Natural World spring 2017

Natural World

News from The Wildlife Trusts across the UK

Spring 2017

Getting busy How an industrious rodent reduces flooding, boosts wildlife and cleans up the water supply

The Greener UK coalition

13 groups unite to call for an Environment Act

Bluebells and ancient oaks Find a spectacular wood near you

Tune in to Nature

Five ways to wellbeing that anyone can use

UK NEWS

Green groups unite Following the vote to leave the EU, environmental organisations are asking Government to keep

Farming

Environment

Keep

Keep Protection for important wildlife sites

nicholas watts

matthew roberts

Controls on pollution of our rivers, soils and seas

Introduce

Introduce

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hirteen major environmental organisations including The Wildlife Trusts have formed a new coalition called Greener UK. Their aim is twofold: first, to ensure that wildlife’s fortunes improve when we leave the EU; and second, to persuade the UK’s Governments to seize this moment and lead the world in nature’s recovery.

The 13 organisations in the coalition speak for almost eight million members – but many more people support the coalition’s objectives. In a recent YouGov poll, eight out of ten British adults thought we needed the same or stronger levels of environmental protection after we leave the EU. “This coalition is powerful because its moment has come,” says Stephanie Hilborne, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts. “If these islands are to change fundamentally, let’s 2 NATURAL WORLD spring 2017

A world-leading Environment Act, and map nature’s recovery UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

matthew roberts

Investment to restore our soils, rivers and countryside to full ecological health

make that change a good one.”

Greener UK is concerned that wildlife could be forgotten in the rush to attract new investment or make new trade deals. This might reduce the protection we give our most important wildlife sites, or the vigour with which we control pollution.

The coalition is calling on the UK Government to keep as much of the EU’s environmental protection as possible when we leave, and uphold it into the future. It is also asking for sustainable and effective farming and fisheries policies, underpinned by safeguards for important wildlife sites and species, pollution control, and marine protection.

The Wildlife Trusts are asking Government to: n Bring in a world-leading Environment Act and map nature’s recovery; n Invest public money in restoring our soils, rivers and countryside to full ecological health; n Complete the UK’s network of Marine Protected Areas and ensure we fish sustainably.

“We have secured real, tangible and positive change in the past and are determined to do so again,” says Stephanie Hilborne. “The people of the UK want their wildlife back. Now is the time to call for that, on behalf of this generation and the next.”

Eight out of ten adults think we need the same or more environmental protection

for nature

Say what you believe

Late new st UK-w s i wild and issude lifetr es org/ usts. : new s

The Wildlife Trusts believe that nature matters in its own right and that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife and wild places in their daily lives. Surely this is why it hurts so much to lose a favourite tree or see a kestrel killed on the road. It explains why our hearts leap at a Keep murmuration of starlings; and why we grimace when we hear of children who have never had the Momentum on banning chance to run along a beach. discards and moving to sustainable fishing We believe that people are part of nature and yet so much of its variety and joy has been ripped slowly and painfully from our land and from our souls. Together, we must put wildlife back into our country and into our lives. And your support for your Wildlife Trust is helping us to do just that.

But there is unprecedented pressure to release new land for house-building, uncertainty about the future direction of farming, and a risk of trade deals lowering environmental standards.

Perhaps the biggest risk of all is that, in Introduce the face of such turmoil in world politics and such urgency to ensure More protection for vulnerable Britain is “open for business”, the habitats, and let fish stocks recover environment is overlooked. Yet it is In the last issue we asked every the foundation upon which a healthy MP to sign a pledge to help and prosperous society depends. make the UK a world leader on We know most people in this environmental protection and climate change, and restore country do care about nature and nature. See who signed at future generations. But we need your green-alliance.org.uk/ help to keep reminding those in the GreenerUK centre of the whirlpool of change why they need to act for the environment. Think of the impact we could have together if all 800,000 members of our movement wrote a short, heart-felt letter to our elected politicians calling for sustainable fishing and farming, and for Who are the Greener UK coalition? improved protection for the environment.

