SuffolkWildlife News from Suffolk Wildlife Trust
January 2016
Living Landscapes Living Gardens Living Seas
SuffolkWildlife January 2016
News from Suffolk Wildlife
Trust
On the cover Otter Robin Chittenden FLPA
Living Landscapes
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Seas Living Gardens Living
JOHN FERGUSON
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JON EVANS
P16
TOM MARSHALL
P12
ALAMY
P9
BRIIDGE KATHY LANG
JANUARY 2016
Water vole
YOUR MAGAZINE
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST
Suffolk Wildlife is published by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking IP6 9JY 01473 890089 info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org SWT CENTRES Bradfield Woods 01449 737996 Carlton Marshes 01502 564250 Foxburrow Farm 01394 380113 Knettishall Heath 07717 156601 Lackford Lakes 01284 728706 Redgrave & Lopham Fen 01379 688333 EDITOR Matt Gaw DESIGN & ARTWORK Clare Sheehan ADVERTISING Today Magazines, Framlingham 01728 622030 PRINTING Five Castles Press, Ipswich
PATRON Lord Tollemache PRESIDENT Lord Blakenham VICE PRESIDENTS David Barker MBE, Sir Kenneth Carlisle, Lord Deben, Bernard Tickner, Peter Wilson TRUSTEES Ian Brown (Chairman), Nigel Farthing (Vice Chairman), Robin Drayton (Treasurer), James Robinson (Hon Secretary), David Alborough, John Cousins, Denise Goldsmith, Pip Goodwin, Peter Holborn, Simon Roberts Suffolk Wildlife Trust is one of a national network of Wildlife Trusts dedicated to safeguarding the future of wildlife for the benefit of all Suffolk Wildlife Trust is a registered charity no 262777 and a company limited by guarantee no 695346
DAISY HAWKINS
Welcome
Our plans at Black Bourn for a rougher, wilder valley will help small mammals to thrive
YOUR MEMBERSHIP The Trust benefits from the most incredible support, with many members’ commitment stretching over decades. Please keep in touch so we can ensure you get the most out of your membership.
Samantha Grange Our Membership Manager would love to hear from you. Please call on 01473 890089
fulfilled a long held dream last summer and visited Transylvania in Romania. The attraction was walking through a landscape where bear, wolf and lynx still roamed even if my chances of seeing one were infinitesimally small. I was thrilled to come across a bear print in the soft mud alongside a stream but, in the end, it was not these huge beasts that left the greatest impact. It was the flower-rich meadows disappearing into the horizon without a fence in sight. Even in the dry heat of mid-summer they were a mass of colour Julian Roughton – purple sages, yellow mulleins, pink century, blue Chief executive chicory and the creamy white of wild carrot alongside many other unfamiliar flowers. Every footstep created a ripple of grasshoppers – an overabundance of food for red-backed shrikes, which stood sentinel on every bush and bramble clump. And butterflies beyond counting: marbled whites, fritillaries, swallowtails, giant chocolate-coloured ringlets, coppers, purple emperors and silver-studded blues by the hundreds sipping from tiny wet hollows and dancing in clouds when disturbed. These grasslands pulsated with life. The acclaimed author Simon Barnes, who writes in this issue of Suffolk Wildlife, calls this – bio-abundance. A sheer, exciting mass of wildlife – an all-too rare experience. In Romania it was notable how habitats merged – dark woods of oak, hornbeam and lime blended into sweeping valley grasslands dotted by ancient oaks or, more often, with wild pear and plum trees. Shepherds followed their flocks of sheep and goats accompanied by fierce looking dogs. But these grasslands were not the tightly grazed sheep fields we are accustomed to see in England. Here they were tussocky, rich in flowers with pockets of thorny scrub. Where scrub had grown too high or dense the shepherds cut it down enabling goats to browse the prickly regrowth and create a future succession of scrub. It is not just the extent of habitat that enables wildlife to thrive but the merging of woodland, grassland and scrub. These untidy and complex edges are where insects thrive and food chains begin and why we encourage such mosaics on our nature reserves. Sometimes it is not possible – our smallest flower-rich meadows are so tiny and precious that there is little space for bramble and scrub. The solution is to make our reserves bigger to create more space. Our latest acquisition in the Black Bourn Valley is such a purchase. Now 200 acres of river, wet meadow, dry grassland, scrub and woodland blend into each other offering complexity and variety upon which nature depends. Our plans are for a rougher and wilder valley where insects and small mammals thrive and benefit a cascade of species from yellowhammer to barn owl. Thank you for making this possible – not just along the Black Bourn but, through your membership, across our reserves.
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We can tailor your membership to suit your family. If your children are aged betwen 6-14 they’d enjoy our Wildlife Watch magazine. Likewise do let us know if your children have grown too old for the magazine. DAVID KJAER
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 3
Flight of the
spoonbill CONSERVATION NEWS
he spoonbill has to be one of the most distinctive of wetland birds and would be a particular highlight of any visit to the coast, so the appearance of up to 17 birds at Hazlewood Marshes late last year was quite exceptional. However, this appears to be
DAVID TIPLING
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reflecting the national picture where spoonbill numbers are increasing in the UK and there is even a small breeding population in Norfolk. They are drawn to Hazlewood Marshes by the opportunity to feed on small fish and crustaceans and can remain quite faithful to good feeding sites so there is every chance they will become more frequent visitors to
The transformation at Hazlewood from grazing marsh to a mix of intertidal habitats is providing key habitat for spoonbill
Fledgling success
DAVID KJAER
Lapwing and lapwing chick
the reserve. There is no doubt that the transformation at Hazlewood from grazing marsh to a mix of inter-tidal habitats is continuing to surprise and delight visitors. However, re-instating access to the hide has proved to be challenging and we are actively trying to resolve this and looking at other ways in which visitors can enjoy the reserve.
STEVE AYLWARD & DAVID KJAER
A project to improve the chances of breeding wading birds like lapwing and redshank at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Trimley Marshes reserve is proving to be a success. Over a mile of 1.5metre fencing, funded by a grant of £21,836 awarded by The Veolia Environmental Trust, was installed at the site near Felixstowe at the beginning of 2015 to prevent ground predation by foxes and badgers. In the first breeding season since the fence was installed, fledgling numbers have been up on the previous two years. A total of 15 lapwing fledglings, more than eight redshank fledglings and an oystercatcher fledging have all been recorded. The creation of Higher Level Stewardship-funded shallow scrapes within the fencing also has helped to attract breeding birds, as well as passage birds such as spotted redshank, greenshank, green sandpiper, whimbrel, ruff and spoonbill.
Trimley Marshes sites manager Andrew Excell said brood successes from new scrapes matched or exceeded those on established lagoons.
Some lapwings placed nests where they’d never attempt in previous years “We saw that displaying waders were less interrupted in their territorial flights and there was less mobbing of unseen ground-based predators in longer grass near nests, so we presume there were fewer predators around. Some lapwings placed nests where they’d never attempt in previous years – out in open grassland.” “Any dead birds on the marshes have remained untouched for weeks, whereas in the past these have disappeared within a day. There are no foxes to remove the carcasses, which is a good sign.”
