Plan to energise conservation in the Dales

A 10-year plan to protect wildlife and habitats in the Yorkshire Dales has been launched by the Park's governing body. 'Nature in the Dales' is a biodiversity action plan for the Yorkshire Dales National Park and sets out the work which will be done to safeguard plant and animal life there and ensure its environment is protected for future generations.

"In recent years the natural heritage of the world has been in decline and the Yorkshire Dales National Park has been no different," said Dr Tim Thom, ecologist at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

"Nature in the Dales shows not just how we will go about stemming this loss but how, with our partners, we will set about improving the fortunes of the park's wildlife and habitats. Many habitats and species found in the National Park are of national and international importance and are found in only a few locations in the world. That is why the success of this plan is so vital."

Dr Peter Welsh of English Nature commented: "Nature in the Dales has been born out of an inclusive partnership that has seen conservationists around the same table as farmers and landowners. Together we hope to see the National Park's habitats restored and the once common black grouse, crayfish, water vole and otter, amongst other species, flourish again."

Staffordshire Trust opens new reserve

The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has announced that its 31st wildlife reserve is Black Heath, at Ipstones Edge. The reserve was acquired with financial support from Onyx Environmental Trust, under the Landfill Tax scheme, Blue Circle Cement and English Nature.

Black Heath represents a unique habitat which would formerly have clothed much of the ridge. Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the reserve is of national importance for its heather dominated vegetation. Uncommon plants such as orchids, bog asphodel and the distinctive cotton grass can be found here.

"We are very grateful for the support which enabled us to purchase this valuable site," said Helen Gee of the Trust. "With funding for both acquisition and to carry out key site management works, the Trust will be implementing a work programme to provide access and on-site interpretation for members of the public and fencing to enable the introduction of grazing stock."

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

New coastal reserve for Lincolnshire

A new reserve has been announced by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. The 80-acre Croftmarsh site has been purchased with funds from local people, and from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lincolnshire County Council and Landfill Tax Credits from Waste Recycling Environmental.

"It's a dream come true", said the Trust's Gibraltar Point Site Manager Kevin Wilson. "Not only will the extra land add a buffer zone between the National Nature Reserve and Skegness, but it will provide an opportunity for creating a large tract of coastal pasture and grazing marsh with immense potential. Coastal grassland is a very threatened habitat, with a loss of 17% in Lincolnshire in the last seven years alone."

Nowadays farmers are less interested in grazing, due to the falling returns. The Trust sees the new reserve as an opportunity to reverse the fortunes of once common farmland birds such as lapwing and skylark and to provide extensive winter feeding for wildfowl such as brent geese and wigeon which occur in internationally important numbers in the Wash.

Mr Don Wright, Chairman of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: "We are extremely grateful to all those people and organisations who have made the acquisition of this land possible. There have also been donations in kind, including the promise of work carried out for free. This is all tremendously encouraging, and enables us to carry out work towards the Lincolnshire Biodiversity Action Plan, particularly to restore the landscape from intensive arable to lowland/coastal pasture and grazing marsh."

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Water meadows campaign moves up a notch

Bury St Edmunds wildlife campaigners are to continue their battle to stop a new road across water meadows, by lodging an application for for a judicial review into the controversial plan.

The brewery wants to build the new road fior access, arguing the road will take around 800 traffic movements a day away from the residential and historic core of Bury and that 93% of the land will be managed for nature conservation.

An earlier application to build the road, in 1997, was defeated when the Water Meadows Defence Campaign overturned the planning consent granted by St Edmundsbury Borough Council. It was held that the council acted unlawfully by not carrying out an independent environmental assessment.

Now the protesters are claiming the authority did not take great crested newts and water voles into account in its environmental assessment of the site.

"We don’t know if our application will even be granted yet so it’s early days. However, it will delay the road if nothing else and I am just hoping Greene King will give up," said campaign founder Doreen Tilley.

