Wild london winter 2011

London Wildlife Trust

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Protecting London’s wildlife for the future WINTER 2011 CELEBRATING THIRTY 11/11/2011 18:03

London Wildlife Trust is thirty years old and we’re celebrating this milestone with the third birthday edition of Wild London, which delves into our past and looks forward to the future.

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

WINTER 2011 Issue 96 Editor Helen Babbs www.helenbabbs.wordpress.com Editorial team Ed Dean Mathew Frith Catherine Harris John Lamb Leah McNally Kate Symonds Design www.thomasmatthews.com Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, with vegetable based inks.

Front cover photograph Frosty fox © Jules Cox / www.julescoxphotography.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.

Registered charity number 283895

Past, present, future Welcome to the winter issue of Wild London. It’s been a brilliant anniversary year. A recent highlight was a reception at the House of Commons hosted by Simon Hughes MP, one of our patrons.

It was attended by many influential people, including funders and a handful of founder members. Another highlight is our 30th birthday film, created in partnership with Viasat – read more on page 4.

Right now we’re concerned over a weakening of planning regulation and the Wildlife Trusts are urging ministers not to rush through changes – see page 4. We also continue to be concerned about proposals for a new high speed rail link between London and Birmingham, and possibly beyond. Trusts are strongly urging the government to re-think their current plans.

August saw the publication of Defra’s 2020 England Biodiversity Strategy, an important policy framework regarding nature conservation. We hosted the Secretary of State for Defra, Caroline Spelman, as she launched the document at Trust reserve, Camley Street Natural Park. It sets out how the government aims to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2020.

Looking ahead, the Olympics are now only a few months away, with the torch relay starting in May. We’re currently planning the launch of a new site next to Heathrow Airport in spring 2012.

A former car park, Huckerby’s Meadows (once known as Crane Meadows) will see the restoration of an important swathe of green belt – read more on page 18.

Make the most of London’s wildlife this winter – we have some great bird watching tips from one of our resident experts on page 16.

Carlo Laurenzi OBE Chief Executive of London Wildlife Trust

President Chris Packham Patrons Lord Peter Brooke Simon Hughes MP Lord Peter Melchett Bill Oddie Lord Chris Smith Contact us Skyline House, 200 Union Street, London, SE1 0LX 020 7261 0447 enquiries@wildlondon.org.uk www.wildlondon.org.uk

Above: 30th anniversary parliamentary reception © London Wildlife Trust

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Right: Fly agaric © Jules Cox / www.julescoxphotography.co.uk

Correction The wrong photographer was credited for the front cover image used in the summer issue.

The impressive shot was taken by Garry Knight. You can see more of his work at www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight 11/11/2011 18:03

News in brief Planning to weaken protection?

The Mayor’s new London Plan has set out bold aspirations for urban greening and wildlife conservation. We hope the work to protect over 1,500 wildlife sites is going to be embedded in its delivery.

However, wildlife-rich areas in England – equivalent to four and a half times the area of Greater London – could now be at greater risk under a new planning system, set out in a draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). London Wildlife Trust is concerned that any dilution of the protection afforded to wildlife sites will have dire long-term consequences for biodiversity, and for the ecosystem services they provide to local communities.

“We welcome the bold steps that the London Plan has taken in setting out a future-proofing strategy for the capital” says Mathew Frith, our Deputy Chief Executive. “It will help to ensure the survival of London’s wildlife habitats, and recognises the role of the natural environment in making London a better city in which to live, work and play. But we’re deeply concerned that the government’s emphasis on economic aims for a national planning system will undermine its stated environmental commitments.”

A Natural Environment White Paper, also published in the summer, recognises the need for the restoration and recovery of the natural environment at a landscape-scale, alongside the need to protect and enhance nature within our towns and cities. We welcome its commitment to establish Nature Improvement Areas, but have concerns that these, and other proposals, will be affected by the NPPF. Although the White Paper’s vision is broad, clear and admirable, it doesn’t provide enough detail as to how its 92 commitments will be achieved, nor does it commit to enshrining its aspirations in law.

Reel news London Wildlife Trust has two fantastic films out – one celebrating our Cockney Sparrow Project and the other marking our 30th anniversary. You can find both online at www.vimeo.com/25667131 and www.vimeo.com/24205959 respectively.

Thanks to Teilo Vellacott and Viasat for producing the films.

Butterfly watch Conservation work is paying off – there’s been a 200% rise in the number of small blue butterflies at our Hutchinson’s Bank chalk grassland reserve in the last 13 years.

Martin Wills has reported an astonishing count of 280 small blues for 2011. In other butterfly news, Camden resident James Leigh is looking for support for a butterfly flower garden project. If you’re interested in finding out more and perhaps getting involved email James at thebutterflyman@btinternet.com Top: Bittern © Jules Cox Left: Wasteland up for development in Sutton © Mathew Frith Below: Record numbers of small blues this year © Peter Eeles

Green Flags and Pennants all round Four of our nature reserves have been recognised as some of the best run green spaces in the country. The Centre for Wildlife Gardening, Crane Park Island, Camley Street Natural Park and East Reservoir Community Garden (Stoke Newington) have all received a Green Flag or Pennant Award, a sign that the sites are well-managed and welcoming places that are central to the local community.

