The member magazine for Durham Wildlife Trust
WWW.DURHAMWT.COM
Summer 2022
News New projects and new people Gateshead Green Connections
3 4
Conservation 50@50 New reserves Delivering the Great North Fen Restoring the Durham Carrs Fundraising Appeal
5 6 9 10
National Fresh faces
12
Campaigning Nextdoor Nature
14
Reports Annual General Meeting 2022
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VISITOR CENTRES
SUMMER ISSUE 2022 @durhamwildlife
@durhamwildlife
@durhamwildlifetrust
his is a difficult introduction to write because I don’t want to give the game away. Suffice to say, Durham Wildlife Trust has had a successful anniversary year since our 50th birthday last July – see page five for more details. We also have significant new projects and more good news to come later in the year. The charity has also managed to navigate through the Covid recovery period, following the end of dedicated funding during the pandemic and the transition to, what we hope will be, the post-Covid world. There is information on the highlights of the 2021-22 financial year in this edition, and information on our AGM to be held in October. The AGM will be online to give as many members as possible the chance to hear about Durham Wildlife Trust’s achievements over the year. Dr Rob Stoneman, from the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, will also share information on some of the pioneering work done by Wildlife Trusts across the country on nature recovery. I’m writing this on a sunny day in late June. There are troubles across the world and, no doubt, more challenges to come, but there are few better places to be on a sunny, summer day than enjoying nature in our gardens, parks and countryside. I hope you are enjoying your summer and some of your own nature recovery.
Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU. Tel: 0191 584 3112
The Meadows Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 0191 512 8940
Low Barns Nature Reserve Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 0AG. Tel: 01388 488 728
Low Barns Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 01388 488 729
Jim Cokill Director
Charity number: 501038 Paper: FSC accredited, 100% recycled uncoated
Printed by: North Wolds Printers
Design: Edmundson Design www.edmundsondesign.com
Cover Image: ‘Reed bunting’ by Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION
Many thanks to all our corporate members for their ongoing support Gold Members
Silver Members
Bronze Members
Northumbrian Water Northern Gas Networks Vine House Farm
Wienerberger Fusion for Business
Simon Berry Optometrists Holidaycottages.co.uk Airedale Forestry Ltd Verdant Leisure
Partners 2
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
ACM Environmental
NEWS
New projects and new people There are a number of exciting developments, with new projects and some new faces joining the Durham Wildlife Trust team.
Link Together A former golf course, local parks, and woodlands, are all areas that are in line to be restored for wildlife, after Durham Wildlife Trust secured £149,462 of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The funds will be used to build on the work already done by the Trust and Sunderland City Council to develop Link Together. Link Together will focus on 13 green spaces across the Coalfield area of Sunderland, and, in the initial one-year development phase, a Project Manager will be appointed to engage local people in the project, and commission a range of surveys and studies. The locations include nature reserves, a former golf course, parks, woodlands, and water courses. The project aims to encourage more people to access wild spaces by creating a network of habitats through woodland planting, meadow restoration, and wetland management.
Natural Communities Thanks to funding from three Durham County Council Area Action Partnerships (Weardale, Teesdale, and mid-Durham), Durham Wildlife Trust will be supporting more people to get involved in volunteering. Alison Laing is the newly-appointed Natural Communities Officer and will be working with established volunteers in Deepdale Wood, as well as working with new groups in Winston, Evenwood, and Cockfield. Groups from three churches around Esh will be transforming their church grounds into havens for wildlife, with Alison’s help, and encouraging local children and older residents to get involved in caring for them. Alison will also be spending time at Low Barns Nature Reserve, helping with volunteer training and encouraging local residents from across Weardale to have a go at practical volunteering. Find out more about the project: durhamwt.com/natural-communities
Health and well-being will be a major theme. Link Together will work closely with local GPs to see how social prescribing can be used to encourage participation and deliver improved mental and physical health. If the development phase is successful, Link Together will begin delivering on the ground in early 2024.
