Wild london summer 2011

London Wildlife Trust

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Protecting London’s wildlife for the future SUMMER 2011 CELEBRATING THIRTY 27/06/2011 11:17

London Wildlife Trust is thirty years old and we’re celebrating this milestone with three special birthday editions of Wild London magazine that delve into our past and look forward to the future.

Find out how, with your support, London Wildlife Trust has strived to protect and improve the capital for people and wildlife over the last three decades, and how we will continue the good work.

SUMMER 2011 Issue 95 Editor Helen Babbs www.helenbabbs.wordpress.com Editorial team Mathew Frith Catherine Harris John Lamb Anna Malos Design www.thomasmatthews.com Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, with vegetable based inks.

Front cover photograph Roger Butterfield / www.rogerbutterfield.co.uk London Wildlife Trust is the only charity dedicated solely to protecting the capital’s wildlife and wild spaces, engaging London’s diverse communities through access to our nature reserves, campaigning, volunteering and education.

A summer of surveys Welcome to the summer 2011 issue of Wild London. Our 30th anniversary year has given us the opportunity to reconnect with the numerous individuals who’ve been involved with London Wildlife Trust over the past three decades. It has been heart-warming to learn how important the organisation is to so many people.

We’ll be celebrating with a picnic for everyone involved with the Trust, including members and staff, and we hope many of you will join us in Clissold Park in Hackney on the 7th August. We’re also organising a conference-style AGM on 22nd October. We’ve used our 30th as an excuse to look back, but we’re also focused on the present and have some exciting projects on the go and in development. We’re increasing our community outreach work again this year.

A good example is the River Crane Community Project, where we’re working with local people to restore the River Crane over five boroughs to create real opportunities for wildlife (see page 5). We’re also looking at how our staffed sites across the capital can be improved to engage more people with wildlife.

Our report ‘London: Garden City?’ launched in June and focused media attention on the alarming fact that the capital’s gardens are turning from green to grey (see page 16). We’re also running three major conservation surveys this summer – Kestrel Count, Owl Prowl and a Stag Beetle survey, so please let us know if you see any of these species. Thanks to all of you who have already been in touch. Your response to the Kestrel Count in particular has been fantastic.

There’s still time to send in your sightings. The results will be collated and used to improve our conservation strategies for kestrels, owls and stag beetles.

Enjoy the rest of the summer – we hope to see you at the August picnic and this year’s AGM. Carlo Laurenzi OBE Chief Executive of London Wildlife Trust

Registered charity number 283895 President Chris Packham Patrons Lord Smith of Finsbury Simon Hughes MP Bill Oddie Contact us Skyline House, 200 Union Street, London, SE1 0LX 020 7261 0447 enquiries@wildlondon.org.uk www.wildlondon.org.uk

Above: A summer picnic at Camley Street © London Wildlife Trust

Opposite: Little owl © Tony Duckett

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News in brief A high speed threat to wildlife A new high-speed railway line poses a serious threat to UK wildlife. High Speed 2 (HS2) is a long-promised route north that will shorten travel times to London from Birmingham, Manchester and other cities. But 160 wildlife sites in seven counties are threatened by the route.

The proposed line leaves from Euston, drops into a tunnel through Camden and emerges near Acton. It continues towards Denham alongside the existing Chilterns Line and Central Line.

At the western edge of Hillingdon, it sweeps north-west over the Colne Valley and into Buckinghamshire.

In London, 18 wildlife sites are likely to be affected (although mainly indirectly or negligibly), the most significant being Perivale Wood in Ealing, one of England’s oldest nature reserves. No London Wildlife Trust sites appear to be directly affected. However, proposed links to Heathrow could have an impact on three of our Hillingdon reserves – Crane Meadows, Gutteridge Wood and Yeading Brook Meadows.

The impacts are far greater outside London, especially in Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire, and a number of campaigns to stop HS2 are gathering steam. Seven Wildlife Trusts (including London) are collaborating on a response to HS2. We believe the original Assessment of Sustainability was flawed, as it seriously under-estimated the impacts on biodiversity along the entire route.

So far, The Wildlife Trusts have met with the Department of Transport, raised questions with the Transport Minister Philip Hammond and are keen to play a key role in a ‘HS2 Environment Link’. A joint statement was published last October, and the Trusts have also signed up to the Right Lines Charter. The Charter calls for a national transport strategy, better future-proofing of big transport proposals, effective public participation and a more strategic approach to minimising adverse impacts. Its supporters seek to engage positively with the government, as they believe the approach to High Speed Rail currently falls well short of the Charter’s principles.

You can take action too – respond to the public consultation for the government’s preferred route at www.highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk before the 29th July.

Top: Kingfishers are found on the River Crane © Jules Cox Right: Young people enjoy bushcraft © London Wildlife Trust

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Bermondsey and Borough Bushcraft We’ve just launched an exciting new project in Southwark that gives young people a greater understanding of the natural world.