Quarry owners donate land for wildlife centre

RMC Aggregates have been working land in Lackford , near Bury St Edmunds, for aggregates used in the construction industry for more than 30 years. Last year the company ceased operations and now the 222-acre site is to become a wildlife centre.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust has taken over the deeds to the land together with a cheque for £300,000 from the RMC Environment Fund. The money is landfill tax money which can be distributed for environmental projects near landfill sites. Now the Trust has launched an appeal to raise another £170,000 and together the money will go towards building new facilities at the site, including a visitor centre, for the public to enjoy free of charge.

"This is a huge step forward for us," said Julian Roughton, the Trust’s director. "It is the beginning of a major project to develop Lackford Lakes as Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s focal point in the county. It was a dream that this was going to happen, that we would be able to use the land after RMC finished, but we could never have dreamt we would get so much money to help us as well."

Christopher Hampson, RMC Group Chairman, said: "This is a wonderful example of a win win situation. The site has been good for us, now it will be good for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and good for the environment."

Stone curlews setback

The poor weather this year has resulted in a bad breeding season for stone curlews in East Anglia.

Most birds live in the Breckland and only 93 chicks fledged from the 172 pairs recorded in the Brecks, a disappointing figure following last year’s 'mediocre' number of 11l fledglings from 159 pairs. They included the raising of two chicks in a quiet corner of the busy RAF Lakenheath air base.

There were only 80 breeding pairs in the Brecks in the late 1980's and the UK population was in danger of becoming extinct, when the RSPB set up its stone curlew project to save the population. Since then a resident team of experts surveys the area for nests each year and monitors the breeding success. Peter Hayman, in charge of the project, said this year’s total of fledglings was below the number needed to maintain the existing population.

"The trend in terms of breeding pairs is very good but the number of fledglings is disappointing," he said. "The population can probably stand a setback in one year but if it is repeated in the next two or three years then we could be in trouble."

RSPB opposes Dibden development

The proposal, by Associated British Ports to build a new container port at Dibden Bay, in Southampton Water, has met with scant support from the RSPB.

"It is totally unacceptable that the wildlife interests of this site, which includes important concentrations of wintering and breeding birds, should be threatened with destruction without adequate mitigation for the damage caused to this site, which is protected under both UK and European law," says Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Director of Conservation.

RSPB South East regional manager Chris Corrigan agrees. "We acknowledge the work that ABP has done on bird ecology and possible replacement habitats, but we simply don’t believe that the proposed intertidal creek and recharge scheme will provide adequate mitigation for the loss of open mudflats and high quality grassland."

The development would destroy at least 40 hectares of mudflats which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and are part of the Solent and Southampton Water Special Protection Area. The site is also part of a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The port development would also destroy much of Dibden Marsh, an area of reclaimed land which is recognised as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation. The Marsh supports large numbers of wintering wigeons, teals and pintails as well as breeding lapwings.

"If this port development is given permission, it sets a dangerous precedent for other sites which may be subject to similar threats. We simply cannot allow one of the most important estuarine areas in Europe to be sold down the river," added Chris Corrigan.

London roof gardens home to black redstarts

The Canary Wharf office complex in East London is providing a new habitat for the black redstart, one of Britain's rarest birds. Roofs there have been covered in textile planted with stonecrop, a tiny yellow flower. Dusty Gedge, an expert on redstarts, said that the gardens resembled the landscape of Dungeness, Kent, where the birds have been sighted.

"Stonecrops grow on the shingle there. They do not need soil," he said. He added that by attracting insects, the flowers provided food for the birds and seed for their young.Mr Gedge said that the concept of the gardens had been borrowed from Germany and Switzerland where they are compulsory in some areas. The stonecrop at Canary Wharf takes nutrients from the brickwork and does not need soil.

Black redstarts were breeding in London, at Wembley, in 1926 but became properly established during and after the War, nesting in bombsites. Since 1990 the bird has been recorded in nearly all the London boroughs and has bred in 16. Recent plans for regeneration of run-down areas are pressurising populations and redevelopment of areas like the South Bank, Surrey Docks and the Barbican have destroyed large areas of habitat. Brownfield development poses a significant risk to this species.

