Wildlife Durham Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021

1971-2021

ANNIVE

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TION CELEBRA N IO IT D E

WWW.DURHAMWT.COM

News

30 Days Wild New newt ponds

3 4

Celebrating 50 years

6

Conservation

Healing Nature Naturally Native SeaScapes project gets underway

Reserves

Late summer wildlife spotting guide

National News

Flying start to 30 by 30 Community Gardening

Reports

Annual General Meeting 2021

10 12 13 14 15 16 18

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SUMMER 2021 ISSUE At the time of writing, The Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild nature challenge is in full swing. If you signed up, I hope you enjoyed taking part in what looks like being a record-breaking year for numbers involved.

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etting out and doing something wild every day is one of the things Covid worries couldn’t stop, and we weren’t going to let that get in the way of our 50th birthday either. We asked members to help us mark the occasion by having a picnic on June 26th. Perhaps tempting fate a bit to plan a picnic in the UK, so fingers crossed the weather was kind and thankyou to everyone who helped us celebrate.

Making celebration the theme for the next 12 months sounds like a good plan to me. Durham Wildlife Trust has done a lot over the last 50 years, as you can read about in this magazine. There’s more good work underway now, and the appetite is there to tackle the big challenges the next 50 years will bring.

Our AGM is on October 18th (full details in this issue), when we’ll be hearing from Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of the Wildlife Trust’s national body, the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Craig will be setting out the big picture that Wildlife Trusts across the UK are working towards – nature’s recovery on land and sea.

VISITOR CENTRES Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU. Tel: 0191 584 3112 The Meadows Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 0191 512 8940

Lots to do, but lots to celebrate too.

Low Barns Nature Reserve Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 0AG. Tel: 01388 488 728 Low Barns Coffee Shop Angela Watson and Team. Tel: 01388 488 729

Jim Cokill

Paper: FSC accredited, 100% recycled uncoated Design: Edmundson Design www.edmundsondesign.com Printed by: North Wolds Printers

Cover Images: starling: Enid Hoseason, otter: Nigel Miller, dark red helleborine: Ian Hoseason, little terns: Ian A Turner, brown argus butterfly: Michael A Eccles, marsh violet: Lesley Hodgson, adder: Raymond Davis, kingfisher: Brian Howes, water vole: Sid Gibson, globeflower: Ian Hoseason, badger: Nigel Miller, kelp: Linda Pitkin/2020VISION, small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly: Michael A Eccles, kittiwakes: Gwynneth Heeley, green hairstreak butterfly: Michael A Eccles.

Director

MANY THANKS TO ALL OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS FOR THEIR ONGOING SUPPORT

Gold Members

Northumbrian Water Northern Gas Networks Vine House Farm Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.

Silver Members Wienerberger GlaxoSmithKline Fusion for Business

Bronze Members

Simon Berry Optometrists Down to Earth Garden Care Spincraft Holidaycottages.co.uk Airedale Forestry Ltd

NEWS

30 Days Wild More than 2300 people across the Durham patch went wild this June by taking on the #30DaysWild challenge.

Ground Beetle: Niall Benvie/2020VISION

Families, schools, care homes, and businesses all took part by doing something wild every day for 30 days. From visiting their favourite nature reserves or attending a Durham Wildlife Trust event, to taking action for wildlife in their own green space, it was great to see so many people joining in! You can see a selection of photographs from the campaign by visiting our social media pages.

Help us protect our wild spaces In March this year, the Trust wrote to the Chief Constables and Police & Crime Commissioners of Durham and Northumbria Police forces, to ask for their support in helping tackle the ongoing issues of vandalism, illegal use of off-road vehicles, and other illegal activity in the countryside and on public green spaces.

Jim Cokill, Director of Durham Wildlife Trust, said: “These actions can cause irreversible damage to the wildlife in nature reserves. During the past year we have all enjoyed seeing our local wildlife, and have realised just how important nature is to our lives. We all have a responsibility to make sure that local wildlife, and wild places, are protected for future generations.”

As a member, you can play a vital part in protecting our wild spaces. Please help us by reporting any incidents of illegal activity to the police or fire service.

You can help by reporting illegal activity at our nature reserves. Call 999 in an emergency or use the non-emergency number 101.

Sadly, alongside these issues, there have also been increased instances of littering and fires at our nature reserves.

Becoming England’s Greenest region Durham Wildlife Trust is pleased to support the North East of England Climate Coalition (NEECCo) which recently launched a collective ambition for the North East region of “Becoming England’s Greenest Region”.

NEECCo is England’s first regional cross-sector climate coalition, and we are calling for every individual, household, business, and organisation to sign up and make a pledge to do their bit via their website www.neecco.org.uk

Our pledge is to support The Wildlife Trusts’ calling for at least 30% of our land and sea to be connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030.

Find out more: durhamwt.com/going-greener

GREAT CRESTED NEWT – JOHN BRIDGES

NEWS

New newt ponds

Great crested newts, the largest and rarest of the UK’s newt species, have undergone a huge decline in the last 100 years. By nature of being amphibians, they are dependent on water for part of their life cycle, and great crested newts are particularly sensitive to a clean and healthy home for their offspring. The loss and degradation of ponds has had a catastrophic impact on the species; however, Durham Wildlife Trust is working to reverse this damage by creating a fresh network of ponds tailored for these ‘fire-bellied’ amphibians.