The aim is to inspire and enable them to get involved in their neighbourhood through practical environmental projects and bushcraft skills. The activities will be certified by the John Muir Award and are funded by the United St Saviour’s Charity.

Wildlife gardening courses Determined to transform your garden into a wildlife friendly paradise, but not sure where to start? The Trust launched a series of helpful courses and classes in June, led by RHS gold medal winner Elaine Hughes and based at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening. Call 020 7252 9186 or email ehughes@wildlondon.org.uk for more information. Don’t forget to claim your member discount!

Wildlife Xpo 2011 The UK’s most comprehensive wildlife exhibition will take place on 14–15th October at Alexandra Palace. Attended by hundreds of specialist wildlife related companies and charities, there’ll also be the opportunity to hear lectures from famous wildlife presenters, view the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards and watch the latest wildlife documentaries and films.

Thorn to orchid Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, we’ve launched a new one year project that will get people more deeply involved in caring for our precious chalk grassland sites in south London.

‘From Thorn to Orchid’ will see a significant step change in the way that we work with volunteers to manage and monitor these nature reserves.

Through practical conservation sessions, workshops and training opportunities, we hope to develop a network of trained volunteers who are armed with a comprehensive understanding of the management process for chalk grassland habitats. The project aims to give people greater confidence to contribute to the long-term management of the sites.

Mayesbrook Park We’ve successfully completed a project in Barking & Dagenham that has drawn local people into Mayesbrook Park with a series of outdoor activities. Residents have been enthused about the park, and encouraged to become more aware of, and inspired by, the natural environment. Local secondary schools took part in curriculum linked sessions in the green space, while more informal education sessions were organised

with Barking & Dagenham District Scouts.

Guided walks and tree planting workshops helped engage families.

This year we’ll be running a range of new activities in the park – part of an Access to Nature project funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

Green laws, not red tape The government recently decided that the country’s current green laws are ‘red tape’, so we’ve signed up to a 38 Degrees campaign to stop them being scrapped.

These laws are designed to help protect wildlife, prevent pollution and reduce emissions. But the government claims we’re better off without them. Why don’t you take action too? Sign the petition to tell David Cameron that we want environmental laws to be retained, and if necessary reinforced. www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/dontscrap-environment-laws

Crane Community Project An important project is under way in the Crane Valley that will not only improve the wildlife value of the river but engage local people with its often forgotten stretches.

The River Crane rises as two brooks in Harrow and meets the Thames close to Isleworth Ait. It runs through five London Boroughs, via Trust managed sites including Ickenham Marsh, Gutteridge Wood, Ten Acre Wood, Yeading Brook Meadows, Crane Meadows and Crane Park Island. The river supports at least 11 species of fish and is home to kingfishers, herons and nationally rare water voles.

The River Crane Community Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, aims to improve access and engagement with selected sites along the river, and

to increase opportunities to learn and participate in its unique natural heritage.

It’s a three year project developed by the Crane Valley Partnership, a consortium of largely west London based organisations. This project builds on the current River Crane Conservation Project, funded by Biffaward as part of a National Wetland Restoration and Flood Alleviation Programme focusing on the improvement of the habitats throughout the river catchment.

For more information on the River Crane Community Project contact Andy Willmore – awillmore@wildlondon.org.uk / 020 8755 2339.

For more information on the River Crane Conservation Project contact Sarah Garwood – sgarwood@wildlondon.org.uk / 07891 004154.

Record breaking bee house We attempted to build the largest bee house in the world in June! The old record stood at 11.85m², while we aimed for 13.5m².

We’re still waiting for official confirmation of whether we’ve broken the record. The house can be found at Barking Riverside, which supports at least 37 different species of native bees and bumblebees, including brown banded carder bee.

Francesca Barker, our Barking Riverside Conservation Officer explains why. “The bee house provides more nesting habitat for some of our solitary bees. It also helps the Trust publicise the plight of our native bees, and gets the local community involved.” The house is part of our Backyard Bee gardening project, sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund.

Left: Building the bee house © London Wildlife Trust

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The fate of the hoverhawk What’s happened to city dwelling kestrels?

HELP US KEEP COUNT During London Wildlife Trust’s first Kestrel Count in 1988 we received reports of kestrels in every borough, with a total of 400 pairs nesting in London. We know that their population here declined during the 1990s, but the picture over the last decade has been unclear.

Our aim is to find out how much things have changed since the 1988 count, and we need your input. Thank you to everyone who’s already returned their Kestrel Count 2011 survey, but if you’re yet to take part visit www.wildlondon.org.uk to find out how to send in your sightings.

The kestrel includes the capital city among its many habitats, reveals Melanie Clayton, as she introduces us to a widespread but threatened bird of prey.

