Wild Warwickshire Issue 168 Summer 2021

The member magazine for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust | Summer 2021 HS2: STOP NATURE BASED AND RETHINK SOLUTIONS An update on the How the Nature Recovery local impact of HS2 Fund can help tackle the climate and health crises Nature Recovery Fund We’re off to a flying start! Members share their reasons for donating to our appeal

WELCOME 32 To the summer edition of your member magazine Three cheers for plans to restore nature! On 18th May the Secretary of State, George Eustice, pledged to ‘build back greener’ and committed the government to a legally-binding target for ‘more wildlife’ (i.e. greater species abundance) by 2030 in the upcoming Environment Bill. Much of the focus was on tree planting, species reintroduction and peatland restoration in England, including a potential ban on peat sales. Things to look forward to tomorrow, perhaps, but the reality today is investment in developments which destroy nature, such as HS2 (pg. 10-13), and killing more badgers (pg. 26), rather than investing in nature on land and at sea at the scale needed. Yes, it’s exciting to hear about reintroducing wildcats and golden eagles but the success of such projects depends on making more space available for nature. What we need is all wildlife to be abundant once more – humming and buzzing all around us – and so the hope is that a new legally-binding target to achieve this will step up action across the whole of government. The nature recovery appeal (see pg. 4-5 and thank you so much!) is our response in Warwickshire to the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. We got into this mess because wild places have shrunk to tiny, fragmented pockets of land, often too far from communities for people to benefit from contact with nature, with much of our land degraded and unable to store carbon in the quantities needed to help tackle climate change (pg. 6-7). Restoration projects at the necessary scale need Government funding to reach their declared ambition of 30% of land for nature by 2030. Doing so will help wildlife recover and enable repaired habitats to store carbon once more. At the moment, only 13% of Warwickshire is protected in any way for nature and even less is in a good state. So, while Mr. Eustice sowed a few seeds of hope, root and branch change is still needed. Faced with a joint climate and biodiversity crisis greater urgency is vital: now is the time to accelerate nature’s recovery. Thank you for your help as the Trust plays its part in this massive effort. Ed Green, Chief Executive GILLIAN DAY Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Get in touch Cover: Illustration by Wild Warwickshire is the membership Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is the leading WildWarwickshire MagazineTeam Al Boardman magazine for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust local charity dedicated to conserving, protecting and enhancing your local wildlife. Editor Lindsay Butler Wild Warwickshire magazine was printed by Email [email protected] We manage over 65 nature reserves in Seacourt Printers on 100% recycled materials at a Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull. We Design Sally Henderson, factory powered by 100% renewables, using zero Telephone 024 7630 2912 are supported by over 24,000 members and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Design Studio water and chemicals, and generating zero landfill. over 500 volunteers. Seacourt is a Net Positive printer that makes a Address Brandon Marsh Nature Centre, positive contribution to the environment and society. Brandon Lane, Coventry, CV3 3GW facebook.com/WarwickshireWT/ Website warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk twitter.com/wkwt Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a company instagram.com/warwickshirewt/ limited by guarantee. Registered in England, number 00585247. Registered charity, number 209200. VAT Number 670318740. 2 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

INSIDE... 4 Nature Recovery Fund Appeal 6 N ature based solutions 8 Like There’s No Tomorrow 9 Membership news 10 HS2 14 E quality, Diversity and Inclusion 16 Volunteering 17 Mental Health Awareness Week 18 Wilder Whitnash 19 Wild education in lockdown 20 Piles Coppice. Past, present, future 22 30 Days Wild 24 Young Ambassadors 26 Bad news for our badgers 27 Legacies 28 6 places to see slow worms 30 Night riders 32 Farming with nature WWT AGM Save the date! This year’s AGM will be held on Tuesday 28th September 2021. To register your interest in attending, please visit www.agm-2021.eventbrite.co.uk. We hope to see you there! Warwickshire Wildlife Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 3 Trust thanks the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

APPEAL Nature Recovery Fund Appeal We’re off to a flying start! On 23 March this year, we launched the most ambitious fundraising appeal in our 50-year history and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from our members, supporters and the public. S ince we started to spread the word, we I have always been fascinated by wildlife and have been a have so far received an incredible £47,000 member of WWT for a couple of years, however spending time in donations from individuals inspired to in my local reserve (Whitnash Brook) during the last year has taken take action and join us on our journey to my interest to a whole new level. I inherited a pair of (very heavy!) old bring about nature’s recovery across Warwickshire, binoculars which have opened my eyes to a new world of wildlife. I am Coventry and Solihull. Here are some of the reasons now spotting birds I never knew existed, like the siskin and water rail. why people have donated, and why they feel that the Each new discovery is so joyful and has brought me lightness and Nature Recovery Fund is such a vital step towards peace during very dark times. I have a new-found appreciation for the bringing our wildlife back. difference that even small areas of protected space can have, and I want to make sure that others have the same opportunities that I Nature conservation, like charity, begins have enjoyed. This equality of access to greenspaces is just at home. In my lifetime, I have witnessed one reason why the Nature Recovery Fund is so crucial. Warwickshire’s natural environment and Gemma Wilkins, Whitnash wildlife face unprecedented threats - not least through HS2 and the rapid expansion of housing on green belt land. My support of WWT’s Nature Recovery Fund makes me feel that, in the face of this huge challenge, I can make a difference. Jane Farrington, Leamington Spa 4 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

APPEAL We all hear that nature is in desperate need of our I have help. Precious hedges, native woodlands and been meadows - beautiful wildlife-rich habitats - are being interested in destroyed to make way for housing and farmland. nature and Pesticides and flowerless lawns are wiping out the bees and conservation butterflies I recall from my childhood. But there is hope, since childhood, and right now communities are realising that the answer but this passion lies in the small patch of land beneath our feet. I was has grown due to delighted to learn that WWT invests in projects to the fantastic work accelerate nature’s recovery - but they can’t do it without of Warwickshire our support. I donated to the Nature Recovery Fund and Wildlife Trust, so much volunteer in my local area because I want to see change. so that I have been inspired I encourage everyone in Warwickshire to help! to become a Young Ambassador Bianca Hollis, Stratford-upon-Avon for the Trust. I think that the Nature Recovery Fund Appeal is bold and ambitious, but exactly My regular rambles and wildflower photography what we need to tackle our biodiversity, climate change take me to beautiful areas of our countryside, but and health crises. I love that WWT is creating a community I’ve realised that as the years have gone on, I don’t see the of protectors, ensuring equal access to nature for all both common wildflowers, birds or butterflies I saw now, and for decades to come. as a boy. Hearing skylarks is unusual now, the Emma Atkins, Kenilworth flocks of lapwings aren’t there anymore, hedges vanish, copses and wild corners are My reasons for supporting this cause? Simply cleared, ponds filled in and we’ve got prairie- because I care. As a nature lover, there is so much like monoculture fields. All this loss wakes me joy to be had from seeing elusive native species or seasonal up to the whole issue of declining biodiversity, migrants. Spotting hares, foxes, cuckoos or long-tailed tits and the importance of not just joined-up is something to regale to the next person you see. I want thinking, but a joined-up landscape. We need more my son to not just share this experience, but have it more wildlife and more land which supports nature, which frequently than I do. If Warwickshire Wildlife Trust double is why I made a donation to support Warwickshire the amount of land they manage across the county over Wildlife Trust’s appeal. the next 10 years, then I hope this will be the case. Joe Oldaker, Nuneaton Drew Scott, Leamington Spa To join all the nature lovers taking action for wildlife across the county, visit warwickshire wildlifetrust.org.uk/appeal and donate to our Nature Recovery Fund today! Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 5