Greener UK is a group of 13 All of them say that leaving Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say. But environmental organisations the EU is the moment to those are usually the times that it matters most to representing almost eight restore and enhance the UK’s say something. So why not simply say what you million people. It includes environment. More on believe?

The Wildlife Trusts, the wildlifetrusts.org/

the EU’s existing protections, and build on them

fishfight.net

Fisheries

180 MPs

paul naylor

and counting

david chapman

National Trust and the RSPB.

Greener-UK

Stephanie Hilborne OBE Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts @stephhilborne Wherever you are in the UK, your Wildlife Trust is protecting and standing up for wildlife and wild places in your area. Contact us on enquiry@wildlifetrusts.org or 01636 677711. To join your Wildlife Trust, visit wildlifetrusts.org/joinus. Natural World, The Kiln, Waterside, Mather Road, Newark, Notts NG24 1WT. Editor Rupert Paul Layout editor Dan Hilliard Communications officer Catherine Boggild. Cover: Knapdale beaver swimming with bracken for food or bedding. ©The Big Picture/Nature PL twitter @wildlifetrusts facebook.com/wildlifetrusts

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UK NEWS

£1m needed to create a giant wetland here

Sir David Attenborough is backing Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s biggestever appeal – to raise £1 million to create a giant nature reserve in The Broads. If the appeal succeeds, the purchase would expand Carlton and Oulton Marshes, and establish a 1000-acre wetland. All donations are most welcome: suffolkwildlifetrust.org

suffolk wT

tom marshall

This would be habitat restoration on a landscape scale. Can you help it happen?

The appeal has Sir David’s support

Terry Whittaker 2020 Vision

Pine martens back in Shropshire Shropshire Wildlife Trust are supporting what may be the only breeding population of pine marten in England.

The animals were first observed on a trail camera, and thought to be migrants from Wales passing through.

Subsequent monitoring revealed a small population in the woodlands of the Clun Valley.

Several woodland owners in the Valley have already agreed to manage their land with pine marten in mind and are working with the Trust to install over 100 den boxes.

Local volunteers are helping with scat searches to further monitor the animals.

With improved denning options, the Trust thinks the pine marten can become fully established in Shropshire. More on shropshirewildlifetrust.org. uk/pinemartenproject

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Pine marten have been absent from most of England for more than a century

Aldernery bird observatory

The island’s gannet colony with – a sign of the times – nests made from discarded fishing nets

Bumper first year for Alderney Bird Observatory The Alderney Bird Observatory, set up in March 2016 as part of the Alderney Wildlife Trust, has ringed 13,000 birds and recorded 180 species, five of them new to the

island. This has already shown how important Alderney is as a stop-over point for migrant birds.

The first year’s work is a testament to the observatory’s warden John

Launched in 2013 by HRH The Prince of Wales, the Coronation Meadows project has now created 90 new wildflower meadows, in 60 counties, aided by over 1,600 volunteer work days. Its aim was to reverse the catastrophic decline in these ancient habitats.

The project is run by The Wildlife Trusts, Plantlife, The Rare Breeds Survival Trust and funding from Biffa Award.

leicestershire and rutland WT

90 new meadows

Horton and his team, who ringed 500 storm petrels and 777 gannets.

Their work will allow better monitoring of the population size and trends of Alderney’s birds.

Meadows completed 2013

2014

2015

2016

Find a Coronation Meadow near you on coronation meadows.org.uk

Forest school: it beats double maths

Forest School for thousands robin bell

HRH and helpers sow the 90th site – The Queen’s Meadow in Green Park, London

Thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, tens of thousands of children are getting a new chance to experience nature hands on.

In 2016, 15 Wildlife Trusts delivered over 500 Forest School sessions, letting children engage with their wild side. With renewed support from PPL this will now be expanded.

Several more Wildlife Trusts will be able to run more outdoor educational classes and Forest School sessions. More on wildlifetrusts.org/peoplespostcode-lottery spring 2017 NATURAL WORLD 5

great days out

john morrison

Barkbooth Lot, an ancient wood looked after by Cumbria Wildlife Trust

Great places to see bluebells No photograph does a bluebell wood justice: you just have to see it for yourself. And in the UK we have some of the best displays in the world

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f all our wild places, ancient woodlands are the ones most steeped in magic. Take one step inside and you can sense the sheer age of the trees and the soil.