The kestrel is the most common bird of prey in Europe, but numbers in Britain are in long-term decline as a result of changes in farming methods and the use of pesticides. It’s on the Amber List of Birds of Conservation Concern and is protected by law – it’s illegal to harm or unnecessarily disturb a kestrel. But despite the worrying trend in numbers, some short-term increases have been recorded.

Is the national drop reflected in London’s kestrel population? Have changes to rural habitats encouraged more birds to opt for city life? These are questions we are currently trying to answer, and we’re calling on members to help us update our records.

We’re especially keen to understand the impact the loss of London’s brownfield land might have had post 1988.

The kestrel is fairly small – about the same size as the pigeon and has brownyorange plumage with dark speckles and pointed wing tips. Its long tail feathers have dark tips too, which create a black band that’s easy to spot when the bird is hovering. The female is larger than the male. Both have a hooked bill and yellow feet with sharp black claws,

and a mark that looks like a tear stain running down from big black eyes.

Farmland, moors, heaths, hillsides and the edges of motorways and railway linesides are characteristic kestrel territories, each providing a feast of small mammals like voles, mice and shrews. In London, the kestrel tends to feed on birds, as well as insects and worms, because small mammals aren’t so readily available.

The bird has a distinctive hunting style.

It hovers when preparing to swoop on prey, with its tail feathers spread into a fan and its wings flapping quickly to maintain the vantage point. Its head remains in a fixed position, almost completely motionless.

Sharp eyesight allows the kestrel to identify potential hunting targets, even small insects, from as far as 50 metres away.

The bird’s hunting style has led to nicknames including the windhover, the hoverhawk and the windsucker. The word ‘kestrel’ itself comes from the old French ‘crécelle’, meaning ‘rattle’, probably a reference to the bird’s ‘kee-kee-kee’ call.

A permanent resident of Britain, the kestrel can be seen throughout the year.

It’s happy to settle in the old nests of other

birds, in holes in trees, or on the ledges of cliffs or buildings, which it lines with sticks and straw. A healthy and well fed female bird will lay a clutch of four or five eggs in April or May. Our Kestrel Count survey has been launched to find out more about how many kestrels are here and how changes in our city are affecting them. We would also like to gain a better understanding of the numbers of breeding pairs in London.

To what extent is the capital’s diminishing brownfield habitat influencing the current population? And what is the impact of current management practices on railway linesides? How do kestrels fare in competition with London’s other raptors, the sparrowhawk and peregrine falcon, which have significantly improved their numbers since 1988?

The kestrel has a distinctive hunting style

It is vitally important that as many people as possible get out and about this summer to count kestrels and report any sightings at www.wildlondon.org.uk. Once we have this new data, we can start to understand the interplay of changing factors affecting London’s kestrels and put in place the best conservation measures to support this magnificent bird.

Melanie Clayton is a writer and London Wildlife Trust volunteer.

Top: Kestrels at the Tower of London © Jules Cox Left: Kestrel © Jamie Grier Opposite: How the hoverhawk got its name © Bob Coyle

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Getting involved A celebration of volunteers and local groups

The dedication of a band of hard working Londoners has made the Trust what it is. Helen Wallis gives them the recognition they deserve.

Volunteers have always been central to London Wildlife Trust’s work. Indeed the Trust was set up by unpaid activists campaigning to save London’s wild places from development. Campaigners succeeded in gaining protected nature reserve status for these sites, and laboured to improve them by digging ponds, creating paths and clearing mountains of accumulated rubbish and overgrown scrub. Voluntary committees toiled to ensure the long term management of the fledgling reserves, by raising money, educating local people and recruiting new volunteers.

Volunteer groups were soon established across many London boroughs. Their work included practical habitat management, leading events and local campaigning.

Wildlife Watch Clubs that offered wildlife activities for children were also volunteerled. Meanwhile, the Newts, a roving band of volunteers, undertook practical conservation on Trust reserves across London (and judging by their name, enjoyed a pint or two afterwards!).

Local volunteer groups are still vital to the Trust today and they do much important work on sites across London.

They are keen to attract new volunteers so they can continue their work. A particular problem recently has been recruiting task leaders and committee members – responsible roles that can be daunting for new volunteers.

Many conservationists would rather be at one with nature than chairing a meeting or supervising volunteers, but the volunteers who fill management roles for us are crucial and really appreciated. New volunteers may not have the confidence, experience or inclination at first to manage an established group, and “being on the committee” is perhaps unlikely to entice younger volunteers. But training and support can help overcome these barriers.

Things have changed since 1981.

Traditionally, volunteering has been motivated by altruism and a sense of public duty. We now live in a more diverse and individualistic world. Increasingly, people volunteer to get something back, be it skills, development of new interests or to meet people. The success of commercial volunteering events, such as where young people volunteer in exchange for gig tickets, are a good illustration of this.

Many people now see volunteering as a route into work and this has widened its appeal across social groups. At the same time, the conservation sector has expanded and become more professional. An increase in environmental degrees, coupled with a saturated jobs market, has led to more graduate volunteering.