APPEAL Climate Crisis? Let Nature Help! The UK has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Nature can make a massive contribution to achieving this, but only if we protect and restore our damaged ecosystems. A t sea, and on the coast, local ecosystems are capable of providing home. To protect our future, we must take seagrass and saltmarsh – huge the solution to many of the problems practical action on the ground to tackle sponges for carbon – are facing our communities today, but to be climate change. disappearing at an alarming rate. able to help us they need to be resilient, On land, and closer to home here healthy, connected and protected. Our rivers are a thing of beauty, in Warwickshire, woodland, peatland, however for some Coventry residents wetland and grassland are carbon Over the next 10 years, the Trust is their local river is a cause for anxiety. In warriors, locking in billions of tonnes of carbon. Yet these habitats too are fragile, “To protect our future, we must take fragmented and at risk from human practical action on the ground to tackle activities. In short, we are destroying our climate change.” greatest ally against the climate crisis. aiming to double the amount of land 2019, water levels at the River Sherbourne Most of us want to see action to revive that we manage for nature. What we do reached their highest in three years and our planet and secure a healthy future. with this land could help to unlock the the river burst its banks, causing flooding Yes, we face major threats, but it is within challenges presented by environmental across the village of Allesley. our power to repair and restore, and crises, and we can do this by working nature can help. hand in hand with nature. Degraded Healthy habitats can slow, store habitats across the region could absorb and filter water, reducing the risk of Problems and solutions around a third of our CO2 emissions if flooding downstream. Working with local We know that only 13% of Warwickshire, they were to be expertly restored, as well landowners on river catchments such Coventry and Solihull is protected for as enhancing public health and well-being. as the Upper Sherbourne, the Trust is nature, and less is in a good state. Our installing interventions to slow the flow Flood Protection and retain water in the landscape. These Climate change means we are having measures can be as simple as building to cope with more extreme weather. a ‘leaky dam’ in a river, or creating a We’re seeing more floods, droughts ‘shallow dish’ in the land to hold water and fires around the world and close to during times of heavy rain. 6 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

APPEAL Carbon Capture Coventry City Council’s To find out more about how nature Our local habitats can become long- Greenspace Strategy based solutions can help us tackle term carbon stores if they are allowed to (2019-2024), tells us that the climate and health crises, register for function well. greenspaces are important our webinar: Tuesday 4th August 7.00pm for Coventry residents, - https://nature-recovery-fund-nbs. Tree planting is often cited as the with surveys finding that eventbrite.co.uk obvious solution, but only if the right nine in ten people agree trees are planted in the right places. that they enhance their You can also watch and share our new Warwickshire holds huge opportunity health and wellbeing and Nature Recovery Fund animation, voiced for us to make an impact to a variety of have a positive impact by actor David Oakes, when you visit ecosystems, including the restoration of on the local community. warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/ grasslands, hedgerows, wetlands and However, in some areas appeal heathlands, which are all just as important of our county, access to for carbon storage as planting trees. greenspace is far from equal and Donate the New Economics Foundation’s Tens of thousands of hedgerows were mapping tool shows greenspace There are multiple ways removed from the mid-20th century deprivation to be high in Coventry. to give to our appeal... onwards as a result of grants aimed at increasing agricultural efficiency. This Our wellbeing projects support local Complete and return the was a catastrophic blow for nature, as people with their mental health by offering donation form in the appeal these living corridors store carbon and opportunities to connect with nature. By letter connect habitats across the landscape. increasing the amount of land that we Through our Dunsmore Living Landscape manage as a Trust, we will be creating we have planted and restored 15km of brand new greenspaces for communities hedgerow over the last 4 years, which across Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull. will not only capture local emissions but support the wildlife that call hedgerows How can you help? home. Increasing our hedgerows could You can help us to deliver nature based further our efforts to help rare species like solutions across the county by donating the dormouse and the brown hairstreak to our appeal. Our target of £3million will butterfly to recover. We need 40% more get us off to a flying start, meaning the hedgerows to help reach net zero by 2050 Trust can work towards managing 2,000 and the Nature Recovery Fund will help hectares for nature. To achieve the all- us to continue to create and restore these important 30% of land for nature’s recovery vital green corridors. we need to work in partnership with others to deliver nature based solutions on their Healthier Lives land, so we continue to call on members Wild places not only provide natural to use their networks to help us to identify solutions to climate change, but evidence opportunities to do this. shows that spending time in nature improves our mental wellbeing and physical health. D onate online at www. warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/ donate/NatureRecoveryFund To discuss a donation, call enquiries on 024 7630 2912 or email [email protected] To discuss opportunities to work in partnership with the Trust on managing land for nature, call enquiries on 024 7630 2912 or email [email protected] Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 7

CLIMATE CRISIS Like There’s No Tomorrow Young people in Coventry speak out against climate change in a powerful theatre production that supports our Nature Recovery Fund Appeal T he Belgrade Youth Theatre start working towards that.” conservation, but because of their mission presents ‘Like There’s No Globally we are facing some of the to bring people closer to nature, and Tomorrow’ – one of the first their local, on-the-ground opportunities National Theatre Connections biggest interconnecting threats to our to bridge that gap. LTNT shares that plays to be created by young people, natural world, namely the ecological crisis same goal. The Young Company went on originally devised by Belgrade’s Young and the climate crisis, made worse by the a journey that changed their relationship Company in March 2020. With a new and disconnection of people with nature. to issues of climate change, breaking different approach, informed and shaped down the paralysing enormity of a global by the turbulent direction our lives have catastrophe into personal and local taken since the play was written, ‘Like action. The aim to encourage audiences There’s No Tomorrow’ gives voice to to consider their own behaviour and young people’s concerns about climate relationship with their local environments change at a time when the future has became a very important driver for putting never looked more uncertain. this show on stage.” We are delighted to have been chosen The donation made to the Trust from by Belgrade Theatre Coventry to receive ‘Like There’s No Tomorrow’ will help us a donation to the Nature Recovery Fund to take local action in response to the from the screening of the play, which global problems facing our natural world, shines a spotlight on the failure of people brilliantly addressed by the young people to live in harmony with nature, and the involved in the production. consequences of this imbalance. To learn more about our appeal, and Semilore, an actor from the Young Company, describes the motivation behind to take action for nature’s recovery the show: across Warwickshire, Coventry and “I think a lot of our drive to make the Solihull, visit warwickshirewildlife show was from a personal understanding trust.org.uk/appeal. of climate grief and the paralysis that comes with that. We know how overwhelming an issue like this can be, “We don’t have to have all the answers right now and that’s okay, but we do have to start working towards that.” even just to think about, much less to Our Nature Recovery Fund Appeal find solutions for. So I think the most willhelp us to start to buy land of low important thing, and what I certainly wildlife value, restoring lost habitats and learnt, is: progress, not perfection. We creating healthier greenspaces that can don’t have to have all the answers right provide nature based solutions to tackling now and that’s okay, but we do have to the climate crisis. Producer Hannah Barker explains why the Belgrade Theatre got in ‘Like There’s no Tomorrow’ touch with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to was screened virtually from talk about the play: 19 May - 13 June. To find out more visit www.belgrade.co.uk/like- “In making and presenting ‘Like There’s theres-no-tomorrow No Tomorrow’, we knew we wanted to reach out to the Trust, not only because of their knowledge and expertise in 8 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

MEMBERSHIP Everything we do is thanks to you! Your summer update from our membership team Free children’s activities are back! Reducing our carbon footprint COVID restrictions sadly prevented us from Membership delivering any children’s activities run by our Card education team from the end of March 2020. The good news is that holiday workshops Warwickshire and nature tots are back, with events running over the summer. To ensure that children Female Banded Demoiselle get a big nature boost in 2021, we included three © John Smith additional free workshops on the activity cards sent out to family members with our winter magazine. In order to reduce our carbon footprint and our costs wherever possible, we have made changes to the We have added the following bumper afternoon sessions way that monthly direct debit payers will receive their during the holidays, so that you can choose to use all your membership cards. extra workshops in one afternoon. Previously, we have posted monthly direct debit payer The sessions run from 1.30pm to 3.30pm and include pond dipping, den building and minibeast hunts. cards towards the end of the month of expiry. Rather There are four dates for you to choose from: n Tuesday 27th July 2021, Brandon Marsh n Tuesday 10th August 2021, Brandon Marsh n Tuesday 17th August 2021, Parkridge n Tuesday 24th August 2021, Brandon Marsh than continue to send these out on a monthly rolling How to book: basis, cards will now be sent twice a year and enclosed Choose the session you would like to attend, then with the Spring magazine if renewal is call our membership team on 024 7630 8972 or email [email protected] to book your child’s between the months of March and free place. August, and with the summer Online booking is not available for free blPoimloakicteensdoawsro!e magazine if renewal is between pmaryaaegnpdfnaoonieIzgrsufwiityntayeaaoelodllluyumcctr,aootoamrphpyidlyeetoinnwmuofgofyiba,lrooloesabuurrserryhoiup sessions. All sessions must be pre- the months of September normal. booked. Please bring your child’s free and February. sessions activity card with you to attend your session. If your membership renewal is due between the months of September and February, your membership renewal cards have been enclosed with this magazine. If your renewal falls within this period and your cards are not enclosed, please call the membership team on 024 7630 8792 or email us at [email protected]. Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 9