Alison Laing
Development Manager recruitment is underway, more details about the project can be found at durhamwt.com/link-together
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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NEWS
Gateshead Green Connections
New Education Projects Officer John Hayton has taken up the role of Education Projects Officer for Durham Wildlife Trust. John, who was previously an Education Leader, will co-ordinate the education team and support the Trust’s efforts to get one in four people, whatever their age, actively engaged in nature’s recovery. To achieve this, the team will bring school groups onto nature reserves to learn about the importance of nature to all our lives. Durham Wildlife Trust will also go out to schools to teach students and teachers how to bring wildlife into their school grounds. All while linking to the relevant curriculum! John Hayton
Gateshead Green Connections will involve communities across Gateshead in caring for their local natural environment. The project will deliver nature recovery from the Beamish Burn to the Tyne, and create better links between nature reserves, making them more accessible and encouraging greater use. Durham Wildlife Trust Conservation Project Officer, Mandy Bell, is managing the project. “We’ll deliver a regular programme of practical conservation tasks on each of the nature reserves, and the Trust is recruiting volunteers to support the work,” said Mandy. “The volunteers who join us will receive training and mentoring to build capacity, confidence and independence. This is a great opportunity for people to get outside, look after, and learn more about their local green spaces and connect with nature. Who wouldn’t want to get involved?!” Find out about volunteering for Green Connections: durhamwt.com/gateshead-green-connections
Generosity that Lasts Forever A gift in your will can make a huge difference to wildlife. It could contribute to the purchase of a new nature reserve to ensure it is protected for the future; it could help with the ongoing management of the places you love, so that wildlife can flourish; or it could support environmental education, so that more children can discover the natural world. Just 1% of the value of your estate can make a huge difference to our work. Every gift is valuable. Having a will is so important to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of and all your wishes are known to your family. If you don’t have an up-to-date will and would like further information about how to go about writing one, please visit www.durhamwt.com/legacy 4
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
50@50
CONSERVATION
by Jim Cokill
In summer 2020 - which seems like a very long time ago - Durham Wildlife Trust launched its 50@50 campaign. At that time the Trust had 42 nature reserves, and the ambitious plan was to increase that number to 50 by the end of the charity’s 50th anniversary year in July 2022. urham Wildlife Trust is very pleased to announce that the target has been reached – we did it! The Trust has been able to take on management of an additional 270 hectares of land for nature across 11 sites. More than £2.7 million has been raised to acquire the land, restore habitats, and fund future management. It was a true team effort. Durham Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers played their part, but it would have been an impossible task without support from members, donors, our local authority partners and funders – the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Landfill Communities Fund, Durham County Council, Gateshead Council and Bannister Trust.
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The new sites support a wide range of habitats and species, and are spread across our patch. There’s information on the most recently acquired sites over the following pages, and updated information available online at www.durhamwt.com/nature-reserves. Although agreements have been secured to bring our total number of sites to 50, two of the deals are yet to complete. Those final two sites are particularly special and they will feature in detail in the next edition of Wildlife Durham.
Durham Wildlife Trust increasing its landholding is an important contribution to the work of the Wildlife Trusts nationally. Bring Nature Back – The Wildlife Trusts’ Strategy 2030 – sets out to deliver nature’s recovery across the UK, with at least 30% of land and seas actively managed for nature’s recovery. The 50@50 campaign has been our starting point to deliver that objective, but it is only a start. Work is underway on developing our local Strategy 2030 and the current estimate is that 18% of the Durham Wildlife Trust area could be described as being actively managed for wildlife. Reaching the 30% target needs another 30,000 hectares. It’s a massive undertaking and one that the Trust is never going to accomplish by acting alone. As with all Wildlife Trusts across the country, our Trust will play its part in nature’s recovery by acting as an advocate and leading by example. By working with our partners and other landowners, we’ll seek to influence how their land is managed, and an important part of that is expanding our own estate to demonstrate how nature recovery can be delivered on the ground. It’s an ongoing effort, but, as you’ll see over the following pages, it’s a worthwhile task and the success of 50@50 is just a starting point for even bigger ambitions. Find out more about our nature reserves: durhamwt.com/visit
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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CONSERVATION
Hill 60
Visit: Open: Visit 365 days a year, no restrictions. Parking: Limited street-side parking on Fell View. Accessibility: Unsurfaced paths, might not be suitable for all users. Time of year: Worth a visit year-round, but as the management work proceeds, early summer should be a good time for wildflowers.