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ROBIN CHITTENDEN
CONSERVATION NEWS
The Trust is a partner in the UK National Tree Seed Project
Seeds collected at Suffolk Wildlife Trust's woodland nature reserves will be preserved in the Kew Garden's Millennium Seed Bank as part of a national project to protect the UK’s trees. Late last year a small team of volunteers from the Trust began a three year project to collect seed from 15 different native tree and shrub species from several Suffolk Wildlife Trust woodland nature reserves. The Trust is a partner in the UK National Tree Seed Project, which has been set up by Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, and made possible with funding generated by players of People’s
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Postcode Lottery. Tree seeds collected as part of the project will be safely banked in the underground vaults of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank – forming the UK’s first national collection of tree seeds. These can then play a vital role in conservation work to protect UK trees and woodlands, including against pests and diseases such as ash dieback. Common alder, silver and downy birch, crab apple and honeysuckle are among the species to be collected from Bradfield Woods near Bury St Edmunds, while small leaved lime seed from Groton, wild service from Arger Fen and holly from Captain’s
SWT
Our trees forever preserved
Tree seeds taken from the Trust's woodlands will be stored in Kew's Wellcome Trust Millennium Building in Wakehurst Place, West Sussex
k Thanu! yo
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Norton Primary School held a ‘Welly Day’ event to raise money for Black Bourn Valley
BLICKWINKEL/CAIRNES ALAMY
Black Bourn Valley
hank you to everyone who responded so generously to our request for help to buy the 70 acres of riverside land next to Grove Farm nature reserve. With your commitment, we are delighted to have completed the land purchase and so link the farm into the river valley. Now 218 acres in size and renamed ‘Black Bourn Valley nature reserve’, our ownership will enable us to work with nature to create a wilder, wetter river corridor which will support more wetland wildlife. Later in the year, when conditions are drier underfoot, we will press on with work to improve the trails and car parking, to open up this lovely piece of Suffolk for everyone to enjoy – watch this space!
Wood will also be collected. A metal tag will mark each tree that is part of the scheme. Alison Looser, who led the Trust’s team of expert volunteers, said: “We’ve got a big task ahead of us. Kew need in the region of 10,000 seeds from each of the species they have identified. “Obviously we do not want to strip the trees of their seeds, so we will take the next three years to collect all of our samples.” Clare Trivedi, UK National Tree The newSeed Project Co-ordinator, said the project was octagon “really important” for the future of our bird hide trees, wildlife and landscape. SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 7
CONSERVATION NEWS
Your chance to go wild sight or learn how to look after hedgehogs on our basic and intermediate hedgehog care workshops at Lackford Lakes. Weave a willow plant wigwam or attend a jam masterclass at Redgrave & Lopham Fen. Learn botanical & wildlife painting at Carlton Marshes reserve. You can even learn how to identify tumuli & Neolithic flints and watch a flint-knapping demo at Knettishall Heath.
BANHAM ZOO
Come and learn in a relaxed and fun atmosphere with supportive, knowledgeable tutors. There’s a great variety on offer this spring: introduction to wildlife photography at Captain’s Wood for the bluebells, with more wildlife photography throughout the year including species masterclasses. Brush up your birding knowledge with resident & migrant bird ID by song and
SAM GAY
Why not make this the year you engage more with the natural world? By signing up for a Wildlearning course, you can learn more about the work of the Trust and our reserves, get out in the fresh air, meet new friends and learn a new skill. Courses are specifically for adults and take place at our five education centres, nature reserves and village halls, so there is bound to be one in your area.
Giraffes, camels and zeb ras at Banham Zoo have all been feeding on browse cle ared from Knettishall Heath
An unusual partnership
What’s on
JOHN FERGUSON
Check out what's available by browsing our ‘What’s On’ brochure or our website. To book, or pay online, visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org/learning or telephone 01473 890089
First great crested newt at Lackford
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variety of diverse wildlife habitats after just twenty of years of naturalisation. “It goes to show that if you create the right habitat wildlife will eventually move in; sometimes in a relatively short time.” It is hoped the female newt, could already have bred on the site.
Thank you Great crested newt have a distinctive orange underbelly
We are grateful to the families of the following friends of the Trust who have recently remembered us in their Will or through an In Memoriam donation DEREK MIDDLETON FLPA
Staff and volunteers at Lackford Lakes recorded the reserve’s first ever great crested newt while cutting sedge and grass. The discovery of the species, which is exacting in its requirements and is Britain’s most highly protected amphibian, highlights the cleanliness of the water at the site. Will Cranstoun, West Suffolk sites manager, said the find near Bernard’s Pool demonstrates how the former gravel quarry offers a
Camels, giraffes and zebras at Banham Zoo have all been making the most of flora and fauna cleared from Knettishall Heath. As part of a joint venture with the zoo, the Trust is donating browse – the general term used to describe parts of the woody growth of trees and shrubs – to feed a variety of exotic species. This allows animals to show natural, species-related behaviour in captivity, improving the educational value of the exhibit. In previous years small saplings cleared to create and maintain more natural heathland for native wildlife have been burned on the reserve. The Trust will also be providing larger branches and trees for enclosures that will provide stimulation and enrichment for the animals.
Jane Mary Allain Alan Cumming Arthur Death Jean Hannaford Michael Moore
John Snelling John Williams Desmond Winney Judith Mahala Wood
Picture perfect
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
1 Mind the gap Winner from the invertebrates category by Gary Richardson
Michael Strand finds out how the winners of the 2015 Photography Competition got their shots and what to expect in 2016 ince its conception nearly two decades ago, the Trust’s Photography Competition has been about captivating people and inspiring them to take action for the natural world. Perhaps more importantly, the quality of the entries has been nothing short of exceptional.
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Humble beginnings Of course, the competition wasn’t always so keenly fought. In its infancy the Trust’s competition received a modest number of entries each year, purely because access to specialist equipment and the general affordability of photographic processing and display was a limiting factor. To increase its popularity, Trust staff introduced a judging panel of wildlife photographers and created new categories
tailored to specific wildlife interests and displayed them to members of the public over a number of years at an exhibition held at Redgrave & Lopham Fen. The number of entrants reached a plateau by about 2007/8, reflecting a broader and much more profound trend in how and why people were choosing to enter photographic competitions. By the end of the ‘noughties’ significant technological advancements meant specialist camera equipment had become more affordable. Indeed the majority of people were now carrying around a mobile device with an inbuilt camera for most of the time which meant, at the touch of a few buttons, photographs could be shared on vast social networks across the entire planet. Capturing wildlife through a lens had become available to a much wider audience
Photography COMPETiTiON
wherever they lived; an audience who were also being inspired by a prolific increase in wildlife programmes.
