Page 5 - Natural World Summer 2017
P. 5
Wildlife Trusts save vital nature fund This way elizabeth dack
for more
The 20 year-old Landfill wildlife, and improved community common
Communities Fund has been saved buildings and recreational facilities.
from the axe. The fund was cranes
threatened by Government “We now want to see the fund
proposals but the actions of boosted, to support more projects Hickling Broad
representatives from across The that help wildlife and improve appeal reaches
Wildlife Trusts has led to a U-turn. people’s lives,” said Stephanie £1 million
Hilborne, CEO of The Wildlife
The Fund has supported 3,500 Trusts.
environmental projects, many of
them with The Wildlife Trusts. n Has your local area benefited
People living near landfill sites have from the Landfill Communities
enjoyed better access to their local Fund? Share your story on social
media using #TheLCF
kent wildlife trust Eden Meadows in Norfolk Wildlife Trust has raised
Kent benefited £1m in six months to expand
from the LCF Hickling Broad by 655 acres. The
reserve is one of the UK’s richest
wetlands, and home to swallowtail
butterflies, marsh harriers, common
cranes and bitterns. With a further
£1m loan from the Garfield Weston
Foundation the purchase can go
ahead – but fundraising continues.
“We are very moved by how much
people appreciate the value of
Hickling Broad,” said CEO Brendan
Joyce. norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk
Gene study avoids Cumbria and cumbria wt
inbred toads Lancs grow their
own ecologists
Cheshire Wildlife Trust and the the Trust at their Red Rocks
University of Chester are Nature Reserve in Merseyside, Georgie, Amy, Hayden, Becky and Jade
researching the genetics of where the natterjack population explore the wildlife of Morecambe Bay
natterjack toads. The rare was reintroduced. “From this
amphibians exist in isolated research, we will be able to If you can’t find marine ecologists
populations and are at risk of better direct our conservation with practical skills, train them. For
extinction due to their lack of work,” said Martin Varley, six years Cumbria Wildlife Trust
genetic variability. Director of Conservation at and The Wildlife Trust for
the Trust. Lancashire, Manchester and North
Research students will help Merseyside have done exactly that.
With funding from HLF they’ve
The study assesses seen 24 marine and coastal trainees
survival factors in learn species ID, ecological
natterjacks and surveying, practical conservation
other amphibians and getting their message across.
paul hobson All now work in the environment
sector, and eight are at Wildlife
Trusts around the country. More
info at irishsea.org/marine-and-
coastal-heritage-traineeships
summer 2017 NATURAL WORLD 5