What to see: ver the next 30 years Durham Wildlife Trust will be restoring nature at Hill 60, a two-hectare pasture at the heart of Crawcrook village. Hill 60 is a local landmark that has special meaning for the residents of Crawcrook, and provides a place where people can enjoy a little bit of nature on their doorstep. The name Hill 60 is thought to have come from the Ypres Salient, where local men, serving in the Northumberland Fusiliers, fought during the First World War.
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Linnet, song thrush, chiffchaff, house sparrow, white throat, goldfinch, heath bedstraw, bird’s-foot trefoil, common sorrel, tormentil, field scabious, wax cap fungi.
The Trust’s work will focus on restoring the grassland to bring wildflowers back to Hill 60. This will involve cutting and removing some annual grass growth, alongside conservation grazing and wildflower seed introduction. The mature hedgerows will be managed to maintain their interest to birds, and new hedges will be planted that will provide additional habitat in the future.
The Folly he Folly was once an industrial landscape. A sand quarry up to its closure in 1966, The Folly provided raw materials needed by local industry, and was then operated as a landfill site, gradually being infilled over a 12-year period, then capped and restored.
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Although the habitats created since the restoration of the landfill site are still relatively young, the blocks of broadleaf woodland, mix of established and newly planted hedgerow, and the seasonal pond, create a mosaic of habitats that support a broad range of wildlife. The grassland, which accounts for the majority of the site, supports plants and insects now threatened due to habitat loss. Since the Second World War the UK has lost an incredible 97% of its flower-rich grasslands. Management of this site will focus on implementing conservation grazing through the late summer and autumn months, and the annual maintenance of new hedgerows. 6
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
Visit: Open: Visit 365 days a year, no restrictions. Parking: Limited parking on Long Ridge Road. Accessibility: Unsurfaced paths, might not be suitable for all users. Time of year: Best in June, July, August for the grassland.
What to see: Skylark, bullfinch, kestrel, primrose, cowslip, bird’s-foot trefoil, meadow vetchling, hawkweeds, common spotted orchid, harebell, and agrimony, common blue, ringlet, and meadow brown butterflies.
CONSERVATION
Westwood Meadow
Chopwell East Fields Local Wildlife Site situated between the village of Chopwell and the woodland that shares its name. The site, a restored former colliery, hosts a range of habitats, including a number of different grassland types. Of particular note is the locally-rare lowland acid grassland, and there is also lowland meadow and wet grassland.
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Management will focus on implementing conservation grazing through the late summer and autumn months, and the annual maintenance of new hedgerows.
Visit: Open: Visit 365 days a year, no restrictions. Parking: Limited parking off South Road.
What to see:
Accessibility: Unsurfaced paths, might not be suitable for all users. Time of year: Best in June, July, August for the grassland.
Roe deer, kestrel, jay, meadow vetchling, goat’s-beard, common knapweed, and intermediate lady’s-mantle, common and greater bird’s-foot trefoil, cuckoo-flower, oval sedge, and common valerian.
Victoria Garesfield reclaimed colliery site, this reserve has been extensively planted with alder and white poplar in the past. Sycamore, black poplar, silver birch, and broom have also naturally colonised, together with the ground flora associated with ancient woodland sites. The species-rich grassland at Victoria Garesfield is especially worthy of note.
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Management will include annual hay cuts of the grassland, along with woodland management.
Visit: Open: Visit 365 days a year, no restrictions. Parking: Limited parking off Linztford Lane.
Accessibility: Unsurfaced paths, might not be suitable for all users. Time of year: Something to see all year round.
n example of what a passion for wildlife can achieve, Westwood Meadow is a small, but perfectly formed, testament to the work of Andrew and Noreen James. At just over half a hectare in size, this herb-rich lowland meadow may be one of Durham Wildlife Trust’s smaller sites, but it has been nurtured for decades by the James family.