Working in partnership with Natural England, the Trust is engaging with landowners across Durham and Darlington to create bespoke newt ponds, with funding made available through the District Level License development mitigation scheme.

Pond locations are selected in areas which have the potential to enhance and better support existing great crested newt populations. The scheme aims to make existing populations more robust and widespread, able to withstand future impacts of climate change and stochastic events. Potential pond sites must fulfil a set of important criteria, such as low risk of contamination from run-off and pollution; having an unshaded and sunny south bank; and being in close proximity to good terrestrial habitat for newt activity outside of the breeding season.

Having created 14 ponds in early spring, and another 36 being created this summer and autumn, the Trust is delighted to be able to create more good-quality habitat for newts – not to mention the wealth of other wildlife that will reap the benefits.

The creation and monitoring of these new ponds also enables us to engage with more landowners across the region, supporting them to become more wildlife-friendly and enjoy the nature on their doorstep.

To find out whether you might be eligible to have ponds created on your land, or for more information about the work we are doing, please contact Kirsty, kpollard@durhamwt.co.uk

Adventure Schools are back open for pupils The Trust relaunched its school trips programme to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week this May, which had nature as its theme for 2021.

Adventure Schools include a wild day out at either Rainton Meadows or Low Barns nature reserves, with activities including pond dipping, bug hunting, guided walks, and animal and plant identification.

Durham Wildlife Trust Director, Jim Cokill, said: “There is so much evidence that spending time with nature is great for mental health, and the challenges of the pandemic have underlined just how important it is to be out in the fresh air.

“We are blessed with some wonderful nature reserves in our region with fantastic educational facilities and an expert team ready to support children and young people.”

To book an Adventure School visit, go to durhamwt.com/ adventure-schools

Exploring Nature Together Exploring Nature Together is an exciting new intergenerational project in Crook and Willington. Over ten weeks, our engagement team will take children and older people on a journey to discover and explore local parks and greenspaces, so that they can experience the rich variety of plants, birds and animals that live there.

Grants Officer, Anne Gladwin, said: “This wonderful opportunity will be a chance to share learning and experiences between generations.”

This project has been made possible with funding from 3 Towns Partnership and EDF Energy Renewables Broom Hill Windfarm Community Benefits Fund with County Durham Community Foundation. The project will be carried out following Government Guidelines for Covid-19.

NEWS

Gift shops reopen after refresh The Trust was delighted to reopen the doors of its Rainton Meadows visitor centre gift shop in May, and get back out on the road to meet supporters at events across the area.

Membership Development Officer, Emily Routledge, said: “While our doors have been shut we’ve been busy behind the scenes moving the Rainton Meadows store to a new location and giving it a refresh. We’ve also updated our stock with some great new additions to our range of local, wildlife-themed products. The store is staffed by some wonderful volunteers, who are looking forward to meeting lots of visitors over the summer months.

“We’ve also been able to take our pop-up membership stand back on the road to events across the region, and it has been wonderful to be able to share our message for wildlife with lots of new supporters.”

Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 6PU. For details of our attendance at events: durhamwt.com/events

Connect with Nature

at a Durham t Wildlife Trust even Our programme of events will bring you and your family closer to wildlife.

Find out what is coming up on our website:

durhamwt.com/events

50 YEARS

Celebrating 50 years

1971-2021

ANNIVE

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TION CELEBRA N EDITIO

by Jim Cokill, Director

I’ve been fortunate enough to be at Durham Wildlife Trust to celebrate both its 40th and 50th anniversaries. The truth is that it’s a bit debatable as to when the anniversary actually falls, as Durham Wildlife Trust formed following the split of a joint Durham and Northumberland organisation. Marking a divorce, however amicable, doesn’t seem right, so our anniversary is set to celebrate the birth of the new organisation, making our birthday 30th July.

1970s

Our charity has achieved a huge amount over the last 50 years, whether as a Naturalists’ Trust, County Conservation Trust, or as the Durham Wildlife Trust we see today. Over these pages, we take a look at some of the major achievements over the last five decades, and look forward to what the next five decades may bring.

1970s

Durham County Conservation Trust came into being on 30th July 1971 and initially the Trust had seven nature reserves – Witton-le-Wear, Hawthorn Dene, Blackhall Rocks, Rosa Shafto, Joe’s Pond, Moorhouse Wood and Redcar Field.

Jim Cokill Director

1980s

50 years ago, the Durham region was a very different place – a landscape still dominated by coal mines and spoil heaps, with millions of tonnes of colliery waste being tipped into the sea along our coast. Before local government reorganisation in 1974, County Durham stretched from the Tees to the Tyne, which is why Durham Wildlife Trust covers the area it does today, not just present day County Durham.

