Page 3 - Conservation Impact Report 2016

Introduction

In the UK, which has the best studied wildlife in the The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
world, between 1970 and 2013 56% of monitored Wildlife Trust manages over 2,500 hectares (0.5%) of
species have declined1. Due to the pressures of land in the three counties. Our reputation for careful
changing land use, biodiversity is in decline; the rate stewardship of land for wildlife and people has grown
of species extinction in England is probably around a significantly in recent years, and the landholdings
species each month, and possibly double that2. Climate managed by the Trust have increased by 47% since
change is already affecting our wildlife, and some 2012.
species will struggle to adapt in a landscape where
suitable habitats are isolated. This fragmentation is Every three years we carry out an internal audit of the
particularly bad in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and ‘health’ of the wildlife we are directly responsible for.
Oxfordshire, where only 2% of our land is considered The 2015 audit shows land management carried out by
rich enough in wildlife to be given national protection. BBOWT has improved the value of our land for wildlife
across the landholdings. This is in strong contrast to
For butterflies alone, more than three-quarters of the the general backdrop of decreasing biodiversity in the
species found in the UK have declined over the last three counties.
40 years3. Locally we have lost species like the pearl-
bordered and small pearl-bordered fritillary during the This report was compiled by our professional staff and
last 10 years. In the last two years we have probably volunteers, with data from thousands of individual
seen the last marsh fritillary in our three counties. This surveys. By assessing our nature reserves using an
iconic species has not been seen at its only known approach similar to the way government bodies, such
breeding site at all this year. as Natural England, assess protected areas, BBOWT
has determined how many of our nature reserves have
Of nearly 8,000 species assessed using modern IUCN wildlife in a good, healthy condition; and thus how
Red List criteria, an accepted system for identifying effectively our land management conserves wildlife.
species under threat, 15% are threatened with This assessment is based both on the population trends
extinction in Great Britain4. 27.5% of British birds are of individual indicator or specialist species and the
now on the Red List of conservation concern5 because habitats in which they thrive.
of population or range declines in the UK, or because
of their global population status. Losses of species
will have “potentially serious consequences for the
resilience of ecosystem functions on which humans
depend”, particularly in respect of pollination, pest
control and cultural values6.

1 D.B. Hayhow et al., State of Nature 2016,The State of Nature Partnership, 2016
2 C. Hambler, Evidence-based or Evidence-blind? Priorities for Revitalising Conservation, ECOS 36(3/4) p 22 – 25.
3 The State of the UK’s Butterflies 2015, Butterfly Conservation, 2015
4 D.B. Hayhow et al., State of Nature 2016, The State of Nature Partnership, 2016
5 M Eaton et al., Birds of Conservation Concern 4: The Population Status of Birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, British Birds 108, December
2015, p. 708–746
6 T.H. Oliver et al., Declining Resilience of Ecosystem Functions Under Biodiversity Loss, Nature Communications 6, 2015

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