launch of the City Centre Nature Trail

Features from Wildlife magazine Wildlife articles 2008 -- Spring 2008 -- ::Severn Barrage ::The Variety of life ::A year at Willsbridge ::Willsbridge comes of age ::Reaching out - Willsbridge ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2007 -- Autumn 2007 -- ::Thinking BIG ::Watery webs:the pond network ::Wildlife in the landscape ::Variety of life ::How to be a climate friend ::Seasonal stroll - Walborough ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2007 -- ::The Folly Farm appeal ::Weston Big Wood-biodiversity at its best ::The variety of life ::How to capture a butterfly ::How to get to know an orchid ::Seasonal stroll - WestonBigWood ::Reserves update -- Spring 2007 -- ::Folly Farm - a very special place ::Making a difference at Folly Farm ::How find the magic at Folly Farm ::Seasonal stroll at Folly Farm ::Magic spots at Folly Farm ::Batscapes ::Climate challenge ::Variety of Life - the Ponways project ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2006 -- Autumn 2006 -- ::The Severn Estuary ::Bird Watch results ::How to identify garden birds ::Making space for wildlife ::How does your garden grow? ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2006 -- ::Going for green ::Stand up and be counted ::Happy birthday NSLMP ::Holi day - a riot of spring colour ::Avon's species-rich grassland ::How to photograph dragonflies ::The Big Switch ::Round the reserves -- Spring 2006 -- ::How to identify winter water birds ::Make 2006 the year you... ::Invasive invasion ::Sowing the seeds: Willsbridge Mill ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2005 -- Autumn 2005 -- ::Indentify common funghi ::Build a hedgehog hideaway ::Big Bird Watch ::Champions for wildlife ::Round the reserves ::Seeds of the futre: Willsbridge Mill -- Summer 2005 -- ::Restoring Folly Farm ::How to become bee-friendly ::How to identify the butterflies of spring ::Save our seas ::The variety of life: hedgerows ::Round the reserves ::25 Ways to make a difference -- Spring 2005 -- ::The variety of life: water voles ::The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan ::How to take really good wildlife photos ::How to help your garden grow ::Round the reserves ::Seasonal strolls: Browns Folly ::Sowing the seeds: for wildlife for people ::Sowing the seeds: looking back

Features

Sowing the seeds
25 ways in which we've made a difference

“I've no doubt at all that the Trust has done more than any other local organisation to ensure that Avon remains an area rich in wildlife ... and offering enrichment to the lives of everyone who lives here.”
Rupert Higgins - Wildlife Spring 2005

1. Brandon Hill - we broke the mould in 1980 with the country's first city centre nature reserve, bringing hay meadows, wildlife ponds and butterfly gardens into a formal city park. Wildlife areas are now regular features of city green spaces, and we work closely with Bristol City Council.

2. Urban wildlife has been working its way up the political agenda since we first took over management of ancient farmland in Stockwood. In 1991 the local group recorded several common spotted orchids here - in 2001 they recorded 260!

3. We opened eyes to wildlife in Bristol with the City Centre Nature Trail, launched by abseiling seagulls in summer 2002. Look out for the nesting grey wagtails, the cormorant perches, find out where fig trees thrive and hunt down fiddle docks and beggarticks. Contact us for your free copy of the City Centre Nature Trail.

4. Birds count - we launched Bristol Bird Watch in October 2000 and over 2000 people a year have taken part - making it 'the best bird sample in the country'. Over 54 bird species were spotted in the first year, and the top three birds are blackbird, robin and blue tit.

5. Boris, the oldest greater horseshoe bat ever recorded in Britain (28 years!) was discovered at Brown's Folly in January 2000. Our work there in securing bat grilles on the old mines has reduced disturbance, increasing the number of bat species breeding.

6. Otters are back - our work on the watery world where otters once swam has begun to deliver results and evidence is building of their return. Otter populations are on the increase in North Somerset and signs of otter have been found around Chew Valley Lake and from South Gloucestershire and on the River Avon
in Bath.

7. Avonmouth was declared 'the most urban location of the watervole' in 1997 after our extensive water vole survey, which found thriving populations of water voles in this industrial landscape.