Pollution from industry was a major threat to wildlife. Rivers were poisoned by industrial waste, driving species such as the otter to extinction in our area. The Trust had to campaign to prevent Bishop Middleham Quarry – now a nationally designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its wildlife – from being used as a landfill site.

Though small in terms of the number of members, the Trust had a powerful voice, and public support for nature conservation was growing.

50 YEARS

The impacts of industry were still significant, but European legislation was beginning to lead to change. Opencast coal mining was occurring on a significant scale across our region, with the Trust opposing several schemes.

1980s

By the end of the decade, the Trust was expanding, and moved its offices from the city of Durham to Low Barns, to provide room for additional staff. Urban wildlife had become a big issue, with an Urban Wildlife Officer working across Sunderland and South Tyneside.

By 1981 the Trust was managing 15 nature reserves, and the protection of wildlife was firmly on the political agenda - the Wildlife and Countryside Act entered the statute books that year.

David Bellamy played a prominent role in raising the charity’s profile throughout the 1980s and, on the national stage, David Attenborough was an important supporter of the growing national movement.

2000s

1990s

1990s

This was the decade when environmental issues were definitely on the political agenda and climate change gained public attention. The United Nations Rio ‘Earth Summit’ in 1992 highlighted human impact on the natural environment, and put the term ‘biodiversity’ in the dictionary. Closer to home, in 1994, the Habitats Regulations strengthened wildlife protection in the U.K. Durham Wildlife Trust continued to deliver the work on the ground that put the legislation into practice. Bringing back otters was a major success, with the Trust’s surveys and programme of habitat improvements supporting the natural recolonisation of our rivers by this iconic species.

As the number of nature reserves grew and the organisation increased in size, there was a need for more space, and the Trust moved its HQ to Rainton Meadows in 1997.

2000s

A decade that saw significant growth in the Trust’s work. Support from the National Lottery allowed volunteer numbers to grow and the Trust was able to take on the management of Hedleyhope Fell, its largest nature reserve.

The scale of species and habitat restoration projects increased, with work beyond the nature reserve boundaries, across magnesian limestone grasslands and lowland habitats. Work to slow the catastrophic decline of water voles was underway, and, by the middle of the decade, otters were once again found on every river catchment in the Durham Wildlife Trust area – a clear sign that, if there is public and political backing, nature restoration can be a reality.

50 YEARS

2010s

By working on a landscape scale, the Trust was able to successfully re-introduce the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly to several sites, saving the species from extinction in the Durham region.

The landscape approach guided closer working with local councils to bring more land into Trust management. By growing the area of land it directly managed (with nearly 40 reserves by the end of the decade) the Trust was able to secure the land needed to allow nature’s recovery to begin.

This decade also saw a further uplift in the ambition and scale of projects. Work done from the middle of the decade onwards allowed the Trust to develop projects that have generated more than £3 million in project funding for nature conservation and restoration. Discover Brightwater, Naturally Native, and SeaScapes projects are the result.

2020s 2010s

2020s SPRING 2021

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For very obvious reasons, the 2020s didn’t get off to the best of starts for Durham Wildlife Trust. There’s no need to expand on that here, the reasons are well known, but, thankfully, the Trust has been far more fortunate than many other organisations.

The generosity and understanding of our supporters has meant that the charity is still in a position to plan how it can address the challenges of the next 50 years. Project success has continued with Healing Nature delivering a green recovery from the Covid crisis. The number of nature reserves continues to grow, with the ambitious target of 50 nature reserves by the end of our 50th anniversary year in July 2022.

All the achievements of the last 50 years are thanks to Durham Wildlife Trust’s members, volunteers, and supporters. Without members providing their support, those initial volunteers who created the charity would not have seen their efforts rewarded.

The organisation has grown steadily and, today, has dozens of nature reserves, hundreds of volunteers, and thousands of members providing the support needed to tackle the challenges the next 50 years will bring.

50 YEARS

The next 50 years Climate Change

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ny individual or organisation, whether a small business or national government, has to think about the impacts of climate change when considering their plans for the future. The issue is massive and can seem overwhelming, but the only way it can be addressed is by taking action, which is exactly what the Trust will be doing over the next 50 years.

Our first step is to measure the size of the problem, or at least the part that is within our control. The Trust has very recently calculated its carbon footprint for the first time.

Our current best estimate is that emissions in 2019/20 were 237.0 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent). That number is only an estimate, as the first thing that becomes apparent when undertaking a carbon calculation is that you don’t have all the necessary data readily available. That will be changing for Durham Wildlife Trust over the coming months and years, as it will for all of us. Climate change isn’t an issue that is going away soon, so we all have to get used to thinking, in a different way, about our own impact on the environment, and get used to accounting for our individual and organisational carbon budgets. If we can do that, and use the information to see what changes we need to make, climate change can be brought under control by the time Durham Wildlife Trust celebrates its centenary.

There’s no reason why that can’t be the case.

By restoring damaged habitats and creating new ones, carbon sinks can be developed that draw carbon from the atmosphere.

