Page 10 - Wildlife News August 2017

Hot topic BBOWT members on Port Meadow.

(Adrian Arbib)

Provfiodrinngatauvroeice Port Meadow: a special place for local
people and wildlife. (DAVE MAYBRICK)

Champions for wildlife

BBOWT stood up for nature in the recent election, says Head of Conservation
Matt Jackson. Now we will work with MPs to see that the promises made are kept

J une’s snap election provided an opportunity for BBOWT to highlight the value of local wildlife to our prospective MPs.
Most of the legislation designed to protect nature has been developed with the UK as part of the EU. How they are
incorporated into UK law is crucial if promises not to weaken protections are to be met. The support given to
landowners to manage positively for wildlife has also been developed largely within the EU. One of the first actions for the
new parliament will be considering proposals for a new agriculture act and the detail of the Repeal Bill.

A narrative for nature

Thanks to volunteer Val Siddiqui, who worked alongside our public affairs team, BBOWT provided every parliamentary
candidate with a ‘narrative’ setting out the key wildlife features of the constituency they stood for. We asked candidates
to provide a short summary of the action they’d take to protect the natural environment if elected.

We received responses from 38 candidates, which were posted on our website before the election. The Prime
Minister was among those who responded, reiterating her commitment to developing a 25-year plan for the
natural environment.

BBOWT looks forward to working with all of our MPs. We will be talking to as many members of the new parliament
as we can in the coming weeks to highlight the importance of maintaining environmental protections.

Special places

We’d like to thank everyone who came to Port Meadow during the election campaign to help us highlight the
importance of sites that have been protected through European Directives. Port Meadow is part of the Oxford Meadows
Special Area for Conservation, or SAC. These sites have benefitted from much broader protections than are provided
through UK legislation alone.

More than 50 BBOWT members came out to hear parliamentary candidates for the
constituencies that contain the Oxford Meadows SAC explain their commitment to these
protections. We took the chance to create a living heart on the meadows as a visual reminder
of how important these special places are to local people.

Badger vaccinations resume Releasing a vaccinated badger.

BBOWT’s badger vaccination programme has resumed following successful procurement of (ADRIAN WALLINGTON)
fresh vaccine against bovine TB. A UK-wide shortage of vaccine meant we had to obtain a
Special Treatment Certificate from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to import and use
an alternative vaccine from Bulgaria.

Four members of the team have been administering the imported vaccine and will now
work through the remainder of the vaccination season, which runs until November. Badgers
are being trapped and vaccinated on four of our nature reserves in west Oxfordshire and
other areas of West Berkshire considered high risk for infections. Defra is committed to
securing vaccine for our programmes in 2018 and we will be discussing this renewed
support in the coming months.

10 Wildlife news / August 2017