Recent growth The past three years has seen the Trust liaise with The Royal Photographic Society, local photographic clubs, other photography competition organisers and wildlife photographers to reflect the needs of this wider audience while also accommodating the needs of the specialist photographic community. This has culminated in a brand new competition logo and website with easy to use online access to entry and submission of images. Support from partners and local businesses have provided sponsorship to cover administrative costs and more than £2,500 worth of prizes. SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 9
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
e’s Judgner win blic & puner! win 2 Kissing finches Winner from the bird category by Kathy Langbridge
4 Courting Winner from the SWT nature reserve category by Lee Acaster
5 Breakthrough Winner from the plant & fungi category by Lee Acaster
7 Cricket Winner from the people & wildlife category by Josef FitzGerald-Patrick
8 Dandelion Winner from the 12-18 years old category by Rosanna Williams
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The winning shots 1 Gary Richardson said: “I’m a DJ at the weekends so enjoy
3 Bloody encounter Winner from the mammal, reptile & amphibian category by Peter Sims
spending time during the week taking photographs, particularly of insects. This was taken at Captain’s Wood when I was actually on the look out for hoverflies”. 2 Kathy Langbridge set up a pop-up hide and feeding station at a
farm near Hadleigh. She said: “the greenfinches were particularly dominant fighting for the sunflower seeds. The 'kissers' were actually squabbling so I was delighted with the shot!” 3 First time entrant Peter Sims made sure he was in camouflage
and downwind to get his shot of rutting fallow deer using a long lens. He said: "I did feel a bit vulnerable after the experience, but it really is a wonderful sight and a fantastic part of nature." 4 Lee Acaster said he captured this misty morning at Framlingham
6 Acorn weevil Winner from the Under 12 category by Ieuan Roden
Mere after deciding it was too late to go to the coast. He said: "It was only after I had taken the photograph and looked at the Trust’s competition that I realised Framingham Mere was managed as a nature reserve by Suffolk Wildlife Trust!" 5 Lee Acaster braved the elements to take his atmospheric
poppy picture. He said: "I had been chasing around Suffolk for two weeks searching for poppy fields at sunrise. On this morning I’d been standing in the rain for two hours when the clouds parted and a chink of light burst from the sky." 6 Ieuan Roden, aged nine, took his shot after spotting a bug he
didn't recognise. He said: " I’ve been taking pictures for three years ever since I won my camera as a prize in a magazine photo competition. My advice to other young photographers is to just get out there and take some pictures!" 7 Josef FitzGerald-Patrick was indoors when he spotted a bug on
the window. He said: “When I came outside my brother popped into view and I thought together they looked pretty cool. I’ve been taking photographs seriously for about two years have learnt most of what I know from two photography books.” 8 Rosanna Williams, 16, entered the competition for the first time.
She said: "I got a camera for Christmas from my Mum so I’ve been taking photos for just short of one year! My advice to other young people is to take a closer look at every day life as there’s beauty in everything. I found this dandelion down by the river.” 9 Jessica Faye Davies said: "I had wandered to the top of the
garden where the pond was, when I noticed a snake struggling to get something in its mouth. I ran back into the house and grabbed my camera in time to get this shot. I was very, very excited. My mum was horrified!"
The competition is about captivating people and inspiring them to take action for the natural world So, what next
9 Circle of pond life Winner from the garden wildlife category by Jessica Faye Davies
Having listened to our local photographic community we recognise the need to continue to have an overall judge’s winner as well. Even the best shot in the world of a dung beetle would struggle to win against a more common and
likeable species or landscape. This year’s competition will run from Easter to November once again, so keep an eye on our website for new prizes, categories and judges and get snapping – everyone’s photographs are welcome.
SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/ALAMY
GLOBAL SUFFOLK
Suffolk international What’s the difference between looking after Bradfield Woods and caring for the rainforest? Author and journalist Simon Barnes explains how saving Suffolk is also saving the world
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o island is an island. Just as your hip-bone’s connected to your thigh-bone, so we in Suffolk – we in Britain – we in Europe – we in the northern hemisphere – are connected with everything else. Our climate, our clouds, our ideas, our politics, our decisions, our games, our people, our seeds, our birds, our insects, our everything are part of the world and have their effect all over the world. None of the above stops at the Waveney. In a sense, what you do about your garden is an international decision. So is the way you vote in the local council. We can’t disconnect. It’s a physical impossibility. Suffolk Wildlife Trust is an organisation with a global remit. What they decide to do in Ashbocking will change the world.
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Your global garden Let’s go back to that garden. Let’s say you decide to concrete over the front garden for off-road parking and to devote the back to a perfectly sterile stripy lawn. That decision directly affects Southern Europe and Africa. Your decision means that there will be fewer insects in the air in the summer. So there will be less food for swallows. So the swallows will be less able to make their fearsome twice-yearly journey from Suffolk to Africa and back, and less able to raise young birds capable of performing the same double-epic voyage. Perhaps your decision will reduce the population by, say, half a swallow. So when a million Brits make the same decision, Africa is half a million swallows light. That’s just one of the ways in which we can
change the world. But we can make changes in a good way if we choose. It follows that Suffolk Wildlife Trust is playing its part in a global campaign to look after the wild places and wild species that still survive on this troubled planet. Its physical location may be bounded by the Stour, the Waveney and the North Sea but not its physical responsibilities. It’s not that Suffolk is aiming to conquer the world – even if that’s an attractive idea – rather that Suffolk cannot escape the world outside even if it wanted to.
A world bird All this is best understood by looking at the birds; but then most things in the wild world are most easily grasped that way. Birds are the most obvious of non-human animals.
I remember a time in Africa when the clear blue sky changed in a few minutes to black, lightning scribbled across the sky, thunder rumbled, the world held its breath – and then I heard a sound I have heard a million times in the skies of Suffolk. Here were the European swifts, screaming their heads off as swifts do and surfing in on the weather-front, completing the impossible journey once again. The swifts were joining up the world, joining up the people who live in places a long way apart, people they depend on for not destroying their food supply and the places where they nest. So many miles, so many people: a line of fire joining the skies of Suffolk with those of Africa and joining the people up as well. Is a swift a Suffolk bird that happens
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GLOBAL SUFFOLK to winter in Africa? Or is it an African bird that spends a few – no more than three – brief months with us? In truth that’s as meaningful a question as asking whether a zebra has white stripes on a black background or the other way round. It’s pointless even to ask. A swift is a world bird. Like all other birds. Ponder on this: when a newly hatched swift leaves its nest in Suffolk, it will be the last time it perches on anything solid for three years. It will travel to Africa and back every year, sleep on the wing, feed on the wing and when the time comes, it will even mate on the wing. The air is the most widely distributed habitat in the world and it belongs to the world and it is responsibility of the world.
Save our swifts The Trust is doing what it can to look after the swifts that spend their summers with us. It’s a programme called SOS, for Save Our Swifts. The main thrust of this is nesting sites. Swifts like dark places, caves for preference, but they are adaptable and resourceful and have shifted to the roof-spaces in buildings. Unsympathetic building can destroy traditional sites, and telling swifts about new sites is not straightforward. But it can be done: swifts will nest in purpose-built boxes and can be summoned down to inspect them by playing recordings of swiftian screams. A classic example of success is All Saints church at Worlingham, which has 40 nest boxes, two of them with cameras, and here they entice the swifts in with sound. Worlingham is also World-lingham. But the Trust’s job doesn’t end there. Swifts need food. Swifts survive in clean air packed with tiny flying and floating creatures: aerial plankton. So the Trust lobbies and advises and promotes clear air and insect-rich land beneath: clean industry, good agriculture, good gardening. What a Suffolk farmer does with the field margins and the hedges affects Africa. That’s birds for you. As you’ve probably noticed, most of them can fly and are damn good at it. If you get a place right, the chances are that the birds best suited to that place will drop in.
Linking up with the world So let’s remember the tidal surge: that dramatic event of winter 2013. This smashed up the Trust’s Hazlewood Marshes reserve and changed it beyond recognition. It’s no longer a freshwater marsh: it’s a salty area that now lies between the tides. And recently it was 14 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
home for a while to a party of 17 spoonbills. One of them was colour-ringed and came from Holland; probably the rest did as well. As the climate changes spoonbills are becoming an increasing part of Suffolk life: dropping in from across the North Sea and making a home here: another way that Suffolk links up with the world. Here’s how to link up with the world in a bad way: shoot the birds as they pass. In the Mediterranean, birds on their way to Suffolk – and many other places – are routinely and often illegally shot. Malta is perhaps the champion here: punching way above its weight when it comes to destruction. Turtle doves are the most conspicuous losers. The Trust can’t, alas, send an army
The Trust’s work to create wildlife corridors for dormice, mirrors Indian elephant corridors
A wildlife-rich place is like throwing a pebble into a pond: it sends concentric ripples across the surface Turtle doves are the most conspicuous losers, often being shot on their way over Malta STEVEN ROUND
to conquer Malta, but it can add its voice to the protests. And it can also do what it can with the birds that get through: locate their nests sites, liaise with other conservation organisations and help landowners to grow the seed-plants that turtle doves like. Some people have predicted that the turtle dove will go extinct in this country in the next ten years. The Trust is part of the army of people and organisations trying to stop that happening.