Ecological Emergency

O

ur climate and ecosystem are so intrinsically linked that the climate and ecological emergencies must be viewed as two parts of the same issue. It’s true that our wildlife was in crisis before climate change was recognised as a global threat. Durham Wildlife Trust was created because people across the region saw the loss of habitats and species around them. In the 1970s, pollution, development, and agricultural intensification were driving the destruction of nature, and those issues all still play a part. But, unless the climate issue is addressed, our efforts to conserve nature will be in vain. Thankfully, nature is part of the solution.

The Durham region lay at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.

The coalfields provided the energy needed to drive developments in railways and industrialisation that spread around the world. The same region can also be at the centre of efforts to reverse the man-made climate change that resulted. Industry will provide some of the solution, with reduced emissions and new technologies, but nature is also needed. By restoring damaged habitats and creating new ones, carbon sinks can be developed that draw carbon from the atmosphere. At the same time those habitats provide space for species to recover, so that nature is restored, not just conserved. That must be the ambition for the next 50 years.

To complete that ambition, species that were driven to extinction by man must also be restored to the Durham landscape. By 2071, why shouldn’t golden eagles be a regular site over the restored peatlands of the North Pennines – part of the Great North Bog stretching from Derbyshire to Scotland? Beavers commonplace throughout our river catchments by 2071 – why not? Natural engineers creating wetlands that reduce the risk of flooding and provide habitats for other species. To the east, oyster and mussel beds flourishing by 2071; it’s completely possible. They can be major features of our estuaries and coastline, providing food for people and wildlife, buffering against erosion, and depositing carbon in their shells.

Durham Wildlife Trust

L

ooking forward 50 years, what will the future hold for Durham Wildlife Trust itself? Much as I love my job, I don’t think I’ll still be working here, but I do think there will still be a Durham Wildlife Trust. Perhaps a new name (we’ve had three in the first 50 years, after all), but there will still be a need for a locally-based organisation that champions wildlife and the natural world. The ecological and climate emergency is a long-term problem, and one that can only be overcome by 50 years of action at all levels. Government, both national and local, must set out the policies and provide the investment that makes action possible. Industry and agriculture must deliver the innovation that puts the Durham region at the centre of the next ‘green’ industrial revolution. And Durham Wildlife Trust? We must deliver the restoration of nature across our region, making sure that local people are involved in every aspect of that work.

CONSERVATION

Phill Catton

Healing Nature Project Manager

By Phill Catton

J

ust outside the dene, presumably perched on a hedgerow, the distinctive rattle and wheeze of a yellowhammer gives me cause to lift the clipboard and make a few marks on the attached paper. An hour-and-a-half later – still well before anyone sensible will have roused themselves on a weekend – and that sheet of paper is covered with spidery scrawls and circled letters denoting the territorial, and likely breeding, birds in this small patch of woodland.

Not only has the morning afforded us spectacular views of a tawny owl, as it tried, fruitlessly, to escape the berating blackbirds who mercilessly hounded it from tree to tree, but we have also been serenaded by blackcap, willow warbler, chiffchaff, song thrush and wren, as we have snaked our way along the burn and scrambled up the steep banks gorged out by glacial action. It was just as the survey was finishing that we heard, and then marvelled at, the pneumatic-like capabilities of a great spotted woodpecker, advertising its presence and vigour with powerfully destructive blows rained down in short staccato sequences on a well-battered and bruised relic of a tree.

Chris Gomersall / 2020VISION

The Healing Nature project may be an investment in improving, restoring, and creating habitat for wildlife, but on mornings like this one, it feels like nature is doing all the healing and we are just lucky shareholders in the venture.

But, if we were lucky, it is likely you are too. Because, despite the damage and losses we have collectively inflicted on our countryside, these close encounters with nature didn’t need us to venture to some rural idyll or walk around a members’ only nature reserve. They were on a Sunderland Council Local Wildlife Site, less than 400m away from residential areas, pubs, and busy roads. An oasis in an urban desert. Proof that although we may be pushing nature to the limit, if we can give it a little space and protection, it can, and will, live alongside us and enrich our lives with its presence.

And this is where Healing Nature comes in. A 15-month rapid delivery project launched in January 2021 as part of the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund programme. We are working in partnership with Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council, and Sunderland Council to improve 20 local authority sites for wildlife and running events through to March 2022, to help connect people and local communities to the natural, and incredible, world on their doorstep.

As it has across all aspects of life, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted activities and decisions at every level, so launching a project during a national lockdown presented several challenges. Not least the fact that so much of our capability as an organisation is inextricably linked to our volunteers. However, with the realisation that we could lose an entire winter season of practical conservation work, risk assessments were drawn up, controls put in place, and project officers – along with a small group of local volunteers – sprang into action.

River Don - Rachel Richards

Healing Nature

CONSERVATION

T

he Folly, Chopwell Meadows, and Chopwell East Fields, are Gateshead sites with lowland meadow and pasture habitat present. One of the risks to these often underappreciated but species rich grasslands, is that without appropriate care and management, they can become dominated by scrub and encroaching woodland species.

