Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Annual Review 2014-15

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PAUL THRUSH

2014-15

Protecting Wildlife for the Future

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The way ahead Forward from our Chief Executive even after a year in post i still regularly remind myself about the privilege of being the CeO of the wildlife Trust. The future of our wildlife matters deeply to me and the Trust has a very important job to do.

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VICKY NALL

O

ver the last year I’ve been struck by the tremendous quality and dedication of our staff and the amount of support we receive from members, volunteers, donors and partners. We really are part of a community of people who care about the future of our habitats and species. I would like to offer my personal thanks to my colleagues and all our supporters. Without you, we would not be able to make a difference for wildlife.

Our nature reserves represent some of the finest examples of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands in the area and it is vital that they are protected and managed into the future. Our Reserves Team and Voluntary Wardens do a superb job managing our reserves.

One of the delights of managing nature reserves is to see the tangible results of our work. 2014 was a record year for butterflies at Aldbury Nowers following several years of grassland restoration and at Balls Woods a host of frogs quickly took up residence in newly created ponds.

However our reserves are not enough in isolation. Without other areas of habitat and targeted species work in the wider countryside, the future of our wildlife would be bleak. That’s why we put so much effort into working with landowners across the area to encourage positive conservation management.

Our flagship Living Rivers Project has continued to prove tremendously successful and has paved the way for

the next landscape-scale project to be launched in 2015, Living Woods and Heaths. Through our Water Vole Project and Wildlife Sites Project we are providing advice and supporting positive habitat management and creation across the two counties.

Getting the message across that wildlife matters is so important.

Our programme of walks, talks and events help us achieve this. Our local groups play a vital role in this too.

In 2014 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Trust.

So much has been achieved since the Trust was established and there is yet there is even more to do now. With increasing pressures from shrinking agri-environment schemes to climate change, the pressure on habitats and species is increasing.

So it’s time to

THINK BIG...

It has never been more important than now for everyone in Herts and Middlesex to embrace the Living Landscapes concept so that wildlife has a place alongside people’s day to day lives and we look for opportunities across the area to create new habitats, improve and link existing areas. Thanks to the Habitat Mapping Project that was finalised in 2014, we are now much better able to achieve this and to use this knowledge to encourage people to take action.

One of the key strands of our work in the coming year will be providing new ways for people to learn about wildlife.

With the increasing disconnect with the natural world, we need to find fun and engaging ways to encourage children to step outdoors. Thoughout 2015 we are taking part in a national initiative – the My Wild Life campaign which looks for stories about what the natural environment means to different people, encouraging everyone to get outside and experience wildlife. ...without losing sight of the small things The uniqueness of the Trust is that we are there to protect and enhance wildlife on the local scale, finding what matters to people and helping everyone to make a difference. There’s always something to do, whether it is reporting sightings to the Records Centre, helping out at your local nature reserve or gardening for wildlife.

The Big Three Challenge Over the coming year, why not take up our Big Three Challenge...

1 2 3

Come to one of our events and find out about your local wildlife Sign up to our Facebook page and Twitter and keep up to date with events and share your wildlife stories Tell a friend about us, explain why you enjoy supporting out work and see if you can persuade them to join us too!

Thank you for your ongoing interest in and support for the wildlife of Herts & Middlesex.

Lesley Davies Chief Executive

Thank you A message from our Chairman

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n the last year we have continued to make a difference for our local wildlife making improvements to habitats and public access at our nature reserves, advising landowners on positive conservation management and delivering our year round programme of activities which aim to raise awareness and understanding of wildlife and the need for its conservation.

We celebrated a major milestone for the Trust in 2014 – our 50th Anniversary. Through our Festival of Wildlife, in partnership with the Herts Natural History Society, we were able to raise the profile of the Trust and at the same time introduce people to some of our special wildlife and wild places.

Thanks to our partnership with the Environment Agency, the Living Rivers Project has gone from strength to strength, with the Trust leading catchment planning and coordinating the Riverfly Monitoring Scheme. We have worked with Lafarge Tarmac on the long term plans for Panshanger Park, where we are now hosting both the People and Wildlife Officer and the Forest School.

We have continued to campaign against High Speed Two as we believe that there has been inadequate consideration of the impacts upon wildlife. We recognise the growing demands for new housing and we are working closely with local authorities and developers to provide advice on ecological impacts and seeking to secure a place for wildlife in new developments.

Grant funding continues to be extremely important to the Trust. Two of our major projects came to an end during the year, Connecting People with the Colne Valley and Woodlands for People and Wildlife. Through these thousands of people took part in events, visited our nature reserves and learnt about wildlife. We hope that the children who took part will remember their experiences and will be inspired to really care about wildlife and ensure it has a future.

Our members remain central to the Trust and I am pleased to say that after a decline during the recession the size of our membership is starting to recover. It is not just about the vital support which our members give to the Trust but also their collective voice standing up for our local habitats and species.

I would like to extend my thanks to all our supporters; our members, volunteers, donors, grant-awarding bodies, partners and staff. Without you the Trust simply could not achieve our vision of an environment rich in wildlife for everyone.

