Isles of Scilly
Spring 2016
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Newsletter
News from the AONB partnership outstanding scilly nature
access
beauty
heritage
Pic ~ BareFoot Photographer
Welcome to the Spring edition of our newsletter. Read on to find out what some of the AONB partners have been up to over recent months.
Wildlife Trust pony at Sunset ~ Conservation Grazing
Keep in touch
She’ll be publishing quarterly newsletters and any feedback and comments are appreciated. If you’d like to know more about Nikki or how the Trust is linked to the AONB check out the “Who We Are” and “What We Do” sections on the Trust Website.
@ScillyAONB @ScillyWildlife
h! c u o t n i K eep
Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Pic ~ Ba reFoot
A p ril Su n set o ve
r N o rra rd R ock s
Pic ~ BareFoot Photographer
NikkiBanfield@ios - wildlifetrust.org.uk 01720 422153
Ph ot og ra p h er
Nikki Banfield is the Communications Officer for the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust; she is also working on AONB communications projects and is your point of contact for this newsletter:
Funded by:
And rena nigroaenea ‘Buf fish Min ing Bee ’ Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust registered charity number 1097807 www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk www.ios-aonb.info
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News from the AONB partnership
Spring 2016
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust by Nikki Banfield, Communications Officer Spring has seen the Wildlife Trust being involved in, and facilitating, all sorts of community events and activities including community talks with the Seabird Recovery Project, a photography workshop, the Festival of Light, Community Archaeology Group events, Scilly Spring Clean Beach Cleans, Tresco Walks, Newquay Community Orchard sessions, Rockpool Rambles, Walk Scilly and Seabird Safaris. It’s only April and there’s much more to come!
Seabird Recovery Project Community Talks
Pic ~ Ba reFoot Ph ot og rap
he r
February saw the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project announcing St Agnes and Gugh as officially rat-free; shortly after the celebrations had taken place they embarked on a tour of the Islands to share their good news and future possibilities. Being partners in their success and the envisaged maintenance of the rat-free status we joined them in order to answer any questions residents might have concerning the Wildlife Trusts involvement.
Tre sco Co mm un ity Ta lks
Turnouts to the talks were fantastic, averaging at around 20 people from each Island. Well done to Jaclyn and her team for their success! To find out more check out the Seabird Recovery Project Website.
http://ios-seabirds.org.uk/latest-news/st-agnes-and-gugh-are-officially-rat-free/
Photography Workshop on Light February also saw interested local youngsters attending an evening photography workshop focusing on light and long exposure photography. Scilly’s Dark Sky Discovery Sites make the Islands an ideal location for night time photography, capturing fantastic images of the stars and the milky way. The weather didn’t lend itself to outdoors photography so we stayed indoors and played with lights. The standard of photography was impressive and all those that attended gave really positive feedback and wanted to know when the next session was!
Im ag es by Ja sm ine Hoyle
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News from the AONB partnership Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust by Nikki Banfield, Communications Officer
Spring 2016
Lantern Parade
Festival of Light
This years Festival of Light, with activities put on by the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s Children’s Services Team, was themed “Migration”. We spent some time with the youngsters who were building lanterns, creating stop motion animations and much more; their knowledge and ideas when it came to our migratory wildlife and people was inspiring!
Pics ~ Da
h ot og ra p h
rre n H a rt
Foot P Pic ~ Ba re
er
Community Archaeology Group
Before After
The Community Archaeology Group (CAG) have completed a finer clearance of Halangy Entrance Grave following the Ranger Team’s larger scale clearance; once again the results were spectacular and this little known Entrance Grave is now more visable.
For more information and regular updates follow the CAG on Facebook!
Great Scilly Spring Clean The annual Beach Clean event brings together Scilly’s residents and businesses to spruce up the Islands following the inevitable winter storms; this years event, which coincided with the Keep Britain Tidy Clean for the Queen campaign, was well attended and a credit to everyone who turned out. Over the five islands we calculated that 253 people attended the beach cleans and 433 bags of rubbish were collected! Want to know more? Check out our website. http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/news/2016/03/09/great-scilly-spring-clean-success
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Spring 2016
News from the AONB partnership Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust by Nikki Banfield, Communications Officer
Pic ~ Ed Marshall
Tresco Walks
The Tresco Walks calendar has started and if the season continues in the same vein we are going to be incredibly busy! Two walks have been held to date with 17 visitors attending the first and 22 visitors attending the second! More information regarding future events can be found later on in the newsletter.
