Wild News

WILD NEWS

All the latest news from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Great Solent Seafood

Seafood can be a healthy and delicious source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, but some fishing methods are destructive and harm habitats and wildlife. Much of the seafood caught in our waters is shipped abroad due to a lack of local demand.

Supporting suppliers who use more sustainable fishing methods, or championing their produce, is a great way to tackle some of these issues. Many fishermen, shops and restaurants in our area want to become more sustainable, and local demand would help make this economically viable.

To encourage this, we’ve partnered with Hampshire Fare to champion local, sustainable seafood from wave to plate. Our joint campaign, Great Solent Seafood, aims to help us all enjoy fantastic food while reducing its impact on our waters. This autumn, we were delighted to sign up our first businesses as supporters of this project.

Supporters can be from any part of the local seafood supply chain, and once they are signed up, they will be able to use our Great Solent Seafood logo to highlight their sustainable produce. We will also work with them to set attainable goals, provide guidance towards achieving those goals and promote their efforts through our campaign. If you are interested in becoming a supporter or know someone who might be, we would love to hear from you.

Keep your eyes peeled for more news about Great Solent Seafood in the coming months, including our cookery workshops and recipe competition, which will be kicking off in Spring 2022. This campaign is part of our National Lottery Heritage Fund supported marine project, Secrets of the Solent, which is celebrating our seas through art, cuisine, citizen science, and more.

Building a new vision for Tipner West

A precious site for wildlife in Portsmouth remains under threat from inappropriate development, despite the many legal protections given to Tipner West’s lifegiving, muddy shores.

The ’super-peninsula’ proposals put forward by Portsmouth City Council would see 27 hectares of intertidal habitat concreted over in order to accommodate 3,500 new homes and a marine employment hub. These mudflats boast SSSI, SPA and Ramsar site designations in recognition of their importance to thousands of migratory birds, such as dark-bellied brent geese and dunlin as well as many fish and invertebrates. These are some of the highest legal safeguards that can be awarded and yet plans to destroy the area are being actively pursued by the council.

Not only would this development be disastrous for the wildlife and people of Portsmouth, but could set a precedent that would allow housing targets to trump nature anywhere. We and the RSPB believe this is one of the most significant threats to wildlife for a generation and we are working together to stop this proposal.

Earlier in the year an incredible 24,000 people said #DontGoThere to Portsmouth City Council, in a petition that helped supercharge the momentum of the campaign. This autumn, we faced another big hurdle - Portsmouth’s Draft Local Plan consultation (at the stage known as Reg 18), which outlined the

Council’s vision for the city over the next 15 years and asked for residents’ views on the ‘super-peninsula’ plans at Tipner West. Once again, you all rose to the occasion with a tidal wave of over 8,000 objections formally recorded in the consultation.

These signatures and responses helped change the minds of local councillors who are now joining us in opposing the plans. In October, Portsmouth’s Labour and Conservative councillors overwhelmingly voted to ‘pause and rethink’ plans for Tipner West, leaving the Liberal Democrat minority council lacking enough support for the superpeninsula.

While this pause is welcome, we need to see the council scrap these damaging plans for good. A crucial indication of our success will be whether the council does the right thing and removes the land reclamation plans from the next stage of the Local Plan (Reg 19) where the council will set in stone their intentions for Tipner West, consulting the public one last time before they submit it to the Secretary of State.

Over the next few months, we want to bring the community together to build an alternative vision for Tipner West, one that makes space for nature to thrive, whilst also reconnecting Portsmouth’s residents with the green spaces they want and need. If you would like to contribute to a vision for a wilder Tipner West please email us at: campaigns@ hiwwt.org.uk.

News in brief

Pine martens return to the New Forest

Pine martens have established a population in the New Forest, a team from the Trust, Forestry England, and specialist consultants Wild New Forest confirmed this summer. After habitat loss and persecution caused a drastic reduction in their numbers, pine martens were thought to only survive in the North of England, Scotland and Wales. They were once widespread in the UK. The team will monitor the population to get a better idea of how many live in the Forest and to see which areas they are using the most.