Thank you PAUL THRUST

Mike Master Chairman Clustered bellflower annualreview iii

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Managing and enhancing nature reserves

...for 50 years!

>> Our programme of maintenance and development in 2014/15 saw major habitat and access improvements to many of our nature reserves.

>> A milestone for the Trust was our 50th birthday, celebrated in August 2014 with the Grow Golden Campaign and the Festival of Wildlife.

At Balls Wood the programme of opening up rides, pond creation and restoration continued to take place as well as the installation of benches and a viewing platform. Fencing was installed at Hexton to facilitate grazing, ditches were cleared at Rye Meads to benefit water voles, and areas of reedbed at Amwell were cut together with ditch and pool creation to benefit bitterns. Large areas of Aldbury Nowers have been cut, raked and grazed and new trees continue to be planted at Tewin Orchard. At Frogmore, cattle grazing has been reintroduced together with hedgerow restoration.

The Grow Golden Campaign, in conjunction with Emorsgate Seeds, included a wildflower seed giveaway and a golden border in the Grebe House wildlife garden with plants kindly donated by Aylett Nurseries. The Festival of Wildlife was launched in the garden, and incorporated a week long series of walks and talks organised in partnership with the Herts Natural History Society and with support from Clydesdale Bank and Waitrose. Sixteen events took place, with a series of talks at Verulamium Museum and a BioBlitz at Amwell.

The Festival attracted 582 people in total.

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ANDREW HOWE

Kingfisher

walks, talks and events

engagement and education at Panshanger Park.

The role of the Trust at Panshanger Park goes from strength to strength, with the appointment of the People and Wildlife Officer and the start of the Forest School.

Both are funded by Lafarge Tarmac and hosted by the Trust and have proved to be excellent ways of bringing people to the Park to learn about wildlife.

The People and Wildlife Officer leads a variety of activities attracting hundreds of visitors, such as guided walks to look for bats, wildfowl and grasshoppers as well monthly volunteer work parties.

The Forest School commenced in February 2015 and was fully booked for the whole of the academic year. Children from primary schools come to the Park for one day a week for six weeks and have the opportunity to learn about nature and to experience an exciting, inspiring day outside.

The Trust continues to participate in the development of Panshanger Park with Lafarge Tarmac and heritage organisations, to ensure that wildlife is protected and enhanced alongside the historic interest, and that managed public access is created.

Otter

Connecting schools with the Colne project The Colne Valley Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, finished in September 2014, having run many activities to engage the local community.

One of the final phases of the project was to produce an Education Pack for schools.

We have also visited a school in Harefield, giving an assembly about the Colne Valley and its wildlife to 350 pupils, which was followed by a visit to Old Park Wood Nature Reserve with the school’s Eco Club and a bug hotel building activity with the Gardening Group in the school’s wildlife garden. In the last year, a group of homeschooled children and their parents enjoyed bug hunting at Old Park Wood, and activities were organised for children at the Colne Valley Visitor Centre and Minet Country Park.

JENNY SHERWIN

Bluebells CLARE GRE Y

>>

>>

JENNY SHERWIN

Over 3,700 people attended our walks, talks and other events organised centrally and by our local groups. The main events, the Festival of Wildlife, Tewin Apple Day and Wild Woods Day were very popular. In 2014 £9,700 was secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund to set up a Community Talks Programme. This funded a Project Officer to develop a new talk delivered by trained volunteers for a range of community and interest groups, designed to raise awareness and recruit members, is already showing an impact.

Guided walk at Amwell

AMY LE WIS

For wildlife, for people

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Living rivers

environmental records Centre

land management advice

We were delighted to welcome the Herts Environmental Records Centre which is now hosted by the Trust. This has resulted in a step change in the understanding of our nature reserves and has further underlined the importance of volunteering and biological recording.

During the year over 333,000 new species records were added.

The Trust continued to advise landowners on land management through our catchment partnerships and Local Wildlife Sites work. In the Lee Valley, we provided habitat management advice to the Regional Park Authority on how to improve a number of sites in the Ware area to complement our own nature reserve at Amwell. We continued to advise Harpenden Town Council on the management of its green spaces and ponds through its Ecology Group. In Stevenage, we provided ongoing support for the Council in the management of its open spaces as well as supporting its green spaces volunteers. Golf clubs at Aldwickbury Park, Berkhamsted, Gustard Wood and Harrow were given advice on how to maximise biodiversity on their courses.

Grassland monitoring

River Stort

river restoration As part of our catchment-wide work, river restoration was carried out on the Rivers Lea, Stort, Ash and Mimram, working with private landowners, assisted by funding from Natural England and the Environment Agency. The work included preparation of restoration plans as well as practical work to improve the biodiversity of the rivers.

The ‘Hertfordshire and Chilterns Riverfly Monitoring Hub’ was established this year by the Trust, in partnership with the Chilterns Chalk Stream Project.