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In addition to the conservation of the site itself, this meadow will be a catalyst for grassland projects across the Derwent Valley and has already contributed seed towards restoration at Chopwell Meadows and The Folly. Management will focus on maintaining the high quality of the meadow habitat, with an annual hay cut in late July, along with aftermath grazing through to October with sheep.
Visit: Given the high quality and small size of Westwood Meadow, the site will remain closed to visitors, but keep an eye out for information on organised visits to the meadow and other grasslands in the Derwent Valley.
What to see: Lady’s mantle, betony, orchids, oxeye daisy, meadow vetchling, yellow rattle, great burnet. Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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CONSERVATION
Ricknall Carrs urham Wildlife Trust’s Discover Brightwater Landscape Partnership is already restoring habitats across the catchment of the River Skerne. Sections of the canalised river channel have been renaturalised and lost wetlands, once part of Durham’s historic Carrs, are being restored for nature.
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In March, the Trust took a further step towards realising its vision for the Great North Fen by purchasing 61 hectares of grassland on the Skerne floodplain just north-east of Newton Aycliffe. The land, lying between the A1 and the East Coast Main Line railway, is at Ricknall Carrs, one of the historic wetlands that once extended across the catchment of the River Skerne. Durham Wildlife Trust was able to purchase the land thanks to funding from Veolia and Durham County Council. Currently semi-improved grassland, through the winter these fields become waterlogged and the wet grassland and pools that are created attract large numbers of wading and wetland birds, including flocks of curlew, lapwing and golden plover. The site requires work to allow it to reach its full potential for wildlife, as opportunities exist to improve not just the over-wintering habitat, but to also ensure this site supports breeding populations of waders. Work will commence this autumn on creating pools and scrapes to help hold water on the surface for longer. Channels will also be created, mimicking those that would have once criss-crossed the area before the River Skerne was canalised to help drain the land. Additional seeding and planting will be undertaken to re-introduce many of the wetland plants that would have thrived on the fens and wetlands of the Durham Carrs. The Trust will be working in partnership with neighbouring farmers to manage this site through conservation grazing, once habitat creation works are completed.
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Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
Visit: This is a closed site, given the sensitivity of the bird species present and the access constraints created by the A1 and railway – features that help to reduce disturbance and maintain wildlife interest. However, the Trust will be organising supervised visits to show members the work that is underway and there will be ongoing supervised access for members at appropriate times of year. Keep a look out in the magazine and online for information on site visits.
What to see: Lapwing, curlew, redshank, oystercatcher, golden plover, greylag goose, pink-footed goose, heron, snipe, teal, goosander, shell duck, wigeon.
CONSERVATION
Delivering the
Great North Fen
In the UK we have lost 90% of our wetland habitats in the last 100 years, and more than 10% of our freshwater and wetland species are threatened with extinction. We need to act to reverse the loss of wetlands and bring back lost species, restoring the diversity and abundance of wildlife across our landscape. The Great North Fen can deliver that vision on a landscape scale across our region and beyond.
Phase 1 Where we are now: As part of the Brightwater Landscape Partnership, Durham Wildlife Trust is delivering wetland restoration at key locations on the Durham Carrs – at the heart of what can become the Great North Fen. We need your support to finish that work and demonstrate what wetland restoration can achieve for wildlife and people.
Phase 2
e Little Egret by Derek Moor
The next five years: Developing proposals for further wetland restoration across the historic Carrs, showing how the work will restore lost habitats and species, and deliver a more sustainable way of managing the landscape. Wetlands can offer new ways for landowners to generate income while providing services society needs, from storing flood water and reducing pollution, to sequestering and storing carbon from the atmosphere.
Phase 3 By 2030: What were separate sites across the Carrs become a connected wetland landscape – the Great North Fen. A mosaic of productive farmland, wetlands, woodlands, and accessible places where people can enjoy being immersed in nature.
Phase 4 By 2040: Durham Wildlife Trust use the experience gained from delivering the Great North Fen to form new partnerships. Working with Wildlife Trusts and others across the North, productive wetland landscapes can be a common sight across the North of England.
Help Durham Wildlife Trust realise this once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring nature back. Support the Durham Carrs Fundraising Appeal. See page 11 for details.