8. Dormice are not so dozy - alerted by fears that their numbers have declined by over 50% we've been part of a national study since 2003 that has found many new dormouse sites.

9. Gordano Valley - our campaign to save these wetlands has gone from strength to strength over the years since it was launched in 1984. Clapton Moor and Weston Moor are areas rich in birdlife. In 2000 we planted 9,500 native trees on the slopes of the valley.

10. In the late 1990s we raised the water levels at Clapton Moor by installing sluices and by winter 2001 almost 250 lapwing were counted here. By 2002 nine pairs of breeding lapwing were observed. In 2000 112 common snipe were recorded on Weston Moor, the highest concentration in the area.

11. Bathampton Oxbow - in the early 1990s this was farmland - now it is one of the area's best wildlife sites, with small blue butterfly, scarce bluetail damselfly and recently, otters.

12. Dolebury Warren - this magnificent hill fort could have been overgrown with scrub if we hadn't begun our management work to restore the special grassland that is found here and which has brought back dozens of rare butterflies.

13. Folly Farm came up for sale in 1986 and we were lucky enough to buy it. If we hadn't done so the wonderful flowers that make Folly Farm so special, together with the countless butterflies and other creatures that rely on them, may have disappeared for ever.

14. Wildlife isn't always thought about as early as it should be when planning officers receive applications, even those protected by law. We've held several training workshops for our local authorities and made them enthusiastic about helping wildlife from barn owls to bats.

15. Puxton Moor, rich in wildlife and archaeology, would be a golf course and a holiday resort had we not managed to buy it in 1997. In 1998 a rare sighting of a tree sparrow inspired a nest box project here and tree sparrows began to breed the following summer, managed by the local community.

16. Walborough has always been a special place for waders and to make it even better for sea-loving birds and plants we came up with an ambitious plan to create a sea wall to let the sea in, not keep it out! This will encourage the saltmarsh to flourish once more, bring back vanished species such as sea lavender and sea barley.

17. Littleton Brick Pits was once an artificial lagoon filled with fly-ash tipped from a power station and would have dried up if we hadn't taken it over in 1982, managing it so that water levels remained suitable for breeding birds. Reed and sedge warblers abound and in winter hundreds of starlings come home to roost.

18. Royate Hill would be covered in housing instead of being a valued Local Nature Reserve. The campaign to save this site in 1991 resulted in the first compulsory purchase of a wildlife site in the country, and a major change in attitude towards development by planners and councillors.

19. Hengrove Park's hidden treasure has been championed by us since we were alerted to plans for redevelopment of the wildlife rich area just beyond the multiplex. Skylarks breed here - a species that has been in decline over 25 years, and bee orchids and grass vetchlings flourish.

20. We've shared our delight and passion for the natural world with over half a million children through our massive nature fairs at Newton St Loe in the early 1980s, schools programmes at Willsbridge Mill from 1986 and Earth Education events at Folly Farm in the 1990s.

21. Willsbridge Mill was a crumbling shell when we took it over in 1982, restoring it into an Education Centre which has enabled thousands of schoolchildren to appreciate wildlife in a 22 acre nature reserve which supports an astonishing array of wildlife - from dippers to kingfishers, badgers to foxes.

22. We've pioneered the Wild Waste Garden Project, to show how disposable items can be re-used in our gardens to benefit wildlife, the environment and our wallet. Contact us for your free copy of the Wild Waste Garden Pack.

23. School grounds work began to take off in 1992 and over the years we've built ponds, created shady shelters, planted wildflower areas and built boardwalks for pond-dipping with over 300 schools - and then showed teachers and parents how to go on looking after the transformation.

24. Our active volunteers range from 15 years to over 75, and have shaped their local communities throughout the years. In this Year of the Volunteer we want to say a great big thank you to over 400 volunteers who help with everything from scrub bashing to magazine delivery, education support to giving slide shows.

25. We've changed attitudes in ways big and small over the 25 years since the Trust was a twinkle in the eye of a handful of dreamers - today over eleven thousand people in the Avon area support us, and a recent survey of our membership gave us a big vote of confidence, with 'to find out more about local wildlife' being the main reason people join the Trust.