Newquay Community Orchard comes to Scilly! The Easter holiday saw our youngsters taking part in sessions around Wildlife Scene Investigations, Seashore Surveys, Practical Plant Survival Kits and Building a 5 Star Minibeast Hotel. Each of the sessions averaged 10 young people taking part and overall we had 14 individuals ranging from 7-17! If you’d like to know exactly what they got up to then check out the news item on our website:
Pic ~ Ba reFoot Ph otogra phe r
http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/news/2016/04/01/scillysuccess-newquay-community-orchard
Rockpool Ramble & Seabird Safari We held an Easter Family Rockpool Ramble which was great fun and lots of interesting things were discovered; we had 15 hardy souls join us on Porthcressa Beach in the Spring sunshine and chilly breeze finding Squat lobsters, Seaslugs and more!
Pics ~ BareFoot Photogra pher
The inaugral Seabird Safari also took place during Walk Scilly Week with 23 people joining Ranger Rob and myself for a trip around the Western Rocks on the hunt for Puffins, Seals and our other resident and visiting feathered and furry friends. A fantastic start to our events calendar. To find out more about past and upcoming events within our AONB check out our websites, Facebook Pages and Twitter feeds!
@ScillyAONB Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
@ScillyWildlife Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
News from the AONB partnership
Spring 2016
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust by Nikki Banfield, Communications Officer
Ranger Team Update The Ranger Team have just embarked upon the task of removing the old wooden bridge and boardwalk to the Isles of Scilly Bird Group Hide at Lower Moors to replace it with new recycled plastic ones; which has a lifespan of more than 40 years and no maintenence costs. This piece of work is scheduled to take two weeks to complete; during this time there will be no access to the Isles of Scilly Bird Group Hide (the one closest to Old Town) but we trust that the inconvenience felt by this short term closure will be more than worth it.
Pic ~ BareFoot Photograph er
This access improvement work has been funded through the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for the benefit of our Island community and visitors and once completed it will be enjoyed by all for years to come! Pics ~ BareFoot Photographer
BoardWalk laid last year at Lower Moors
Old bridge & boardwalk at Lower Moors
Want to know more? Why not follow us on FaceBook & Twitter for regular updates and pictures?
? Did you know ?
Work in progress
1000 plastic bottles are diverted from landfill for every 1metre of recycled plastic boardwalk. There are over 22,000 plastic bottles in the section currently being installed!
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News from the AONB partnership
Spring 2016
Seabird Recovery Project by Jaclyn Pearson, Project Manager The project aims to protect Scilly’s seabirds by keeping St Agnes and Gugh ‘rat-free’. Rats eat the birds’ eggs and attack young chicks, and the two species most at risk are storm petrel and Manx shearwater. We continue to ask everyone to assist the project by reporting anything ‘suspiciously ratty’ on St Agnes and Gugh. Please call the ‘rat on a rat’ hotline number: 01720 422153.
Manx shearwaters back in their burrows and yes: we are officially rat-free! On February 13th 2016 St Agnes and Gugh became officially ‘rat-free’. We held a celebration in the Island Hall on St Agnes to thank the community for all their hard work and support for the project. St Agnes schoolchildren sang a ‘special seabirds’ song and it fell to Councillor Richard McCarthy to make the announcement that ‘rat free’ status was now achieved. There had been no positive sign of rats since 30th Pic ~ Ed Mars hall November 2013, but to make eradication ‘official’ required a two year interval before ‘rat-free-status could be confirmed. So Biz Bell of Wildlife Management International Limited (WMIL) returned in January 2016. It was great to have Biz and fellow ‘ratter’ Alex Cropper back. They were joined by volunteers Jo Greenman and Iain Wilson. Together they checked an intensive monitoring grid of 448 stations with wax and ink tracking tunnels over a six week period until February. No sign of rats. Then, lo and behold, on April 1st our Manxies were recorded back from wintering in South America, calling from burrows on St Agnes and Gugh. We understand they are delighted at the official ‘rat-free’ news!
Seabird Survey Results A summary of the full 2015 seabird survey is now available on our website www.ios-seabirds.org.uk. It showed mixed results for our seabirds. Overall the number of seabirds breeding within the archipelago has declined by almost 10% since the previous survey 9 years ago. This somewhat rapid rate of loss may well represent a wider issue with the health of our oceans. But at least our project is playing its own part in helping to boost bird numbers.