CHRIS JAMES ALAMY
Wildlife corridors Suffolk’s global impact is most obvious with birds, which are highly mobile and link nation with nation. But there are other, less tangible ways in which Suffolk’s influence stretches way beyond its borders. For a start, there is the spill-over factor. Wildlife doesn’t worry about lines on a map. A wildlife-rich place is like throwing a pebble into a pond: it sends concentric ripples across the surface. It’s all about connections. A good deal of the Trust’s work involves corridors: joining up good bits of habitat so that the wildlife can commute from one to the other. It’s a principle operated by conservation organisations across the world. The Trust has established corridors between woods that are now used by dormice. This led to a series of conversations and a rather fine evening at The Cut in Halesworth in partnership with the World Land Trust, an organisation based in Suffolk that works for conservation in many developing countries. In India they
have established elephant corridors: so the connectivity between dormice and elephants was seized on with great delight, and all kinds of experience, expertise and support came from the connection. It’s all about thinking beyond the usual boundaries: an awareness that responsibility and influence doesn’t stop at Beccles.
We’re in this together The more you have to do with conservation, the more you realise that we’re all in it together. You can’t just look after your own garden, or your own county. Whether you like it or not, all conservation is about looking after the entire planet: the one giant ecosystem that sustains us all: that gives us human life and does the same to all our fellow-animals. Everything affects everything. Your car’s emissions affect the bamboo forests of China: your decision to use pesticides in your garden is a blow for wildlife across the world. Thus there is a link between the badgers of Suffolk and the jaguars in the jungles of Belize, just as there is one between the dormice of Bradfield Wood and the elephants of Assam. That’s true on a mystical level if you like: but it’s also true in a practical way. Conservation organisations like the Trust talk to each other and share their aims and their personnel and their knowledge. And it’s also a fact that the people who support these organisations frequently make the same leap of the imagination. People who get the idea of
STEVE YOUNG ALAMY
ARY ALAMY ARTERRA PICTURE LIBR
Is a swift a Suffolk bird that happens to winter in Africa? Or is it an Africa n bird that spends a few brief months with us?
The more you have to do with conservation, the more you realise that we’re all in it together conservation will often spread their support, moral and financial, across local and international organisations. It makes sense to be a member of Suffolk Wildlife Trust and to support, say, the World Land Trust: to strike a blow – a double-whammy – for both dormice and elephants.
Thinking big and small The buddleia bush in your garden will in season be full of butterflies. Side by side you may find a painted lady that makes an improbable journey from North Africa, and a peacock that finds the world in your garden plenty big enough. By growing your buddleia you do a service to both the world and your own small bit of it at the same time. So let those two butterflies stand for the right way to do conservation and the right way to understand the world. The problems of the planet – the extinction crisis, the ecological holocaust – are too vast for us to consider with clarity. Look too hard at them and you feel like giving up. So it’s better to concentrate on what you can do: and to do it well. That can involve looking after what’s on your own doorstep; but it also involves an understanding that every good deed for nature affects the entirety of the wild world. It’s about thinking big and thinking small at the same time: realising that everything you do for wildlife is by definition a global decision. Looking after Bradfield Woods and looking after the rainforest are essentially the same job. Saving Suffolk is also saving the world. n SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 15
BARN OWL
owl barn
The downs and ups of the
PAUL SAWER
1. Members of SOLD (Special Objectives for the Local Disabled) in south Lowestoft were commissioned by the Trust to make 100 owl boxes 2. Breeding pairs soon made use of the boxes 3. A female owl incubating eggs – the sight we had been waiting for 4. Fledglings from the nest boxes were ringed 5. & 6. Community engagement was vital to this project – for installing of the boxes and monitoring them 7. Steve Piotrowski at Suffolk County Council's Greenest County Award
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The sight of a barn owl ghosting over Suffolk’s fields as it hunts for prey remains a truly magical wildlife experience. Steve Piotrowkski explains how the prospects of this much-loved bird have dramatically improved
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hen the Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project (SCBOP) was launched in 2005, it was clear that barn owls were in trouble, not only in Suffolk, but throughout the UK. The best estimate for the county’s population stood at around 68 breeding pairs as a combination of tree removal – due to disease or to prevent overshadowing crops – and more modern barns that left the birds struggling to find suitable nesting opportunities.
From humble beginnings The project to provide habitat and conserve the barn owl started under the auspices of the Suffolk Ornithologists Group and had very humble beginnings. Our aim was to fix 90 boxes in five years before progressing to the next stage. However, we had completely under estimated the enthusiasm of landowners, farmers and the community at large and, following the issue of our first press release, we were inundated with requests for barn owl boxes. By the end of our first year we had either fixed or inherited 250 boxes. Suffolk Wildlife Trust was asked to take over as principal partner and thankfully provided the resources to take us though our busiest period (2007 to 2014). The Trust remains committed to barn owl conservation to this day. By providing an extended connected network of good habitat and nesting opportunities, we have given barn owls the fighting chance they need to thrive. The project involves the whole community and the boxes are made by local organisations and monitored by an army of expert volunteers each year. Raising awareness, creating nesting opportunities and managing suitable nearby habitat is having a positive effect on barn owl populations across Suffolk. This is a project of which all Suffolk people can call their own.
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To date SCBOP has advised on the fixing of more than 1,800 barn owl nest boxes throughout Suffolk, on nature reserves, farmland and on community spaces like village greens and school grounds. Indeed, the project, which has seen breeding pairs increase to over 400 pairs, has been so successful that requests for boxes now come from Norfolk and Essex. In 2015 SCBOP received Suffolk County Council’s Greenest County Award in the Landscape and Diversity category.
Bucking the trend Barn owls live a topsy-turvy life and populations are subject to dramatic fluctuations linked to short-tailed vole population, the barn owl’s favourite prey, which peaks and troughs every 3-4 years. In 2015 we have seen a relatively high number of adult pairs occupying the boxes, although brood sizes are small. This has come as a result of a crash in the vole population. This year has been a disastrous year for barn owls throughout much of England with little or no breeding at all taking place in normally good barn owl counties such as Lincolnshire. However, Suffolk has somewhat bucked the trend in Eastern England at least, with box occupancy, particularly on the coast and in the main river catchments, being relatively good. But the shortage of voles has meant that barn owls have to hunt harder and longer, so this summer many have been spotted quartering fields and meadows in daylight, which is not a common sight in Suffolk. Although seeing barn owls hunt in the middle of the day is a breath-taking experience for us, it is often not good news for barn owls; usually meaning their food is in short supply.
What do barn owls need? In short, to sustain good barn owl numbers there must be enough prey. Short-tailed voles need a particular
6
type of habitat – rough, tussocky grass with a deep litter layer or thatch at its base – that they can move through in tunnels and that provides their own source of food and breeding habitat. Currently, much of the county’s grassland is ‘managed’ by too much grazing or frequent cutting. The project is committed to offer advice to provide the grassland that barn owls favour across the county – with the benefits extending well beyond barn owls and voles. This habitat is scarce and precious, holding up entire ecosystems.