Ultimately these invaders out-compete plants that favour more open conditions, and there is an inevitable, and corresponding, loss of the specialist species associated with these communities. Throughout February and March, the team raced against time to clear as much of this undesirable vegetation as possible, racking up an incredible 609 hours of staff and volunteer time. Public enemy number one was the spiraea. A garden escapee that has spread across Chopwell East Fields in tall, dense stands of tough woody stems, designed to test the resolve of even the most intrepid brushcutter operator. Durham Wildlife Trust volunteers don’t turn away from a challenge though, and there could only be one outcome.

Not only does this work have significant benefits for the grasslands in its own right, but it also paves the way for contractors to install fencing at both Chopwell East Fields and The Folly later this year. This will enable these sites to be grazed – a key component for their future management and continued enhancement.

Bird nesting season, and spring, typically signifies a break in habitat management activities (from a practical perspective), but it hasn’t meant that the team have let up in their efforts to transform the Healing Nature sites.

Litter is a scourge of modern life. With many of the Healing Nature sites being in urban areas, it is, along with other antisocial behaviour issues, a real problem. Not just a blight on the landscape, but a real risk to our wildlife. Unfortunately for the litter though, it didn’t get the memo from the spiraea.

Poor litter, it didn’t know what was coming.

Chopwell East Field

It was the Healing Nature team – and they had brought reinforcements. Organised through Eventbrite, local community members have been choosing to spend their time getting tooled up with litter pickers and bin bag hoops to clean up their local greenspaces. It may not be glamorous, but in six weeks they have collected a mind-boggling 5.5 tonnes of litter from just nine sites in South Tyneside and Sunderland. Both a massive and tangible achievement, but also a damming indictment of the scale of the problem. But, while people choose to come forward to do something about these issues and commit their time to actions which will make a difference for nature, there is always hope for the future.

Chopwell East Field Chopwell East Field – Burning Scrub

Whether it is through the social media channels or face-to-face events, community outreach work is key to the project’s legacy. To date, and despite lockdown, we have been able to deliver 37 events which have connected 316 people with nature in some way or another. Whether it is the next generation exploring their local nature sites on a school outing, adults taking time out for mindful moments to de-stress and appreciate their surroundings, or simply families gaining a fresh perspective while visiting familiar and well-trodden paths, it is these moments that inspire and motivate people to understand and value their local environment and our native wildlife. And, in this frantic world, if we can do that, perhaps it won’t just be nature that is healed, but ourselves as well.

Naturally Native

By Kirsty Pollard

Nothing better encapsulates an English summer than the gentle lull of a slow moving, meandering river – or a ditch, pond, beck or stream – as far as our Naturally Native team are concerned. It’s fair to say the water vole survey season is well underway.

T

hese surveys not only help to identify areas where vulnerable water vole populations may still be hidden away, but they will be crucial to monitoring the impact of the work being delivered by the three North East Wildlife Trusts. Throughout the project, the team will improve 10km of riparian habitat and remove non-native American mink – an introduced predator which is known to have a devastating impact on native wildlife, such as the water vole. As we deliver this work across the Tyne, Wear, and Tees river catchments, we hope to monitor the rate of population growth and expansion of the last few remaining lowland water vole populations. This work could not come soon enough, as previous surveys carried out in 2019 highlighted how fragile these remnant populations are.

While finding signs of these charismatic mammals is always the highlight of any water vole enthusiast’s day (topped only by the thrill of an occasional glimpse of an unaware vole), recording water vole absence can be equally useful data in the strategic planning of future work. During surveys, the team are also measuring habitat suitability which will inform planning of future habitat improvements, to ensure isolated populations have opportunities to disperse, and, in some cases, connect with nearby populations.

Kirsty Pollard Naturally Native Project Manager

Surveying for water voles, as with most mammals, requires a bit of detective work, as tell-tale signs are sought out along banksides and pond margins. Their ‘latrines’ (or ‘toilets’ to the everyday human) are very distinctive and easily distinguishable from those belonging to similar species. Being almost solely herbivorous, water vole droppings lack the unpleasant odour of rats’, and are a good deal bigger than the similar shaped field vole droppings. While latrines are the pièce de résistance of water vole signs, surveyors also keep a keen eye out for evidence of feeding and active burrows.

One drawback of the British summer is, of course, the occasional bit of wet weather. This can make water vole surveys even more of a challenge as latrines and feeding signs are frequently dislodged during heavy showers, or washed away by increased water levels. The use of motion activated camera traps and floating rafts with clay-lined tunnels to capture footprints are being used to help with monitoring.

The project’s most valuable resource, however, is the band of dedicated volunteers who are helping survey new areas and monitor favoured vole patches. The support and enthusiasm from volunteers is critical to enabling us to work across such a large and varied landscape. And we always have room for more!

If you are interested in coming out and learning how to survey for water voles, or check footprint rafts (no previous experience or knowledge is required) then please contact Elliot, the Naturally Native Project Officer: elea@durhamwt.co.uk.

© TERRY WHITTAKER

CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION

SeaScapes project gets underway The National Lottery Heritage Fund has shown its commitment to coastal and marine heritage in the North of England by awarding £2.78m to the Tyne to Tees, Shores and Seas Partnership scheme (SeaScapes). Hosted by Durham County Council, SeaScapes is now underway across the coastlines and inshore waters of South Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham, and Hartlepool over the next three years.