Big Wildlife Garden A new contest aims to create the UK’s largest nature reserve. The Big Wildlife Garden (BWG) competition – a commitment in the government’s recently published Natural Environment White Paper – is being run by The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society, with funding from Defra.

It encourages everyone to do some wildlife gardening and anyone is eligible to take part. There are six categories and entry is free via the BWG website.

The competition was launched at Camley Street Natural Park by Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State for Defra. www.bigwildlifegarden.org.uk

Mad About Meadows

Owl Prowl 2011

London in Bloom, together with the London 2012 Changing Places Programme, London Wildlife Trust and other partners, have launched the Mad About Meadows project, which aims to protect and increase meadow habitat across London through better management, restoration and recreation schemes.

The project will raise awareness of the worrying decline of urban meadows and the species that depend upon them. Mad About Meadows will create a technical advisory group and an online information portal so that the public, local authorities and other organisations can get involved.

As part of our 30th anniversary celebrations, we’ve re-launched our Owl Prowl survey. In our original 1985 survey, 441 recordings were received including sightings of tawny owls in Berkeley Square and Bloomsbury, a barn owl in Ealing and a little owl in Willesden Junction.

Many Londoners are unaware that these shy birds can be found in the capital.

In order to raise awareness of the city’s owl populations and their conservation needs, we want you to let us know if you hear or see any owls. The presence of owls in London is indicative of the quality of the natural habitats we have. If owls are in decline it will highlight what measures we need to take to ensure their future survival.

See www.wildlondon.org.uk for how to share your sightings.

Memorial gates A memorial event was held this summer for Pat O’Reilly, who sadly died last year. Pat was instrumental in the regeneration of the Bellenden area of Peckham, including work at our Centre for Wildlife Gardening. A set of glorious gates in his honour, designed by Heather Burrell and Celia Hammond, now form the entrance to the site’s meadow.

The gates were funded by a Southwark Council collection.

Wetland walks After securing full access to the banks of East Reservoir (Stoke Newington), a new project will now give a broader range of visitors the chance to learn about local history and the natural landscape.

The operational reservoir is owned by Thames Water and is within a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The reservoir and the adjacent New River are home to a range of important species including common tern, reed bunting, emperor dragonfly and kingfisher. The ‘East Reservoir – Wildlife and Heritage’ project will engage people with a range of guided walks, which have been developed by Trust staff in discussion with current users of the site, and will be funded by Thames Water.

Far Left: Caroline Spelman and Carlo Laurenzi © Chris Taylor Left: Memorial gates © Celia Hammond

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Scaling the city Connecting amphibian and reptile environments

DID YOU KNOW? • If threatened, grass snakes can ‘play dead’, opening their mouth and lying on their back to reveal black and white underside markings.

• Watch closely and you’ll see a slow worm blink – distinguishing them from eyelid-less snakes.

• Adders are not aggressive and death from an adder bite is extremely rare (much rarer than death due to wasp or bee stings).

• Slow-worms eat slugs, making them the gardener’s best friend.

• You can create an amphibian and reptile friendly garden with a mosaic of habitats including native plants, wild areas, a pond, a log pile, a compost heap and a rockery.

An article in Wild London 10 years ago suggested London’s amphibians and reptiles had an uncertain future. Sophie Hinton asks if things have changed.

If anything the situation has worsened in the last decade. A severe lack of up-todate information on the whereabouts of London’s snakes, lizards, newts, frogs and toads (collectively known as herpetofauna) makes their future even less certain today.

This lack of data hampers conservation, as we’re unable to predict the severity of their decline or fight for what could be their last remaining strongholds.

But something can and is being done to help. A group of organisations have joined forces to raise awareness of cold-blooded Londoners and find out where they’re living.

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London, London Amphibian and Reptile Group and London, Essex & Hertfordshire Amphibian and Reptile Trust are working together on the Connecting London’s Amphibian & Reptile Environments (CLARE) project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

We now need your help scaling the city.

Many of us will have seen a common frog on a friend’s lawn, a slow-worm in a shared allotment or, if you’re very lucky, an adder on London’s few heathlands. This is exactly the kind of information that can help to secure a future for these species in London.

As members you can take action simply by telling us about the amphibians and reptiles you’ve spotted around town – either by post (request a CLARE leaflet) or online www.arc-trust.org/CLARE. Apart from being a hotspot for exotic reptiles (often escapees of the pet trade, such as red-eared terrapin), London is also home to four of six native British reptiles – common lizard, slow-worm, grass snake and adder. Once common across much of London’s landscapes, these species are disappearing due to a loss of habitat. With their limited ability to move long distances, fragmentation makes it even more difficult for them to travel between areas. Our native

reptiles are also threatened by persecution because of a lack of understanding and misplaced concern that they may cause harm.

Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) Small and extremely quick, common lizards range from grey to green to ginger.

Favouring dry, open habitats, they’re becoming less common but can still be seen in open areas with good sun exposure and connectivity, such as railway embankments and allotments. You could spot one on a visit to Crane Park Island, Denham Lock Wood or the Trust’s chalk grassland sites.

Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) London’s most commonly encountered lizard, the slow-worm’s snake-like appearance can cause alarm. They thrive in some of London’s most urban habitats including railway lines and wastelands, as well as allotments and gardens with wilder vegetation. You could spot one on a visit to Gunnersbury Triangle, the Greenway or the Trust’s chalk grassland sites.

Grass snake (Natrix natrix) The UK’s largest snake, growing over a metre long, grass snakes vary in colour from bright green to almost black. They’re often found near open woodland, gardens, golf courses and hedgerows, or hunting in ponds or lakes for amphibian or fish prey. A yellow-cream collar behind the head distinguishes them from adders. You could spot one on a visit to Crane Park Island, Denham Lock Wood or Frays Farm Meadow.

Adder (Vipera berus) Recognised by a distinct dark zigzag dorsal pattern, the adder is Britain’s only venomous snake. They vary from brick red to brown and even grey-black. Favouring heathlands, commons and open woodlands, they’re now confined to a just a few sites in London.

For more information on how to encourage amphibians and reptiles into your garden please visit www.arc-trust.org/dragons.

For further project information or to request a CLARE leaflet contact sophie.hinton@arc-trust.org / 07810 184 501 / 020 7261 0447 Sophie Hinton is the CLARE Project Officer

Top: Slow-worm © Howard Inns Centre: Common lizard © Fred Holmes Above: Adder © Fred Holmes Opposite: Grass snake © Fred Holmes

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Forces for change Reflections on the urban nature conservation movement

Dr David Goode describes how a quiet revolution turned into one of the most exciting periods in the history of British nature conservation.

During the passage of the Wildlife & Countryside Act in 1981, conservation suddenly became newsworthy. People became aware of the widespread destruction of habitats and the need to strengthen the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) system to prevent further losses. Nowhere in all the debate was there any mention of urban wildlife. Yet a quiet revolution was getting underway.

I remember telling someone from WWF that I was leaving the Nature Conservancy Council to become Senior Ecologist at the Greater London Council, in 1982.

Their response was “Oh, what a waste!”

What they didn’t know was that the next few years were to be one of the most exciting periods in the history of nature conservation in Britain. But it didn’t happen in the countryside. London became one of the centres of a revolution that swept through towns and cities during the 1980s.

The newly formed London Wildlife Trust rapidly became one of the leaders and was instrumental in making many of the changes happen. It gave a voice to local people and suddenly there was a realisation that nature mattered to people here. In fact, it mattered more to people living in heavily built-up parts of the capital than it did to many rural dwellers.

While national SSSIs depended on specific criteria, such as the presence of long established natural habitats and rare species, these things were of less importance in an urban context. It was the value of ordinary nature to local people in the places where they lived and worked that lay at the heart of the matter.

The first test case for these new ideas was Gunnersbury Triangle – a small piece of woodland in the heart of Chiswick, which became a milestone in the history of urban nature conservation. It was disused railway land, designated for commercial use in the local plan and up for development

in 1982. There were none of the natural attributes of rarity or diversity that would qualify it for conservation using existing rules.

So the odds were against Chiswick Wildlife Group when they decided to fight the proposal. They argued that the wood was of great value to local people for the enjoyment of nature and for environmental education, and that it should be kept as a nature reserve. 200 people came to the public inquiry and it was the strength of local opinion that determined its outcome.

The Inspector was so impressed by the strength of local feeling, and particularly by the evidence provided by the Chiswick Wildlife Group, that he decided “the local ecological importance of this site is so great that planning permission should not be granted.”

The Trust became a leader and was instrumental in making things happen His decision in favour of conservation effectively changed the rules overnight and, incidentally, the Triangle went on to become one of the Trust’s early nature reserves. Since then, the Trust has fought and won many other planning cases and the arguments have become well established.

The emphasis on nature for people has been the hallmark of the Trust in all its reserves, whether it’s Sydenham Hill Wood, Crane Park Island or Camley Street Natural Park. It has also mobilised large numbers of people to get personally involved in recording particular species – like the

foxes, owls and hedgehogs they see in their gardens or local parks – bringing nature close to thousands of people.

Over the years, the Trust has had enormous influence on national policy.

What started as a minority view, promoted by a few urban Wildlife Trusts, has now become mainstream among county Trusts and many other nature conservation organisations, including national agencies.