Volunteers have always been central to London Wildlife Trust’s work

Another change is that people are increasingly “time poor”, juggling work, parenthood and leisure interests. The consequent move away from long term commitment towards one-off volunteering opportunities presents challenges for coordination and training. More positively, the internet offers opportunities for remote volunteering and coordinating large numbers of volunteers at short notice.

The Trust has successfully capitalised on these changes with our trainee programme at Camley Street, therapeutic volunteering schemes such as Budding Together and Happy Flowers, and community

engagement projects such as Natural Estates. Such projects have enabled us to reach beyond our traditional volunteer audiences.

Another growth area is corporate volunteering, where businesses pay for their employees to take part in one-off volunteer sessions as a team building event and to fulfil their social responsibility commitments.

This has been a valuable fundraising initiative for us and perfect for when we need an intensive effort from a large group.

Looking ahead, the biggest unknown is how Cameron’s “Big Society” agenda will affect our volunteers. We’ll be trying to make the most of the opportunities and campaigning on the issues involved – especially getting support for those who take on new responsibilities.

And we’ve still much to do to make the most of untapped audiences for conservation volunteering. Our outreach projects are a great start – engaging people in their local area. Now we have to make sure these new volunteers have the skills and confidence to get involved in our wider activities.

Helen Wallis is London Wildlife Trust’s Land Volunteering Officer.

Top: Volunteering can be very social © Val Borrell Opposite: Gunnersbury Triangle © Emma Robertshaw

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HILLINGDON LOCAL GROUP Volunteers do much of the practical management on 11 nature reserves in the borough, from a small pond with great crested newts, to a large SSSI with marsh-marigolds, water voles and harvest mice. All 11 sites have management plans to help us safeguard the varied needs of the “wild stakeholders”. The main tasks between August and March start with meadow mowing in autumn. Winter woodland work includes coppicing and tree management. New volunteers are welcome. Work at your own pace, no demands made.

Contact Roger Taylor 01895 448 028 / LWTHillingdon@aol.com

Below: Judy in the woods © Val Borrell

Why I volunteer Roger Taylor, Hillingdon Local Group “I think I can trace it back to hearing a wren singing while on my way to work one morning when I was feeling a bit down. I thought I ought to do my bit for wildlife.

That was pre-London Wildlife Trust. I met folk from Hillingdon Natural History Society who were campaigning for the Frays Farm area and managing Harefield Place Nature Reserve. So I got stuck in, and we were the basis of the Hillingdon Local Group when the Trust was formed.

It soon became apparent that there were lots of opportunities to make a difference throughout Hillingdon. Some fine sites came into our protection, which would have been at risk of development and neglect. We were able to acquire the skills and equipment to manage the sites in a professional way.

Loading up the tools on a winter morning can be tough! Especially these days, when maintaining volunteer numbers is difficult. Fortunately we’re well equipped so we can do a lot with a core of immensely loyal and committed volunteers, but we are slowly wearing out and we do worry about the future.

A frustration rather than an annoyance is the lack of continuity that we often suffer when dealing with the local council, and to some extent Trust staff. Projects can flounder because priorities change or staff move on, so our efforts may amount to nothing. Hillingdon’s Biodiversity Action Plan is a case in point. It’s due to the volatile nature of funding, which is one reason why volunteers are so valuable as they underpin and maintain things.

I’ve had many beautiful moments, especially in the meadows and on the riverbanks. I always remember the clouds of butterflies rising up the first time I stepped into Gutteridge Meadows. It’s also great to see groups of children running into meadows looking for grasshoppers and showing such delight when they look closely at such things for the first time.”

Staff to volunteer Emma Robertshaw, Gunnersbury Triangle “I actually started off as a member of staff – I was the Trust’s Communications Officer for seven years in the 1990s. I took a sabbatical, became the summer warden at Gunnersbury Triangle and have been volunteering there ever since. My involvement has had many guises. I’ve helped manage the site and sat on the steering group, and I used to help out every Thursday for a while. Sometimes I’m there are lot, sometimes not that much.

The Triangle is special. After all the tarmac of Chiswick and Bollo Road, suddenly you’re plunged into a miniature and atmospheric forest. Everyone feels like it’s their secret, like it’s their own space. The reserve is local to me and I feel a personal attachment.

The volunteer effort feels needed. Sometimes I feel guilty as there’s never enough time and my contribution feels minimal in comparison to other people. But volunteering is a team effort, it’s social and fun. I like it because it’s different to my daily life.

I’ve especially enjoyed the sessions I’ve run with kids. Often it’s their first time in a nature reserve and they always love it. I’ve kept the lovely letters they wrote to me after their visits when I was the warden. Young people notice the smallest things and get really excited. It’s great to find new ways to bring people in.”