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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CONSERVATION
We need to raise £20,000 by the end of this year Taking action for nature and climate by restoring Durham’s Ancient Carrs
ature is under threat across the world, and our region is no exception. We already live in one of the most nature-depleted places on the planet, and the United Nations is warning that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history – what some are calling the 6th mass extinction event in the Earth’s history. But there is still hope if we act now.
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Although we are facing an environmental emergency, with inextricably linked crises for nature and climate, by working to solve one, we can help to address the other. As part of Durham Wildlife Trust’s 50@50 campaign, and the Trust’s work on the Discover Brightwater Landscape partnership, we are doing just that. Taking action and helping nature to deliver the solution.
The Great North Fen Durham Wildlife Trust has a vision for a Great North Fen. Restored landscapes where nature can recover and wetland habitats will sequester and store carbon. The Trust has already begun to deliver that vision, with restoration already underway of the Durham Carrs. The Durham Carrs were a relic from the last ice age – a complex of wetlands fed by the River Skerne as it descended from the limestone escarpment in the east of County Durham and flowed south. The term ‘carr’ means an area of bog or fen in which scrub, especially willow, has become established, so in recent centuries the landscape of the Durham Carrs was not open water, but a mosaic of habitats that would have been home 10
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
Marsh Harrier by Andrew Parkinson 2020VIS ION
Restoring the Durham Carrs fundraising appeal
to a wide range of species. Imagine a landscape of wet grassland, fens, ponds and wet woodland that supported large numbers of waders, wildfowl, and other species we associate with wetlands, from plants and invertebrates to mammals like the otter and water vole. Historically, birds such as the crane and marsh harrier, now lost as breeding species in our region, may also have been present. With your support we can bring nature back. Those habitats, and the species they supported, are now almost entirely gone. The land was drained for agriculture in the nineteenth century and new drainage schemes continued being delivered into the 1980s. Parts of the Carrs are still being pumped dry today, including areas of lowland peat that are releasing carbon into the atmosphere. The Discover Brightwater Landscape Partnership began the first phase of the restoration of the Carrs, securing land at Bishop’s Fen to the south of Bishop Middleham. Additional land has recently been acquired at Ricknall Carrs, near Newton Aycliffe. We are now seeking your support to complete the first phase of the Trust’s vision for the Great North Fen by completing the initial restoration of the Durham Carrs. Durham Wildlife Trust has been given the opportunity to purchase an additional area of land that will complete the initial work. The Trust has already raised £1,175,000, through the work of Discover Brightwater, to acquire land and deliver habitat restoration. We need a further £200,000 to buy additional land and complete the first phase of the Great North Fen.
CONSERVATION
Durham Wildlife Trust can turn every £1 you can give into £10 to deliver nature’s recovery
Will you be part of our vision? With your help, nature can recover, and that recovery is part of a Nature Based Solution to the climate crisis. We are facing an environmental emergency – it’s time to act. Please donate today.
£20
£20 could buy 30m2
for fenland restoration so that wetland plants and insects can return to the Carrs.
White Egret by Derek Moore
The Trust has already acquired land in the Carrs thanks to support from the Veolia Environment Trust. To access funding from the Landfill Communities Fund requires raising 10% of the cost upfront. To be able to submit a grant application for £200,000 to buy additional land, the Trust first needs to raise £20,000 – we need your support to do that.
£50
£250
£500
£1K
£50 could buy 70m2
£250 could buy 350m2
£500 could buy 700m2
£1000 could buy 1400m2
for scrapes that support breeding lapwing and curlew.
to recreate wet carr woodland to sequester and store carbon.
where wetlands can help slow the flow and protect downstream areas from flooding.
to support the return of species like the marsh harrier.
DONATE TODAY You can donate online at www.durhamwt.com/restoring-durham-carrs or post a cheque addressed to Durham Wildlife Trust to the following address: Restoring the Durham Carrs Fundraising Appeal, Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU.