The range of London Wildlife Trust’s work has expanded significantly, promoting new approaches to habitat creation, park management, gardening for wildlife, and a host of initiatives that make up the London Biodiversity Action Plan. Ideas such as green roofs take a long time to come to fruition but are now becoming accepted by architects and developers, largely due to the Trust’s perseverance and ability to support others within its realm of influence.

It is good to know that the Trust remains at the cutting edge of the politics and practice of urban ecology.

David Goode became the Director of the London Ecology Unit following the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986, and ensured that elements of the Unit’s work were embraced by the Greater London Authority in 2000. He is the author of Wild in London (1986) and an editor of the Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology (2011).

Top: Sydenham Hill Wood leaflet from the 1980s Opposite: Gunnersbury Triangle © David Goode

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“I still want to change the world” Joanna Simons CBE

“Natural history should be brought back as a subject in schools” Chris Rose

In 1981 Joanna was a housing officer for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and one of the founders of London Wildlife Trust. She’s now Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council. She shares her thoughts on our anniversary.

“30 years is a long time but, while the world has changed immensely, the Trust is still involved with many of the same sites and the same issues as back then. The appeal of outdoor spaces, the importance of green lungs in the city, campaigns for conservation and a passion to increase Londoners’ access to our environmental heritage have all stayed constant.

At the start we were all volunteers, and young ones at that, mostly in our early twenties. We were challenging the nature conservation establishment with our commitment to a new idea of urban conservation.

But even then, the Trust’s appeal stretched across the ages and we had allies and friends from all sorts of different backgrounds. We needed them, as this new concept was one that had to be argued for and debated, which we did with vigour in lots of different forums. We also had a lot of fun and, in the run up to the ‘Nature in London’ conference (which launched what became the London Wildlife Trust), I can remember all sorts of events and activities.

These ranged from the famous Primrose Hill declaration, to Ken Livingstone putting up bird boxes outside County Hall, to (horrendously) my hosting of the original Trust ‘shop’. This was in reality a box of bits and pieces that lived under my bed, including badges I was carrying when I was mugged on the way home from a session making the wretched things at Chris Rose’s house!

Back then it was all about making the case for conservation. Perhaps now the Trust’s role is more about maintaining the opportunity for conservation, as the pressure on sites becomes ever greater. Today it’s about creativity and making more of what we’ve got – whether that’s green roofs on houses, reed beds in ponds or that little bit of native planting that we can do at home.”

Chris Rose was the Trust’s first Chairman and later our Conservation Officer, before working for Friends of the Earth, WWF International, Greenpeace and many other organisations. He runs a free how-to-campaign website at www.campaignstrategy.org.

He shares his thoughts on the Trust’s 30th.

“I started the London Wildlife Group, which became London Wildlife Trust, because I was frustrated by the attitude of existing Wildlife Trusts towards urban areas.

At the time, I was researching for a PhD in lichen ecology (never finished) and worked part-time for the then Hertfordshire & Middlesex Trust as its Field Officer in Greater London. In those days much of the Wildlife Trust movement had turned its back on towns and suburbs. Fortunately that’s changed since 1980.

We knitted together new and existing groups from across London to create what became the Trust. Personally, I’d volunteered with Natural History Societies in Ruislip for years, mixing field studies of nature with habitat conservation and a few planningrelated campaigns, such as opposing gravel extraction at Frays Farm.

Looking back, it’s clear that we relied hugely on the accumulated expertise of generations of amateur London naturalists. This country has the best recorded wildlife and nature in the world, and London used to have more naturalists than anywhere else. We now face a biodiversity crisis – disappearing nature – which most people are blind to.

Many of us can’t recognise common species of wildflower, tree or insect, which makes it harder to notice subtler changes, such as marsh or willow tits vanishing from woodlands, or see that the range of moths gathered around night-time lights has dwindled from dozens to just a handful. Conservation has professionalised and neglected natural history.

Natural history should be brought back as a subject in schools. Working for the past decade with the Fairyland Trust, I’ve found teachers can be resistant to teaching kids about nature. Not just because of time or resource issues, but because they don’t feel confident identifying trees growing in their own school grounds.

There are many other issues I could write about but for me this is number one. The Trust has a tradition of innovation. I believe London could be the crucible of a campaign to equip grown-ups with nature knowledge, and London’s schools could lead the way in reviving basic natural history understanding.

It’s great that London Wildlife Trust has continued the species specific campaigns we began in the 1980s – focusing on owls, stag beetles and kestrels – and that the Trust plays a national strategic role in keeping wildlife in the mind-space of the capital, as well as in the daily life of every London borough.”

Above: Gunnersbury Triangle leaflet from 1988 and Save Rainham Marshes campaign leaflet Right: Trust officer stands in front of a bulldozer at Sydenham Hill Woods in the late 80s © London Wildlife Trust

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TAKE ACTION Visit www.wildlondon.org.uk/ getinvolved to find out about one-off events, regular volunteering sessions, Local Groups and campaigns that you can get involved with. Why not take part in our current wildlife surveys too? Read about amphibian and reptile recording on page 7 and Owl Prowl on page 5, and then send us your sightings.

