Annual Review

20112012

Protecting Wildlife for the Future

In focus
4

A strong ground force

Without our team of hardy livestock we could not restore and maintain the rich variety of wildlife on our grasslands, heaths and fens. Our grazing cattle, sheep and ponies are doing an important job in keeping sites open and in good condition. This year, with support from WREN, we purchased 30 Hebridean sheep for our Chilterns Chalk Grassland Project. By nibbling close to the ground they enable smaller flowering plants such as horseshoe vetch to flourish, which in turn supports countless insects including the chalkhill blue butterfly. For our Cothill Fen Project, with help from SITA Trust, we bought Dexter cows and Carneddau Welsh ponies to tackle coarse grasses and scrub that were choking the fen. Summer grazing at Parsonage Moor has already created more open water and established the right breeding conditions for the internationally rare southern damselfly.

Acquiring, creating and

I
t was one hundred years ago that Charles Rothschild proposed safeguarding the best places for wildlife in Britain and founded the Society for Promotion of Nature Reserves, known today as the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. While we commemorated our history (several BBOWT sites including Hartslock and Cothill Fen were among the 284 places identified in 1912), on the ground we must look to the future health of our reserves. So much has been lost in the last 50 years that our reserves now act as reservoirs or gene pools of individual and communities of species, which will be essential to enable the restoration of habitats across the wider countryside.

managing nature reserves

Our continuing work to protect wildlife havens for people to enjoy
BBOWT protects and actively manages 79 wildlife-rich sites that cover 1,746 hectares in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Many of these sites represent some of the last fragments of bygone landscapes that once stretched across the three counties. They include ancient woodland, grassland and wetland, as well as hedgerows, rivers and streams. Our management of these special sites continues to demonstrate best practice for habitat management to encourage others to do the same. Our nature reserves are important for people too. They provide opportunities to enjoy and learn about the rich variety of habitats that were once widespread and a way for people to connect with nature.

Key highlights
Healthier fens: These boggy wildernesses are incredibly rare in lowland England, yet support large numbers of specialist plants and insects such as bladderwort, dragonflies and damselflies. Through the Cothill Fen Project four fenland reserves in south Oxon have been restored and enhanced, as a result of grazing, scrub cutting, peat digging and pond creation. This project was supported by SITA Trust. Building a bigger picture: With clipboards at the ready our dedicated volunteers completed 312 habitat and species surveys on 71 of our sites. The data they collect helps to run a health check of our reserves to see if what we have done on the ground is working and whether we need to adapt our management. The survey results also help environmental record centres to assess the health of wildlife nationwide. Shepperlands Farm unveiled: Our newest nature reserve was formally unveiled in July 2011 in memory of Len and Marie Goodwin. For the first time in years the meadow was cut for hay to encourage the growth of more wildflowers, including orchids, musk mallow and cuckooflower (pictured left). Ponies grazed on the heath, while bracken and scrub were cut back to promote heather to create the ideal conditions for resident reptiles and visiting dragonflies.

Bigger, better and more

joined up

Working in partnership to create landscapes for wildlife and people

hile nature reserves are successful in defending wildlife where it remains, we still need to restore and rebuild the natural environment in the wider countryside, and to bring wildlife into our towns and cities. As part of our Living Landscapes vision we aim to create bigger, better-managed and more joined-up sites in which wildlife can move about freely as described in Defras 2010 Lawton Review Making Space for Nature. This year we made good progress with our three Living Landscapes projects: the Ray Valley Restoration Project in partnership with RSPB on the Bucks/Oxon border; West Berkshire Living Landscape Scheme in partnership with West Berkshire Council; and Upper Thames Living Landscape (centred on Chimney Meadows

nature reserve) in west Oxon. We strengthened our partnerships across the three project areas, working closely with local authorities, landowners, conservation organisations and university research units. Another crucial part of our Living Landscapes work is helping people to connect with the landscapes where they live. Throughout the year we staged a full programme of events and activities for local people. One Berkshire resident who joined us on a Living Landscape guided walk said, We have lived in Thatcham for many years but it was a real surprise for us to find there is so much wonderful wildlife on our doorstep; we just needed someone to help us see whats there.

Key highlights
Recreating floodplain meadow: In spring 2012, with support from Biffa Award, we completed a three-year project at Gallows Bridge Farm along the Upper River Ray to restore the precious floodplain meadow and create new wetland habitat. This included an annual hay cut and the creation of new ponds and scrapes for wading birds such as curlew, snipe and lapwing. A leaflet and interpretation boards are now in place to inspire visitors about the habitats and the wildlife that flourishes there. Making wildlife our business: Over the last year our largest nature reserve, Chimney Meadows, paid its own way for the first time. It is of fundamental importance that we can demonstrate to other landowners the financial viability, as well as the wildlife benefits, of our more extensive, environmentally sensitive approach to land management. To improve our management of the site, we installed a piped water supply and purchased agricultural machinery. Restoring chalk grassland: As a result of last years restoration work on our Chilterns chalk grassland reserves over 130 small heath butterflies (pictured left) were recorded at Hartslock and a dark green fritillary was seen laying eggs on the cleared areas at Warburg Nature Reserve. This year we have made significant progress at Dancersend including the preparation of the ground for the sowing of wildflower seed across an expanse of nine hectares. This project is funded by WREN.

