Page 15 - Wildlife News December 2015

Greener future for rare grass

London’s Natural History Museum Interrupted brome.
has approached BBOWT to host a (Fred Rumsey)
population of one of the world’s rarest
plants at College Lake, Bucks.

Interrupted brome, a species of grass, was once found in a triangle stretching from Lincolnshire down to Kent and
Somerset. The grass was only discovered in 1849 after which it spread rapidly, suggesting it may have evolved as a new
species not long before. Associated with sainfoin, which was widely grown for horse fodder, the range of interrupted
brome shrank dramatically in the mid-1900s before it was declared extinct in the 1970s. It had been thought that no cultivated

samples survived but a post-doctorate student, Philip Smith, had collected seeds and germinated them on his windowsill.
Reintroductions to the wild have been attempted before but most have failed. A population may survive at a site in
The Netherlands and there has been a recent reintroduction in Cambridgeshire. A review of previous reintroductions for

Natural England highlighted College Lake as a suitable site for a population to be maintained alongside our existing
Arable Weeds Project.
Interrupted brome will be joining the other rare arable weeds at College Lake late in 2015 where we can monitor
its progress to contribute to a wider strategy for its recovery. We are now looking for more volunteers happy to work

in all weathers as part of the Arable Weed Project Group. Email markvallance@bbowt.org.uk for details.

Slow progress on HS2 Barn owl.
(Richard Bowler)
As Wildlife News goes to print BBOWT is preparing to appear before the High
Speed Two Select Committee. This committee can push for changes to the HS2
proposals to reduce the impact on people and the environment. BBOWT hopes
to persuade the committee that more needs to be done to reduce the impact
on wildlife along the route. We will also be asking that key access points to our
nature reserves are protected.

Adjustments already agreed to extend tunnelling in the Chilterns to
avoid damage to ancient woodlands are welcome, but only go a small way to
addressing the overall impact of HS2. Issues still requiring attention include the
impact on rare bats in the Bernwood Forest area and the death of barn owls.
HS2 predicts that up to 52 pairs of barn owls – 1% of England’s entire barn owl
population – would be lost every year as a result of collisions with trains, and
the loss of nest and foraging sites.

Badger vaccinations progress

BBOWT has completed its first year of badger vaccinations under Defra’s Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme.
Badgers have been vaccinated within our nature reserves in western Oxfordshire and Berkshire, as well as on
land within the wider West Berkshire Living Landscape area. Thanks to the cooperation of local landowners we
vaccinated a total of 46 badgers. Vaccination significantly reduces the chances of badgers contracting bovine
tuberculosis. Over four years the vaccination programme should effectively immunise the badger population in
that area.

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