LOCAL GROUP CONTACTS Barnet Group Clive Cohen: 020 8959 2987 notinbooks.conservation@btinternet.com —————————————————— Camden Group David Lawrence: 020 7974 8818 david.lawrence@camden.gov.uk —————————————————— Chiswick Group Karen Roberts: 020 8993 6514 —————————————————— Croydon Group John Russell: 01689 846 660 —————————————————— Hutchinson’s Bank Group Malcolm Bridge: malcolm.bridge@ntlworld.com —————————————————— Hillingdon Group Roger Taylor: 01895 448 028 lwthillingdon@aol.com —————————————————— Hounslow Group Mandy Timpson: 020 8577 0690 —————————————————— Merton Group Alan Gray: graybeard49@btinternet.com Paul Pickering: paul.pickering5@btopenworld.com —————————————————— Redbridge Group Tajinder Lachher: 020 8503 9515 —————————————————— Sutton Group Derek Coleman: 020 8669 7421 Norman Jones: 020 8286 1874 —————————————————— Sydenham Hill Wood Group Ashley White: 020 7252 9186 awhite@wildlondon.org.uk

Left: Environmental education in action © John Paul Taberdo

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Greening London’s grey The natural value of our housing estates

Our city is full of estates that are perceived as barren and grey.

Gareth Morgan argues that these often unloved places have plenty of potential for people and wildlife.

Surprisingly, the green space surrounding social housing estates may actually exceed that of public parks in many areas of London. We only have data confirming this is the case in Islington, but it’s obviously true in other areas of London too.

However, many residents view these landscapes as deteriorating and underused, suffering from a legacy of underinvestment and cycles of misuse. Many estate green spaces are of poor quality, fragmented and often stand in areas with little access to nature. The opportunities for appreciation of the natural world are extremely limited.

London Wildlife Trust is taking action to alter this. Our Natural Estates project is pioneering changes in the way social housing green spaces are managed, and we’re determined to engage local residents along the way. Funded by Big Lottery Access to Nature, with the active involvement of eight different social landlords and Natural England, our community outreach officers are aiming to reach over 13,000 households.

We’re currently working in partnership with residents and staff on nine estates across London. Our aim is to reconnect people of all ages with the nature on their doorstep, improving their health and well12 LWT_01_08_winter11_111111.indd 12-13

being at the same time as enhancing the biodiversity value of their grounds.

Programmes of activities are run throughout the seasons, responding to priorities identified by residents. These could include conducting wildlife surveys, building and putting up bird and bat boxes, installing stag beetle log piles and planting native hedges and wildflower meadows.

People attend inspiring wildlife talks and walks on their estate, or at local nature reserves, and groups are being supported to take a more active role in managing the green spaces where they live.

We’re pioneering changes in estate management The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Duncan is a resident of the Meadows Estate in Hounslow. “I’m really happy we’re creating a garden here.

Since we built the mini-beast hotel we’ve seen hedgehogs and I’ve also seen bats flying around in the evenings. I’m looking forward to planting hedges this winter!”

IMPORTANT FACTS • 60% of London is green space. Despite this, nationally, Londoners are the least likely to spend time in the outdoors.

• The quality of open space has a profound impact on people’s health and well-being, and can provide a focal point for social interaction.

Frances, another Meadows Estate resident, recently joined a guided walk to nearby Hounslow Heath. “It’s not the kind of place I would normally go on my own – the paths are narrow and you can’t see round corners. But I really enjoyed visiting the heath and learning about the wildlife living there. I felt safe being part of the group.”

The project is teaching a new generation to appreciate the natural world. A parent of one of the children taking part in the Natural Estates summer programme explains. “These wildlife activities are great for the kids. There’s not much for them to do in the holidays and they get bored easily. This has kept them busy looking for bugs, learning about different plants and flowers. We’re looking forward to future activities!”

Some changes are simple to make – like leaving some grassy areas to grow long, which encourages wildflowers – but unless the grounds maintenance teams are fully on board these things can be easily undone by some hasty mowing! For this reason, we’re also working closely with social landlords to ensure their staff receive training, and that the interventions being made can be sustained beyond the life of the project.

London Wildlife Trust has been working with social landlords for almost 20 years – providing advice, improving habitats and engaging residents. Our current Natural Estates project contributes to the Neighbourhoods Green programme, which highlights the importance of open space for residents of social housing and works with landlords to raise the quality of their design, management and safe use.

See www.neighbourhoodsgreen.org.uk for more information.

Natural Estates follows on from other successful estate-based projects like the Cockney Sparrow partnership with Peabody.

When the Natural Estates project comes to an end in September 2013, we’ll publish a report to share what we’ve learned with others in the social housing and conservation sectors.