CAMPAIGNING HS2: Stop and Rethink Back in March, Trust member Beryl got in touch to say, “I receive the Wild Warwickshire magazines and thank you for them. However, I cannot understand why a major threat to our wildlife and natural habitats, HS2, is hardly ever mentioned.” O ur members are the heart it was better to try and secure the best Following this meeting, we countersigned of our organisation, so we outcomes for wildlife and local people by the letter overleaf stating our belief that if decided it was time to update working within the parameters of a very the current approach continues, the impact you on the local impact difficult situation. So, we sent HS2 Ltd. of HS2 will prevent the Government from of HS2 and our work to secure a better our data on all of the species and habitat leaving the environment in a better state outcome for wildlife and local people. due to be impacted. We instigated and for the next generation. Several times over the last decade “Working with Warwickshire County we have called on you to give nature a voice. We petitioned the Government Council, we showed how strategically located twice when the route was first proposed, and asked you to contact your MP green bridges would reduce the impact on about the review of whether the project should continue in the face of spiralling species movement in the landscape. ” costs. Various Wildlife Trust reports highlighted scientific evidence behind the accepted meetings to formally discuss our HS2 Ltd. has not disclosed how our environmental impact, and so we asked work and demonstrate how collaboration information and suggestions have been you to support our ‘Stop and Rethink’ could help HS2 Ltd. achieve biodiversity used and we have not seen any evidence HS2 campaign. Unfortunately, the weight net gain. Working with Warwickshire of informed decisions being made based of scientific evidence and public opinion County Council, we showed how on local expertise. Our discussions with has done little to raise the environmental strategically located green bridges would HS2 Ltd. show that local losses are being credibility of HS2. reduce the impact on species movement accounted against gains elsewhere, and in the landscape. long-term management of mitigation sites When the project was given Royal is not planned. In June the Government Assent and work started, the Trust had Nationally, this year, The Wildlife Trusts announced HS2 will now aim to achieve a two choices; refuse to engage with HS2 met with Andrew Stephenson, Minister net gain in biodiversity for the route from as plans emerged or recognise that the for HS2, and held a follow up meeting Crewe to Manchester (Phase 2b) following scheme would go ahead regardless. with HS2 Ltd.’s Chair Allan Cook and Major our calls for the scheme to improve its Whilst we wholeheartedly object to the Infrastructure Project Director, Peter Miller. environmental impact of HS2, we decided HS2 impact at Crackley Wood SIMON WATTS 10 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

CAMPAIGNING environmental impact. Whilst this is good SIMON WATTS news for the north, no similar ambitions have been announced for our area, and HS2 Ltd. remains unable to evidence how it will even achieve no net loss of biodiversity. In return for our engagement, we had some simple requests; That any data gathered as part of HS2 impact at Offchurch DANNY GREEN/2020VISION baseline biological impact assessments be shared. In order genuine benefits to wildlife and bWeiilndglifdeehsatrboiytaetds are to deliver ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity, communities, resulting in a disjointed by HS2 there must be a full assessment of site-based approach to the green corridor existing biodiversity, followed by and mitigation. has focused instead on influencing HS2 measurements of what is required to Ltd. and Government directly to raise mitigate any impact. HS2 Ltd.’s engineers We asked that funding to support their aspirations for the environment and have not followed best practice to deliver mitigation adequately recognised work with established projects to achieve ‘biodiversity net gain’, which will become local initiatives. Since 2013, more thorough collaboration. To date both mandatory for all developments under the we’ve delivered our Tame Valley Wetlands approaches have had limited success, new Environment Bill. Regardless, the ‘no project in North Warwickshire. HS2 runs however this won’t prevent us continuing net loss’ element should be evidenced through that area, containing the central to speak up for nature. and to date no data has been shared. hub and spur of the line; no part of Warwickshire is more impacted by the In many places HS2 continues to be We requested named points of scheme. Despite repeated requests, HS2 heralded as world-leading transport contact within HS2 Ltd. to Ltd. has not engaged strategically with infrastructure, but despite the Government establish communication this scheme, which delivers positive setting out clear objectives for leaving channels and regular meetings to discuss environmental and public access the environment in a better state through work, however timescales for work have outcomes, a number of which will be its own 25-year Environment Plan, HS2 not been transparent and contacts have directly impacted. is exempt from contributing. To be clear, changed roles without communicating The Wildlife Trusts support sustainable with us. The Trust’s last formal meeting Stop and Rethink transport solutions, but current proposals with HS2 Ltd. was in July 2019. Since Local lobbying groups are uniquely come at an unacceptable cost for our then, they have cancelled meetings and placed to highlight HS2’s impact as natural world, unnecessarily destroying ceased communication. One of the ancient woodlands are cleared and large areas of irreplaceable ancient challenges with the line’s construction is wildlife habitat destroyed, so the Trust woodland and the homes of wildlife like that it is not linear. Work started with the barn owls and otters. challenging engineering elements (cuttings, tunnels, etc.) and contractors The Trust continues to call for the have then infilled between those Government to ‘Stop and Rethink’ elements. This disconnected way of HS2 and we will continue to try to do working makes it difficult to deliver everything we can to secure positive impacts for wildlife and local people whilst the construction work continues. HS2 impact at SIMON WATTS To find out more, visit Cubbington Wood warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/ hs2-warwickshire-our-position-hs2 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 11

CAMPAIGNING The HS2 route is creating a massive scar across our landscape. 10 years into the project there is STILL no joined up plan for nature! Read our letter demanding change from HS2. 12 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

CAMPAIGNING Craig Bennett, CEO - The Wildlife Trusts Tim Graham, CEO - Leicestershire and Rutland Estelle Bailey, CEO - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Gordon Scorer, CEO - London Wildlife Trust Julian Woolford, CEO - Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Paul Wilkinson, CEO - Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Liz Ballard, CEO - Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust Co-signed: Brian Eversham, CEO - Bedfordshire, Ed Green, CEO - Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust Rachael Bice, CEO - Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Delia Garratt, CEO - Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust Cc: Peter Miller (HS2 Ltd); Charlotte Harris, CEO - Cheshire Wildlife Trust Rt Hon George Eustice, Secretary of State; Jo Smith, CEO - Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Andrew Stephenson MP, HS2 Minister; Lesley Davies, CEO - Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust Marian Spain, Chief Executive, Natural England; Tom Burditt, CEO - The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Tony Juniper, Chair, Natural England. Manchester and North Merseyside Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 13

EDI Equality, Diversity and Inclusion We want everyone to have a strong and personal connection to wildlife and wild places W e aim to put equality, Coventry University diversity and inclusion at students the heart of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, to ensure ANNA JENNING that everyone has the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in their Where are we now? elevate those voices within the Trust. daily lives. We deliver some fantastic engagement Currently, women are well represented This means inspiring, empowering and within the Trust, making up: work through our projects and our engaging people from all backgrounds, n 45 out of 70 staff school outreach programme, connecting cultures, identities and abilities, to change n 2 out of 6 senior managers communities from a variety of the natural world for the better. Where n 5 out of 14 Trustees backgrounds and demographics with difference is celebrated, and where There is also a good gender balance nature. Nevertheless, we understand everyone can be themselves and flourish, amongst our volunteers and members, that there is work to be done to bring just like nature. however we recognise that we need to more people closer to nature and to have do more to improve the representation greater representation of these groups However, we recognise that the across a wider spectrum of society and using and enjoying greenspaces. conservation sector is one of the least diverse in the UK and we know that not everyone has equal access to nature. This is why we need to reflect, learn and change our approach so that we can inspire everyone to take action for wildlife, and be part of nature’s recovery. We are committed to making positive steps to bridge the gap of inequity in the sector, which is why we are addressing and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all that we do. We want to better understand the barriers that face under- represented communities in accessing nature, and work in partnership to create an inclusive landscape that reflects all walks of life. Nature is for everyone. 14 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