But for a few weeks in April and May there’s something more magical still: an extravagant carpet of heavilyscented blue flowers.

The UK has half the world’s population of common bluebells, and their profusion here reaches a peak unequalled anywhere else on earth.

A bluebell’s seeds only spread a foot or so from each plant, so their

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presence denotes a truly ancient forest. And these beautiful flowers are an important early food source for bees and butterflies.

The Wildlife Trusts care for hundreds of bluebell woodlands.

Here are just a few of them.

Bluebells denote a truly ancient forest

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Moss Valley Woodlands WT for Sheffield & Rotherham A secluded reserve on the southern boundary of Sheffield containing a beautiful string of ancient woodlands.

Where is it? From Jordanthorpe to Norton, just to the south of Sheffield S8 8DZ. Map ref. SK 371807.

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Emsworthy Mire Devon Wildlife Trust High altitude and a lack of trees means the bluebells only flower here when they’ve gone elsewhere. A ‘last chance to see’ in late May/early June.

Share your experiences

We would love to see your bluebell im ages and experiences on @wildlifetrusts #LoveWildlife

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Cumbernauld Glen Scottish Wildlife Trust A patchwork of ancient woodlands and meadows that come alive with superb shows of bluebells in May. Where is it? Exit M80 for A8011.

Follow signs for Cumbernauld Theatre. Park opposite the theatre.

Reserve is a short walk. Map ref. NS 777 763.

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Castle Woods WT of South & West Wales Ancient wood with mosses, lichens and veteran trees over the river Tywi.

Where is it? A mile west of Llandeilo.

Park by the fire station off the A40 and walk down Dinefwr Park Drive.

Map ref. SN 615218

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Bunny Old Wood Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Some of the reserve may have been tree-covered since the ice age.

Where is it? Off A60 Loughborough Rd. NG11 6QQ. Map ref SK 579283.

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Baal Hill Wood Durham Wildlife Trust Seek out the 400 year-old ‘Bishop’s Oak’ among the bluebells, and many ancient woodland flowers besides.

Where is it? Nr Holywell Farm, Wolsingham. DL13 3HE.

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tom marshall

Arger Fen & Spouse’s Vale Suffolk Wildlife Trust A mosaic of ancient woodland alongside fen meadow, and one of the best bluebell sites in the UK. Where is it? Near Assington, Sudbury. CO8 5BN. For more infomation and to find a bluebell wood near you visit wildlifetrusts. org/bluebells

They smell good too: on a war m, sunny day it can overpower everything else in the wood

Where is it? Off B3387 on the road from Bovey Tracey. TQ13 7TT.

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Barkbooth Lot Cumbria Wildlife Trust A mix of open fell, grassland and ancient oak woodland, rich in birdsong and dragonflies.

Where is it? A mile west of Crosthwaite. Map ref. SD 418 909.

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Coed Pendugwm Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Bluebells to knock you off your feet, under majestic oak and beech.

Where is it? A mile north of Pontrobert towards Llanfihangel.

SY22 5JF

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Gobions Wood Herts & Middx Wildlife Trust Mostly wood, but also grassland, hedges, ponds and wetland. The ancient trees and soil make it particularly rich in fungi: 558 species have been found here.

Where is it? Next to 18 Mymms Drive, Potters Bar. AL9 7AF.

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People & wildlife

Feel Feel

Dominic Higgins is Nature and Wellbeing manager at The Wildlife Trusts @DomCHiggins

getty

Research proves (again) that Nature is good for you A report by Essex University*, around the world. It proposes five commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts, evidence-based ‘Ways to Wellbeing’. adds to the ever-growing body of If you practice them in natural research which shows that Nature is settings, you will improve your good for you. physical and mental health.

The key finding is that wildlife-rich environments don’t just keep you CONNECT Make friends with the physically healthy. They also reduce people around you stress, improve mood, and reduce BE ACTIVE Go for a walk outside social isolation.