Thanks to funding from Natural England, Affinity Water and the Environment Agency, 60 volunteers were trained to identify eight groups of riverine invertebrates and become monitors of their local rivers’ health – a true citizen science project.

woodlands for People and wildlife project In 2014/15 our Heritage Lottery Fund project ‘Woodlands for People and Wildlife’ programme of events included guided walks and a programme of habitat and access improvement works were completed, including a new trail, seating and information boards at Balls Wood. One of the final pieces of work was to produce an Education Pack for primary schools which has proved popular. As part of the project we also held our annual Wild Woods Day at Gobions Wood in October 2014, attended by over 700 people.

CLARE GERY

Grassland monitoring was carried out at Aldbury Nowers, Hexton Chalk Pit, Hunsdon Meads, Long Deans and Thorley Wash. Volunteers played a key role in the monitoring which aids the ongoing management of the sites, particularly in ensuring activity sensitive to particular needs e.g. target butterfly species. At Aldbury Nowers, record numbers of butterflies were seen, with over 1000 seen on one transect in June 2014. This is following major grassland restoration work a few years ago and supports the ongoing conservation project underway this year.

JOSH KUBALE

Living landscapes

Soldier Beetle

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Save water, Save wildlife ‘Save Water, Save Wildlife’ was a pilot project for schools designed to raise awareness of the importance of Hertfordshire’s chalk rivers and the impact water consumption has on the rivers and their wildlife. It also sought to achieve a reduction in water consumption within schools and within the families of children at those schools.

Thanks to funding from Hertfordshire County Council, the Trust was able to work with six schools in St Albans with an additional two visits conducted outside the initial project area.

Panshanger Park update it’s been just over a year since the eastern end of Panshanger Park opened up as a country park and nature reserve and it’s certainly been a busy one!

TIM HILL

Jennifer Gilbert is the Panshanger Park People & Wildlife Officer

S

ince the park's opening, we’ve had a huge number of people visiting the park, many of whom were discovering it for the very first time and who are now regular visitors.

During the summer months of 2014 I spent most weekends on hand at Panshanger, welcoming people to the park, telling them about it and hearing their thoughts. Overwhelmingly the response to the park opening up was hugely positive and continues to be. People are excited about the new opportunities to experience the park and are also looking forward to future developments too. It has been great to meet new people and see the enthusiasm for the park.

People & Wildlife As People & Wildlife Officer, my role is to engage people with the park and teach them about the site. To date, alongside some of the county’s best natural history and wildlife experts, I have led seventeen guided walks allowing people to find out about the park, its history and its wealth of wildlife. Our general guided walks have given people a great introduction to the park and enhanced their knowledge of the park's wildlife and history. The many different habitats at Panshanger provide

homes to a huge number of species, some very obvious and some less so, and it has been really exciting to give people an insight into this world.

Explore nature’s colours and sounds We discovered the many different species of dragonfly and damselfly that make Panshanger the joint second best place in the county for these colourful insects.

We’ve explored the world of grasshoppers and crickets and learnt how it is possible to tell them apart by sound as well as by sight and we’ve even delved into the world of Panshanger after dark. We had a simply amazing night looking and listening for bats ending up with a total of six different species! Using bat detectors we were able to hear their echolocation calls and got great views of them too – especially the Daubenton’s bats swooping across Riverside Lake. However, our moth night in August 2014 wasn’t quite as successful due to it being one of the coldest nights of the

summer but the cups of hot chocolate all round lifted the spirits!

More recently we braved the snowy conditions of January to discover the wildfowl that spend the winter in Panshanger and welcomed our summer migrants to the park on our spring birds walk in May. During half-term in February we held a wildlife scavenger hunt and an Easter event during the school holidays in April.

These walks and events have been so well received that we have even more in the diary for the second half of 2015 – providing more people the chance to understand why Panshanger is such a special place for wildlife and to help foster even more appreciation of these species.

The enthusiasm for Panshanger Park has not only been seen in the numbers of people coming on guided walks but also in the numbers of people wanting to volunteer. Our practical volunteer group started last July with four volunteers on our first task and has now grown to a total of 24! We have to date done 10 practical conservation work parties around the park much which have included cutting down young willow and alder from around the lake edges, pond clearance, hedge planting and helping to build our new Forest School classroom.

Dragonfly & Duck trail Panshanger Park is a magnificent place to experience wildlife and we are continuing to develop the site to truly make it a haven for both wildlife and people. In December our Dragonfly & Duck Trail opened with a new fence and viewing screen which allows access through nature reserve while protecting the reedbed and the birds that breed in there. The screen also allows people to watch the birds on Osprey Lake without disturbing them I feel very lucky to be part of the team at Panshanger and I am excited to be part of the park’s development over the coming years.

For more information about Panshanger Park like our facebook page facebook.com/panshangerpark or follow us on Twitter @panshangerpark annualreview vii

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5 1 4 1 0 2 e m o c in Donations, gifts and grants Fees and contracts

Fundraising activities

Membership subscriptions Legacies

Investments and other income

Grants

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67p Conservation and nature reserves

29p Cost of generating voluntary income

4p Governance viii annualreview

we have

11,670 memberships

10,155

volunteer hours

– which means a WHOPPING –

20,811 members!

3,734 attended events

– OR –

1,481

volunteer days – with an in-kind value of –

£92,750 Based on HLF standard day rates for skilled & unskilled volunteers