EDI What are our plans? the barriers that exist for them, in Nature is for everyone order to help steer and shape our In order to make progress, we need engagement work “As a passionate to take stock of where we are now. advocate for This will involve talking to our staff, We know that if we are going to be Equality, volunteers and to you, our members, to the change we seek, we need to Diversity and better understand our current levels of continuously review the impact of Inclusion, I was organisational diversity and inclusion and our efforts to address and promote delighted that to create a baseline to build upon. EDI in our work, alongside working in colleagues partnership with diverse community around the Trust set up a working In January 2021 an EDI Working Group groups, organisations and networks. We group to focus on building EDI in to was formed to lead on our EDI agenda. will be adding EDI related questions to everything we do. There is no doubt This group is made up of representatives our upcoming member survey in order we need to engage all of our diverse from every department across the Trust, to better understand the extent to which communities in our efforts to bring who will meet regularly to discuss ideas our members represent and reflect the back wildlife and create more wild and plans including: communities around us. places and that means nurturing an environment for staff, volunteers and n Reviewing and refining current HR Please get in touch if you are members that feels really inclusive. policies including recruitment interested in working with us to Experience in other sectors overcome barriers and ensure that shows us that it helps if our n Building EDI into the culture of the everyone can benefit from the joy of workforce is representative of the Trust, so it becomes an integral part of wildlife in their daily lives. Email communities we serve and that our work and core values [email protected]. it’s really important for people’s different needs to be met, whether n R eaching out to diverse groups across it’s about the facilities we provide society, learning how they want to in our reserves or the support that engage with nature and understanding staff need from us as an employer. So there’s a lot we can and need to SUE STEWARD Exploring Crackley Wood do and the best place to start is to understand where we are already! I am looking forward to seeing how this exciting initiative develops and would encourage people around our communities to engage with us in making sure that nature really is for everyone.” WWT’s Chair ofTrustees CrishniWaring Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 15

CELEBRATING VOLUNTEERS ftochoroTvefunhoyoalaaldoumutnuurnnokrrwtoueeyhtoneoweanrtlucspidwth.t!ehWoiereofdaveuuloetll Volunteer Spotlight Kopal Gupta talks to project officer Kat Reay about how nature helps with mental wellbeing How did you get involved with the Leamington Green Connections (LGC) project? “I saw an advert on Facebook in September for a ‘wellbeing in the woods’ course, which I wanted to join as I have depression and it sounded interesting. This was the first chance after lockdown that I had a chance to go out in nature regularly. It was so peaceful, and nice to walk and talk with new people. I also took my family back to explore Leam Valley and find the woodlands we’d been in. When I finished the course I decided to have a go at volunteering and have been coming ever since.” “Volunteering means I have a plan, and a reason to go out in nature.” What was your favourite part KAT REAY Kopal Gupta at of the course? Oakley Wood “It was a really nice pace and Kat made sure everyone was okay and had some time with Why do you think being in nature A leaf at a Leam Valley all of us. It was nice not to feel judged. I also helps you? volunteering session loved learning about willow craft during our “I always liked getting out into nature ‘learn something new’ week. I even had a when I was younger; it helps to make KOPAL GUPTA go at home over Christmas and made some me feel calm. I find that experiencing the willow reindeer!” fresh air and the beauty freshens my mind and distracts me from any stress in my What keeps you coming out and giving everyday life. I’ve also realised that when up your time? my son is grumpy, he feels better when “I come out as I can’t believe that I feel he steps outside too.” so much better after being in nature for a few hours. Half an hour before I can be Interested in joining a five-week lying on my sofa with no energy thinking wellbeing course, or volunteering that I won’t go, and afterwards I feel so near Leamington? Contact Kat on much better! Volunteering means I have a [email protected]. For general plan, and a reason to go out in nature.” volunteering enquiries contact Wendy on [email protected] 16 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

HEALTH AND WELLBEING Mental Health Awareness Week The theme for 2021’s Mental Health Awareness Week gave us the opportunity to encourage more people to connect with nature to help improve wellbeing M ental Health Awareness ANNA SQUIRES at a national level, as this only adds to the Looking up Week, an annual event ANNA SQUIREScall to ensure we all have access to goodthrough the trees in May, is something we quality green spaces for our wellbeing. have promoted over the this work, and push for the connection last few years but this year was all the During Mental Health Awareness between wellbeing and nature to be better more relevant for us, as the theme was Week, we shared blogs, interviews and recognised and for green spaces to be ‘Nature’. films with a focus on improving wellbeing valued by more people, who are in turn through nature. We wanted to encourage willing to respect and protect them. The Mental Health Foundation (MHF), people to connect with wildlife so we who chose the theme for this year said, produced a nature bingo sheet, which To find out more about our health we shared via social media and on our and wellbeing work and to “During long months of the pandemic, website, to give people simple tasks to download the bingo sheet, visit millions of us turned to nature. inspire them to get out in the fresh air. We warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/ Our research on the mental health had a really positive uptake and received get-closer-nature/wild-wellbeing impacts of the pandemic showed going some wonderful stories from people who for walks outside was one of our top use nature to help them stay well, including coping strategies and 45% of us reported one from Finley, aged 7, who said, being in green spaces had been vital for our mental health.” They went on to say: “Spending time in my garden makes me so happy, I love seeing the newts in my “Nature is not a luxury. It is a resource pond and bluey the pigeon feeding from that must be available for everyone to my bird table. It makes me smile”. enjoy - as basic as having access to clean water or a safe roof over our heads. Local Quite how nature works to help us feel and national governments need to consider well varies from person to person, but what their role in making this a reality for is clear from evidence nationally, locally and everyone.” from our own projects, is that it can be a life saver for some and helps many more It was great to have the mental health stay well. We will continue to champion sector promoting nature and its protection A carpet of bluebells Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 17

HEALTH AND WELLBEING Wilder Whitnash Our Wilder Whitnash project helped boost local residents’ physical and mental wellbeing through hands-on volunteering and community events during the pandemic W e know that spending Matthew Corbett, Director of the L&Q FAYE IRVINE time outdoors makes Foundation, said: us feel better, with more people turning to “The coronavirus crisis is having a nature and discovering new places and profound impact on local communities wildlife on their doorsteps. Taking the and our residents. We know that spending time to get outside can help ground us time outdoors in nature with others is in uncertain times, providing a sense of positive for our overall wellbeing, so we calm and balance. The Wilder Whitnash are delighted to be supporting this initiative through our Place Makers Counties Fund.” “We know that spending time A particularly muddy taster outdoors in nature with others is session at Whitnash positive for our overall wellbeing...” from retirees, those furloughed or recently project, based at Whitnash Brook Nature Hands-on conservation taster days ran made redundant, to local students keen to Reserve in Leamington Spa, provided the fortnightly from October to December learn more about the practical elements opportunity to do just that. It offered local 2020, with strict COVID policies and of conservation. The project allowed people the chance to feel better whilst procedures in place for the safety of all volunteers to keep active, get involved in giving back to their local nature reserve participants. The all-weather sessions were hands-on tasks and meet some like-minded through volunteering, or taking part in open to anyone local and keen to learn people over a mid-morning tea break and community events. something new, with no time commitment chat, albeit at a distance. The volunteers or previous experience needed. all had their individual motivations for The Wilder Whitnash project launched getting involved, however the opportunity in September 2020 and was funded The taster sessions proved extremely to be with others in such difficult times by London & Quadrant Housing Trust. popular with a diverse range of people, resonated through the groups. The project team have also hosted a guided walk of the reserve, a ‘River Rangers’ session and a bushcraft day. The family-focused sessions were particularly popular, giving families the opportunity to experience something different, practice a new skill and spend valuable time together. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting that the session had a positive impact on their mental or physical wellbeing, and that they would be more likely to visit greenspaces again in the future. FAYE IRVINE The feel good factor To find out more visit after a great session warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk /WilderWhitnash 18 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