TAKE NOTICE Be aware of the The report includes work by the wonders of nature around you New Economics Foundation which is KEEP LEARNING Try something new based on the work of 400 scientists GIVE Volunteer or help other people *Wellbeing benefits from natural environments rich in wildlife, Essex University

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Outdoor participants at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Skylarks project

better outside better inside

Research continues to show that being active in nature helps us all to grow, live and age well. And that means green environments can help reduce the strain on the NHS LONDON WT

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eople in the UK are living longer. On the face of it, this is good news. This rise in life expectancy, however, is not matched by equivalent levels of good health.

For many, it means spending their later years in ill-health and loneliness.

This is a huge challenge for our local and national health services.

For example, research by HoltLunstad (2015), shows that being lonely is as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Fortunately, many studies show that accessible green spaces can work well as social connectors. Quite simply, they can cut the social and economic costs of ageing alone.

One solution for both problems is London Wildlife Trust’s Potted History project – a programme of nature-based activities that works with older people in the community and in care settings. Each week, a group meets in Peckham where participants grow herbs, fruit and vegetables in raised beds, observe the wildlife of the garden and create art and craft inspired by nature.

The activities act as prompts for memories, and participants share their experiences, knowledge and thoughts with others – including recipes, gardening tips and jars of homemade chutney.

The effect has been extraordinarily positive.

Participants are happy to get out of the house, learn new things and interact with others.

“I was really anxious before coming today, but now I feel really relaxed. It’s nice

At London Wildlife Trust’s Potted History project, social gardening fulfils all five ‘Ways to Wellbeing’

being outside,” reports one. “Since coming here I’ve managed to give up smoking,” says another. “I was depressed, but now I really look forward to coming here.”

Comments like these, alongside

Participants are happy to interact with others

which runs outreach support to a care home next to the Skylarks reserve. “Skylarks is such a beautiful reserve, and it’s on the doorstep of the care home. When mobility prevents us from getting outside, we hold wildlife quizzes and activities – but the overriding thing for me is the social aspect.”

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gave local authorities new responsibilities to improve the health of their populations, and reduce health inequalities. Improving access to green space is probably the most effective way they can achieve these objectives.

Help spread the word Could you display a poster that shows the benefits of contact with nature? The more people who participate in our Natural Health Service, the better. Order your poster at: wildlifetrusts.org/wellbeing

other feedback, shows that the London Wildlife Trust project has reduced social isolation. It has given people a regular opportunity to get out of the house, learn new things and interact with others. The experience of being outdoors in nature has also improved their mood and happiness.

Meanwhile, in the Midlands, a second Wildlife Trust project caters for more vulnerable people who cannot get outside. “We try to bring nature to them as best we can,” explains Angie, a volunteer for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, spring 2017 NATURAL WORLD 9

people & wildlife

My beaver Bestselling author Tom Cox grew up thinking beavers were extinct in Britain. Then a small

Ron Walsh. inset: laurie campbell

I

did not travel to the River Otter, in east Devon, expecting to see wild beavers. Just to be within 100 yards of them and see their teeth marks on the trees would have been exciting enough for me.

But as dusk fell, and my friend Sarah and I and Stephen from the Devon Wildlife Trust made our way quietly along the bank of the river we heard a loud splash. About 20 seconds later, two otters dipped past us at speed. They had a rattled look about them, like thugs who’d picked the wrong target. The size of the initial splash, Stephen said,

Tom Cox is a writer and cat lover. His books include Bring me the head of Sergio Garcia and the Sunday Times top ten bestseller The Good, The Bad And The Furry @cox_tom

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suggested the commotion was about more than just otters. A larger animal had been involved: perhaps a dog, perhaps a beaver.

Nobody knows exactly how beavers first appeared on the River Otter, but sightings began in 2008.

I worried that The Stranglers might alienate the beavers

Not long afterwards, Devon’s new beavers began to breed. The government then decided to have them removed from the river.

Fortunately, the Devon Wildlife Trust opposed this removal and managed to get a licence for them to live on the river for five years and their effect on the landscape to be monitored. There are now thought to be around 20 beavers.

