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Countryman Diary - October 2009
Grants galore have been pouring into countryside projects over the last month or so and while other media have been concentrating on bringing us doom and gloom, The Countryman is happy to look on the bright side of rural life. We haven’t space to mention all the grants but here is a selection:
Safeguarding red squirrels
In the North, the Forestry Commission has pledged £153,000 for vital work to help safeguard the future of the Yorkshire Dales’ red squirrel population. A grant has been awarded to UPM Tilhill to help stem the incursion of grey squirrels into the 2,500 acre (1,000 ha) Greenfield Forest in Langstrothdale.
With the backing of the English Woodland Grant Scheme, a full-time ranger will be appointed to check and reverse the spread of greys into the remote wood using humane traps and other methods.
Red squirrels were first confirmed in Greenfield in 2004 and are probably an offshoot of the Cumbrian population.
Jeremy Dick, Yorkshire Dales Woodland Officer with the commission, told The Countryman:
“Reds and greys cannot co-exist together so we’re faced with a simple conservation choice.
“Greenfield Forest is a good place to make a stand as it’s an isolated wood and one planted almost entirely with conifer trees like spruce. They produce a small seed, which is enough to keep reds nourished and give them an edge.
“The new ranger will play a crucial role in combating the spread of greys, and also working with stakeholders and landowners to provide additional protection to red squirrels.”
UPM Tilhill, which manages Greenfield Forest, is working with Red Alert North England partners including the Forestry Commission, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Save Our Squirrels project to implement new management guidelines for the reserve. It is hoped that the new ranger will be in place shortly. Funding will be spread over five years.
Back to boggy beginnings
Swathes of England’s lost wetlands will be restored to their boggy beginnings, thanks to £4 million funding from Natural England for almost 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of wetland recovery projects over the next two years.
As the Wetland Vision project celebrates its first anniversary, this new funding will benefit grazing marshes, raised bogs, reedbeds and fragile fenland across England.
Money is being given to conservation organisations including Wildlife Trusts and RSPB, who will work with the Environment Agency and English Heritage to manage the careful process of re-wetting the land. The restoration of watery habitats will help a multitude of wildlife. Wetlands can also benefit the public by providing a natural water store to help prevent flooding.
Dr Helen Phillips, chief executive for Natural England, explains: “Around ninety percent of England’s bogs and marshes have been lost over the last 1,000 years. Healthy wetlands are a unique and vital habitat for wildlife and provide fantastic places for people to visit. From Morecambe Bay to the East Anglian Fens, projects are underway across the country to put the squelch back into the countryside.”
Wetland projects to receive funding include the East Anglian fens, Humberhead Levels, Midlands Meres and Mosses, Morecambe Bay Wetlands, the Somerset Levels and the River Till in Northumberland.
Conserving chalk grasslands
Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has won a grant from WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental) to support the conservation of chalk grasslands in the Chilterns.
The £198,166 grant will contribute towards a three-year project managed by BBOWT in thirteen nature reserves across the Chilterns.
Peter Cox, managing director of WREN, comments: “We’re looking forward to seeing the project in the Chilterns take shape and seeing the positive impact it will have, to support the conservation of extremely rare chalk grasslands.”
Chalk grassland is said to be Europe’s equivalent of the rainforest: it supports as many as forty plant species per square yard, as well as many rare insects and molluscs. But the grasslands are under continuing threat; an estimated eighty per cent have been destroyed in the past sixty years, largely due to changing agricultural practices.
Wood white takes flight again
One of the UK’s most rapidly declining butterflies is showing signs of recovery in Herefordshire, thanks to a three-year conservation project being led by the Forestry Commission and Butterfly Conservation.
A grant of £88,000, awarded to the Forestry Commission by the SITA Trust, is helping safeguard the future of the beautiful and rare wood white butterfly in the county, which is one of the few remaining strongholds for the species in Britain.
As a result of important conservation work, Haugh Woods near Woolhope and Wigmore Rolls in the north of the county, are now proving to be hotspots for this beautiful little butterfly, which can be easily spotted in the woods during late May, June and July.
The commission is working closely with Butterfly Conservation to manage the ‘Wood White Project’ across eight woods in Herefordshire, including Shobdon Hill, Sned, Mere Hill, Wigmore and Mortimer Forests, Haugh Woods, Queenswood, Dymock and Lords Wood at the Doward.
Other wildlife will also benefit from more open woodland including moths, butterflies, and reptiles such as slow-worms and common lizard.
Paul Jackson
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