In focus

Heathland rescue in West Berkshire

Rich with hidden wildlife, lowland heathland is home to national rarities. Yet during the 20th century Britain lost 84% of its heaths and along with them many iconic heathland species. This year as part of the West Berkshire Living Landscape scheme, funded by GrantScape, SITA Trust and Biffa Award, we restored 13 hectares of heathland: clearing scrub, creating scrapes, reseeding heather and thinning trees. Our seasonal wardens helped to protect ground-nesting birds including nightjar (pictured above). We also carefully monitored the specialist wildlife, focussing on the restoration areas. To see and hear a nightjar at Crookham Common following the restoration work was tremendously rewarding. Roger Stace, WBLL project officer. Throughout the year we have involved local people, with walks, talks and a photographic exhibition that is still touring local venues.

In focus
8

Reaching children from towns and cities

In April our new environmental education centre at Woolley Firs in Berkshire opened its doors to local children. School groups came from Reading and Slough, many of whom received bursary funding to cover the cost of their outing (supported by S.F.I.A. Educational Trust Limited and The Shanly Foundation). At Woolley Firs we aim to switch children on to nature by using the latest technologies that will appeal to them. Thanks to Panasonic UK the centre is equipped with an interactive whiteboard. The children are also using smartphones as mobile wildlife identification and recording devices loaded with WildKey apps which provide a set of questions and a picture to help name a particular species. Using phones alongside sweep nets, the children can explore the wonderful natural resources on site. These include a tree trail and woodland, arable farmland, orchard, hedgerow, ponds and meadows.

Inspiring, encouraging and

Bringing conservation to life for local people

supporting others to take action

W
hen Trust President and TV naturalist Steve Backshall presented prizes to junior members at the Wild Encounters event at College Lake, he recalled how his parents had encouraged him as a young child to crawl around the garden looking for beetles. The opportunity to get close to wildlife, to feel millipedes in his hands and mud ooze through his toes, is what turned him on to nature. At BBOWT we passionately believe in sparking childrens interest in wildlife from an early age. At Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre we introduced Nature Tots, a twice-monthly coffee morning where pre-school children and their carers can get muddy and have fun in the woodland and meadow. At our Gruffalo event in October over 450 Family Watch members were held spellbound by author and Childrens Laureate, Julia Donaldson. During the year we produced new Family Fun e-bulletins and hosted dropin discovery days to give children and their families opportunities to discover and learn about local wildlife. During term-time at College Lake and Sutton Courtenay we taught 6,642 children and made outreach visits in the two counties, either to schools or local nature reserves. One eight-year old child recently wrote: Thank you for letting us come and explore different habitats. I had a fantastic and interesting day. The really best thing was the meadow because I liked catching the ants, spiders and earwigs.

Key highlights
Wildlife Encounter winners: Wildlife Watch members of the Trust let their imaginations run wild in response to our summer competition, with poems, stories and pictures inspired by visits to BBOWT nature reserves. Winners were delighted to meet Steve Backshall, who spoke about wildlife with boundless enthusiasm and flew owls over the audience. We hope that by staging memorable moments like these, the children will develop a lifelong love of nature. Family Fun: Our award-winning eco centre at College Lake continues to attract growing numbers of visitors. This year we welcomed 47,000 people. Many visitors attended our programme of seasonal workshops and guided walks. Family discovery days remained ever popular, from nest building and pond dipping to mini -beast making and Apple Day. A team of 120 volunteers made all this possible, managing the reserve, meeting and greeting, and serving tea and cakes in the caf. Developing Green Talent: After one year of extensive training our first group of trainees (funded by Heritage Lottery Fund) all successfully began careers within the conservation sector. As a DGT trainee I gained invaluable experience learning on the job and through practical training such as habitat management, species identification and surveying, events and interview and presentation techniques. I now work for the RSPB at Otmoor as Assistant Reserve Warden. Owain Hegarty.

Established in 1959, the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is now the largest and most influential voluntary conservation organisation in the region concerned with all aspects of nature conservation. Our vision is to create a region rich in wildlife, appreciated by all. BBOWT is one of 47 Wildlife Trusts working across the UK, with 820,700 members and 2,300 nature reserves. Together the Wildlife Trusts are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places everywhere on land and at sea.

Contact us:
BBOWT, The Lodge, 1 Armstrong Road, Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4XT Tel: 01865 775476 Email: info@bbowt.org.uk www.bbowt.org.uk
Registered charity number: 204330

We thank NFU Mutual Oxford Agency for supporting the cost of this publication as part of our wider partnership. For futher details, please contact 01865 559270 or visit www.nfumutual.co.uk/oxford