People were wild camping near the river as Stephen, Sarah and I walked along its bank. The 1980s anthem ‘Golden Brown’ by The Stranglers tinkled through the trees

epiphany population appeared near him. With Devon Wildlife Trust’s help, he went for a look from a portable stereo near their tent just downstream. I worried that The Stranglers might alienate the beavers but as Stephen, Sarah and I stood quietly in a dark spot under an ash tree and waited for the song to finish, almost exactly on cue with its final bars a beaver of not dissimilar colour to the one celebrated by The Stranglers swam out from the opposite bank. It was more serene than I imagined, far more serene than the otters we’d just seen, but when it climbed out onto a small sandbank just upstream and began scratching itself that serenity quickly

The beginning of a beaver dam

vanished. “It looks like a giant tea cosy,” said Sarah, accurately.

Beavers are vegetarians, and – contrary to what you might have read in CS Lewis – not the kind who sneakily eat fish as well. They were last seen in Britain some time in the 16th Century. The thickness of their pelts and the fact that their castor sacs (scent glands) contained castoreum, which was used as a tincture in perfume, meant they were hunted to extinction. You don’t hear people wanting a perfume that smells of castor sacs these days so you’d hope that, were beavers to

Could this become a common sight again?

Devon Wildlife Trust believes there is a strong ecological case

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people & wildlife

return to the UK they’d have an easier time. Their ability to fell trees and build dams could also have a positive effect, slowing floods, and creating wildlife-friendly pools and bogs. After a grooming session this one swam 15 yards upstream and began to munch loudly through a bank of Himalayan balsam.

I thought of my mum, who’d had problems with balsam in her garden, and pictured me and the beaver ringing the doorbell on her birthday, and me telling the beaver to hide behind the hedge, just to make the occasion that bit more special.

Whereas otters live in holts, beavers live in lodges. This is one of many things I love about beavers. It tells you what you need to know

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Devon...

In 2011, with the help of Devon Wildlife Trust, two beavers were released into a fenced enclosure in the Tamar headwaters. Their activities and effects were studied closely (see box, right)

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She began to munch loudly on Himalayan balsam about them straight away: they’re a bit fancy, but not too fancy. This particular beaver’s lodge had been built in the bank of the river directly opposite us, amidst the roots of overhanging trees. Spotters from Devon Wildlife Trust had thought that there were three kits living with this beaver and her far more publicity-shy male friend – but six days after my visit a resident of the

local village took a photo which clearly showed five kits. Having seen this, I drove back that evening and, after sitting on the bank for very little time at all, I saw two kits swimming out, following the exact same route that their mum had the previous week, climbing the bank and chomping on the balsam, albeit with considerably less volume.

After a quarter of an hour a dog walker called David arrived. David has been watching the beavers for over three years, since before their presence was even revealed in the news. “The male never comes out,” he said. “The female’s very casual now, though. I held a branch of willow in the water for her not long ago and she started to chew it.”

The beaver effect

Stephen said the adult beavers were around the size of a cocker spaniel but, looking at David’s cocker spaniel, Willow, I decided this was an underestimation. The adult female beaver looked a fair match on the scales for his labrador, Bracken.

As dark fell and the kits returned to the lodge, David and I walked back along the river in the direction of my car. David, who clearly had more finely tuned hearing than me, stopped abruptly every minute or two to investigate a distant splash or a rustle in the reeds. I had to remind myself not to get complacent about this: in less than a week I had seen three examples of an animal that, just a few years ago, I’d assumed I’d never see here in during my lifetime.

These three maps span five years of the Tamar beaver study. Their three hectare enclosure consisted of culm grassland encroached by willow, birch and gorse, with a trickle of a stream. The beavers quickly felled trees and built dams to create the deep water they prefer.

Within a year there were eight ponds with a combined area of 900m2. The knock-on effects (see graphs below) were remarkable.