This is a project which all Suffolk people can call their own A county of plenty? Could it be that Suffolk barn owls are able to diversify more than those found elsewhere? When food is plentiful, barn owls will continue to take food to the nest and form larders. Early season larders were scarce this year, but those that were found showed a good selection of long-tailed field mouse, bank vole, common shrew, pygmy shrew and the far less common, water shrew.
Future generations This truly is a community project with every Suffolk parish being involved. For the future, we are looking at sustainability, but not only for the boxes, some of which are already in need of replacing due to wear and tear, but also for people. To survive the project needs new younger recruits. This will ensure that barn owls are enjoyed and cared for by our children and our children’s children for many generations to come. n Steve Piotrowski, Project Director, Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project – 01986 893311 or spiotrowski@btinternet.com
7
PHOTOS: MICHAEL STRAND, PAUL SAWER, JON EVANS, C MCINTYRE
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 17
KNETTISHALL HEATH
The story of a JOHN FERGUSON
community heath The acquisition of Knettishall Heath early in 2012 was both one of the most exciting moments for the Trust and one of the most daunting. Steve Aylward and Samantha Gay look at the achievements of the last three years and the challenges that remain
he purchase of Knettishall Heath was seen by the Trust as a golden opportunity to engage with the thousands of people who visit the site each year but also to restore a nationally important area of Breck heath. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) together with the support of Trust members made this possible, providing essential funding for the acquisition of the heath and a people and wildlife ranger.
T
A vision for Knettishall The first thing the Trust had to do was to commission a visitor survey. We knew lots of people visited the heath but there was only anecdotal evidence of where most 18 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
people lived, why they chose to visit Knettishall and what they knew about the heath. We knew that heathland restoration and grazing can sometimes be quite contentious and therefore it was essential to understand people’s views and concerns and how to make sure that a management plan for the heath could be drawn up that would have their support. One of the most obvious things about Knettishall heath when the Trust first took on the management was just how compartmentalised the reserve was. The site was criss-crossed with fences separating grazed areas from woodland and un-grazed heath, and for visitors, a walk around the heath involved
This linking up of the heath will be a hugely significant moment and the first time since the 1940s the site will be a single entity
negotiating many gates. Therefore our vision centred on the idea of creating one extensive grazing compartment that would take in a number of woodland areas. Some of these wooded areas would be retained, some converted to wood pasture and some clear-felled to restore open heath. This would allow the development of a much more complex habitat mosaic with intermingled heathland, grassland and woodland areas. The species outcomes driving these decisions included the opportunity to restore the especially unique ‘patterned ground’ habitat where stripes of acidic and calcareous grassland sit side-by-side and rare plants such as dropwort, purple milk vetch and rare spring sedge are
found. However, one of the most ambitious aims of the project is bringing back nightjar as a breeding species.
The challenges Such ambitions are not without their challenges. The creation of a large extensive grazing enclosure linking all the areas of open heath would require both the roads that cross the heath to have cattle grids installed, something that has not happened in Suffolk in living memory. Similarly, the ambition to restore and link the remaining areas of heath would mean clearing several hectares of young secondary woodland and treat large areas of bracken. A public inquiry was ultimately required to make a decision on
whether the grids could be installed and it was a great relief when the Department of Transport Inspector gave the green light. The delivery of such an extensive programme of work would not be possible without major funding and to that end a grant from WREN has made it possible to plan on a scale that could only otherwise have been dreamt of. However, none of this would be possible without the support and understanding of the people who regularly visit Knettishall and therefore a huge amount of effort has been invested in talking to visitors, local communities and the various user groups, the biggest being the dog walking visitors. SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 19
KNETTISHALL HEATH A heath visited by generations As we became a part of the Knettishall Heath community we forged our group; ‘Hounds of the Heath’ with the local training club; Dog Learning Zone. Hounds of the Heath was created as a fun and informative group for local dog walkers enabling us to get together regularly, explore the reserve together, whilst sharing ideas ranging from best practice around wildlife to doggy training tips. Now numbering over 200 members, many of the group have become volunteer wardens and helped us to establish the new trails that will go hand in hand with the habitat restoration over the coming years. As part of our work to engage with the diverse local community, one of our first aims was to quickly establish an events and education programme. We decided to set up family drop in days and information points on site, and to invest time in an outreach programme delivering talks and visiting local parishes. This, along with our visitor survey, enabled us to have an in depth view about the sheer amount of people that have visited the heath for generations and a diverse mix of interests. It also allowed visitors to drop in and meet us and find out about our aims, and not least to share their wealth of knowledge about the site. These titbits of information ranged from historic nightjar breeding sites, stories of summer (and winter!) river swimmers, families spending lazy summer afternoons at a picnic or wrapping up on magical autumn mornings to walk generations of the family pet. Other memories gave us an insight into the extent of the once open heathland with views described from Hut Hill (the bronze age round barrow) down to the river valley, through where there are now trees.
An increased understanding After our first year, as our understanding of both visitor interests and the reserve itself grew, we were able to tailor our events further to include seasonal themes and work with experts. Weekends are now full of wild learning courses, guided walks and events including fungi forays, bat walks at dusk and butterfly and moth days. The school holidays are similarly focused on family sessions encouraging children and adults to explore together in activities such as river dipping, shelter building, wild art and mini-beast hunting. One of our other most popular introductions was the set-up of our youth groups; junior rangers (6-12 year olds) 20 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
Schools can now spend six weeks exploring the heath and woodlands
The vision for Knettishall heath will take many years to be fully realised but as it develops wildlife will respond and young wardens (12-16 year olds), which offer a range of fun and practical sessions whilst crucially aiming to inspire the next generation of reserve rangers. As the Trust became established at the heath, interest grew from educational bodies, and we were soon able to implement our current educational programmes that we deliver to schools and groups at our other education centres. Schools, brownies, scouts and plenty more soon enjoyed bespoke visits including learning about the habitats, sustainability, geography and other focuses of the curriculum. In 2013 we were also able to add Forest Schools to the list of programmes we can offer at the heath; inviting schools out to spend 6 weeks exploring the woodlands here.
This summer, after 3½ years, we were able to celebrate all that we have achieved with the funding from HLF with the Knettishall Fair in August. This large event encompassed stallholders, craft demonstrations, guided walks and family activities attracting over 300 visitors.