Scottish mountain sale angers conservationists

The John Muir Trust reacted with fury after An Teallach and its surrounding estate was snapped up by a mystery private buyer for £1.7 million recently. The National Trust for Scotland also expressed concern at the sale of one of the country's best loved mountains.

The sale came at a difficult time for the John Muir Trust, which has just bought Ben Nevis.

The 6000-acre Eilean Darach Estate includes six miles of the River Gruinard, considered excellent for salmon and sea trout, as well as most of An Teallach.

Executive alienates farmers - WWF

WWF Scotland has claimed that the strategy adopted by the Scottish Executive is increasing the alienation between farmers and the rest of the population. The Fund is responding to the Rural Affairs department’s discussion document 'A forward strategy for Scottish agriculture.'

"For the estimated £0.5 billion annual public spending on agriculture in Scotland it is essential that farming recognises that it is no longer only an economic activity. It needs to produce social and environmental benefits to earn the tax payers’ money," says the WWF response. "The environment is the opportunity that Scottish farming can grasp, not a threat."

Scotland’s present farming policy, say WWF, is failing on economic, environmental and social grounds. Too many people with a view on sustainable rural development do not get a chance to say what they think. "There should be a much wider engagement in the discussion, not only from environmental and social interest groups, but also from the rural and urban public."

"Farming needs to start seeing itself as part of rural policy, not as an end in its own right," said a spokesman for WWF Scotland. "The country cannot afford to have two strands to its rural policy - one aimed at supporting farming and another dealing with the environmental fall-out from that policy."

Fortingall yew in tree project

The oldest(?) tree in Britain is to feature in a new initiative to improve forests and woodlands in Scotland, as "Big Tree Country".

The Fortingall Yew is joined by the Dunkeld "parent" Larch and the Birnam Oak as the forerunners of a £1.2 million, three-year scheme which will spruce up an estimated 40 forest sites around Perthshire.

Andrew Mathieson, chairman of Perthshire Tourist Board, has unveiled a plaque and a "time line" of Caithness slabs at the site of the yew tree in the churchyard at Fortingall village, near Aberfeldy.

"The Fortingall Yew is an internationally recognised symbol of Scotland which is visited each year by thousands of people from around the world who come to marvel at an ancient tree that is still producing new shoots," said Mr Mathieson. "Its immense historic, scientific and cultural significance make it a leading example of a remarkable concentration of historic and important trees and woodlands in Perthshire."

The Birnam Oak, on the edge of the River Tay, is the last surviving remnant of the Birnam Wood made famous by Shakespeare in Macbeth. The Dunkeld "parent" Larch is the oldest survivor of five planted 250 years ago near the town’s cathedral by the 2nd Duke of Atholl. They were the first larches introduced to Scotland, a species which now numbers millions around the country.

Scottish bird kills 'unacceptable'

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has warned that the number of birds killed in Scotland is "totally unacceptable." The RSPB said birds like golden eagles and red kites were still being killed illegally. Their nests were also being destroyed and their eggs stolen.

The organisation reported a decline in confirmed persecutions between 1998 and 1999. A total of 195 reports alleging offences against wild birds were recorded by RSPB Scotland in 1999. Of these, more than half concerned bird of prey persecution with 25 alleged cases of illegal use of poisons and 78 allegations of direct deliberate persecution through shooting, trapping and nest destruction.

In May a young golden eagle whose nest was protected round-the-clock by volunteers became one of the victims when it was found poisoned. A post-mortem examination found it was killed by bait laced with a well-known poison.

Now Scottish Environment Minister Sarah Boyack has indicated that she wants to give the courts more powers to punish wildlife criminals. She is developing a policy to give better protection to Scotland's natural heritage. She said she would be proposing measures to make life tougher for wildlife criminals generally, including the prospect of prison sentences for habitual offenders.

Copies of the RSPB Scotland publications titled "Persecution: A review of Bird of Prey Persecution in Scotland in 1999" can be obtained from RSPB Scotland, Dunedin House, 25 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh, EH4 3TP, Tel: 0131 311 6500.

