, have never lived more than ten miles from the house I was born in." That house was in Bitton, not far from Willsbridge Mill and he has a faint memory of going along to Willsbridge as a child to buy feed for the family's hens. The King-Smith family owned papermills in Bitton and after being wounded in the war Dick became a farmer, first of all at Coalpit Heath, supplying the papermill workers with milk and eggs for over 14 years, and then for six years at Siston.

In 1971 he decided to retrain as a teacher, and taught at a primary school in Farnborough for seven years, during which time he wrote his first four childrens books "But I'd had the idea for the first one in the middle of my farming years," he said "brought on by a passing fox who slaughtered all my chickens, and I wondered what it would be like in a topsy turvey world where the chickens beat up the foxes." The inspiration for The Sheep Pig - the book that was later filmed as Babe - came to him in the middle of a village fete when he was in charge of 'Guess the Weight of the Pig'.

"I had this sudden fancy as I was hefting this squealing little thing - wouldn't it be nice if there was some other future for him - an heroic future perhaps. My chief love was pigs, and I hate the thought of pigs and dairy produce being at the mercy of importers, and how hard farmers have to work today to make ends meet. I've lived here for over 37 years, during which time the farming face of the village has completely changed. When I first came here there were five dairy herds in the village - nowadays there's none, a few ponies, some sheep. No-one around here grows cereal crops or root crops anymore, and the village is largely made up of retired people, or commuters. "Yes, he says, "I would like the countryside back as it used to be but of course that isn't possible. "But we need to conserve as many species as possible for our grandchildren."

Dick's garden is full of birdsong, and he says that the only reason the house-sparrow is in danger is because they're all in his garden eating his chicken feed. "Together with lots of blackbirds singing lots of songs, many vocal collared doves, four different sorts of tit, ample robins and an old crow that drops in for a snack." From his garden he can see buzzards, foxes, badgers and roe-deer - and quite a few hodgehegs, too. His book The Hodgeheg was inspired by the spooonerisms of a little girl he once knew, who loved flutterbies, patterkillers and, of course, hodgehegs. His gift of speaking to a child's imagination is evident in his company, and in the captivated audience at his story telling session at Folly Farm. "I very much like the idea of Folly Farm" he said "And I like the fact of being closely involved with two charities that have renovated old farms to be used by children, although in very different circumstances. I am honoured to be connected with Children's Hospice South West and Avon Wildlife Trust."

2 October 2006

Folly Farm - work begins!

Construction work has started at Folly Farm, Avon Wildlife Trust's flagship project, in the Chew Valley. And it's a building scheme with a difference.The Trust is committed to protecting the wildlife that thrives at Folly Farm during the restoration works and it has taken the following measures to ensure this happens:

• Asked potential contractors to complete a wildlife identification test as part of the tendering process. The chosen builder, Ken Biggs Contractors Ltd of High Littleton successfully differentiated between species, including great crested and common newts, and swifts and swallows.
• Equipped the contractors with photo files, showing species they may encounter. Additional training will be provided for the builders so they can recognise various lifecycles of the wildllife and act accordingly.
• Scheduled the construction to fit around nesting and breeding seasons. This means that some work on the roof structures will have to be completed by April, when bat maternity begins.
• Arranged for wildlife experts to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to advise on the correct procedure for protecting key species and be on site to handle them when required.

Since 1987 the 250 acre site has been managed by the Trust as a nature reserve, and in recent years the Trust has been developing a vision to restore the farm buildings and create a special residential centre to promote environmental learning. Support totalling 3.5 million has been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, South West Regional Development Agency and the Biffaward Landfill Tax Scheme, and the Trust is now looking to the corporate sector for support to achieve the target of a further £1 million.

Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trusts Stephabie Hilborne said

" We are excited that Avon Wildlife Trust's initiative to develop this unique environmental centre at Folly Farm is starting. The quality of our natural environment is critical to us all; we will be able to learn about the natural world and its significance at first hand in the setting of this marvellous nature reserve and the restored buildings."