Dorinda Kealoha Intertidal Interactive Officer

The Past

Intertidal Interactive

The heritage of the Tyne to Tees SeaScapes area is nationally significant and deserves to be better explored and celebrated.

Characterised by magnesian limestone geology 250 million years in the making, the heritage of this dynamic coastline – its coal, ships and communities - once fuelled the British Empire in war and at peace, but subsequent industrial decline has produced a legacy of pollution and deprivation. Until the late 1990s, parts of the SeaScapes coastline were the most heavily polluted in Europe, as a result of the dumping of millions of tonnes of colliery spoil. While those past industrial associations have now waned to memory thanks to extensive remediation efforts, poor perceptions continue.

Durham Wildlife Trust is the lead for the Intertidal Interactive project, with Dorinda Kealoha filling the role of Intertidal Interactive Officer. Intertidal Interactive aims to provide opportunities for local people to engage with marine and coastal wildlife through events, activities, wildlife recording groups, and citizen science. Local communities will learn more about the wildlife around them, and how these species co-exist with people and the built environment along the coast. Beach Tots can discover the small world of the rockpool, and local school groups participate in North Sea Science workshops and snorkeling experiences. Teenagers will be exploring the coast as Beach Rangers, and there’s training available to survey for marine mammals, shore birds, and intertidal species. Opportunities will be created for local people and visitors to not only explore, learn, discover and record the natural heritage of the coast, but also to receive training which will develop confidence, enhance understanding, and improve conservation for our marine and coastal wildlife.

The perception of an industrial landscape still persists for some, but the natural, cultural, and maritime heritage of the area now have a chance to come to the fore. These once-murky waters, filled with coal fragments and dust from the mining waste, are now showing off their riches to divers. Whereas 20 years ago the sea was black, with zero visibility and little marine life, the seas and coast are now teeming with wildlife.

Our Vision for the Future ‘To reveal and better manage the hidden heritage of our unique seascape and create opportunities for learning, access and enjoyment in order to ignite stewardship of this special place for generations to come’.

To achieve this vision, the SeaScapes scheme will deliver 23 projects – both on-shore and beneath the sea.

Find out how you can be part of SeaScapes by emailing us at info@exploreseascapes.co.uk and visiting the website www.exploreseascapes.co.uk.

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@tynetotees

Explore SeaScapes @tynetotees

RESERVES

Late summer wildlife spotting guide

by Mark Dinning

Mark Dinning

Head of Conservation

August is considered a quiet month for wildlife, as, by now, chicks have fledged and most flowers have bloomed. This is in contrast to spring and early summer months when plants and animals were busy ensuring their genes are passed on to a new generation. But nature doesn’t rest, so August isn’t really a quiet month and there is still plenty to see.

Berries Spare a thought for our busy pollinators when you’re out enjoying the August sunshine. We have pollinators to thank for every third mouthful of food we eat. Not only do they pollinate our food crops, but they’re also vital for the survival of other wild plants that support so much of our wildlife. Pollinators have seen a significant decline over the last 40 years, many species seeing a reduction in their UK range by more than a quarter. Much of our August fruits and berries are the result of their hard labour through the spring and summer. A good number of bumblebees and solitary bees you will see at this time of year are nearing the end of their life cycle, but a new generation of bumblebee queens are preparing for their autumn hibernation.

Autumn Gentian – Bishop Middleham Quarry The blooms aren’t quite done yet! Autumn gentian is a late flowering plant (July, August) found on our limestone grasslands. Its purple flowers standing out as other plants start to fade.

Top photo: Greenshank by Bertie Gregory/2020Vision Left: Autumn gentian

by Lesley Hodgson

Back to the Beach – anywhere on the coast including Durham Wildlife Trust’s Blackhall Rocks There’s plenty of excitement to be had at the coast in autumn as birds return to winter feeding grounds, or pass through as they migrate south for winter. For many species, their normal route will take them along the Durham coast.

Autumn migration lasts from the end of July through to early November. Keep your eyes peeled for a wading bird bonanza that includes greenshank, little stint and turnstone amongst many others.

Flight of the Dragon – Rainton Meadows

Left: Ruddy Darter

by Chris Gomersall

A family of insects that can be seen for a large part of the year, the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) continue to fly well into the autumn. The ruddy darter is a species that has expanded its range from the south east of England in recent years, and is now a common sight at Rainton Meadows.

Distinguished from the similar-looking common darter by its all-black legs.

Flying start to 30 by 30 Nationally the Wildlife Trusts have raised almost £8 million towards our 30 by 30 ambition to kickstart nature’s recovery across 30% of our land and seas by 2030.

These vital funds will support projects to make new homes for wildlife, join up wild places and promote natural solutions to the climate crisis.

WATER VOLE © TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION, PEAT EXTRACTION © MATTHEW ROBERTS; MARSH FRITILLARY © VAUGHN MATTHEWS

This spring, we unveiled ten new projects that will help nature fight back. The new projects include reviving ice-age ponds in Norfolk, transforming a 42-acre former Carlisle golf course into an urban bee and butterfly oasis, and quadrupling a Wiltshire nature reserve to help the rare marsh fritillary butterfly thrive.