Lingerbay decision ordered

The Scottish Environment Minister Sarah Boyack has been ordered to make a decision on the long-running Lingerbay superquarry application.

The applicants, Lafarge Redland Aggregates, had sought a ruling at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, following the Minister's decision to take further advice from Scottish Natural Heritage before coming to a decision. Lord Hardie said the delay in the planning application, which was first lodged more than nine years ago, was of "scandalous proportions".

During the hearing it was revealed that a previous public inquiry, the findings of which had been kept secret, had already recommended that the scheme should go ahead. Gillian Paine, the Reporter to that inquiry which started in 1994, concluded that the plan was in the national interest and that any impact on scenery would be outweighed by potential economic benefits.

Lafarge Redland had also argued that the scheme should not have been referred to Scottish Natural Heritage because the environment group had been the principal objectors. Lord Hardie said: "Having regard to the history of the involvement of SNH in the application and subsequent planning procedures and of Mr Scott and Mr Dunion it must appear to Lafarge Redland that in the context of the planning process SNH cannot bring an impartial judgement to bear upon the matter and justice would not be seen to be done.

"It is well settled in our law that the appearance of injustice is as offensive as the reality."

Mink project launched

A £1.65 million project to eradicate mink from North and South Uist is to begin soon. The mink have been decimating the bird populations there.

Scottish Natural Heritage has applied for £443,000 from the EC LIFE Nature Fund, which aims to help the protection of sites designated under the EC Habitats and Wild Birds Directives. Work will begin soon, if successful, on drawing up a plan to wipe out the mink, which were introduced to Lewis in the 1950s and 1960s during attempts at commercial farming. When that failed, the animals were released or escaped and spread rapidly. There are now estimated to be 10,000 breeding females in the islands, causing serious problems for native wildlife, fish farms, sporting fisheries and crofters who have had chickens killed by the animals.

The Western Isles Mink Control Group, funded by SNH, the council, RSPB and local estates, has been trapping in the south of Harris since 1992. However, in July last year, the first mink was found in North Uist and, since then, 40 have been caught in North Uist and Benbecula. The Uist Mink Group was set up and has been carrying out extensive trapping in North Uist and Benbecula, and some trial trapping in South Uist.

"The mink problem is very much a shared problem, spanning wildlife conservation, crofting, fisheries and even tourism," said Jeff Watson, SNH director in the North of Scotland. "It is very much in everyone’s interests for a solution to be found, and the only permanent one is complete eradication.

"But this is a huge undertaking, with many risks of failure and it requires across-the-board support. To leave behind even one pregnant female could, in theory, result in re-colonisation."

The project will target five Special Protection Areas in the Uists, at Mointeach Scadabhaigh, North Uist Machair and Islands, Aird and Borve, South Uist Machair and Lochs, and Kilpheder and Smerclate.

New bogland reserve for Northern Ireland

The latest National Nature Reserve in Northern Ireland has been announced at Ballynahone Bog, near Maghera in Co. Londonderry.

Ballynahone is one of Northern Ireland's best examples of a raised bog. The 243 hectares contain heathers, Bog Asphodel Narthecium ossifragum and White Beak-sedge *Rhynchospora alba, with occasional patches of Bog-myrtle Myrica gale also occurring. Sphagnum mosses generally form scattered hummocks throughout the area. Bog pools are home to Sphagnum cuspidatum, with Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata abundant in a number of them. Lesser Bladderwort Utricularia minor and Great Sundew Drosera longifolia are also present.

The site has had a chequered history. During the 1980's, a large part of the site was acquired by Bulrush Peat Company and following a public enquiry, planning permission was granted for peat extraction. However, local pressure against exploitation of the rare habitat resulted in the 1994 declaration of an Area of Special Scientific Interest and made it a candidate Special Area of Conservation, and in 1998 it became a Ramsar site. Bulrush sold the reserve to the Department of the Environment and the planning permission was revoked.