Above: Brian Prior doing woodwork at Gunnersbury Triangle © Emma Robertshaw

GUNNERSBURY TRIANGLE LOCAL GROUP Gunnersbury Triangle is a six acre wildlife site sitting between the railway tracks in Chiswick. The reserve is made up of woodland, grassland and wetland habitats. The entrance is opposite Chiswick Park tube station on Bollo Lane.

The local group is made up of local people who help to manage the site for wildlife and are keen to share their wildlife knowledge with the public. They run events throughout the year, like bat walks, open days and nature trails.

The group meets every two months and welcomes new members to join them. They also need volunteers to join practical conservation sessions on the reserve.

Contact Karen Roberts 020 8993 6514

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Wildlife of the linesides Exploring the nature of London’s railways

TAKE A WALK ON THE OLD LINESIDE

There’s 800km of overland rail tracks radiating out from central London.

What thrives on the urban lineside, asks Mathew Frith.

On those days when the morning’s free-sheet doesn’t hold your attention, do you ever let your gaze wander over the landscape rushing past the train window?

The distance may be dense and built-up, but closer to the track the view can be pretty wild. Swathes of grassland, scrub, woodland and wasteland can be found alongside London’s rail lines, supporting lots of wildlife and providing valuable routes for journeying species.

The lay of the land today is often the result of the way the railways were originally created, from the late 1830s on.

When trains were steam powered, linesides were managed intensively to prevent fires, and were maintained as grasslands.

In certain areas, trees were planted to screen homes, most notably the ‘railway poplar’, which could tolerate smoke and robust management.

The succession to woodland is largely a result of the 1955 Modernisation Plan and the transition to electric and diesel traction, which also meant a loss of lineside management labour. Consequently large tracts of grassland developed into scrub and woodland. Some of these are now extensive and relatively mature, merging with adjacent woods and gardens.

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sycamore and ash woodlands and are often significant habitats in inner London.

Wasteland communities are predominantly found around sidings and marshalling areas, especially where these have become redundant and can thrive on the well-drained substrates. Over time these may develop into pioneer woodland (consisting of birch and willow) and scrub.

However, these are much rarer following the loss of redundant marshalling yards to development, such as at Temple Mills and Alexandra Park.

Linesides act as wildlife corridors

Many key species are found living on the edges of rail lines. In a lineside grassland there might be slow-worm, common lizard, kestrel, orange-tip butterfly and various crickets and grasshoppers. In a lineside woodland there could be great tit, great spotted woodpecker, sparrowhawk, chiffchaff and various bats.

In lineside scrub there might be blackbird, wren, lesser whitethroat and speckled wood butterfly. While in lineside wasteland there might be common evening-

• Walk from Nun’s Head to the Screaming Alice, the old Crystal Palace (High Level) branch that closed in 1954. It runs through Sydenham Hill Wood, as well as Horniman Railway Trail and Brenchley Gardens, with some parts now incorporated into the SE Green Chain Walk. primrose, rosebay willowherb, everlasting sweet-pea and various bees and hoverflies.

Foxes are often seen basking during the summer, and occasionally muntjac deer and badger have been reported moving along railways.

A number of invasive species also thrive in lineside habitats, and a few of these can potentially damage existing habitats (Japanese knotweed), or cause damage to built infrastructure (buddleia).

In addition, lack of management has tended to lead to large patches of bramble scrub developing, which can also have adverse impacts on grassland habitats.

Linesides can act as corridors for certain species, especially mammals and reptiles, enabling them to move across parts of London. In some cases these stretch almost uninterrupted from the centre of London out through the suburbs and into the surrounding counties.

The dispersal of Oxford ragwort from the Oxford Botanical Garden onto the city’s railway tracks is a classic example.

The clinker and ballast mimicked the volcanic substrates of its original Sicilian habitat, and the movement of trains has subsequently helped to distribute it across much of Britain.

Over 1000 hectares of lineside have been identified as Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation in London.

The longest runs between New Cross Gate and Forest Hill in Lewisham, a Site of Metropolitan Importance that incorporates a number of nature reserves en route (including New Cross Gate Cutting, Garthorne Road and Devonshire Road).

Railway owners are obliged to manage the linesides for operational safety.

Tracks are kept clear through chemical controls and vegetation management.

These operations don’t need to compromise biodiversity interest, although works can impact on some lineside habitats, especially woodland, where trees are felled to reduce ‘leaves on the line.’

Later this year the London Assembly will carry out an investigation into the management of London’s linesides.

The Trust will recommend strongly that management needs to be undertaken sensitively, with due regard to linesides’ existing biodiversity interest and their collective role as part of London’s green infrastructure.

Mathew Frith is the Trust’s deputy CEO.

• The Rattler is a stretch of an old branch line that ran from Harrow and Wealdstone to Stanmore. It closed in 1964 and part of it has become the Belmont Nature Walk (once managed by the Trust).

• The Uxbridge branch, from Denham to Uxbridge High Street, closed in 1962. You can walk along parts by Denham Lock Wood and Frays Farm Meadows reserves.