Of the £8 million total raised so far, over £900,000 has been given by members of the public. Thank you to everyone who has already supported our campaign to bring nature back.

Find out more and support the campaign at wildlifetrusts.org/30-30-30

NATIONAL NEWS

UK HIGHLIGHTS Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK 3

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1 Help for kelp

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A new byelaw now makes it illegal to trawl with bottom-towed fishing gear within an area off the Sussex coast. This landmark decision will give Sussex’s important kelp forests the chance to recover, providing a home for a wide range of wildlife. Find out more at wtru.st/help-kelp

2 Fishing friends Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is working with anglers in the Colne Valley to improve wetlands for wildlife, including the rare water vole. Fisheries look after many lakes and rivers, and by offering training and support, the Wildlife Trust and their partner, the Colne Valley Fisheries Consultative, are helping them further enhance these habitats for wildlife as well as people. For more info go to wtru.st/hmwt-angling

Peat extraction is devastating peatlands across the world, yet many retailers are continuing to sell peat-based products

Promise for Peat The Government has announced plans to phase out the use of peat in horticulture, including a consultation on banning the sale of peat and peat containing products in the amateur sector by the end of this Parliament.

Ten years ago, the Government set a voluntary target for the horticulture sector to end sales to gardeners by 2020. This deadline was missed, and a

recent Wildlife Trust survey revealed that only one of 20 leading garden retailers contacted planned to eliminate peat from its shelves this year. Whilst the Government’s announcement is welcome news, it must be backed by action and lead to a ban of peat sales.

See the announcement in full at wtru.st/gov-speech

3 Seagrass saviours A new partnership launched by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust aims to restore the Solent’s seagrass beds. As well as providing a home for wildlife, seagrass protects coasts from erosion and absorbs carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.

See more at wtru.st/solent-seagrass

NATIONAL CONSERVATION

Community Gardening Come together with your community to make more space for nature.

Kate Bradbury

is passionate about wildlife-friendly gardening and is the author of Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything in association with The Wildlife Trusts.

Add bird boxes and bee hotels Help wildlife move into your shared garden, by providing homes! Find that DIY expert in your community and get building.

Set up a community compost heap These work really well, helping to reduce waste sent to landfill, as well as providing a home for wildlife and compost for mulching.

Plant native trees Many parks and shared spaces have room for a few trees and people love planting them. Set up a crowdfunder to buy a few and plant them together with your neighbours.

Grow plants for bees Make a small pond A source of water is really important for wildlife, for drinking and bathing. People will be drawn there too if you pop in a bench.

Everyone knows bees are in trouble and wants to help them. Grow herbs like lavender, oregano, rosemary and chives.

NATIONAL CONSERVATION

Twice a year, I meet up with other members of my local community to plant up and tidy the planters on my local high street. While we work we chat, discuss planting methods and the best plants for bees. Some of us take clippings home to compost. Many of us end up in the pub afterwards.

It’s a lovely thing to do, both for the community, the local wildlife and ourselves. Thanks to Covid we missed a session last year, but we have a date in the diary for summer and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.

Community gardens and gardening help bring communities together. They can be on virtually any patch of land, from large planters on a main road like the ones I tend, to a park or church grounds (or a section of them) — I’ve even seen community gardens set up in raised beds on a little corner of pavement. The space doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts. Whether you grow veg, flowers or focus

on wildlife gardening there’s plenty of reward to reap from your efforts. You’ll learn more about planting for nature, and can then pass this knowledge on to other members of your community, young and old. As a result, you’ll bring more nature to your and others’ doorsteps.

If you want to start gardening with your local community then start with your local park. There may already be a ‘Friends of’ group set up that you can join, but if there isn’t then set one up yourself — other ‘Friends of’ groups should be able to help you. You’ll be amazed how many people in your community want to come out and help improve the area, and you’ll make new friends, too!

For more tips on how to make green spaces wilder, visit: wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects

Grow vegetables Many people want to grow veg but lack the confidence. Start with courgettes, beans and strawberries. Teach people how to sow seeds and raise crops themselves.

Garden organically Use a combination of companion planting and wildlife gardening to move away from using chemicals, helping your community to learn how to garden in a wildlife-friendly way.

Create mini habitats Make log, leaf and stick piles for wildlife to live in, and leave seedheads and long grass over winter. Children will love making (and exploring!) homes for wildlife.

REPORTS

Durham Wildlife Trust Annual General Meeting 2021 The Annual General Meeting will be held at 5.30 pm on Monday, 18th October, 2021. The AGM will be held online to ensure that there is no disruption to plans if Covid restrictions are still in force. Full details of how to register for the AGM are available at www.durhamwt.com/agm or, alternatively, please call the Trust on 0191 5843112 or write to Durham Wildlife Trust at Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 6PU.