If you live on an estate, why not take the initiative and contact your landlord to see how you can improve your shared green spaces for wildlife? You could start a gardening club, lead a native hedge planting day or install bird feeders around the grounds. All are great ways to get active and to get to know your neighbours.

Gareth Morgan is the Trust’s People & Wildlife Projects Manager

• The area of social housing green space in London is not currently known, but in some neighbourhoods it exceeds the amount of public parks.

• In deprived, inner-city areas, people have access to five times less public parks and good quality green space than people in affluent areas.

• Residents living in social housing are more likely to live in areas of public open space deficiency and poor environmental quality.

• CCTV and alienating fortifications have been proved to be less effective than community gardens at improving security.

• The eight social landlords we are working with are City West Homes, Southern Housing, Gallions Housing Association, Places for People, Circle 33 Housing Trust, Affinity Sutton (Broomleigh HA), Peabody and Homes for Haringey.

Top: Woodberry Down estate in Hackney © London Wildlife Trust Opposite: Thamesmead bird feeder © John Paul Taberdo

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Highs and lows Winter interview

Jenny Schofield and Donald Ritchie reminisce about working for London Wildlife Trust in the 2000s, in the last of three 30th anniversary interviews.

London Wildlife Trust was a different organisation at the turn of the century, highlighting how much things can change in a decade, never mind 30 years. In the year 2000, Donald Ritchie was a Trustee and Jenny Schofield had just landed the job of Conservation Manager. Meeting 11 years later for a catch-up over coffee, the Millennium seems deep in the past.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) had just been established and London had a new Mayor, Ken Livingstone. It was a busy and exciting time to be working in urban nature conservation. “The new Authority had a statutory commitment to publish a Biodiversity Strategy – the first in the country – and there was a production line of habitat and species plans. The London Biodiversity Partnership had also just published a comprehensive Biodiversity Action Plan” explains Jenny.

“There was lots of debate and discussion – possibly too much – but it was topical and political. We lingered on certain words and hoped they’d become powerful, particularly regarding wasteland and brownfield sites.

Planning applications on such sites today will always include wildlife surveys.

That’s the result of the energy we put in back then.”

“It was great to have London-wide government again” adds Donald. “We had 14 LWT_01_08_winter11_111111.indd 14-15

high hopes for the Mayor, as he was known to have an interest in biodiversity.

The downside was the fact the London Ecology Unit got subsumed into the GLA and became the Biodiversity Team.

Even that’s gone now – they have an urban greening programme that’s much less well resourced and has a different focus. There were a lot of ecologists at the GLA who were politically vulnerable when Boris Johnson took over.”

Jenny brings up the development of Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL), an organisation born out the Trust’s London Biological Recording project that began in 1996. “It sustained itself and became GiGL in 2005” she says, looking pleased. “Unblocking issues about sharing data was really important, as having a firm evidence base was fundamental for our conservation work. GiGL has thought creatively about how data can be used and shared, and has collaborated with lots of partners.”

The thing about the Trust that stood out for Jenny were the people – both staff and volunteers. She also fell in love with the Centre for Wildlife Gardening, which illustrated the potential of small urban spaces. “It seemed very fun and alive” she says, quickly dropping into the first person plural with fond talk of “our reserves”.

Donald became a Trustee after working as Local Groups Officer in the early 1990s.

His role as a Trustee is very different to his earlier incarnation. “Governance is a serious issue – the Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for the direction of the Trust and its compliance with the law. We make sure we stay loyal to our charitable mission.

It’s the Board’s job to offer continuity and look at longer term goals.”

The 2000s saw the development of some serious competition for the Trust which suddenly found itself in a crowded market, competing for profile and funding with the likes of WWT, RSPB, the Woodland Trust, Butterfly Conservation, and the Natural History Museum.

“I never knew that sparrows could be political beasts” jokes Jenny. “There was a scramble to see who could say the most dynamic thing about their population crash, but it was more about publicity than conservation. We didn’t have a single focus like, say, the RSPB.” We turn to the tricky subject of the Association of London Government (ALG) grant. It was a significant source of unrestricted funding for the Trust from the late 1980s. Three things happened in quick succession in the early 2000s that left the organisation reeling. Director Graham Turnball and Assistant Director Ralph Games left within a year of each other; the Trust lost the ALG grant; and this was followed in October 2003 by the sudden death of Pete Guest, a beloved member of staff and ex-Trustee. “I remember vividly getting together with other honorary officers and wondering whether we were viable for the next year. It was a really shaky time” says Donald.

“We muddled through – our then new Chief Executive Carlo Laurenzi can tell you how. We had a double dip, things weren’t as bad as we thought but later we did have to make a small number of painful staff redundancies. I think the Trust is unrecognisable today. Growth over the last five years has been impressive, and we’ve shown resilience when the rest of the sector has taken a bashing. We’re diverse in what we do. I’m optimistic for the future.”