Follow the Seabird Recovery Project on Twitter and FaceBook to receive regular updates on their work! @seabirdrecovery Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project
The Project is funded by LIFE, the EU’s programme for financing key environmental schemes across the continent, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. This is a partnership project between RSPB, Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding natural Beauty and Natural England.
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News from the AONB partnership
Spring 2016
Islands’ Partnership by Carolyn Garman, Communications Manager Working together for sustainable tourism future The Islands’ Partnership conducts visitor surveys every year to get a greater understanding of who our visitors’ are and evaluate their experiences of the islands; to ascertain what they like most about coming to, and being on, Scilly and how we can seek to improve our tourism offering; and to monitor the overall performance of the industry and develop an evidence base to support future plans for the islands. Amongst other data, the feedback from both our 2015 and 2014 surveys overwhelmingly tell us that it is the natural environment, the scenery and the peace and quiet of Scilly that inspire visitors to come and visit the islands, and to return - again and again. (Respondents who returned to Scilly for holidays had done so, on average, 11.5 times). As much as it is important for the tourism industry to respond her to consumer trends and ensure that it always endeavours to t og ra p o h P improve visitor experiences, here on Scilly, it is just as important eFoot ~ Ba r c i P to preserve what we already have. Protecting and nurturing our natural landscapes, fabulous coastlines, our thriving wildlife and our island heritage which provide a backdrop so different to the rest of England, is precisely why visitors want to come here. Indeed, it is our key marketing message for the Isles of Scilly. And it is also the reason why we value our partnership and close working relationship with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust and the AONB Partnership. For Walk Scilly (in April and October) and the Otillo World Championship Swim Run event to be held in June, we consult and work hand-in-hand with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust – not just offering guided walks in the first instance but also ensuring safe access across all the islands for the world class competitors whilst offering protection to the natural inhabitants. There is a clear balance to be struck between promoting the islands for tourism and protecting the very assets that draw people here. Both Walk Scilly and Otillo are fantastic vehicles to showcase exactly what can be achieved when we work in partnership. We are also working in partnership with other organisations on the islands, namely Duchy of Cornwall and the AONB Partnership. The cruise ship market is an important one for Scilly in terms of economic contribution, but we are acutely aware that we need to find a happy medium when meeting the needs of both our loyal staying customers and the visiting ships. We are committed to growing Scilly’s visitor economy – however this growth must be sustainable and protect the very essence of what makes Scilly so special. The IP will continue to work in partnership to ensure we support the needs of our islands’ businesses as well as meet the ra p h e r g o t o h P expectations of all our islands’ visitors. a reFoot Pic ~ B
For further information about the Islands’ Partnership, including membership enquiries, call 01720 424036 or visit islandspartnership.co.uk
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News from the AONB partnership
Spring 2016
The Isles of Scilly Bat Group by Mike Gurr ~ Secretary Scilly Bat Walks 2016
Each year the Isles of Scilly Bat Group host a programme of Bat Walks throughout the Spring and Summer months; if you want to learn more about Scilly’s batty world, the work of the Isles of Scilly Bat Group and even see some bats in action then why not join us? Date Time Tuesday 26th April 2016 20:35 Wednesday 25th May 2016 21:15 Tuesday 21st June 2016 21:35 Thursday 28th July 2016 21:15 Wednesday 24th August 20:25 Wednesday 14th September 2016 19:40 Meet at Holgates Green and please bring a torch A charge of £5 for each walker aged 16 and over; under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult. Bad weather may lead to the cancellation of a walk; keep abreast of what’s happening via @ScillyWildlife or @ScillyTIC For information about the group see www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk and select Scilly Wildlife and then Isles of Scilly Bat Group.
Tresco Island by Tom Matthews ~ Marketing Assistant Manager Tresco Walks 2016 Tresco Island have once again teamed up with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust and are providing free guided walks; encouraging the whole family to get out and enjoy the incredible and varied wildlife and scenery Tresco has to offer. The walks start outside the Ruin Beach Cafe at 10:00am and will last about 2 hours. The walks are free (although donations to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust will be welcome). So come and join us; discover Tresco’s wild-side! May/June Half Term - Tuesday 31st May 2016 Then weekly from Tuesday 21st June - Tuesday 30th August 2016 October Half Term - Tuesday 25th October 2016 Keep up to date with planned events by following @TrescoIsland and @ScillyWildlife on Twitter. We look forward to meeting you!
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