Agenda 1. Apologies for absence 2. Minutes of the 2020 AGM 3. Adoption of Annual Report and Consolidated Accounts 4. Chair’s remarks 5. Election of members of Council 6. Confirmation of auditors 7. Special Resolution – amendments to the Articles of Association The formal business of the AGM will be followed by presentations on the Trust’s work. We are delighted that Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (the national body that represents all the Wildlife Trusts across the UK), will be joining us. Craig, together with Durham Wildlife Trust colleagues, will be highlighting how the Wildlife Trusts will be delivering nature’s recovery, locally and nationally.

The AGM and presentations are expected to end at 7.00 pm.

AGM Information A special resolution is to be presented at the AGM which proposes changes to the Articles of Association. The changes proposed are: • To update the use of personal pronouns to reflect present day usage – they, their replaces he, him throughout the text.

•

To make specific reference to online meetings being an approved forum for meetings. Currently the Articles don’t exclude use of online meetings but don’t specifically permit them.

•

To strengthen the grounds for removal of Trustees from the Board – this will be linked to a Trustee Code of Conduct and more detailed Conflicts of Interest policy.

These documents are not part of the Articles. The changes proposed reflect recommended practice.

Full details of the proposed changes are available on the Trust’s website at www.durhamwt.com/agm or, alternatively, please call the Trust on 0191 5843112 or write to Durham Wildlife Trust at Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 6PU to request written documents.

Members wishing to vote at the AGM by proxy should contact the Trust (on 0191 5843112 or write to Durham Wildlife Trust at Rainton Meadows, Chilton Moor, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 6PU) to request a proxy voting form.

Forms must be returned to the Trust at Rainton Meadows by 5pm on Friday, 15th October, 2021.

One current member of Council (Janice Baker) is due to retire at this meeting after serving two four-year terms. No current members are standing for re-election for a second four-year term. Members who would like further information on becoming a Trustee should contact the Trust Director at jcokill@durhamwt.co.uk or call 0191 584 3112.

REPORTS

Membership highlights

Naturally Native

• In financial year 20/21 Durham Wildlife Trust welcomed 844 new members to the Trust in 440 new Individual, Joint and Family Memberships.

• 300 members responded to the Trust’s winter membership campaign, increasing their membership donations by a total of over £11000 each year including Gift Aid. • 280 new and existing memberships opted to go ‘paperless’ with the Trust’s new digital membership option.

New Projects

With thanks to players of the National Lottery, Durham, Northumberland and Tees Valley Wildlife Trusts began work in November 2020 to halt the catastrophic decline of the water vole and save this charismatic species from extinction in the North East. Naturally Native, with Durham Wildlife Trust as the lead partner, is tackling the main causes of water vole decline - habitat destruction and predation by the non-native American mink.

New site Beda Hill

Healing Nature This £450k project supported by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund is healing natural habitats across 20 important wildlife sites in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. Local communities used the sites more than ever throughout the lockdowns of 2020 and benefited greatly from the nature on their doorstep. The project is also delivering local volunteering and better access to make sure even more people can benefit from nature’s restoration.

A relict area of lowland acid grassland and secondary woodland, this Local Wildlife Site sits at the heart of the Derwent Valley in Gateshead. Thanks to funding from the Banister Charitable Trust and Gateshead Council, Durham Wildlife Trust secured the freehold of this site in October 2020 and can now begin work to restore this rare grassland habitat, an important component of this diverse landscape.

Accounts for Durham Wildlife Trust and its subsidiary Durham Wildlife Services for the year ended 31 March 2021

Unrestricted Funds (£) Restricted Funds (£)

Income from: Donations and legacies Charitable activities Conservation projects Reserve projects Education projects Other trading activities Investment income

DAVID TIPLING/2020VISION

Total income

Total 2021 (£)

Total 2020 (£)

-

534,078

305,950

3,991 805,912 43,170 189,269 15,218 42,370 267,073 2,262 -

809,903 232,439 57,588 267,073 2,262

1,015,895 251,391 46,840 165,480 1,147

534,078

865,793

1,037,550

1,903,343

1,786,703

Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities Conservation projects Reserve projects Education projects Publications and affiliations Visitor centres

351,204

-

351,204

261,228

103,980 41,879 - 25,404 40,671

802,668 110,111 27,185 - -

906,648 151,990 27,185 25,404 40,671

1,179,631 182,028 73,082 20,081 92,703

Total expenditure

563,138

939,964

1,503,102

1,808,753

Net movement in funds before transfers Transfer between funds

302,655 701

97,586 ( 701 )

400,241 -

( 22,050 ) -

Net movement in funds after transfers

303,356

96,885

400,241

( 22,050 )

Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward

578,269

1,115,940

1,694,209

1,716,259

Total funds carried forward

881,625

1,212,825

2,094,450

1,694,209

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

Every legacy is valuable, helping to care for nature reserves so wildlife can thrive.

Protecting them for the future.

To find out more about how your legacy can make a difference and for information about Will writing please look at our website or contact Anne Gladwin by email agladwin@durhamwt.co.uk WWW.DURHAMWT.COM/LEGACY

PHOTO: S PURVIS

A gift in your Will protects the wild places you love