"Today's announcement heralds a brighter prospect for Ballynahone Bog," said the Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment, Mr Sam Foster. "A new management partnership between the Ulster Wildlife Trust, the Friends of Ballynahone Bog and the Department's Environment and Heritage Service will ensure that this immensely important site for conservation is sensitively managed for the benefit of its wildlife."

Ballynahone Bog

Irish ecological damage 'greatest in the world'

A new global study has accused the people of Ireland of creating more damage to the world's ecology than any other nation.

If every human enjoyed the same lifestyle as the Irish, it would require at least another two planets to provide sufficient natural resources, according to the World Wildlife Fund. And the WWF found that the total environmental cost of producing Irish crops was greater than any other country in the world. In contrast, the impact of extremely poor countries like Eritrea or Bangladesh is tiny by comparison.

"The message for Ireland is that although the country is enjoying spectacular growth, it should be measured by more than GDP," said WWF director Tony Long. "Ireland should also measure the way people are feeling and the way the environment is being looked after."

The 'Living Planet Report 2000' uses, for the first time, a measure of human pressure on the environment known as the `ecological footprint'. It found that since 1970, the Earth's forestry, fresh water and marine life had declined by a third. "The only way to reverse these dangerous trends is to start considering the planet's natural resources seriously," said Professor Ruud Lubbers, president of WWF International and former Dutch prime minister.

Locals oppose restoration of Mullaghmore centre

After the lengthy, and eventually unsuccessful, attempt to develop a visitor centre at Mullaghmore to service the Burren tourist trade, the Irish government was forced to undo the preliminary construction work. Reinstatement work, involving the removal of tarmac, hardcore, and sewage treatment tanks, is to be completed by the end of May, 2001.

Michael Lynch Ltd, an Ennis-based company, were commissioned to carry out the reinstatement works. But local residents disagree with the decision and signs have appeared along the route to the limestone mountain saying "Mullaghmore car parks, contractors not welcome" and "Demolition contractors keep out".

"We do not intend to let them demolish the car park. We are going to be there to stop the contractors," says Mr Pat Flanagan, a local farmer. His case has been supported by the Clare Fianna Fáil TDs, Mr Tony Killeen and Mr Brendan Daly. "I am aware that there is very strong support for the retention of the car parking especially," Mr Daly said yesterday. "Feelings are running very high in view of the fact that there was car chaos there in the summer months. It is difficult to see how local confrontation can be avoided."

More SAC's for Northern Ireland

12 more Special Areas of Conservation (SAC's) have been suggested for Northern Ireland. The original list, of 340 sites, submitted by Britain as part of the Europe-wide Natura 2000 network contained 21 in Northern Ireland. The list was heavily criticised by the Commission, on the basis that that the coverage of habitats and species was insufficient, and additional sites have now been listed.

Mr Sam Foster, Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment, has announced a further 22 proposed SAC's. These include several raised bogs, oak woodlands such as those found at Banagher Glen in Co Londonderry and Rostrevor in Co Down, and three rivers with important populations of freshwater pearl mussel.

The Minister said: "These proposals are important for nature conservation and for ensuring that Northern Ireland plays its part in implementing the Habitats Directive. I am confident that we have done our work thoroughly but only after I have considered any comments received on their scientific merits will I decide whether or not these sites should be proposed to the Commission as part of a revised UK list."

Official protection for Irish geological sites

The Irish Wildlife (Amendment) Bill, 1999, currently passing through the Dáil, will give statutory protection to geological sites, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.

"If you accept the need for nature conservation, it is necessary to have a component of geological heritage," says Dr Matthew Parkes, of the Geological Survey of Ireland. "It is an element of the conservation of the natural heritage - just as it's important to preserve a wetland or woodland. It's a way of flagging them as important sites to be protected against obliteration, either deliberately or inadvertently. Often owners do not know the sites are important."

The Irish Geological Heritage programme, a partnership between the GSI and the National Parks and Wildlife Section of Dúchas, is selecting the most important geological sites for preservation. Sites will be picked as the best representations of geological features, unique examples of certain features and sites of international importance. They will be designated Natural Heritage Areas.