“We wrote our first strategy in 2005, outlining a five year plan. We did a good job on it and embraced wider issues like climate change, which was becoming a high

profile concern. Carlo starting was a big change – the growth we’ve seen is partly due to his ambition for the organisation.

Justin Dillon’s steady Chairmanship from 2001, after a period of moribund governance and financial meltdown, was also crucial. He reinvigorated our governance” says Donald.

We move on to talk about the relationship between staff and volunteers in the 2000s. “It was a mixed relationship.

When I arrived we wanted to make things more consistent, and have a similar approach across the groups.

It was a struggle – respecting people’s energy while trying to join things up.

But that’s the nature of working with individuals” reflects Jenny.

I never knew sparrows could be political beasts.

As a Trustee, Donald is a volunteer, and recently worked on a volunteering review for the Trust. “Volunteering went out of fashion in the 2000s. People in the 1970s and 1980s volunteered for altruistic reasons, whereas today people ask what’s in it for them. The Trust is also a far more professional organisation now. Back in the days when everybody rolled their sleeves up, we were much more in tune with our volunteers. The balance of power has shifted and resources have moved to the centre.”

After all this chat about the past, does 30 seem like an important landmark to staff who worked there during the first decade of the 21st century? “When the Trust was 20 we weren’t reflective at all” says Jenny.

“30 isn’t that old in an organisation’s life.

But I think the Trust is here to stay – it could evolve in many different ways but it will be around.”

JENNY SCHOFIELD Jenny moved to London to join the Trust in 2000 as Conservation Manager, which was a dream come true for an urban nature fan with a love of sparrows.

She now works for the Environment Agency’s London Environment Team.

DONALD RITCHIE After working as the Trust’s Local Groups Officer in the early 90s, Donald joined Friends of the Earth as their national Local Groups Coordinator. He became a Trustee in 1999 (and Honorary Secretary in 2001), but is now standing down after over a decade of meetings.

He currently works as an environmental consultant for National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Interview by Helen Babbs

Left/right: Wild London front covers from the 2000s

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Your wild London

Going Wild

Appeal update

London Wildlife Trust runs a range of events each year, many of them free.

We can only provide a taste of events in Wild London so make sure you check our website regularly – www.wildlondon.org.uk/getinvolved – to find out what’s on and where.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our chalk grassland restoration summer appeal.

We’re pleased to announce that we made our target of £5,153, which will cover the volunteer and community element of the project at Hutchinson’s Bank.

The appeal also raised enough to unlock further funding for the Wilderness Island Access project, which will raise awareness of the variety and value of the habitats at the Island. We will now be able to put in improved paths, which will help protect the reserve’s ecologically sensitive habitats by reducing off-path trampling.

Accompanying your copy of Wild London is a letter from our Chief Executive about our winter funding appeal.

We hope that you’ll be able to help once again by making a donation to support our important work.

Barking Riverside Bird Walk Saturday 3rd December, 10:30am–12:30pm Project Office, Barking Riverside Ltd car park, off Renwick Road Tree dressing Monday 5th December, 2–4pm Crane Park Island Winter Woodland Work at Ten Acre Wood Sunday 15th January from 9:45am Ten Acre Wood, Hillingdon

Keeping watch this winter Our Conservation Ecologist, Tony Wileman, shares some seasonal urban bird watching tips.

The winter months are often seen as a time with few wildlife watching opportunities, but this is actually far from the truth. Why not wrap-up warm and go for a walk in your local nature reserve or park on a crisp, sunny morning and look out for some varied and beautiful winter birdlife.

Although London’s warblers and swifts are now enjoying the hot and tropical climes of Africa, many birds head to Britain from the Arctic to overwinter.

The capital’s slightly warmer conditions attract a large variety of birds, in search of berries, earthworms and fish to eat.

A trip to one of our woodland reserves like Sydenham Hill Wood, or to most large parks, should reward you with sightings of redwing and fieldfare.

Both of these thrushes come to Britain from Scandinavia in huge numbers to strip our trees and shrubs of any remaining berries. Finches, like the chaffinch, also arrive from Scandinavia and can be in 1,000 strong flocks.

You may also spot a brambling over from Scandinavia or northern Russia, a very pretty bird that’s often overlooked. Smaller finches like lesser redpoll and siskin also arrive, mostly from Scandinavia, northern Europe or northern Russia, in small flocks of up to 50. These are found where alder or birch trees grow – try Denham Lock Wood, Gunnersbury Triangle, Crane Park Island or even Camley Street Natural Park in King’s Cross, which is visited by both species most winters.

If it’s wetland birds you like, head to East Reservoir Community Garden in Stoke Newington where you can see a variety of ducks from the hide, including wigeon, tufted duck, shoveler, teal and pochard. The reservoir is often free of ice and regularly hosts less common ducks like goldeneye, smew and goosander.

Bittern has also been seen here during the last two winters.

There are many events taking place across London this winter and they’re all listed on our website. If you don’t have internet access please contact John on 020 7803 4289 for a printed events guide.