The female had kits in 2013

2011

Lodge

Fence Watercourse Pond

2012

New pond

Dam

Marshy area

2016

Foraging channels

More wildlife

600 500 Frog spawn clumps on site

400 300 200 100 2011

Slower flow

2012

2013

2015

2016

Flow in and out of beaver site

Flow (m3/sec)

Less pollution

■ Above the site ■ Below the site

0.10 0.08 0.06

20 30

0.04

40

0.02

50

3.45pm

4.15am

4.45pm

200

4

0.1

100

2

0.1

0

Sediment

Mg/litre

nick upton/naturepl

Mg/litre

10

■ Rainfall ■ Flow above site ■ Flow below site

0

Nitrogen

Rainfall (mm/hour)

00

0.12

Scientists measured flows into and out of the beaver enclosure.

The results showed how the dams and ponds hold water back. Across a catchment, beavers might be able to stop floods being so severe.

Intensively managed farmland above the site produced soil, nitrogen and phosphate runoff.

As the water slowed through the ponds, a high proportion of these pollutants were filtered out.

2014

Mg/litre

From mosses to invertebrates to bats, a wider range of species used the site once the beavers had got to work. Particularly impressive was the dramatic yearly increase in frog spawn clumps

0

Phosphate

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Elliott, M., Blythe, C., Brazier, R., Burgess, P., King, S., Puttock, A., Turner,C., (2016) Beavers – Nature’s Water Engineers. Devon Wildlife Trust.

mike symes

One of the dams in made by the Tamar beavers

living seas

‘‘The sea Dan Hilliard

Enjoying the seaside is a fundamental part of growing up. Let’s help more children get the chance, says Leanne Manchester

Leanne Manchester is a whale lover and editor of Wildlife Watch magazine @Leanne_manch

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s editor of The Wildlife Trusts’ children’s magazine, Wildlife Watch, I have the privilege of seeing the drawings, poems and stories sent in by our youngest members. It’s such a joy to witness the creativity that kids have.

One of my favourites was by nine year-old Hazel, who made a beautiful whale using sticks she found on Clevedon beach.

You are never more than 70 miles from the coast in the UK, and the sea is an important part of our national identity. Yet many children living just a few miles from the shore rarely, if ever, visit their local beach.

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Children inspired by the sea will care for it In the coastal city of Sunderland, half of the nearly 500 children Durham Wildlife Trust worked with on their North Sea Explorers project had never been to the Seaham coast, just a few miles from their schools.

You might think this would be different in a Cornish village geared up for tourists and holidaymakers.

But the disconnect is the same.

“I was shocked by the number of children who had grown up near Looe, so close to the sea, but had never been to the beach,” says Abby Crosby, marine conservation officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust. “For many children, this is a whole world that had not been opened for them.”

Connection with the natural world is an infectious one, and something that all children benefit from if given the chance. The letters I receive from children across the country clearly show that experiencing nature first hand is invaluable to developing a passion and a desire to protect it.

is amazing’’ Tell Theresa!

This spring we’re asking young members to send a message to Theresa May about protecting our seas. The message will be a huge chain of friendship bracelets.

Children can download the bracelet at wildlifetrusts.org/ bluebelt, colour it in and send it to us at the address on the link.

We’ll join all the bracelets up and give them to the Prime Minister, asking her to be a friend of the sea as part of our campaign for more Marine Conservation Zones.

The face says it all: Lola Hilliard in touch with nature in Cornwall

Ninety seven per cent of our planet is water, and our seas are our life support system, so we must ensure they are protected. If we can inspire our children to build a personal relationship with our seas, they are more likely to care for it in the future.

“It’s not planet Earth,” said one 11 year-old. “It’s planet ocean. If we don’t keep it running the world won’t be as beautiful as it is now.”

Once children have formed a connection with the sea, we can encourage them to make decisions for themselves, and help them to realise that they can make a difference where they live. As Fiona

Nine year-old Hazel made this whale from beach driftwood

Here are a few from children who have already got colouring

White, from Kent Wildlife Trust, says: “Our projects are as much about giving children confidence and developing their self-esteem as they are about nature. Involving children in the decision-making process helps to lead their learning. Giving them positive experiences in wild places ensures they will have a deeper relationship with their environment later in life.”

Children and adults alike should be able to experience the joy of wildlife and wild places in their daily lives. If we help to lift barriers and provide opportunities, together we can make this a reality. spring 2017 NATURAL WORLD 15