Benefits to other habitats While restoring the heath has been the obvious priority it has been by no means the only habitat that has been enhanced. Decades of insensitive management had turned the Little Ouse River into a dull channel that was little more than a drainage ditch. Restoring the river has brought it back to life creating riffles, pools and meanders and wildlife has responded with surveys
MATTHEW ROBERTS
NEIL ALDRIDGE
It is hoped that nightjar can be encouraged to breed on the site
MATTHEW ROBERTS
Looking ahead
BELOW: Hounds of
the Heath has over 200 members
By early 2016 the cattle grids will be installed and the remaining internal and roadside fencing will have been removed while a major phase of woodland management and turf stripping will also have been completed. This linking up of the heath will be a hugely significant moment and the first time since the 1940s when the site can be properly considered as more a single entity. New trails and interpretation have been developed especially for dog walkers and it is hoped that by reducing disturbance on the open heath and encouraging dog walkers to use the woodland paths during the bird nesting season, nightjars and other ground nesting birds may be drawn to nest on the Heath. The vision for Knettishall Heath will take many years to be fully realised but as it develops wildlife will respond. Change will be tracked by on-going surveys of key species and a long-term vegetation monitoring programme. Most importantly however, Knettishall Heath has to remain a wonderful place to visit. For each of the 80,000 annual visitors, Knettishall has its own personal meaning and ensuring that people continue to value and care about the heath is the only really important thing. n
TOM MARSHALL
For each of the 80,000 annual visitors, Knettishall has its own personal meaning The critical role of volunteers There is no doubt that what has been achieved so far at Knettishall Heath could not have happened without the support of a great many volunteers who have been with us every step of the journey. Local people have been involved in every aspect of the work ranging from livestock checks, habitat workparties and building the river dipping platform, to helping with school visits, events and the young wardens programme. Volunteers have surveyed
the heath for butterflies, bats, moths, reptiles and even archaeological remains helping to grow our understanding of this amazing place and demonstrating that the more you look, the more you tend to find – there is still an awful lot to learn. Heathland habitats by their very nature never stand still and volunteers will play a critical role in helping to maintain the habitat mosaic at Knettishall Heath long into the future.
Volunteers play a critical role in helping to maintain the habitat mosaic of the heath
MATTHEW ROBERTS
showing that there is a greater diversity of invertebrates, plants and fish than before. Out on the heath, volunteers have helped clear trees and scrub while contractors have been brought in to treat the bracken. One major project that has been completed was the clear-felling of seven acres of conifer plantation. This not only required the trees to be felled but all the stumps and topsoil to be removed to allow heathland to become re-established on the nutrient poor sub-soil.
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 21 KEN GILLESPIE ALAMY
UK NEWS
What next for
Welcome
Stephanie Hilborne OBE
Nature Act Pre-election campaign won’t result in legislation yet, but it has borne fruit
Abundant wildlife is the best indicator of a healthy local environment Learn more: wildlifetrusts. org/naturewellbeingact
TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION
I used to love reading to my children at bedtime. The song about Mike TV’s fate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a favourite. In it Dahl vents his wrath on the hated television: “They sit and stare and stare and sit until they’re hypnotised by it”. The intensity grows until he shouts “It rots the senses in the head! It kills imagination dead!” What would Roald Dahl think now? Not only does the average child watch 17 hours of TV a week; they spend 20 hours online. People have probably always looked at the next generation’s lifestyle with horror, so as I join the ranks of parents struggling with screen addiction I try desperately to be objective. The facts are that children only roam 300 yards from the house, not six miles as my grandparents’ generation did, and 30% have never climbed a tree. That we are not designed for this is borne out by shocking evidence of the near incurability of serious obesity, and terrifying graphs of mental health admissions for children and young people. We need love, support and companionship, but the need to be close to nature is in our DNA too. Your Wildlife Trust is working with as many children as it can to reverse these trends: in schools, in parks, in wild places. A ‘wild’ childhood is good for health, wellbeing and nature. We want every child to be wild. Your support as a member is critical in helping us to reach this ambition. Thank you.
You may remember our pre-election campaign for a Nature and Wellbeing Act. More than 10,000 people and a range of organisations supported a joint Wildlife Trust and RSPB e-action, creating a combined and passionate voice for nature’s recovery. Thank you. Every MP in England was asked to support the Act. We believe that this helped ensure there was reference to
nature, and the need for its recovery, in the current government’s manifesto as well as those of the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties. The Conservatives have promised to produce a 25-year plan for nature’s recovery. This falls short of an Act, but it gives the Government the opportunity to produce a far-reaching plan. The Wildlife Trusts will be watching all the way, and
JACK PERKS
Worcestershire rivers to improve Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has secured £80,000 for catchmentscale plans to improve water quality and wildlife habitats in Bromsgrove, Redditch and the Teme Valley. The Trust, which has years of experience in river restoration, will
22 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
work with local authorities and communities to install sustainable drainage, protect river banks, create fish refuges, monitor wildlife and establish wetlands. The funds come thanks to the Catchment Based Approach project.
Fish such as chubb will benefit from cleaner, more varied water flows
D you k id now? In 201 1 the
Vine House Farm donates £1m A huge thanks to award-winning bird food producer Vine House Farm, whose donations to The Wildlife Trusts have just passed the £1,000,000 mark. This incredible sum is the result of a partnership which began in 2007. Since then, the award-winning family business in Lincolnshire has donated five per cent of each bird food sale to each customer’s local Wildlife Trust. VHF founder Nicholas Watts has been a pioneer of wildlife-friendly farming since the 1980s. Thanks to his generosity we have been able to protect and restore more areas for nature, and to inspire more people to n More on wildlifetrusts. org/blog/vinehousefarm experience wildlife first-hand.
Customers and Wildlife Trust staff appreciate VHF
LYNDSEY YOUNG
robus scient t ifi Asses National Ec cally sment osyste said s be we ociet m alth ecosy ier if we re y will stem build during s degraded the 2 centu 0th ry
Late news st UK-wide wildlif and issue s: etrus newsts.org/
Back on the Meon It’s the UK’s biggest water vole reintroduction – and it’s working. This summer 190 animals were released on the River Meon in Hampshire. They join 450 released at Titchfield Haven in 2013 and 600 further upstream in 2014. Volunteer monitoring shows the voles are
Have river, will breed
This summer the Rutland Osprey project – a partnership between Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Anglian Water – saw its hundredth chick fledge. Four generations of Rutland birds were at the reserve for the first time and 15 young birds fledged from eight nests. The chick prepares for its first flight
Ted Smith 1920-2015
Ted Smith CBE, founder of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and a leading light in the Wildlife Trusts movement, has died. He saw the need to conserve our country’s coast, heaths, meadows and woodland as early as the 1940s, and was widely recognised for his services to conservation. In 2012 he was presented with The Wildlife Trusts’ Centenary Award by Sir David Attenborough.
Ted was an inspiration to generations of conservationists
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 23
SARAH PITT
100th chick for Rutland’s ospreys
LEICS & RUTLAND WT
Meon Valley: habitat loss, pollution and predation by non-native American mink. The improvements will benefit the whole river ecosystem. “The voles haven’t been able to return naturally to the Meon, so they need a little extra help,” said the Trust’s Ali Morse.
JAMIE HALL
will contribute to its development. We will keep you informed of any opportunities for input. We continue to talk to MPs from all parties, pointing out that nature’s recovery is vital not only for its own sake, but because of what it contributes to our lives, our society and our economy. More than 25 organisations think the same, and continue to support our campaign.
breeding at all three sites, sometimes more than a mile upstream. The project is led by the South Downs National Park Authority, the EA, Natural England and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. It has turned around the factors that wiped the voles out in the
GREAT DAYS OUT
10 places to see
Salt marshes and estuaries 1
Farlington Marshes Hants & IOW WT A coastal grazing marsh and lagoon that attracts thousands of brent geese in winter, and large numbers of shoveler, wigeon, pintail and teal. You can also see short-eared owls and peregrines. Where is it? Between Cosham and Havant S of A27. Grid SU 685045.