Limited edition prints Woop Studios have designed two limited edition prints to promote our latest surveys of kestrels and stag beetles.

Designers have created ‘A Hover of Kestrels’ and ‘A Fondness of Stag Beetles’, both of which are being sold online at www.woopstudios.com with 10% of sales donated to London Wildlife Trust.

Director of Woop Studios, Mark Faulkner explained why. “London’s wildlife is a priceless asset that we can all appreciate and enjoy. We hope that these dramatic images will help encourage Londoners to get counting.”

Competition We have three copies of Remembered Recipes to give away – a book by the Dulwich Informal Growers and produced by our Centre for Wildlife Gardening. To be in with a chance of winning, tell us how many recordings were received in our original Owl Prowl survey in 1985. Email your answer to members@wildlondon.org.uk by 9th December.

Left/top: Goosander © Graham Carey Left/centre: Brambling © Graham Carey Left/bottom: Siskin © Graham Carey Right: A Hover of Kestrels © Woop Studios

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Huckerby’s Meadows The return of the wild

A unique site beside Heathrow Airport is being given a new lease of life – and a new name – thanks to London Wildlife Trust, says Ian Rappel.

Sometimes the most inhospitable places for people can prove to be oases for wildlife.

At the end of Heathrow Airport’s first runway, London Wildlife Trust has a 13 hectare nature reserve that runs along the western bank of the River Crane, between the A4 and the A30. Its western edge is formed by the boundary fence and eastern perimeter road of the airport.

The whole site became the freehold of London Wildlife Trust following local authority boundary changes, as well as a rationalisation of ownership by the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow and the British Airports Authority (BAA).

The reserve was originally split into three sections, but has an exciting, unified future. As part of the local authority boundary changes, the Trust acquired the southern part of the site in 1994, together with a sitting tenant, Mrs Huckerby, who had been grazing a small number of horses there since the early 1960s.

The northernmost section was, until the winter of 2009, a rather unglamorous tarmac-surfaced car park. It was given to the Trust by BAA Heathrow Airport Ltd but, for much of the last decade, was leased back for use as a long-stay car park for the airport.

Over the winter of 2008-2009, the car parks in the north were restored to green fields and Mrs Huckerby surrendered her tenancy of the southern paddocks, after 60 years of her family’s stewardship.

The land in between was also a one-time car park, but was offered to the Trust as part of a Section 106 agreement.

This agreement includes the restoration of the site – work estimated to total £1.4 million – with an endowment fund for future maintenance.

With the whole site now under the Trust’s control, we’re starting to develop our plans for the future of what is a very unique nature reserve. With the northern sections of the site so recently restored,

we’ll be adopting a watching brief on its development, while maintaining a regular grass cutting regime in line with the requirements of Heathrow’s birdstrike team.

In the south, following half a century of light horse grazing, we’ve tried to gently push back the worst of the encroaching scrub and coarse grasses by introducing cattle grazing in partnership with our Hillingdon grazier, Kevin Poulter from Priors Farm.

We’re using cattle that were born and raised next to Northolt Airport, which means they aren’t spooked by planes coming in to land just 60 metres above them. The cows certainly seem less flustered by low flying aircraft than the volunteers and staff that work on the site!

The site is also part of an Environment Agency project identified for winter 201112, when the meanders and oxbows of the River Crane will be restored, including management of the old willows, scrub clearance and the appropriate disposal of silts.

We’re currently reviewing the reserve’s potential for feeding into a wider Living Landscape project for the Crane catchment, working alongside the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow, and BAA Heathrow.

Unfortunately, our one-time tenant Mrs Huckerby passed away early in 2011.

With a connection to the site that goes back over half a century, we’re re-naming the reserve, once known as Crane Meadows, to Huckerby’s Meadows in her honour.

Ian Rappel is the Trust’s Conservation Land Manager

Top: Huckerby’s Meadows © Shaun Marriott

WILDLIFE TO SPOT AT THE MEADOWS A mosaic of old pasture and newly established grassland can be found here.

Numerous plant species grow, including tall oat grass, Yorkshire fog, hairy sedge and smooth hawksbeard. In several places abandoned river meanders have become small oxbows, shaded by willow, oak, elder and sycamore. A rough collection of tall herbs includes nettle, redshank and water pepper, where butterflies and other invertebrates can be found. Other habitats include scrub, river, ditches and wet woodland. On a visit you might spot bugle, ragged-robin, sharp-flowered sedge, weld, kingfisher and small heath butterfly.

Opposite: Huckerby’s Meadows © Mathew Frith

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FROSTY FOX “I captured this image at the start of the winter freeze. I was sat in a hide on the far shore of a frozen lake in west London, watching bitterns, when this urban fox came out onto the ice in the hope of catching some breakfast. The fox’s winter coat looks beautiful set against an icy backdrop” says photographer Jules Cox / www.julescoxphotography.co.uk

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