What’s new with the ARC crew? By Angela Reynolds - Editor We have a few new faces at ARC since the last issue of Hop Gossip! landed on your doormats. We said goodbye to our Communications & Outreach Manager Martin O’Neill at the end of September. He made a lot of positive changes to the Trust during the year he was here and played a big part in the branding of our new HQ. Anju Sarpal has taken up the reins and is really enjoying getting stuck in, getting to know staff and the partners we work with up and down the country. Alice Pawlik completed her stint as Amphibian Husbandry Officer and you can read about her work on page 9. Our new project Snakes in the Heather is up and running with two project officers (see page 13). We have welcomed back Ben Limburn as Citizen Science & Operations Officer and recruited Owain Masters as Public Engagement & Education Officer. Our Field Teams are more than half way through the winter season doing habitat management across our reserves. The Dorset team are joined by Winter Seasonals Ciara Askin, Philip O’Keefe and ARC regular Stuart Handyside. Our Wealden team are joined by Laurence Hills and Mark Crisp.
How are we doing? Have your say! By Anju Sarpal - Communications & Outreach Manager
Hop off the Press!
Hello I’m Anju Sarpal, self confessed frog fanatic and ARC’s new Communications and Outreach Manager. In my first few months in my new role, my aim is to make sure that you, as our supporter, are getting your voice heard and receiving the information you need.
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As part of that endeavour we have created a quick survey to gather your views. We would be grateful if you could complete and return the enclosed survey or fill it in online https://www.arc-trust.org/ hopgossip-survey I look forward to reading them and meeting you soon. In the meantime if you have news, views or observations you would like to share with fellow supporters and partners, drop us a line at comms@arc-trust.org
Reports of crimes against wildlife continue to rise By Jim Foster - Conservation Director Wildlife and Countryside Link and Wales Environment Link, revealed this Autumn in their third Annual Wildlife Crime Report, that reports of alleged wildlife crime incidents to NGOs rose again in 2018, with an increase of more than 17% since the first report in 2016. There were a total of 1,324 reports of wildlife crime incidents against bats, badgers, birds of prey, amphibians and reptiles and marine mammals, recorded by these NGOs in 2018, compared to 1287 in 2017 and 1130 in 2016. Despite the increase in reporting of wildlife crimes, the number of convictions remains very low, with just 11 individuals and businesses convicted of these types of crimes last year. Crimes against badgers, birds of prey and bats remain among the most common wildlife crimes reported. Also noteworthy is that the number of reports of marine mammal disturbances have more than doubled this year. Pete Charleston, Chair of Link’s Wildlife Crime Working Group and Conservation Wildlife Crime Officer for the Bat Conservation Trust, said: ‘The abuse and persecution of wildlife will remain invisible, and go unpunished, unless crimes against wildlife are effectively recorded and assessed. Wildlife crime police officers are hugely dedicated, but they need funding certainty and resources to catch these criminals, and tougher sentences available to ensure criminals face a punishment fit for their crime.’ ARC CEO, Dr Tony Gent said: ‘This report highlights the need for better enforcement of the laws protecting amphibians and reptiles. Sadly we continue to see illegal acts resulting in the loss of amphibian and reptile habitats, which adds to the pressures they face. We urgently need a range of improvements, including more support for wildlife crime officers and better guidance for courts.’ To tackle wildlife crime more effectively, the NGOs are calling for the Governments in England and Wales to ensure greater assessment of wildlife crimes, better targeting of resources, and more successful identification, prosecution and sentencing of criminals.
Great crested newt © Chris Dresh.(ARC)