Wight Nature Fund gifts nature reserves to the Trust

The Trust has taken over the management of new nature reserves on the Isle of Wight.

After 31 years of looking after Alverstone Mead, Youngwoods Copse, Bretts Meadow and Benstead Marsh, the Wight Nature Fund has handed their management over to us as part of a succession plan.

We are grateful to have been trusted with these much-loved reserves and look forward to continuing to work with the Wight Nature Fund’s volunteers and partners to continue to protect these sites for future generations. We will be sharing more information about these fabulous new reserves over the coming months.

Streamside with Watercress and Winterbournes

Seven beautiful chalk streams continue to get some well-deserved care via the Watercress and Winterbournes Landscape Partnership Scheme. The Trust, Wessex Rivers Trust, and the scheme’s 14 other partners have been protecting these precious places with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and our incredible volunteers.

In recent months we restored several nationally important water meadow heritage structures near Whitchurch. In Laverstoke and Freefolk, we transformed a streamside green space with a bench, dipping platform, and accessible footpath. Cheriton, meanwhile, saw another round of wildflower planting – this time valerian, small scabious, and meadow crane’s-bill.

Our Education Programme is now active, teaching local schools and youth groups about the wonders of our chalk streams and the threats they face. Several talented people received prizes in our photography competition, which has given rise to an ongoing roving exhibition. Our Open Chalk Streams events offered new ways to discover hidden and familiar places alike.

We’re also excited to be progressing various practical works, including habitat improvements on the Bourne Rivulet, channel enhancements on the Cheriton Stream, and a footpath restoration on the River Arle. Works like these bolster the health of the streams, enabling them to better cope with environmental pressures like pollution, flooding, and climate change.

Want to get involved? Learn more at www.hiwwt.org.uk/winterbournes

A new Wilder Communities project for the Isle of Wight

Thanks to support from Southern Co-op, October saw the launch of a Wilder Communities project on the Isle of Wight. Building on the successes and lessons learnt from Wilder Portsmouth, our new Wilder Communities Project Officer, Kelly Wetherick (above), will support urban communities across the island to build self-sustaining initiatives to create more space for wildlife. These initiatives could be anything from greening community spaces or streets, to improving areas for pollinators, bats, swifts and hedgehogs, or setting up groups to tackle problems such as litter and household pollution. We will also inspire and influence others, including local government and businesses, to take action for nature. The project will start by focussing on Ventnor, Binstead, Freshwater, Pan and East Cowes, and we would love to hear from anyone living on the Isle of Wight who would like to be involved. Whether you’re an individual who would like guidance on what to do in your garden, an existing group that wants to take action to tackle the nature and climate emergencies, or a group of neighbours who want support to become a Wilder Street, contact us to get involved. Email wilder@hiwwt.org.uk for more information.

British Empire Medal for Catherine Chatters

We are proud to report that Catherine Chatters, our Project Officer for the New Forest Non-Native Plants Project, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to biosecurity.

The Project aims to control the spread of invasive non-native invasive plants through raising awareness about the problems they cause and offering people advice and practical help to control them. The Project has tackled many species including Himalayan balsam and American skunk cabbage which have ‘jumped the garden fence’ and invaded the countryside.

On receiving the award Catherine Chatters said: “I feel very honoured to have been awarded the BEM for my work with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s New Forest Non-Native Plants Project. However, the success of this project is a result of the hard work, enthusiasm and co-operation of many other people including our wonderful volunteers, landowners, professional contractors, my

colleagues at the Trust and staff from a wide range of organisations. I would therefore like the award to be regarded as recognition of everyone’s help and support for the Project.”

Sara Cadbury, who owns a section of the Lymington River where the project has worked to control invasive plants, said: “My meadows along the banks of the Lymington River were becoming seriously invaded by Himalayan balsam. If it had not been for the amazing efforts of Catherine Chatters, her colleague Jo Gore and their team of volunteers the problem would have become completely out of hand! I’m hugely grateful to them all”.

The New Forest Non-Native Plants Project is a partnership project hosted by the Trust and funded by the Environment Agency, The New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, Forestry England, the New Forest National Park Authority, the Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership, the New Forest Trust, Natural England and Lymington & Pennington Town Council.