WILD EDUCATION Wild education in lockdown Helping children to engage with wildlife during the COVID-19 pandemic A fter such a long period of changes and adaptations. We are so “During these times we’ve had uncertainty, our Education team passionate about getting children and their to make changes, with keeping are back to doing what they families out in nature that we had to make our distance and lots and lots of love - connecting children with it work. washing, but it’s all worth it to see nature. From April 2021 they have been children get outside and get so back out in schools and children have been We have updated our equipment, put up enthused about nature. It’s great able to attend our nature clubs. As you can trails in local woodlands and even provided when children who have had a imagine, everything is a little bit different: one-to-one sessions to children who have difficult time take a step away and been hit hard by the pandemic. Between just engage with the outdoors and Our funders, including players of People’s August and December, we managed to it definitely makes me feel a lot Postcode Lottery and Children in Need, put everything in place to deliver almost happier after spending time outside really supported us to make the necessary all of the outstanding sessions for 2020. exploring with a group.” This means that on a skeleton team KatieYoung, Education Officer “It has been a huge change to how, we delivered 100 sessions before the when and where we work. We have Christmas holidays. Education Officer Katie been working in smaller groups; Young at Brandon Marsh making sure that everyone is feeling In addition, we have been trying our hand safe and that we can maintain at virtual learning. We have been filming distance at all times. It has been hard Nature Tots, Nature Club and Call of the work, but worth it to feel like we can Wild sessions and made these available on still do our jobs. Getting back out our new online Wild About Learning hub. there and teaching children about Visit www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org. nature is what we love to do. We are uk/WildAboutLearning to make the most more than happy to do whatever of this hub of educational resources for needs doing to make sure we can schools, youth groups and parents. safely deliver all our sessions.” The hub is for any child who wants to learn Vicky Dunne, Education Manager more about wildlife and connect with nature! Our online Wild About Learning hub encourages teachers, parents and children to get outdoors and closer to nature MATTHEW ROBERTS Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 19

RESERVES Piles Coppice. Past, present, future Breathing new life into an ancient working wood for people and wildlife Managing woodlandOFFSHOOTS PHOTOGRAPHYP iles Coppice is dominated now benefits wildlife by majestic, cathedral-like and people in the future. coppice stools of small- 20 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 leaved lime. Standing in the centre of this impressive natural habitat, it’s hard to imagine it as a working wood; it seems about as wild as it could be. Yet every cluster of densely packed trees within this remnant of the Forest of Arden was created from centuries of coppicing – possibly for over 500 years. Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique of cutting trees at the base, providing a harvest of useable wood products from the proliferation of shoots that spring up. This practice introduced diversity of age and structure into the woodland, and perpetuated its existence for centuries. However, since the last bowsaw was put down around 80 years ago, the woodland has gradually become over-mature. What we now find is an aging and uniform woodland, at real threat of becoming derelict, which would lead to the eventual collapse of some of these magnificent structures. Woods that become evenly aged are less resilient to climate change, pests and diseases and begin losing their biodiversity value for wildlife. That’s not to say that Piles Coppice is devoid of wildlife, as it is home to some rare butterfly, fungus, bird and invertebrate species. However, it does mean that the species living there today may be lost due to the wood’s decline and may lose the varied scaffold of trees and woodland flora they depend on.

RESERVES Even aged woods make KARL CURTIS them less resilient to climate change, pests and diseases in the future. Sympathetic and sustainable followed a process of surveying species and the communities that access it are management should be undertaken to and assessing its condition, plus reaching all considered in that process, and not ensure the future of Piles Coppice and out to stakeholders with our vision for the just the trees themselves. Once the its wildlife. The area is just as important wood and how they could be involved in a Trust has a plan approved by the Forestry to people today as it has been for many constructive way. The Trust has drafted a Commission we will discuss this with hundreds of years, and is now a place for management plan to maintain the fragile visitors and anyone interested in the wildlife watching and reconnecting with features of the wood, whilst sustainably wood’s future management. nature. The Trust wants to protect this reintroducing management. That plan was amazing place for future generations, and shared with many groups and individuals Whilst some work may be achieved to do that we must allow the woodland to as part of the initial consultation exercise, through contractors, it is crucial that change and adapt, rather than preserve it as and the Trust sought the views and input opportunities exist for local people to get it is today. of local wildlife experts and species involved – rekindling a new generation of wood workers and benefitting the “Sympathetic and sustainable management woodland and its wildlife. should be undertaken to ensure the future of Piles Coppice and its wildlife.” The other important aspect is to continue monitoring and recording Trees and woodlands evoke strong interest groups. the effectiveness of the woodland emotional reactions, and whilst one person’s The Forestry Commission, who are management. We need to understand the lifetime is just a snapshot in the life of a plan’s impact and how that changes over woodland, the Trust is a constant presence the regulatory body for woodlands, will time, ensuring that we can tweak it and that seeks to manage the woodland so that then review the plan to ensure it meets maximise the woodland’s value for both Piles Coppice can be around for the next the U.K. Forestry Standard, whilst also people and wildlife. We will monitor and 500 hundred years and beyond. gathering public comment as part of manage existing and future veteran trees, the process, taking into account any ensuring the current veteran trees are How will we achieve this? constructive input that will benefit the plan allowed to develop, and identifying and The Trust committed to carry out the and the long-term health of the woodland. safeguarding those trees that will become wishes of the woodland owner, The It is essential that the long-term protection veterans in decades to come. Woodland Trust, when taking over of biodiversity, increased resilience to management of the site in 2018. There climate change, how the woodland fits So, as the Trust picks up the baton from within the wider context of the landscape the woodworkers who managed the woods over the last five centuries, we hope that our plan brings about a rich and vibrant woodland for people and wildlife well into the future. Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 21

30 DAYS WILD 30 Days Wild: Inspired by Nature and People 30 Days Wild is the UK’s biggest nature challenge, encouraging random acts of wildness. Director of Living Landscapes Ian Jelley shares his experiences this June Paddling in Y ou may think that working for the stream the Trust means random acts of wildness every day, however many of our staff, myself included, spend hours in front of a computer. So, each June, I look forward to the renewed focus on making time for nature on a daily basis and this year I agreed to chart my journey. 30 Days Wild became a story of inspiration for me this year. Amazing encounters reaffirmed my wonder at nature and I realised that the most unexpected people do care about wildlife, making me optimistic about the future in the face of current environmental crises. I’m hoping that sharing my experiences will motivate others to be a little wilder, and to Making flower perfume IAN JELLEY IAN JELLEY 22 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