• The Parkland Walk follows the old branch line from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and Edgware, which closed south of Highgate in 1970. It now forms a popular Local Nature Reserve.

• Some nature reserves form part of railway linesides – including Gunnersbury Triangle, Gillespie Park (Islington), New Cross Gate Cutting, East and West Bank Nature Reserve (Stamford Hill), Hither Green Nature Reserve, and Devonshire Road Nature Reserve (Forest Hill).

Top: New Cross Gate Cutting © Mathew Frith Opposite: Rosebay willowherb thrives on the linesides © Paul Lane

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Growing up Summer interview

Helen Firminger and Pete Massini reminisce about working for London Wildlife Trust in the 1990s, in the second of three 30th anniversary interviews.

Helen Firminger and Peter Massini spent the 1990s out in the urban wilderness – Helen down south in Peckham at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening and Peter out east at The Chase Nature Reserve in Dagenham. They reunite, years after they last met, for a morning cuppa in the salubrious surroundings of City Hall, a circling glass snail of a building where Peter now works.

It’s rather different to the portacabin he inhabited at The Chase, which was more like a squat than an office. In the winter, they would pull down the metal shutters, turn on the electric heaters, then go outside and wait for it to warm up. Their electricity came from a single cable connected directly to a high voltage substation outside. They used to hit it with a stick to turn the power on and off.

Helen had it better. “The Centre for Wildlife Gardening had a lovely green building, but equipment was limited.

We started off with one typewriter, a slide projector, a ropey photocopier and one landline phone. It was great because it meant people didn’t spend so long in the office. Getting a cordless telephone was very liberating, as you could take calls outside.”

“It meant we were a lot more collaborative” says Peter. “If you made good contacts you could get things for free.

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We used to have a bit of paper that allowed us into the local dump where we could scavenge for wood. We created a drainage channel on The Chase with an old street lamp we found there – it was a perfect pipe when you took the cabling out. We were like rag and bone men.”

Let’s start this interview where it ended, with a tube-based recovery story. Peter and a colleague were called in to save a trapped swan that was languishing on tube tracks not far from their patch. They embarked on a comic sounding mission that involved a broom and a donkey jacket, and live train lines.

The pair travelled to the incident by tube train, which made a special stop so they could hop down onto the tracks and fish the bird off using the broom. They travelled back to The Chase with the swan wrapped in the donkey jacket (a piece of clothing that is surely synonymous with the 1990s) and let it go.

Helen and Peter agree that antics like this probably wouldn’t happen at London Wildlife Trust today. Strict health and safety laws have come in since then for a start.

As they reminisce about how things were, both feel like society as well as the Trust has changed. Then, there was a recession on, mass unemployment and a lot more direct action.

“Nobody’s sitting up trees anymore protesting about motorways being built” says Helen. “Because of the recession and Thatcherism there were a lot of activists in London and protection of sites became one of those issues that people were really active about” adds Peter.

Peter led a ten year campaign to conserve Rainham Marshes, which was threatened by a planned A13 diversion and proposals for developing the entire area. After much hard work, the site was saved and eventually bought by the RSPB. “In the 1980s there’d been a perfect alignment between the existence of a campaign group like London Wildlife Trust and the Greater London Council establising what became the London Ecology Unit” says Peter.

“We had to become more professional in order to deal with important new nature conservation policy. Sometimes we rue the fact we’ve become more corporate, but actually it’s a mark of the success of the Trust and others in getting wildlife taken seriously. There were huge successes in the 1990s because of local action, but also huge failures. Things are more stable now, where before things could actually get quite sloppy.”

In 1994/95 Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) were introduced, and one of Helen’s greatest achievements during her time at the Trust was writing the Wildlife Gardening BAP. “It was about landscape level protection, which was an important change, but also a bit of a shock in terms of having to work much more strategically.

“Gardens weren’t taken seriously but by the end of the decade they were given much more recognition. There was a big policy shift at the end of the 1990s. BAPs have been important in getting organisations working together and building a sense of trust between them.”

Peter has strong opinions on the BAP system too. “When the biodiversity agenda first came in we were really excited about it.

If you go back to the first Rio Convention, it was all about how biodiversity relates to other things like economics, health, etc – it fitted perfectly with the urban agenda and engaging with society.

“But unfortunately the biodiversity process got hijacked, ironically by the biodiversity sector, and it became focussed

on targets, which has been fantastic for certain species like bittern and otter, but it’s also a shame that the original ethos of Rio got lost. We seemed to forget ecology – how the whole system works. We’re starting to rediscover that now with ideas of ecosystem services and sustainability.”

Do Helen and Peter think 30 is worth celebrating? “I’m not sure 30 years is a particular landmark” admits Peter.

“The Trust has always gone through phases, often because of happenstance.

It’s at a point now when it needs another leap forward.”