UPDATES FROM OUR PARTNERS

Wightlink

Until 31 March, get 20% off your ferry trip across the Solent with our friends at Wightlink. Whether it’s to be at one with nature on the Isle of Wight or to catch up with friends and family on the mainland, do it for less. Visit wightlink. co.uk/hiwwt to book.

Seaview Collection

We are excited to share the fantastic new Seaview Collection cushions, from our friends and Corporate Members - XV Stripes. The island-based business was inspired by the Solent’s marine wildlife to create the cushions which each feature a selection of the fascinating species. The designs are all hand illustrated by the wonderfully talented Vicky Sanders and 10% of all profits from their Seaview Collection will be donated to the Trust. Visit www.xvstripes.com

Where there is a Will there are - tools for the job!

Each year, kind individuals leave gifts to local wildlife in their Wills. The Governance Team and Trustees take their responsibility for these funds very seriously. When people generously choose to leave a gift with no restrictions on how we might use it, we ensure the best possible value for wildlife.

Some of the funds will be held in reserve, creating a pot to help us to react to opportunities to buy new land, working towards our vision of doubling our landholding by 2030.

Some of the funds are released each year by the Trustees, allowing us to improve conditions for wildlife. The money can be used to purchase new bits of kit to help the reserve teams manage their sites. We also use some of the funds to help us carry out survey work – monitoring the health of wildlife across our two counties.

Last year one of the items purchased with these released funds was a small Kubota tractor for use by the Solent reserves team.

Reserves Manager Chris Lycett tell us how this new bit of kit is helping out: “On the Solent sites, we mainly use it for woodland management, getting into the areas that are difficult or too wet for the trucks. The winch on the front has been life-changing for us with extracting timber, and the little tipper back has also been fantastic for firewood processing.

It has also been great for wader survey work as it does not disturb the birds, and you can drive in closer. We have primarily used it at Hookheath Meadows, Swanwick Lakes and St Clair’s Nature Reserves. It has a lot less impact on the ground than a full-size tractor.”

This kind of purchase wouldn’t be possible without funds from gifts in Wills – helping us buy the best tools for our vital conservation work. Find out more at www.hiwwt.org.uk/leave-gift-in-will.

FOCUS ON... Members Survey results

You may remember in our Winter

2020 edition of Wild Life we asked you to complete our Members Survey – thank you so much to those of you who did! Your responses, both positive and negative, have been insightful, and we wanted to update you with our findings, give you a bit more information, and reassure you that we are looking into areas that may need improvement!

90% of members who returned surveys told us that they became members to support their local wildlife, and believing in what the Trust does was the second most popular reason. Another top reason for joining was that people were keen volunteers or wanted to volunteer for the Trust. To date, we have over 1,300 amazing volunteers and, as things continue to go back to normal, there will be more opportunities to get involved, especially as our Team Wilder plans grow.

Over half of respondents said that they felt a sense of loyalty to the Trust – this is something we value highly, and we are so lucky to have such committed voices with us on nature’s side. We are so happy to have members who have been with us for over 59 years and are still actively involved with our work!

Not everyone who responded follows us on social media, but those who do were most engaged with Facebook and our ‘Bringing Nature to You’ series on YouTube. 80% of respondents also receive and enjoy our monthly e-newsletter. Over lockdown, we reached over one million people via our social media platforms – if you want more information on our social channels, please see the links below.

Education and Reserves Officer videos and virtual reserve tours have also been very popular, and they are something we would like to continue doing.

You came up with loads of brilliant ideas for future topics you would like us to cover, including more information on rewilding, species identification, how to tackle pollution, local initiatives and more information about wildlife gardening for smaller areas such as balconies. You can read about how we are fighting pollution and many other problems in our rivers on page 18, and we will be covering more of these topics in 2022.

We were touched by how many people were interested in finding out more about leaving the Trust a gift in their Will. This is a truly powerful way of giving, and you can find out more about how we use the funds left to us in this way on page 14. If this is something you might consider, either now or in the future, you can find out more online at www.hiwwt.org.uk/leave-gift-in-will.