One site which has been recommended for a "fast-track" approach is a 385-million-yearold trackway of fossilised footprints of an early amphibian, a tetrapod, which is found on Valencia Island, Co Kerry. At present it has no legal protection. Other sites have suffered plundering - at Hook Head in Co. Wexford people have prised off pieces of rock containing well preserved fossils. Similar samples have been removed from a section of coastline in Co. Sligo.

"There is a market for fossils and they are worth quite a bit. If they go into a private collection, they are lost to science and to the public," Dr Parkes said.

Wildlife Trust answers critics

The Chairman of the Wildlife Trust - West Wales has answered critics of the Trust's recent activities. Ineffective management has led to various challenges, which the Trust is now meeting, he says.

The Trust's evolutionary change from amateur, field naturalist group status to its present professional standing has been dfficult. "The move of the Trust's centre of operations to the Welsh Wildlife Centre is a wholly appropriate move reflecting as it does what the Trust is all about, and the fact that it also makes financial sense is a bonus," says David Gardner.

He is himself critical of earlier management. "The Trust has not been well served by its past Chief Executive and its Finance Manager, both of whom are no longer in post, and a number of challenges arising out of their time in office are now being dealt with," he says. "Additionally, changes in grant funding provision have also created a need to rationalise the Trust's staffing structure and operations."

The Trust currently has over 2000 members and 65 reserves including Skokholm and Skomer Islands and the £750,000 Welsh Wildlife Centre at the Teifi Marshes Reserve near Cardigan.

Rhondda plan reveals improvements

Iolo Williams helped to launch 'Action for Nature', a biodiversity plan for the hills and valleys of Rhondda Cynon Taff, recently.

Compared with areas contaminated by intensive farming in Wales and England, the environmental regeneration of the Valleys has been shown to be contributing to improvements in habitats. High-profile species such as the otter, kingfisher, dipper and buzzard have made successful returns, often encouraged by the clean-up of the once-heavily-polluted rivers of Rhondda, the Cynon, Taff and Ely. Habitats such as rhos pasture, heaths, wetlands and bluebell woods remain part of the everyday local environment in many Valleys communities.

The plan contains a number of surprises, including the fact that RCT supports a skylark population. The bird has been in serious decline for years elsewhere in the UK. Regenerated coal-spoil dumps are home to species such as the great crested newt and the brown fritillary, along with much-loved local species such as the barn owl and bluebell.

"Few people realise the variety of wildlife and habitats here or how rare our species are," says Adrian Hobson, Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council’s cabinet member for environmental improvement.

BAP for Cardiff

Over 50 organisations, all of whom have an interest in wildlife conservation in the Welsh capital city, have taken part in the develoment of the Cardiff Local Biodiversity Action Plan, 'Wild about Cardiff.'

The Plan explains the concept of biodiversity, and lists priority species and habitats in the city and its surrounds. A key feature is a series of informative fact pages covering such diverse issues as local wildlife conservation work, farming and wildlife, biodiversity indicators, and school wildlife projects. Results of the "Biodiversity Ballot", in which hundreds of Cardiff residents were asked to vote for their all-time favourite wild plants and animals are also included.

More SAC's proposed for Wales

Additional Special Areas of Conservation in Wales, proposed as part of the European Natura 2000 network, have been named.

Just 16 sites were originally named for Wales in July. Assembly Environment Minister Sue Essex has now announced 29 more sites, including 2 cross-border sites. They include some major Welsh landmarks, such as Cadair Idris, the Menai Strait and Conwy Bay, but also some less well known sites that are just as important for nature conservation. The boundaries of some of the existing SAC's are to be amended.

"All these proposals are made on the basis of the scientific advice of the Countryside Council for Wales and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and are expected to substantially complete Wales’ significant contribution to the UK list of sites for the Natura 2000 network," said the Minister.

The additional list follows Commission criticism of the original list submitted by the UK, which was held to have presented an insufficient list of sites to meet its obligations under the Habitats Directive.