Page 12 - Wildlife News August 2019
P. 12
National news
UK UPDATE uk highlights
Big or small, ponds for all! Discover how The 2
Wildlife Trusts are
For this year’s Wild About Gardens that can make the biggest difference to working for you 3
challenge, The Wildlife Trusts and the wildlife. across the UK 1
Royal Horticultural Society are urging With a rapid decline in natural
gardeners to make a splash for wildlife. freshwater habitats, garden ponds are 1 Water Works
We are calling on people to create increasingly important for the wildlife
a pond to benefit their garden wildlife. that depends on these watery places, An innovative project is testing
Whether it’s a large sunken pond or a tiny such as frogs, toads and insects. Adding a new ways to grow food and lock in
container pond, water is pond is one of the best ways you can help carbon in Cambridgeshire’s Great Fen.
the garden wildlife and enjoy the benefits of seeing The project will use wetland farming
feature more amazing animals and plants close to test new crops for food, healthcare
to home. and industry, all whilst reducing
You can download a free booklet full of the amount of carbon lost from the
advice on the Wild About Gardens website soil. This was made possible by the
People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund.
wildaboutgardens.org.uk wildlifebcn.org/news/water-works
Beaver: Nick Upton/Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Toad: Dawn Monrose, Osprey: Peter Cairns/2020VISION Beavering away many other species, including water voles, 2 An osprey anniversary
frogs and dragonflies. Conservation
The Wildlife Trusts continue to be at the efforts received a boost on the first of May, The Scottish Wildlife Trust is
forefront of work to bring beavers back when the Scottish Government celebrating 50 years of ospreys at the
to our waterways, with reintroduction introduced European Protected Species Loch of the Lowes reserve. The reserve
projects across the UK. Beavers are status for the Eurasian beaver in Scotland. became just the fifth known nest site
ecosystem engineers that can improve wildlifetrusts.org/beavers when ospreys recolonised the UK after
water quality, reduce flooding their extinction in 1916. The current
downstream and improve conditions for pair fledged 10 chicks from 2015–2018
and returned again this year.
scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/
ospreys-50
3 Seal of approval
A record number of grey seals
have been counted at South Walney
Nature Reserve. A drone survey
spotted 483 seals, 123 more than the
previous record. The grey seal is one
of the world’s rarest seals and around
50% of the world population lives
around the British Isles.
cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/
record-seals
12 Wildlife news / August 2019
