The Forestry Commission has published new guidance on managing woodlands in England in the light of the Climate Emergency. The guidance aims to provide practical advice to landowners on ways they can better manage their woodland to combat the effects of climate change.
The guidance can be accessed here.
Essex Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteers to help with the 2019-2020 annual Essex Otter survey.
The survey, which runs from October 2019 to June 2020 will mark the 25th Anniversary of the annual county survey, which began in 1996 as a research project by the University of Essex before being incorporated into Riversearch in 2007.
Otters have been part of the fossil record in the British Isles for half a million years, but by the 1970s they had declined drastically. By 1986, when the National Otter Survey reached Essex, the Otter was extinct in the county altogether.
Although Otters have been persecuted throughout history, the population crash came as a result of poor water quality. Pollutants including lead, organochlorines and DDT, accumulated in waterbodies and the fish they fed on and interfered with Otter’s reproductive systems, leading to infertility and whole generations dying without offspring to replace them.
Essex Wildlife Trust are looking for both new volunteers and experienced surveyors, all of whom will be credited in the final report and have a copy of the report made available to them. Training will be provided.
For more information on how to take part please get in touch with Natalie Singleton, River Catchment Assistant, Essex Wildlife Trust: riverw@essexwt.org.uk or 01621 862974, or visit the Essex Rivers Hub for details.
A recent report by the People's Trust for Endangered Species has highlighted the threats facing our native dormouse population. National standardised monitoring has shown that numbers of these endearing and charismatic species have halved in under 20 years, bringing the species under threat of extinction.
Dormice are long lived animals for their size, and as such are slow to recover from population declines. The recent fall in numbers is thought to be due to a variety of factors including climate change; changes in woodland management and farming practices; and habitat destruction. Dormice are predominantly found in southern parts of England and Wales and are relatively widespread in Essex, but are in danger from habitat fragmentation and development in the county. Dormice are protected by law, and anyone disturbing or destroying habitat known to be occupied by dormice could be subject to prosecution.
Further information about the report can be found on the PTES website here.
The updated State of Nature Report for 2019 has been published, and makes sobering reading for the UK. More than 60% of priority species are in decline, and more than a quarter of UK mammal species could be facing extinction, according to the most detailed report yet on the State of the UK's wildlife.
The report examines data from almost 7,000 species and was compiled using data and expertise from more than 70 different organisations, from wildlife organisations to Government bodies. The population changes in many species also seem to be happening more quickly, with declines linked to a variety of factors including climate change, intensification of agriculture, increasing urbanisation and the spread of invasive non-native species, which are establishing in the UK at a rate of 10 per year.
In spite of these challenges, there have also been conservation success stories. Targeted conservation efforts have enabled some species, such as the bittern and large blue butterfly to re-establish themselves in the UK, and levels of some pollutants are dropping. There are also more people engaged in conservation volunteering than ever before, with over 18,000 volunteers involved in structured monitoring and 70,000 volunteers submitting species records to national recording schemes and Local Environmental Records Centres.
The report can be accessed here: https://nbn.org.uk/stateofnature2019/.
Help us monitor the State of Nature in Essex! You can submit your wildlife sightings to us online, click here to get involved!
New guidance for landowners and land managers wanting to encourage healthy water vole populations on their land has been released by PTES (People’s Trust for Endangered Species). Reviewed and endorsed by the UK Water Vole Steering Group, it provides a wealth of information in a compact and easy to follow guide.
If you think you may have water voles on your land, or want to encourage them to return you can download a pdf copy of the guidance from the Essex Rivers Hub here.
Water vole sightings can be reported online here, or alternatively contact Darren Tansley, the Essex Wildlife Trust’s River Catchment Coordinator, via darrent@essexwt.org.uk. The Essex Water Vole and Mink Project can also providelandowner advice and support for those wishing to take part in the project on their local catchment.