2
West Williamston WT of S&W Wales Tidal creeks and saltmarsh, limestone outcrops and woodland. Expect curlew, little grebe, grey heron, shelduck,
mute swan, cormorant and oystercatcher. The woodland has tawny owls, wrens and polecats. Where is it? W of West Williamston, S Pembrokeshire. Grid SN 033058
3
South Walney Cumbria WT A shingle island with pools and intertidal areas, and lots of waders and wildfowl. Many of the 250 bird species recorded are stopping to rest and refuel: Wheatear, redstart, willow warbler and goldcrest. Where is it? S of Barrow in Furness. Grid SD 225620
STEPHEN TROTTER
s Saltmarshel! are specia
tes f invertebra 0 species o em 0 th -3 f 0 o 25 0 15 ltmarshes – occur on sa y el u uniq nd flat can f mud or sa numbers o re et m ic A cub plus huge 00 worms, hold over 10 of molluscs tive to more are so attrac the UK s ea ar e es th s in This is whytering and roosting bird rwin ve o n io ing ill than 1.5 m energy, mak and storm e av w rb ces sily abso Marshes ea em natural coastal defen th rbon store, important ca change an e b ay They also mrole in reducing climate and have a r geese and t: winter fo si vi r sea to es summer fo Good tim g for thrift, n ri sp s, er wad lavender
24 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
4
Fingringhoe Wick Essex Wildlife Trust One of the finest saltmarsh panoramas in the region, and just extended with a sea wall breach. It’s a haven for knot, dunlin, grey/golden plover, avocet and godwits. Raptors, wildfowl and divers too. Where is it? Visitor centre is on S Green Rd, Fingringhoe, CO5 7DN. Grid TM 048193.
5
Welwick Saltmarsh Yorkshire WT Marsh with extensive tidal creeks. Look for short-eared owl, merlin and marsh harrier, and hundreds of curlew, grey
plover, knot and dunlin feeding on the mudflats. Walking is restricted to a path so binoculars are essential. The saltmarsh itself is dangerous. Where is it? N bank of the Humber: Side Lane, Welwick, Patrington, Hull HU12 0UX. Grid TA 338191.
6
Simpson’s Saltings Suffolk Wildlife Trust Simpson’s Saltings is a wild and remote part of the Suffolk coast but quite extraordinary at any time of year and well worth the walk. Enjoy views across to Orford Ness and an ever-changing landscape of
7
Dawlish Inner Warren Devon Wildlife Trust A long spit of sand curving across the mouth of the river Exe. Thousands of dunlins, curlews, ringed plovers, black-tailed godwits and shelduck gather to feed in the mud, moving gradually closer to the bird hide before the rising waters drive them off. Where is it? 1 mile E of Dawlish, post code EX7 ONF. Grid SX 981787.
8
Ribble Estuary Lancs Wildlife Trust A hotspot for wintering wildfowl: more than 250,000 overwintering ducks, geese, swans and waders are an astonishing sight. The Wildlife Trusts are working to get the estuary designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. Where is it? NE of Southport, off the A565. Grid SD 375240.
9
Rye Harbour Sussex Wildlife Trust An internationally important wetland of shingle, saltmarsh, saline lagoons, grazing marsh, freshwater gravel pits and reedbeds. 280+ bird species recorded; most famous are the breeding colonies of little, common and Sandwich terns. Where is it? 20 miles SW of Ashford on A259. Post code TN31 7TX. Grid TQ 942189.
Where to find these places
For our full listing of places to see saltmarshes and estuaries: wtru.st/ saltmarshesestuaries
10
Salthouse Marshes Norfolk Wildlife Trust Shingle ridge (on the Norfolk coast path), reed-fringed dykes, marshland and shallow pools. There’s a huge variety of birds on the sea, shingle and inland marshes, plus common and grey seals.
Where is it? Between Weybourne and Cley. Use Salthouse Beach car park. Grid TG 083443. Access details for each site: wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/ reserves
3 8
5 10 6 4
2 7
1
9
Simpson’s Saltings is one of the country’s most important coastal sites for its wealth of uncommon coastal and saltmarsh plants
A ONE-MINUTE GUIDE TO
Saltmarshes Saltmarshes develop over mud flats, where pioneer salt-tolerant plants gradually establish when flows are slow. Regular tides deposit more mud and the marsh gradually accumulates around roots and stems. Many UK saltmarshes are eroding due to rising seas and increasing storms.
Saltmarsh creeks flow from the sea upwards to the land
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 25
MATTHEW ROBERTS
shingle and marsh. Where is it? 1 mile north of Shingle Street . Grid TM 377447.
PURPLE EMPEROR PEOPLE & WILDLIFE
Dirty? Scary? Dangerous?
JOHN FERGUSON
For most children today, messing around outside comes a distant second to screens and sofas. Our Every Child Wild campaign aims to change that
26 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 26
L A group at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Lackford Lakes reserve learn how to build a raft
Wildlife Watch leader Emma Websdale explores how the UK’s Wildlife Trusts are engaging children with nature
ondon Wildlife Trust’s Camley Street Nature Park is a little oasis of greenery just behind King’s Cross station – a much-needed break from whizzing trains and towering construction work. It’s also an outdoor classroom with an impressive range of resources: quaint pockets of urban woodland, beehives, a pond-dipping platform, mighty bug hotels and a homegrown produce area. A group of children from Devonshire House School are sitting comfortably on a large insect-decorated mat. “Who’s been here before?” asks the Trust’s Helen Burton. No hands make it to the air. This might be the first time some of these children have ventured into a wild green space within London. Helen takes the class around the reserve, and they identify the four elements all wildlife needs: food, water, shelter and air. They quickly understand the concept of different habitats, and have dramatic success with their bug hunt, turning up a woodlouse-eating spider and an impressive female stag beetle. As they prepare to leave, the children collect petals, feathers and leaves, decorating their memory sticks in wild jewels to remember this special visit. Devonshire House is just one of many
schools who visit this reserve each year to rummage under logs, witness a swarm of honey-making bees or spot millipedes and toads for the first time. In doing so they are experiencing something that modern childhood has all but lost. The real value of finding a beetle, or climbing a tree, is that children are developing a connection to nature, a love for it. And they instinctively know it’s important to them.
The children collect sticks, leaves, feathers: wild jewels to remember their visit Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust run regular Forest School sessions with inner-city primary children at Brocks Hill Country Park – a beautiful setting and a playground of discovery and adventure. Once a week these five to ten year-olds leave the traffic and concrete that defines their lives and spend an afternoon in a small clearing surrounded by ash, silver birch and rowan trees. I sit with Ali, a year six pupil who has recently moved to England from Pakistan. Beaming from ear to ear, he finds a little birch sapling. He decides to build a twig fence around it.
Wet and wild: The Wildlife Trusts reached 400,000 children last year through events like those held at Lackford Lakes
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 27
PEOPLE & WILDLIFE Research shows that experience of nature has huge benefits for children. This is London Wildlife Trust’s Camley Street, a few hundred yards from Kings Cross
EMMA WEBSDALE
“I want to keep it protected forever!” he proclaims. We decide to name the little sapling after him. “You could come back to see it with your mum and dad,” I suggest. “I can’t,” he replies. “My father works all of the time and my mother is too scared to leave the house as she gets bullied for being Pakistani. This is the only time I get to come outside.” Later, as I talk to one of the teachers, she wells up. “See Sebastian over there?” she points to a young lad running around with a magnifying glass. “I’ve been teaching him for years and I’ve never heard him talk until today.” With uncanny timing, he runs up to us. “Miss! Miss! Look at this tiny snail I’ve found!” Being with nature has helped build his confidence and ability to express himself. Sofia, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, is another pupil who has changed dramatically, smiling ferociously as she focuses on finding as many mini-beasts as she can. For her and Sebastian this is just their second outdoor visit. I’ve watched ten school visits this year. In every one the children loved submerging themselves in nature. From year tens concentrating as they observed 28 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
My mother’s too scared to leave the house. This is the only time I get to come outside tadpoles developing in their classroom, to nursery children making mud pies in their outdoor mud kitchen, wherever nature was happiness and confidence flourished. The Wildlife Trusts will have reached more than 400,000 children this year, but there are 800,000 children in every school year. If nature makes children happier and healthier, then shouldn’t we be doing more of it? An overwhelming body of evidence (see opposite page) suggests we should. “Contact with nature should not be the preserve of the privileged,” says Sir David Attenborough. “It is critical to the personal development of our children. We will be physically, mentally and spiritually impoverished if they are deprived of contact with the natural world.” Let’s create a future generation which loves wildlife – and which, when it grows up, will cherish and conserve it. n
NB: Children’s names have been changed
Every child wild How can we ensure future generations grow up with a love of wildlife? We believe children need to connect with, love and care for nature – it’s good for them, and it’s good for nature, too. Our Every Child Wild campaign will raise awareness of the gap between children and the natural world and what we can do about this. Together we must find the solutions: who else will look after our wildlife tomorrow?
