Page 12 - Wildlife News December 2015
P. 12

Laocokhwiheatvyeou’dve !                                                                                                      aYodiiusfrmfasekruiepnnpcgoer!t

Next year sees the launch of BBOWT’s                                       2010 College Lake’s new visitor centre opened. In the first 10 months it attracted
new Strategic Plan, covering 2016 to                                                 more than 37,000 visitors, more than 70% of whom were first-time visitors
2020. So this edition of Wildlife News is                                            to BBOWT nature reserves. (Wendy Tobitt)
an opportunity to look back at what the
Trust has achieved over the period of the                                  2010 We signed a lease to manage the Woolley Firs estate. Its derelict stable block was
outgoing Strategic Plan 2010–2015                                                     transformed into an education centre, while a new tree trail and flower-rich chalk bank
                                                                                      provides memorable wildlife encounters for visiting schoolchildren. (rowanleaf.co.uk)
Every five years the Trust produces a strategic plan that
       guides its work over the following half decade. The end of
       2015 sees the end of one plan period and the dawn of
another, making it the ideal time to take stock of all we’ve
achieved over the past five years. Of course, none of this would
have been possible without your ongoing support.
	 So much has happened: new nature reserves have been
acquired, restoration work undertaken and people across the
three counties have had more opportunity than ever to get up
close to wildlife. Despite economic and political challenges,
wildlife within our reserves is facing a bright future, but there’s still
so much to be done to secure its future beyond them; our plan for
2016–2020 will help to achieve this. In the meantime this is a time
for celebration – for all that has been done thanks to you and your
vital support.

  2010

   A project to restore 20
   hectares of heathland
   at Crookham Common
   and Bowdown Woods
   began. Over the next
   three years scrub was
   cleared, trees thinned
   and heather reseeded,
   benefiting specialist
   wildlife including
   ground-nesting birds
   such as the nightjar.
   (Rob Appleby)

                                                                                                                        2011  Shepperlands Farm became our newest nature reserve in
                                                                                                                              Berks, enabling the meadow to be cut for the first time in
                                                                                                                              years to encourage more wild flowers, including orchids
                                                                                                                              and cuckooflower. (Kate Dent)

 2011 Launch of the Heritage Lottery Funded Developing Green Talent scheme, which by early 2016 will have                     Wildlife news
              equipped 43 trainees with the skills necessary to begin a career in nature conservation. (Neil Fletcher)
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