30 DAYS WILD take action to support nature’s recovery. IAN JELLEY Hedgehog My story starts with a species that sampling food What followed felt like the making of an fuels my passion for the difference that Attenborough documentary. Several times that had adults and children alike removing people can make at an individual level – throughout the night the trail camera set their shoes for a paddle. The children the hedgehog. My family recently moved to record when it sensed movement, so inspired a sense of magic and adventure, house and the previous owner, who knew I was unsure whether it was one greedy which was magnified when everyone in I worked for the Trust, sent me a picture the family took the time to experience the of a hedgehog he’d seen on our new happiness that comes from a connection street. Thrilled at the prospect of a resident with nature. hedgehog, I set about cutting a hole in our gate as there was no other available access An unlikely hero to the garden. I put out some hedgehog The final highlight was surprising. My food and the next day it had gone! I eagerly friends outside of work don’t necessarily repeated the process and a week later share my passion for the natural world, my hedgehog food was taking a battering. however with campaigns like 30 Days Wild Delighted by the thought that an army of bringing nature into focus, I’ve seen a hedgehogs must be marching in through change I wasn’t expecting. On a Saturday the new hedgehog hole, I put down a night in June, I received a message trail camera. The next night I recorded the from a friend who would more likely be neighbour’s cat helping himself and I was watching football on a Saturday than devastated. Undeterred I started putting bird-watching. He told me he was worried the hedgehog food in a box that only a about an injured pigeon that he could see hedgehog could access. This time the from his window, and wanted to know trail camera caught the most magnificent how he could help. We assessed the condition of the bird through messages, “Amazing encounters reaffirmed my wonder and I suggested some options. The next at nature and I realised that the most morning, I received a picture of his friend unexpected people do care about wildlife, who he’d recruited to come round at dawn making me optimistic about the future...” and help him catch the bird to take it to a nearby wildlife hospital. This story inspired hedgehog you could imagine. The pride I hog or more until the trail camera caught me to realise that even those with busy felt was frankly a little silly, but the thought two hedgehogs feeding together. I have lives, seemingly disconnected from the that this endangered creature had chosen everything crossed that one day soon natural world, have an instinct to help our to come and eat the food I’d put out was my trail camera will have a whole family wildlife and gives me hope that we can simply amazing. of hedgehogs visiting my garden. The create behavioural change at the scale lesson here for me is that everyone can do needed to prevent the ecological crisis. something on their patch to help wildlife, and there is something truly humbling I didn’t expect 30 Days Wild to have about watching a wild creature benefit such a profound impact on me this June from your support. and I am absolutely convinced that we can all not only take time for random acts Making memories of wildness, but that we can put nature My second source of inspiration came into recovery. from my 5-year-old son and his cousin, who reminded me how connected we are with the natural world as children, and how important it is to hold on to that as adults. Whilst on holiday the pace of life changes, and with 30 Days Wild as the inspiration we took the opportunity to connect with nature every day. The results were fewer arguments, toys and devices and more laughter, fun and memories. Two vivid memories were watching the children spend an entire afternoon in a field making ‘perfume’ from daisies and buttercups, and experiencing the magnetic pull of a stream Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 23

CLIMATE CRISIS Our Young Adult Ambassadors talk 30by30 Wilder Future volunteers Aisling and Becca talk about the climate crisis, and their hopes for nature’s recovery Stepping forwards do, and that the necessary changes are so easily miss. Aisling Fitzgerald reflects on her dramatic that they can only be achieved at Learning about the 30by30 campaign relationship with nature, and being part a governmental or international level. of the climate crisis solution has helped my understanding of the On the other hand, when I am feeling climate crisis, and the potential solutions. I have a complicated relationship with anxious and tense, turning to nature gives A key issue I wasn’t aware of until recently nature. On one hand, I am crushingly me respite, and a feeling that there are is the intensification of agriculture; since aware of the impending climate crisis and greater forces at work. Over the last year, the Second World War, governmental it makes me anxious about the future. throughout the pandemic, getting outside policies have encouraged farm land to In learning about the natural world, it is into green space has been such a relief. become optimised for food production, impossible to avoid the topics of mass I have taken the time to learn more about which means that there isn’t much extinction and natural disasters, which nature, and have even taken up wildlife space for wildlife in those areas. 70% of create a feeling of helplessness and a photography as a hobby. It’s comforting Warwickshire is made up of agricultural sense of impending doom. It’s easy to feel to feel a part of the natural world around land, so small changes to improve like there is nothing that individuals can me, and I’m consciously striving to be farming practices for wildlife could have more aware of the small things I could a huge impact. Similarly, building ‘wildlife Mallard AISLING FITZGERALD 24 Wild Warwickshire | Suprminmge2r0220021

CLIMATE CRISIS corridors’ between nature reserves makes a lot of sense, and the idea of creating new homes for wildlife on land currently low in value for nature, such as obsolete golf courses, offers hope for the future. The 30by30 goal is ambitious. Dedicating 30% of land and sea to nature’s recovery by 2030 isn’t going to happen without a lot of effort. But it also feels practical, actionable, and shows that there are ways individuals and smaller organisations can make a lasting impact on the challenges we face. So, as I wander around my local nature reserve with my camera, I’m no longer pretending the problems don’t exist, and I know I can be part of the solution. A message of hope Brandon Marsh BECCA MCGOWAN Aspiring entomologist Becca McGowan in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull carbon sequestration. Campaigns and for the benefit of ecological, climatic appeals like this bring hope, but messages discusses why now is the time to and human health. It’s motivating and of hope can increase complacency⁵. refreshing to be part of the ambition the The 30by30 campaign will not succeed take action ambassadors have to combat these major without the energy of its supporters, so issues affecting society. the time to inspire others to appreciate It’s hard to feel optimistic when we The 30by30 campaign and the Nature the natural world is now! The time to take hear the damning stats about climate Recovery Fund Appeal are driven by action for nature is now! Whether that’s chaos and biodiversity loss. As an aspiring entomologist, I’ll reel out a “So, as I wander around my local nature few about insect decline in the UK: reserve with my camera, I’m no longer hoverfly occupancy declined by 24% pretending the problems don’t exist, and I between 1980 and 2013¹ and macro- know I can be part of the solution.” moth abundance has decreased 31% over a 35 year period². Figures like these people who appreciate the intrinsic and by volunteering, donating to the Nature support the UK’s status of being one life-supporting value of the natural world. Recovery Fund Appeal, or keeping an eye of the world’s most nature depleted Nationally the campaign will call for new out for opportunities to campaign and sign countries. Combined with news of global policy measures such as designating petitions. greenhouse gas emission policies falling land as ‘Wildbelt’⁴. Locally the Trust’s short of emission targets³, it’s no wonder impetus will be on converting low-grade In the words of Jane Goodall: “What some accept defeat, just point the finger agricultural land into species rich areas, you do makes a difference, and you have or won’t take positive action. supporting ecosystem services such as to decide what kind of difference you want to make”. However, in the face of climate catastrophe and the 6th mass extinction, many people are taking action, including the members and volunteers of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. I am part of the Wilder Future Young Adult Ambassadors programme; a group of local young people intent on driving change References 1. Powney, G. D. et al. Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain. Nat. Commun. 10, (2019). 2. Fox, R. The decline of moths in Great Britain: A review of possible causes. Insect Conserv. Divers. 6, 5–19 (2013). 3. C limate Action Tracker. Temperatures | Climate Action Tracker. Climate Action Tracker: Temperatures (2021). Available at: https:// climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/. (Accessed: 8th June 2021) 4. The Wildlife Trusts. Wildbelt. (2020). 5. H ornsey, M. J. & Fielding, K. S. A cautionary note about messages of hope: Focusing on progress in reducing carbon emissions weakens mitigation motivation. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.04.003 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 25

SPECIES DECLINE Bad news for our badgers Government approves badger culling to 2026 and ignores public consultation O nly nine days after the Yet, by the end of the cull, government is not an effective way of halting its spread: Environment Secretary, policy will have destroyed more than the UK government has been trying this in George Eustice, enjoyed the 60% of the population of an iconic British England since 2013 and it hasn’t worked. fanfare which greeted his animal. To add further tragedy this will Accelerated research into cattle vaccination landmark commitment to write a legally not be the solution to the problem the and improved testing regimes for cattle binding target for the recovery of nature government presents. are urgently needed, as well as improved into new legislation, the government announced that it will license the killing of “ Culling badgers is ineffective in fighting the badgers over the next four years. Ignoring the views of 37,000 people who responded disease and makes a bad situation worse” to the public consultation by saying that they did not want this to happen, this Bovine TB is primarily a cattle disease movement controls on cattle which would decision puts an extra 130,000 badgers spread by cattle, and cattle to cattle minimize the risk of further spread of at risk of being shot. This is on top of the transmission is the major cause of infection bovine TB. 170,000 which have already been killed. and spread of bovine TB. Culling badgers is ineffective in fighting the disease and We believe that people need nature and it The badger is the UK’s largest land makes a bad situation worse by dispersing needs us. We are here to make Warwickshire carnivore and one of our most highly badgers over a wider area, resulting in wilder and to make nature part of everyone’s protected species under national (most increased disease transmission. lives. For a moment on 18th May it appeared recently the Protection of Badgers Act that the government believed in this too, 1992) and international law (the Berne The Wildlife Trusts are very sympathetic but actions speak louder than words and Convention on the Conservation of to the great hardship that bovine TB causes driving one of our most loved animals to European Wildlife and Natural Habitats the farming community, and are as keen extinction in several parts of the country applies because more than 25% of the as anyone to see an end to this as soon as is clearly not the way to achieve what European population is found in the UK). possible. But it is clear that culling badgers everyone says they would like. Badgers are one of our most highly protected species ELLIOTT NEEP 26 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