How you can help
Take a child you care for somewhere wild to play and explore Join your local children’s nature club with your Wildlife Trust – make friends, discover wildlife and get muddy! Tell us what you think needs to happen at #everychildwild Continue to support your Wildlife Trust’s work with local schools and children through your membership
Nature versus modern childhood
16% of girls exercise an hour or more
21% of boys exercise an hour or more a day
REFERENCES: 1 Derbyshire, 2007. 3 Department of Health, 2011. 3, 7 Health and social care information centre, 2013, In Bragg, et al., 2014. 4, 5 Moss, 2012. 6 National Trust, 2008. 8 Wells, 2000; Wells and Evans, 2003, in Bragg, et al., 2014. MacKerron et al., mappiness.org, 2013.
CHILDREN’S ROAMING RANGE, 1915-2015 1
PHYSICAL EXERCISE 3 Government recommends that children should exercise for an hour a day
1915 Six miles 84% of girls take less than an hour of exercise a day
2015 300 yards
10% 40%
28% OBESITY
7
Percentage of UK children who are overweight or obese
ACCESS TO NATURE
WALKING TO SCHOOL 5
Fewer than 10% of children play in natural areas. When today’s adults were children the figure was 40%
7 and 8 year-olds
1971
80%
1991
10%
GREEN v GREY 8
WASPS v DALEKS 6 SCREEN TIME 4
50% 90% of children can’t tell a bee from a wasp
79% of boys take less than an hour of exercise a day
Today’s 11-15 year-olds spend around 7.5 hours a day looking at screens n A study of 20,000 people showed they felt happier in green areas than in urban ones. n Nature close to home increases a child’s ability to cope with stressful events, and improves cognitive function.
of children can identify a Dalek
What The Wildlife Trusts are doing to help
248 271,331 300,000 11,000 11,000
Wildlife Watch groups nationwide, giving 10,669 children experiences of nature each year
150,000
junior members of The Wildlife Trusts
people visit a Wildlife Trust nature reserve as part of a school, college or society. There are over 15,000 of these visits every year, the vast majority by young people pupils and students spent time with The Wildlife Trusts in 2014
events a year are run by The Wildlife Trusts – the vast majority family focused
193,922
people a year (mostly children) attend Wildlife Trust forest schools, workshops and activities
OUR OUTDOOR LEADERS
456 environmental educators 1,487 volunteers devoted to Wildlife Watch and other children’s work
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 29
LIVING SEAS
More MCZs please England’s network of Marine Conservation Zones is taking shape. But, as Maya Plass points out, it can’t properly protect all the wildlife in our seas until it’s ecologically complete
I
was recently asked, “Why do you particularly love the British coastline?” Where to begin? Common dolphins leaping towards a boat of Lundy day-trippers. Frolicking with seals off the Farne Islands. Staring in awe at tiny nudibranchs while diving in Devon. Finding Montagu crabs with impressed school children. I could go on. We have an incredible variety of coastline and creatures in our waters. But we’re not just lucky to have all of this. We actually need healthy, diverse seas for our commercial fisheries, our tourism, our economy, our sense of identity, even our health and happiness. We need to ensure our children continue to enjoy all of these benefits. And that means setting aside enough parts of the sea to safeguard all our marine life. The UK’s marine plants and animals are not just a vast collection of weird or
wonderful species. They are all joined together by invisible threads through the food they eat, the nutrients they rely on and the habitats they live in or visit. If these threads became visible we would see what a wonderfully complex and connected ecosystem they share. So to conserve the highly mobile
We only have 27 designated Marine Conservation Zones, and that is simply not enough white-beaked dolphins, for example, takes more than just protecting the open water they swim in. We need to protect the fish, crustaceans and molluscs that they feed on – and the habitats which are essential for their survival too. Moreover, we need more than one
MATT COLE
Maya Plass s a marine ecologist and guest presenter on BBC Springwatch, Maya runs Learn to Sea in South Devon
The little-known white-beaked dolphin ranges widely, but has only two special areas where it breeds and feeds. They should be protected
30 SUFFOLK WILDLIFE
patch of a particular habitat. Should an oil spill occur, we have then still got a similar, healthy, protected habitat not too far away which could, in time, re-seed the damaged area. This vitally important patchwork of habitats around the British Isles, protecting a huge array of species, is what we call an ‘ecologically coherent network of Marine Conservation Zones’. At the moment there are 27 designated areas, and that is simply not enough. We need to follow the recommendations of scientists and fill in the gaps. And the protection must be more than a shaded area on a map. It must mean protection from activities which would damage the quality of the sites. We need to monitor the sites so that we can measure how well we are protecting them. And we need to explain to others why our seas are so very important. n
Marine Protected Areas can only work if they are:
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3. Representative
2. Close enough 1. Big enough
5. Actively protected
4. Numerous enough
England’s missing MCZs So far the Government has approved 27 Marine Conservation Zones in English waters. A second tranche is expected late in 2015. This map shows some of the biggest gaps that still remain: 1. Irish Sea mud habitats 2. Offshore Wales 3. White-beaked dolphin areas 4. English Channel seagrass
■ Add your voice:
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IT’S A DEVOLVED PROCESS This map shows potential Marine Conservation Zones in English and Secretary of State waters, where the process of designating protected areas is partially complete. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own processes. Full update on wildlifetrusts.org/MPA.
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Help us complete the network of Marine Conservation Zones: sign up to our mailing list. You can also get up-to-date information on progress towards a complete network: http://wtru.st/ACTION4OURSEAS
SUFFOLK WILDLIFE 31
Their legacy to Suffolk
S
eizing opportunities to buy or enlarge our nature reserves is one of the most powerful ways in which we secure a better future for wildlife. Over the last decade we have added 2,500 acres of habitat to
our nature reserves, creating the bigger, wilder and more joined-up countryside nature needs. In all we have spent over £5million buying land for wildlife at some of Suffolk’s most inspirational wildlife sites. This was only possible because of the extraordinary
generosity of Trust members and friends who have given to our land projects or remembered Suffolk Wildlife Trust in their Will. Their generosity has protected some of the county’s outstanding natural places, for people to cherish for generations to come.
STEVE AYLWARD
To find out more about how a gift in your Will could help Suffolk’s wildlife, please contact Christine Luxton on 01473 890089
Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House Ashbocking, Ipswich IP6 9JY 01473 890089 info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org suffolkwildlifetrust.org Registered charity no 262777
suffolkwildlifetrust.org