Please Note
Lapwing by Mark Hamblin 2020VISION
Your contribution may be collected by Durham Wildlife Trust to be paid to a Landfill Operator in order to release Landfill Communities Fund monies for the Great North Fen and Durham Carrs projects undertaken by Durham Wildlife Trust. This contribution may not be eligible for Gift Aid. All funds donated will be used to support the acquisition of more land and habitat restoration across the Durham Carrs.
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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NATIONAL
here’s a whole world of wildlife hidden beneath the surface of our streams, rivers and lakes. It’s often out of sight and out of mind, but spend a while watching a still section of water and you could catch a glimpse of a whole host of fish. Perhaps a pike lurking in a shadowy stretch, poised to pounce on passing prey, or a raft of roach roaming near the surface. Here are six fantastic freshwater fish to look out for...
Name: Chub Scientific name: Squalius cephalus Size: Up to 60cm
UNDERWATER LAKE © GRAHAM EATON NATUREPL.COM. ILLUSTRATIONS BY KATY FROST
This thick-set fish inspired the word chubby, possibly aided by its eclectic appetite. They’re known to eat anything from plant debris and invertebrates to smaller fish and frogs. The large mouth is a key identification feature! Chub favour rivers and streams as they need flowing water to breed, but can sometimes be found in lakes.
Name: European eel Scientific name: Anguilla anguilla Size: Can be over 100cm Eels have an extraordinary lifestyle, much of which remains a mystery. They breed in the sea, then their tiny larvae drift for two or three years on Gulf Stream currents to European and North African shores. Some remain in coastal waters while others migrate upstream into freshwater habitats, maturing and living long lives until spawning urges drive them to migrate back to sea. Although now critically endangered, eels can be found in almost any watery place, and can even wriggle across land in wet conditions.
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Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
NATIONAL
This fearsome fish has a distinctive look, with a long, stretched-out green body splashed with yellowish markings. The fins are set far back on the body, perfect for a sudden burst of speed as they dash towards their prey — like a torpedo with teeth. Pike like to lurk amongst underwater plants, darting from their hiding place to ambush other fish, frogs, small mammals and even birds. They can be found in many canals, rivers, reservoirs and lakes.
Name: Pike Scientific name: Esox lucius Size: Up to 150cm
Name: Perch Scientific name: Perca fluviatilis Size: Up to 60cm This green-tinged fish has the dark stripes of a tiger and an appetite to match. They’re piscivorous predators that regularly feast on other fish, as well as invertebrates. Smaller perch are often found in schools close to the bank. They are one of our most widespread fish and can be found in almost any freshwater habitat.
The silvery, red-eyed roach is one of the UK’s most common fish and can be found in almost any waterway. They can form large shoals, sometimes seen close to the surface but often lower down. To separate it from the similar looking rudd, look at the dorsal fin on its back: in the roach, this is level with the pelvic fin below the body; the rudd’s dorsal fin is set further back. Name: Roach Scientific name: Rutilus rutilus Size: Up to 50cm Name: Brown trout Scientific name: Salmo trutta Size: Usually up to 80cm This adaptable fish can be found in waters across the UK, from Cornish rivers to Scottish lochs. Some brown trout live out their whole life in freshwater, whilst others known as ‘sea trout’ spawn in freshwater but migrate to coastal seas to grow. They eat a varied diet, including insects, crustaceans, and small fish.
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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CAMPAIGNING
Helping
engage
1 in 4 people to take action for nature urham Wildlife Trust is being given the opportunity to branch out and reach more people thanks to National Lottery Funding. To mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, £5m has been awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to the Wildlife Trusts and Durham Wildlife Trust will be receiving a £90,000 share.
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The Nextdoor Nature initiative is to be delivered by Wildlife Trusts across the country and will leave a natural legacy from the Jubilee celebrations. The National Lottery funding is aimed at creating a huge network of community-led rewilding projects across the nation – all part of the total £22m of Lottery investment to mark the Jubilee and improve the lives of people from disadvantaged areas across the UK. Wearside, South Tyneside, Coastal East Durham, and Darlington will benefit from Durham Wildlife Trust’s project, with Nextdoor Nature giving communities the skills, tools, and opportunities to take action for nature. This could include establishing wild habitats and green corridors in areas of economic and nature deprivation, rewilding school grounds, or naturalising highly urbanised areas. Durham Wildlife Trust will support community groups and schools across Sunderland, South Tyneside, East Durham, and Darlington, encouraging them to work with the wider community to bring wildlife back and make a difference for nature close to where they live. This project will help Durham Wildlife Trust to expand into new areas and reach new audiences, supporting those wanting to deliver nature’s recovery close to home.