LEGACIES Putting nature into recovery by 2030 A chance to give a gift that could help change the world O ur Nature Recovery Fund Appeal joins a Sir David Attenborough, President growing national movement of nature- Emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, says: recovery projects that aim to create new habitats, alongside repairing and “The last time the UK’s wildlife faced a connecting existing fragmented wild areas, enabling challenge on this scale was at the end of wildlife to move freely once again. It is an ambitious plan the last ice age. We need to find ways to that will reverse decades of wildlife decline and threats help our wildlife become more resilient to our natural world, not only nationally, but here locally. to the trials it faces in the 21st century. We must now work on a landscape scale if we are to give wildlife a We all deserve to live in a healthy, nature-rich world chance and allow future generations to enjoy nature as and have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife we have.” in our daily lives. No matter the size, a gift to the Trust in your will could make a real difference to the future To discuss leaving a gift in your will to our Nature landscape of our county and help us on our journey to Recovery Fund, please contact Donna Hook on put nature into recovery. [email protected]. A special gift inspired by a special wood Long-standing members give back to the Trust W e were contacted TIM PRECIOUS-LI recently by a husband and wife about their Bluebells at Hampton Wood Want to leave a gift to nature? special connection to For more information on leaving a gift the Trust. They have chosen to remain Christmas, when we were allowed to to nature in your will, please contact anonymous, but wished to share their meet family members for a walk, we us at [email protected] and we reasons for including a gift in their wills. visited and saw our first kingfisher! will send you a copy of our legacy brochure. If you prefer to speak with “We’ve been members since the Trust Since retiring, I’ve joined the Trust’s someone directly about leaving a gift was founded as Warnact (Warwickshire Nature Force volunteering program and, to the Trust, please contact Donna Nature Conservation Trust). When when updating our wills, we thought Hook on [email protected]. we moved to Warwick in 1986 we that the Trust has given us so much over discovered our local reserve, Hampton the years that it was only right to give Wood & Meadow. In those days it something back.” certainly wasn’t renowned as a bluebell wood, but since the Trust have managed it through coppicing, woodland flowers have thrived there. Over the past 30 years we’ve witnessed how the Trust’s work has benefitted local wildlife, particularly at Hampton Wood where the bluebell and wild primrose displays are now spectacular. We raised our three children here, and Hampton Wood was such a regular haunt as they were growing up that they named it ‘The Special Wood’. Before Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 27

6 places to see slow worms 28 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

T his confusing reptile is called a worm and 1 looks like a snake, but is actually a legless lizard! They have a shiny appearance and 23 come in various shades of brown, from 64 greyish-brown to coppery. Their snakish appearance See the spectacle 5 is betrayed by their lizard-like head, which seems to merge seamlessly into their body, and their for yourself eyelids, which snakes lack. Slow worms are found throughout Britain, but have never been found in 1 Harbottle Crags, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. This area of beautiful open moorland is a mosaic of habitats, with large swathes of heather, a sphagnum-filled peat bog, Slow worms enjoy a variety of habitats, from and patches of woodland. Adders, common lizards, and slow heaths to grasslands and woodland edges, and can worms all make their home amongst the heather. often be found in large gardens or allotments. You Where: Harbottle, NE65 7BB can make your garden more appealing for them with log piles, areas of long grass and a compost 2 Earl’s and Pontesford Hill, Shropshire Wildlife Trust heap. If you lay down some cover, like a corrugated Created by a volcano around 650 million years ago, Earl’s Hill sheet or piece of old dark carpet, you may find slow became Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s very first nature reserve worms or other reptiles sheltering underneath it. in 1964. Whilst looking out for slow worms in the grasslands and meadows, keep an eye out for green woodpeckers Reptiles are best looked for on sunny days, but feeding on anthills. slow worms spend less time basking in the open Where: Pontesbury, SY5 0UH than other reptiles and can be tricky to spot, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t find one! Your 3 Brandon Marsh, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust search could also reveal common lizards, grass Slow worms have been spotted at both Brandon Marsh snakes or even adders. and Brandon Reach, so keep an eye out as you explore. Take the time to fit in the hides on your visit, as the pools Slow worms are often and reedbeds attract a huge variety of waterfowl. mistaken for snakes Where: Coventry, CV3 3GW 4 Chobham Common, Surrey Wildlife Trust One of the finest examples of lowland heath in the UK, Chobham Common National Nature Reserve is home to many reptiles. As well as slow worms, there are adders, grass snakes, common lizards and the extremely rare sand lizard. Where: Chobham, KT16 0ED 5 Bouldnor Forest Nature Reserve, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust When you’ve finished searching for slow worms along the heaths of this scenic reserve, you can look for red squirrels leaping between the trees, or head down to the beach and hunt for fossils amongst the pebbles. Where: Yarmouth, PO41 0AB 6 Bovey Heathfield, Devon Wildlife Trust Once scarred by off-road vehicles and burned-out-cars, Bovey Heathfield is now a tranquil nature reserve. Follow the network of paths to explore this beautiful landscape of gorse and heather, home to slow worms, common lizards, grass snakes and adders. Where: Bovey Tracey, TQ12 6TU NICK UPTON Did you discover any slow worms ? When spotting slow worms, please be sure to follow 29 Government guidance on social distancing and stay local. And remember to tweet us your best photos! @wildlifetrusts Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

SPECIES FOCUS Night riders A shadowy flight into the twilight world of bats S ummer nights may be that snatch spiders from their webs, shorter, but they’re alive to Daubenton’s bats that fish insects with activity as a host of from the surface of lakes and rivers. nocturnal creatures make The most widespread and frequently the most of the hours of darkness. seen are the common and soprano Tawny owls listen for rodents rustling pipistrelles, zigzagging through the across woodland floors, moths flicker air as they feast on up to 3,000 insects around night-scented flowers, and a night. Their nocturnal nature can bats swoop through the air, hunting make bats a challenge to watch, but the insects that swarm in the night. there are few moments as magical as seeing these shadowy silhouettes There are 17 species of bat that sweep across a darkening sky. breed in the UK, from Natterer’s bats Discover bats on wreisaldeWrlbivafieletdt-nlsriepufaeosrtTtyssro.uousrtga/t PIPISTRELLE BAT: LAURIE CAMPBELL/NATUREPL.COM 30 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

SPECIES FOCUS Our tips for batwatching... Study the flight Bats have different flight patterns, which can give you an idea of the species you’re watching. Pipistrelles fly erratically, noctules have a direct flight with sudden swoops, and brown long- eared bats have a slow, hovering flight. Bring the bats to you! Water features are the best bat attractors, but also fill your garden with a variety of insect-tempting flowers to create a banquet for bats. Pale and night- scented flowers are particularly popular with nocturnal pollinators. Bat boxes high on walls or trees can offer a safe space to roost. TOM MARSHALL SHUTTERSTOCK Use a bat detector Wait by water The easiest way to find and identify bats is with the help of a bat detector. Just like other animals, bats need to This device picks up the high-pitched drink, so they’re often found around echolocation calls of bats and makes waterways. Stretches of sheltered, still them audible to humans. Different or slow-moving water also attract clouds species echolocate at different of insects that they can hunt. You may frequencies, so we can work out which even see a Daubenton’s bat hunting low bat we’re hearing. Bat detectors come in across the water. a range of prices and complexities and may take a bit of practice to use. Go where the insects are Watch the weather Bats are found in a range of habitats, from farmland to forests to gardens. It’s harder for bats to hunt on damp They can often be seen hunting around or windy nights, so choose a dry, features that attract insects, like trees, still evening for your bat watching hedges and woodland edges. expedition. A sheltered spot will attract bats if there is a bit of wind. Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 31 Arrive before sunset Bats are easiest to spot around dusk, when they emerge to feed and there’s still enough light to see them. Our largest bat, the noctule, is often the first to emerge, sometimes before the sun has set. Children and some adults can often hear these without a detector!