Helen thinks it’s worth marking.

“The 30th should be about remembering the contributions individuals and groups have made, though not at the expense of moving forward.”

“It’s a much more competitive space for the Trust to be in now” concludes Peter. “Nature conservation has become mainstream and in some senses the Trust doesn’t own the issue any more.

We’re constantly trying to find arguments that make wildlife relevant to people, tactics and messages have to depend on the culture and opinions of the day.”

Interview by Helen Babbs.

Below/Opposite: Wild London front covers from the 1990s © London Wildlife Trust

PETER MASSINI Peter joined the Trust in 1987, getting a job through the Manpower Services Commission. Throughout the 1990s he was the East London Conservation Officer, based at The Chase nature reserve. He now works for the Greater London Authority. www.london.gov.uk

HELEN FIRMINGER Helen started off with a summer job at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening in 1992 and ended up managing the site. She wrote the first ever Wildlife Gardening Biodiversity Action Plan for London and set up the Happy Flowers Project for adults with learning disabilities. She’s now the director of the Bankside Open Spaces Trust. www.bost.org.uk

15 27/06/2011 11:17

Your wild London

Going Wild

What gardens mean to you

We run a huge range of events each year, many of them free. Below is just a taster. Check our website to find out what else is on and where. www.wildlondon.org.uk/getinvolved

To celebrate the publication of our Garden Research Project, we asked our members what their gardens mean to them. We were overwhelmed by your response. Here’s a selected few.

Green Picnic 7th August, from 12pm Clissold Park, Stoke Newington Wildlife Conference and AGM 22nd October Venue tbc Capital Growth talks and workshops Series to help you and wildlife get the most from your veg patch.

Contact 020 7252 9186 / chammond@wildlondon.org.uk We’ll email members more details – let us know your email address if we don’t have it. If you don’t have internet access contact John on 020 7803 4289 for a printed events guide.

London’s gardens go from green to grey We know how important London’s gardens are to our members – you’ve been dedicated supporters of this part of our campaign work for many years. Pioneering new research by London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London and the Greater London Authority now reveals how much gardens contribute to London’s green landscape. But also highlights that hard surfacing is eroding the quality of this space for people and wildlife.

Our just published Garden Research Project calculates that nearly a quarter of Greater London is private garden land. Examination of a sample of aerial photographs reveals that 57% of this land is vegetated. So London’s garden owners are collectively responsible for managing a valuable and sizeable green space – some 37,900 hectares of garden, including 22,000ha of vegetated land.

But our research also confirms that many Londoners are choosing to replace vegetation with hard surfacing and 16 LWT_01_07_summer11_110627.indd 16-17

structures. When scaled up, our individual garden management decisions have a significant impact. The overall balance sheet for London shows 2,600ha more garden hard surfacing since the late 1990s. This is equivalent to 2.5 Hyde Parks being covered in paving and decking each year.

Hard surfacing of gardens continues despite warnings about losses of wildlife habitat, a reduction in air-temperature regulation and decline in rainwater absorption. We’ve found the trend is most pronounced in front gardens, but back gardens are also significantly affected.

Our project highlights the power that individual Londoners have to influence their city’s landscape. Legislation now prevents people paving their front gardens without planning permission. But in addition to this we need a green gardening revival – a positive fashion towards good gardening practice that favours wildlife and a functional ecosystem, and halts the trend towards paving.

The report was funded by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. You can read it on our website – www.wildlondon.org.uk

Staggering Gains beetle survey We launched a city-wide survey in May to record sightings of the globally threatened stag beetle. We hope you were lucky enough to see one of these magnificent beetles earlier in the summer. You can build a stag beetle log pile throughout the year. Find out how in our advice note for gardeners at www.wildlondon.org.uk, and let us know if you do.

Competition

“I’m sitting on a bench in the sun listening to the wren in my honeysuckle-mermaid rose hedge, rattling crossly at a great tit that has blundered too close to its nest in a quest for aphids and insects. It’s ample reward for giving up pesticides a decade ago, digging a pond, creating a log pile and letting my tiny lawn grow long round the edges.”

Felicity Lloyd, Richmond “Of the 14 houses in our close, only ours offers a patch of woodland, at the rear and front. In the 50 years we’ve lived here, our oak has thrived, a plum stone has grown into a huge fruiter and my pip-sown apple tree produces great quantities of excellent apples. In fact, the Royal Horticultural Society sampled them two years running but turned down the ‘Mountview Marvel’ – more fools they! Pigeons, tits, goldcrests, jays, magpies, crows, foxes, wasps and others unseen find forage in a green dell that sits four houses away from the A1.”

John Hart, Barnet “I’m lucky to have a large garden and am able to leave areas wild, with long grasses, patches of stinging nettles and clover in the lawn. I especially enjoy the amount of insect life it attracts and the birds that come to feast upon, for example, the aphids on the roses.

Last year we had a huge number of butterfly caterpillars on the nettles. There’s always a flurry of butterflies and bees in summer, busying themselves amongst the flowers.”

Clare Stannard, Croydon

Wild London editor Helen Babbs’ first book was published earlier this summer.

‘My Garden, The City and Me: Rooftop Adventures in the Wilds of London’ is about a tiny rooftop’s transformation into an aerial, edible garden, and about London’s wildlife and wild spaces.

You can read more about it at www.aerialediblegardening.co.uk.

We have a copy of the book to give away. To win, tell us what percentage of London’s garden land is vegetated. Send your answer to members@wildlondon.org.uk by the 1st August.

Left: Stag beetle © London Wildlife Trust Right: Foxglove blooming in Clare’s wildlife garden © Clare Stannard Opposite: Frogs thrive in wildlife friendly garden ponds © Fred Church

17 27/06/2011 11:18

Restoring the chalk Grazing returns to Chapel Bank

A secluded chalk grassland reserve in south Croydon is currently receiving the welcome attention of a herd of sheep.

A butterfly spotter’s paradise, Chapel Bank’s expanse of dry chalk valley is a great place to find orchids, rare grasses and blankets of bluebells. Thanks to a Biffaward grant, a dozen Welsh sheep are grazing the site for the first time in over half a century.

Two paddocks have been created on the wildlife rich site, which supports species including marbled white butterfly, common spotted-orchid and rare Roman snail. The livestock’s efforts will help restore almost 2.5 hectares of chalk grassland.

Traditional grazing methods, using a small number of sheep, are the best way to manage chalk grassland. The sheep – provided by our partners from the Old Surrey Downs project – will eat scrub and coarse grasses, improving biodiversity and encouraging wildflowers to grow.

Over the autumn of 2011 more scrub will be removed by hand to further enhance the habitat.

Traditionally, London’s grasslands were managed as hay meadows or as pasture for grazing livestock. Today areas full of wild flowers and grasses are particularly rare.

The capital’s protected heaths and commons are therefore very special, offering a ‘near rural’ experience for Londoners.

Chalk grassland develops on shallow lime-rich soils that are nutrient-poor and free-draining. In London it is found mainly on parts of the North Downs in the south and the Chilterns in the west. Chalk turf is dominated by various grasses. Since chalk, while easily eroded, is still a harder rock than many other sediments in southern England, it forms the characteristic rounded hills that have become known as ‘downs’.

Short turf is essential for many species that would not be able to compete with rank vegetation or need safe germination sites for their seeds. Chalk downs support an array of wildflowers, butterflies, grasshoppers and other invertebrates.

In spring and summer swathes of chalk flowers, such as oxeye daisy, man orchid and greater yellow-rattle, attract many

species of butterfly, including the dark green fritillary and rarer chalkhill blue.

Chalk downs have declined in London, in part due to the abandonment of sheep grazing, which would stop scrub invasion and kept grass short. Fertilisers, partial re-seeding and mowing, along with conversion to arable land, have also contributed to the decline. The introduction of the Metropolitan Green Belt in 1949 prevented further significant loss, after the expansion of residential areas onto the chalk in the inter war period.

Chapel Bank is always open and you’ll find entrances off Featherbed Lane or Farleigh Dean Crescent in Croydon.

You’ll find Chapel Bank by following the chalk walk around Hutchinson’s Bank, another site that’s worth a peek.

The steep grassland slope of Hutchinson’s Bank hosts wonderfully diverse butterflies, plantlife and birds.

Pyramidal, common spotted and man orchid are amongst the flora, with grasses including kidney vetch and the nationally scarce greater yellow-rattle. Over 100 species of moth have been recorded here and, in a good year, 28 species of butterfly can be seen, including small blue and dark green fritillary.

Once you arrive at Chapel Bank, you’ll find an area of ancient woodland, scrub and chalk grassland, spiked with orchids including common twayblade and white helleborine. Threecorner Grove is found between the two banks. It’s a small stand of ancient woodland with oak, wild cherry and hazel, plus moschatel, wild garlic and carpets of bluebell in spring.

Top: Common blue on ox-eye daisy © Fred Church Right: Man orchids grow on Chapel Bank © Bruce Shortland Opposite: Sheep at Chapel Bank © Graham Kenward

CHALK GRASSLAND APPEAL We’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done so far to reintroduce grazing to London’s chalk downs. While we’ve secured funding to cover the majority of the costs of the grazing project, we urgently need additional funding to help this scheme achieve its full potential. Accompanying your copy of Wild London is an appeal from our Chief Executive. Please read it and consider helping us to fully fund this fantastic initiative. Thank you.

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PYRAMIDAL ORCHID “I love the challenge of photographing orchids and other wildflowers, but it’s important not to damage the surrounding plants in the process. These orchids were growing right next to a path, so getting in close was no problem!” says photographer Roger Butterfield / www.rogerbutterfield.co.uk

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