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Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
Zoe Hull, Head of Operations and Development and the Trust’s lead for Nextdoor Nature, said: “We’re really excited about the new thinking behind Nextdoor Nature. We have access to specially developed resources to inspire the next generation of green champions.’’
“Nextdoor Nature is the start of a new approach. To deliver nature’s recovery we need many more people actively engaged, and that means providing communities with the tools they need to take action. It’s about communities taking the initiative and delivering for themselves. Durham Wildlife Trust will be there to support and provide advice, but, if we really are going to restore nature, people across our region need to take the lead.” The Trust’s Nextdoor Nature Officer, Tom Parkin, is now in post. Learn more about the project online: durhamwt.com/nextdoor-nature or contact Tom: tparkin@durhamwt.co.uk
REPORTS
Durham Wildlife Trust
Annual General Meeting 2022 The Annual General Meeting will be held at 6pm on Monday, 17th October, 2022. The AGM will be held online to provide all members with the opportunity to participate. Full details of how to register for the AGM are available at www.durhamwt.com/agm or alternatively, please call the Trust on 0191 5843112 or write to Durham Wildlife Trust at Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 6PU.
Agenda 1. Apologies for absence 2. Minutes of the 2021 AGM 3. Adoption of Annual Report and Consolidated Accounts 4. Chair’s remarks 5. Election of members to the Board 6. Confirmation of auditors
Papers for the AGM, including details of members seeking election to the Board, will be made available at www.durhamwt.com/agm and will be sent to everyone registering to attend. The formal business of the AGM will be followed by presentations on the Trust’s work. We are delighted that Dr Rob Stoneman, Director of Landscape Recovery at the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (the national body that represents all the Wildlife Trusts across the UK), will be joining us. Rob, together with Durham Wildlife Trust colleagues, will be highlighting how the Wildlife Trusts are leading on nature recovery, locally and nationally. The AGM and presentations are expected to end at 7.15pm. Members wishing to vote by proxy at the AGM should contact the Trust (on 0191 5843112, or write to Durham Wildlife Trust at Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 6PU) to request a proxy voting form. Forms must be returned to the Trust by 6pm on Saturday, 15th October, 2022. Please note: forms being returned by post should be addressed to the Rainton Meadows address above. Three current members of Council (Faye Butler, Amy Sorrell and Georgina Hand) have served four years and must stand for re-election or stand down. Members who would like further information on becoming a Trustee by seeking election to the Board, should contact the Trust Director at jcokill@durhamwt.co.uk or call 0191 5843112. Please note: nomination forms for those seeking election to the Board must be received not less than 28 calendar days before the date set for the AGM. For a full copy of our annual report and accounts, visit our website: www.durhamwt.com/agm
Wildlife Durham | Summer 2022
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Highlights for 2021-22 £3m secured It was a record year for Durham Wildlife Trust, with the charity securing more than £3million to support its work.
43 reserves Durham Wildlife Trust continued to acquire new land for nature as part of the 50@50 campaign. At 31st March, 2022, the Trust had a suite of 43 nature reserves covering 928 hectares of land.
Projects delivered Discover Brightwater, Healing Nature, Naturally Native, Seascapes, and much more, were delivered throughout the year. Projects delivered new nature reserves, restored habitats, protected threatened species, and engaged thousands of people.
Membership up 2.3% Membership numbers grew by 2.3% and the Trust reached more than 1.2 million people online and by social media.
Carbon Negative Durham Wildlife Trust is a carbon negative organisation, with the Trust’s landholding sequestering 366 tonnes more CO2 equivalent than emissions.
Accreditation Our environmental credentials were recognised by an Investors in the Environment Silver accreditation.
www.durhamwt.com