FARMING WITH NATURE Farming with Farmland has huge potential to benefit our struggling wildlife, but as Ellie Brodie reveals, there’s a lot of work to be done. CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION Yellow wagtails feast on farmland insects, but have declined by 68% since the 1970s 32 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

FARMING WITH NATURE Ellie is a passionate L et me paint a picture of a farming landscape environment has a huge impact on wildlife. advocate of nature- that makes space for nature. Wildflowers In today’s farming, vast swathes of the countryside fill the farms with colour, covering upland friendly farming hay meadows and lowland field margins, blooming are given over to doing one thing at scale: from and has been in hedgerows and verges. This profusion of pollen growing maize, sugar beet, or Sitka spruce to battery and nectar supports a dazzling and buzzing array chicken farming or factory-scale dairy farming. With leading The Wildlife of butterflies, bees and other wild pollinators. New scale and efficiency comes doing one thing, and Trusts’ national land greenery encourages all sorts of beetles, bugs, flies one thing only. This generally means a high level of management policy and caterpillars, opening up a buffet for birds, from inputs from synthetic fertilisers, lethal insecticides, sweet-singing skylarks to wading birds like lapwings. toxic weedkillers or the routine use of antibiotics in and influencing livestock. It also means uniformity and monoculture work since 2016 Small mammals like wood mice and field voles also — be this conifer plantations, drained upland bogs or gorge themselves on insects, as well as hedgerow effectively a green desert of a single arable crop and berries and nuts, occupying an important mid-way nothing else. point in the food chain, in turn prey for badgers and buzzards. Ponds, ditches and dykes provide spawning Farming on this industrial scale impacts on areas for frogs, toads and newts, and homes for nature and on the climate. Agricultural chemicals darting dragon- and damselflies. and slurry leech into waterways, harming fish, insects, amphibians and mammals like water voles If you’re lucky, by day you might spot a water vole and otters. Insecticides kill the flying, crawling and nibbling stems along a grassy bank or a brown hare wiggling insects that other creatures higher up the bounding across a field. By night you may see the food chain depend on — including us humans, who dark shadows of bats swooping across the sky, or the rely on pollinators for around a third of the world’s spectral shape of a barn owl quartering a field. food crop production. Nitrogen-based fertilisers ruin soil health and contribute to climate change. This is a landscape full of life, busy with birdsong and bees. Now trade the variety and complexity of Habitat destruction, from the loss of both upland this picture with one of monoculture and monotony. and lowland hay meadows to the removal of features, This, sadly, is the more realistic and commonplace which provide corridors for wildlife — the hedgerows, version of farmland that exists today. ditches, and strips of woodland — to create larger and simpler areas to crop or graze has caused the Farming at scale plummeting fortunes of a wide range of wildlife; from Farmland makes up the vast majority — around three dormice, water voles and bats to breeding waders quarters — of land use in the UK. Given its scale, like snipe and rare wildflowers, grasses and shrubs. it makes sense that what happens in the farmed Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 33

FARMING WITH NATURE ANDREW PARKINSON/2020VISION Untrimmed hedges and wildflower verges at the sides of agricultural fields create corridors for wildlife Brown hares are at home on grassland and arable fields Driven by policy including wildlife loss, climate change and will change. At The Wildlife Trusts we Agriculture policy has incentivised this water pollution. Scotland is continuing and continue to press for high environmental model of farming for decades. But now is improving the CAP until 2024. standards. This includes pushing for new a time of change, as the UK has left the legislation, as with the Environment EU and therefore the Common Agricultural Whilst refocusing spend towards Bill currently making its way through Policy (CAP). In November 2020, the first environmental activities is positive, a Parliament and through new regulations. domestic Agriculture Act was passed since research report The Wildlife Trusts released Wildlife Trusts Wales, for example, was 1947, moving us into a a period of transition with the RSPB and National Trust in 2019 instrumental in influencing the Welsh towards post-EU agriculture policies. This found that much more is needed: the Government earlier this year to introduce entire agricultural budget if spent on the new regulations for water pollution from agriculture. Regulations need enforcing, Farmland makes up the vast majority, about and in England, deep cuts to regulators like three quarters, of land use in the UK the Environment Agency limit its ability to enforce regulations like Farming means what farmers are paid for and the environment would not be enough to Rules for Water. rules they have to follow will change; and recover nature on farmland in its as agricultural policy is devolved, this will current state. Nature-friendly farming in action vary across the four UK countries. Besides our work influencing policy Departing from the EU means the rules and legislation, Wildlife Trusts across Under the CAP the majority of funding for farmers (88%) was made through area- Wildflower margins are GILLIAN DAY based payments schemes. Farmers were great for pollinators like paid to comply with a basic set of rules bees and butterflies and in return received a payment based on how much land they owned. The remaining 12% of the budget was for schemes that provided environmental benefit. Around £2.4 billion was distributed in this way across the four UK countries. The Westminster Government has committed to maintaining the agricultural budget until the next general election — expected in 2024. In England and Wales, governments are refocusing the agricultural spend away from area-based payments and towards specific activities that farmers can do to tackle environmental issues, 34 Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021

FARMING WITH NATURE JORDANS CEREALS JORDANS CEREALS FARMING FOR NATURE The Wildlife Trusts’ long-standing partnership with Jordans Cereals helps the farmers who grow oats for Jordans to farm in harmony with nature. Every farmer in the Jordans Farm partnership is committed to managing at least 10% of their farmed land for wildlife and works closely with a farm advisor from their local Wildlife Trust, protecting wildlife from barn owls to butterflies. Collectively, they manage more than 4,000 hectares for wildlife, including: the UK are working to help farmland n 475 ha field margins Four of these farmers are located wildlife, both on land we own and n 94 ponds in Warwickshire! through advice we give others. We are n 717 km of hedgerows restoring hay meadows in Lancashire n 136 km of waterways Find out more at and rewetting fenland in Cambridgeshire. n 692 ha of woodland warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/ We’re reintroducing and supporting working-farmers-and-landowners/our- threatened species — from dormice in partnership-jordans-cereals Nottinghamshire to water voles in Essex. We’re helping farmers work together to WENDY CARTER Many Wildlife Trusts own or manage farmland for join up their land to provide highways nature. In 2001, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust purchased for bees in Worcestershire, through our the 65 hectare Lower Smite Farm to demonstrate Arden Farm Wildlife Network here in how sensitive farming techniques can improve the Warwickshire and advising them on quality of the agricultural landscape for wildlife. This how to minimise their use of chemicals working arable farm is now a haven for wildlife, with in Shropshire. We’re providing advice to farmers supplying oats to Jordans Cereal management strategies focussing on on how to provide for nature on their land, soil health, connectivity and year- whilst demonstrating how farming and round food supplies for wildlife. nature can go hand in hand through our With the help of volunteers, they’ve own working farms from Cumbria down planted woodlands, hedgerows and to Dorset. And in Yorkshire, we’re wildflowers. Every spring, skylark providing traineeships in livestock song tumbles from the sky; in management and grazing. summer up to 15 different species of dragonfly dart above the ponds; and You can help farmland wildlife from home by supporting your Wildlife Trust in winter, charms of finches flock to and by taking action for nature: stop using the supplemental wild bird seed mix. chemicals, and use natural flea repellents on your dogs and cats rather than ones Find out more about The Wildlife Trusts’ work for with neonicotinoids that kill bees and farmland wildlife at wildlifetrusts.org/farming other flying insects; create wildlife friendly habitat where you’re able, and plant a wildflower window box or make a pond in your garden; support local nature friendly farmers, and go organic where possible; and visit local farms and find out what they are doing — Open Farm Sunday is a great opportunity for this. Wild Warwickshire | Summer 2021 35

TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION