Nottinghamshire Wild Life

The member magazine for your Wildlife Trust

Summer 2024

Magical meadows

bloom

WILDER LIVES

Unlocking the power of collaboration through the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network.

WILDLIFE GARDENING

Secrets of success with peat free compost.

Wildflowers in full

YOUR WILD SUMMER

Notes from the Chief Executive

Given the surprise announcement of a July General Election, we had to have a slight rethink about some of the content planned for this issue! However, because of dropping some election content, we have been able to give more space to feature the wildlife and nature reserves we are all striving to protect and restore. This showcases some of the amazing wildlife and wild places to enjoy at this special time of year.

Whilst having to drop the election themed content was frustrating, we have still been busy lobbying candidates and preparing the groundwork to work with all the newly elected MPs to secure a Wilder Nottinghamshire. The new Government has a huge responsibility to deliver for nature if we are to have any chance of hitting a raft of vital nature and climate targets by 2030 and must immediately start preparing for vital UN Nations Climate & Biodiversity Conferences in November.

We hope many of you joined us for the Restore Nature Now march in London last month as we sent a message to all prospective MPs - but as the new Government take up the reigns we must impress upon all the newly elected MPs across the county, whichever party they represent, just how many of us care passionately about nature. Whether or not you contacted or engaged with your MP whilst they were campaigning, we would urge you to get in touch now, before they have chance to settle in, to tell them why you care about the impacts of wildlife loss and climate change. Tell them what three actions you want to see for nature and climate and how you believe that the new Government should improve and protect nature for us all.

If you are in touch with your new MP, do let us know how you get on, we’re keen to understand their views and motivations and your feedback will help us build up a picture of the new cohort of parliamentarians representing our county.

As we headed into the election, one of the key issues we were raising with candidates was the urgent need to bring back lost wildlife and if ever there was a habitat that underlines the need to turn the clock back its our wildflower meadows. Over the years, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read or recounted the fact that we’ve lost 97% of our wildflower meadows. The figure is trotted out so often we’ve almost become immune to it – but let's just think about that figure for a second – 97%. It’s a shocking indictment of how our countryside has been damaged and destroyed over the last century and here in Nottinghamshire the figure is thought to be between 97% and 99% loss!

As the lead partner for this special habitat with the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group, we have long championed efforts to protect remaining fragments of this precious habitat and to restore species rich grasslands across the county. This is why we’re focus ing on this habitat for our 2024 Appeal and whilst we hugely value your ongoing support as a member, I hope you’ll consider making an additional contribution to support our efforts to protect, restore and sustain Nottinghamshire’s rare meadow habitats.

Paul Wilkinson Chief Executive @originalwilko

How you can get involved

Volunteer

See what role could suit you on our website. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/ volunteering-opportunities

Donate

We can’t do it without your support! Donate via our website donation form. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/donate

Include a gift in your will

This will help future generations to enjoy nature in Nottinghamshire as you have done. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/leave-legacy

Visit a reserve

Explore a new site or revisit a favourite one! nottinghamshirewildlife.org/nature-reserves

Online shopping

Get your bird food delivered straight to your door, as well as other wildlife products and homeware. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/shop

Dedication leaves

Commemorate a celebration with a dedication leaf. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/dedications

Campaign

Play your part in raising awareness for a Wilder Future, Wilder Nottinghamshire. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/campaigns

Join in our events

Keep an eye on our website for updates about our events. nottinghamshirewildlife.org/events

Social media

Keep informed and join in with the regular wildlife updates online via Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram and LinkedIn

E-newsletter

For more regular updates about Nottinghamshire wildlife make sure the Membership team has your email consent. Email membership@nottswt.co.uk

3 Your Wild Summer

Summer meadows and what makes them magical.

5 Wild thoughts

Julia Bradbury states "Nature is there for you"!

6 Business Partnerships

A growing partnership with Nottingham Trent University over the years!

7 UK news

Biodiversity Net Gain falls short.

8 Wild reserves

A round up of reserve updates including a new partnership in the Trent Valley.

10 Rewilding

A journey of hope towards nature's recovery.

12 Wilder Lives

Unlocking the power of collaboration.

14 Wildlife gardening

Secrets of success with peat-free compost.

15 Funding success!

Major funding successes underline importance of partnership.

Contributions

Editorial enquiries and contributions to: Rachel Rutherford

Copy deadline: Monday 18th September 2024

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, The Old Ragged School, Brook Street, Nottingham NG1 1EA Tel: 0115 958 8242

Email: info@nottswt.co.uk Web: nottinghamshirewildlife.org

Front Cover: Ashtons Meadow Green-winged orchid © Megan McKay

Consultant Editor: Tom Hibbert

Consultant Designer: Ben Cook

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Wildlife Trust or its Council

Published by: Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Editor in Chief: Erin McDaid

Editor: Rachel Rutherford

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Magical meadows

There can be few sights as uplifting in the British countryside than a wildflower meadow in full bloom, but rather than being a truly ‘wild’ habitat, hay meadows are the result of millennia of human intervention.

Traditional hay meadows are the result of a man’s hand on the land. The system of growing grass to turn into hay to feed livestock through lean times of winter (before the days of grass growing pretty much year-round!) inadvertently created one of our most valuable, but vanishingly rare wildlife habitats.

The process of allowing a diverse mix of naturally occurring grasses and flowers to grow through the spring and summer to produce a crop of hay to be dried in the sun ready to be stored for use over winter helped ensure that the grass and flower were able to set seed - guaranteeing their survival year after year. The annual cycle of cutting, followed by carefully timed light grazing also helped ensure that delicate species were not out competed by species such as nettle, thistle and dock. The range of species that thrive in a hay meadow, from delicate grasses such as cock’s foot, to wildflowers such as hay rattle, oxeye daisy and green-winged orchids also provides great nutrition to keep livestock healthy.

Whilst this system helped shape our countryside for thousands of years, with a patchwork of

colourful meadows surrounded by hedgerows, the advent of modern farming techniques such as switching to silage to feed larger, modern breeds of animal to meet consumer demand for meat, led to the loss of 97% of our magical meadows. This loss hasn’t just been bad news for the wonderful wildflowers; it has contributed to the decline of an array of other species from pollinators such as bees to birds such as the skylark.

Having long recognised the loss of wildflower meadows, the Trust has spent decades working to protect, restore and sustain what remains of this precious habitat across our county. Back in 1971, realising that many of the plants and other wildlife that previously relied upon meadows for their survival were now clinging on in verges, the Trust commissioned a county-wide roadside verge survey to help ensure that their value to threatened species was recorded. In the 1980s we safeguarded the future of remaining fragments of meadow habitat with the acquisitions of reserves including Ashton’s Meadow, Eakring Meadows and Teversal Pastures. The purchase of Ashton’s Meadow serves as a reminder of just how fragile the fate of such sites had become. The Trust only becoming aware of

Orchids and buttercups Wilwell Farm Cutting LNR SSSI © Al Greer

Meadow buttercups © Al Greer

Hay meadow © Lee Schofield

YOUR WILD SUMMER:

YOUR WILD SUMMER

the meadow’s existence due to a chance conversation between a pupil and teacher at a north Notts school. The teacher happened to be Eirlys Gilbert, an inspirational and influential figure in the early days of the Trust and this ‘tip off’ about a fragment of meadow where flowers such as cowslips still thrived amidst a landscape of intensely managed agricultural fields resulted in us saving a truly wonderful meadow. The site has subsequently acted as a vital seedbank for the establishment of other meadows, including the Coronation Meadow at Shireoaks and other grasslands restored or created as part of our Blue Butterfly scheme launched in 2004.

As the number of meadows in our care grew, it became clear that these traditional habitats, created and nurtured by generations of farmer, needed a more traditional form of management. This was made possible in 1999 with the establishment of our ‘flying flock’ of Hebridean sheep. 25 years on, our trailblazing conservation grazing

Rising stars Meadow masterpieces

programme has gone from strength to strength and now consists of over 70 cows as well as hundreds of sheep helping to restore and sustain meadows, other grassland and heathland habitat across Nottinghamshire.

Whilst at their charming peak in spring and summer, our magnificent meadows provide a haven for wildlife year round, whether by providing nest sites for ground nesting birds or hunting grounds for birds of prey such as beautiful barn owls. Meadows also provide a little known, yet crucial service in terms of naturally locking away carbon which, if released, contributes to the evergrowing problem of climate change.

Whilst the area of wildflower meadows in our county is still only a fraction of what it was, thanks to your support, the meadows in our care have a safe future and we are determined to lead the charge to restore and recreate meadow habitats across the county.

Here, Kirsty Sandham, our Membership Development Officer highlights the rising stars which make our wildflower meadows so beautiful from spring through to summer.

From spring onward through to the height of summer, meadows host a succession of wondrous wildflowers and plants, but you’ll need to be quick to appreciate them as many of the vibrant blooms don’t stay on show for long.

A good meadow can be home to over 100 different grasses and flowers, from the bold and beautiful to the delicate and dainty. I’ve picked out a small selection of the flora to look out for through the seasons.

One of the first flowers to appear is the cowslip (Primula veris). On cooler days between March and May its bright golden flowers provide a cheery reminder of sunlight and warmer days to come. Following in the floral footsteps of the cowslip is the meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris). As well as brightening up meadows such as our Ashtons Meadow Nature Reserve these favourites are also found in hedgerows and ancient woodlands from April to May with their egg-yolk yellow nodding blooms.

May and June are the months to look out for the dainty pignut (Conopodium majus) in meadows and open woodlands. A small umbellifer (member of the carrot family) with its delicate branched stems, finely divided leaves and white open umbels – umbrella-like clusters of small flowers.

Spanning the summer and nudging on into autumn is the oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). Filling meadows with drifts of large white flowers with a sunny centre, they can be enjoyed from May through to September. The large blooms are so bright that come evening they appear to ‘glow’earning them other common names such as ‘moon daisy’ and ‘moon penny’.

Flowering alongside the daisy is often common knapweed (Centaurea nigra). This thistle-like plant has tightly packed purple flower heads and is a huge favourite of all kinds of butterflies like common blues, marbled whites and meadow browns.

Another plant with a long flowering season is red clover (Trifolium pratense). Look out for its familiar trefoil leaves and bright red, rounded flower heads between May and October. This bold beauty is favoured by many species of bee, including the red-tailed bumblebee.

This brief bouquet has shown that there is always a floral splash of colour to find in a meadow. Even in the wintertime, when red berries on the hedgerows sparkle with frost. As the months change so do these colourful glimpses, a surprise in every season.

Our Meadow Timeline

1971

Roadside Verge Project started –recognising value of habitat in place of lost traditional habitat

1981

Eakring Meadows, West Burton Meadow & Wilwell Farm Cutting acquired

1982

Eakring Meadows (additional 9 acres)

1983

Teversal Pastures purchased

1985

Ashton’s Meadow saved

1991

Hunt’s Meadow acquired

1996

Bogs Farm Quarry acquired

1999

Besthorpe Reserve (including Besthorpe Meadows) & Kimberely Meadow acquired

1999

‘Flying Flock’ of Hebridean sheep acquired & first shepherd appointed to start our conservation grazing programme

2003

Glebe Field (Attenborough) purchased

2004

Blue Butterfly grasslands scheme launched county-wide

2006

Girton Grasslands acquired

2011

Girton Grasslands (new parcels added)

2012

NWT Cow Appeal launched to expand grazing programme

2013

Skylarks Reserve expanded to include new areas of grassland

2021/2

New grassland created on old works area at Attenborough Nature Reserve

Oxeye Daisy © Michael Walker

Common Knapweed, Centaurea nigra © Al Greer

Meadow Buttercups © Al Greer

WILD THOUGHTS

Nature is there for you

Vitamin N (for Nature) is good for you physically, mentally and physiologically, and walking is one of the most accessible activities and the easiest way to immerse yourself in it. You don’t need much expertise or equipment, or even an epic landscape; you just put one foot in front of the other. All my life, but even more so through my cancer diagnosis, and other challenging episodes, nature has been there for me. It’s brought me strength and mental clarity. And, as well as the obvious health benefits it brings, the outdoors is a treasure trove of inspiration and really gives me the space to think things through.

Yet, we know that one in two children spend less than a single hour outside every day. One of the barriers I’ve seen through my work with The Outdoor Guide and our Waterproofs and Wellies project is that, in many cases, children simply don’t have the appropriate clothing to spend time outdoors at school. Kids grow out of clothes so quickly, and with the difficult economic times we live in, it’s no surprise that many families struggle to keep up with constantly buying new items. We’re trying to remove this barrier by supplying schools with waterproofs and wellies to aid outdoor learning, enabling children to gain access to nature. Properly equipped, I hope that by spending more time outdoors, children will develop a meaningful connection with the natural world, as well as bringing those enriching experiences that I’ve found have been hugely beneficial in later life.

Nature may be the answer to the climate crisis, but it can also help us to deal with things in our personal lives. The benefits of being out in nature are tangible. When we’re out walking, we have the power to change our pace and our mood. We can find union with nature, camaraderie with friends, and a form of inner peace with ourselves. Walking balances the soul and acts as a confidante and therapist and has been

proven to soothe anxiety and stress. A mountain or a tree, a bird or a beetle, can keep you company in times of grief, celebration and solitude.

Building nature into your everyday life creates many positive feedback loops, encouraging exercise, which in turn improves your diet, and enables you to sleep better and have better, more meaningful interactions with the world and the people around you. If you can’t escape for an hour, try five or 10 minutes in your lunch break. I call them Nature Snacks – just a few minutes every day is enough to revive and restore (although the longer the better in my opinion).

I worry that there is a real feeling of disconnection from nature in the current generation of children and young adults. So it’s important to try do our bit to remove barriers. There are many communities doing amazing work supported by The Wildlife Trusts Nextdoor Nature programmes. Schools, individuals and community groups are taking action for nature all across the UK, creating more and more small green spaces, which are especially important in urban areas. That little bit of treasured green space to grow food on and play in gently encourages children to see nature and nurture the spirit of working together.

Find out more about how Wildlife Trusts are helping to support community groups, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. wildlifetrusts.org/nextdoor-nature

Julia Bradbury Sunday Times Best Selling author of Walk Yourself

Happy shares her passion for walking towards happiness with nature by her side. The Outdoor Guide Foundation has a simple aim; to make the outdoors more accessible for all – particularly children. Find out more theoutdoorguide.co.uk

Julia Bradbury

@JuliaBradbury

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NEWS

Flying the flag for a Wilder Nottinghamshire at the County Show

As May comes around each year, there are two certainties – the Trust will be at the Nottinghamshire County Show and it's time to remind people about our 30 Days Wild Challenge. The timing of the County Show makes it an ideal event to promote 30 Days Wild and with the challenge celebrating its 10th birthday we gave away hundreds of packets of seeds to show visitors so they can help pollinators at home. The show also provides a great opportunity to talk to members and supporters and to catch up with old friends and partner organisations.

As you’d expect for a traditional agricultural show, another big focus is highlighting our work with farmers to create a wilder Nottinghamshire. This year we also used the event to showcase our Wilder Nottinghamshire Network. With almost 60 groups the length and breadth of the county now on board, the network demonstrates just how many groups are determined to act for nature and the huge appetite for collaboration. We’re already planning for next year’s County Show - so stick the 10th of May 2025 in your diary.

Making the most of Biodiversity Net Gain

After years of campaigning for improvements to the planning system, we were delighted when the Government introduced Biodiversity Net Gain legislation which means most developments in England will need to achieve a minimum 10% net gain to receive planning permission.

Whilst the legislation was delayed and has had a somewhat stuttering start (see opposite), it does provide a potentially game-changing opportunity to ensure that the planning system helps ensure nature’s restoration rather than continuing to facilitate its decline.

Locally, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has used our strong working relationships with local councils to develop the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Framework. Working with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) across the county, with support from Natural England and Nottinghamshire County Council, we have developed a framework which seeks to ensure that the benefits of the new legislation are delivered right here in Nottinghamshire. Our aim is to avoid the potential for Biodiversity Net Gain resulting from development here in Notts being delivered out of county and to seek commitments over and above the minimum legal requirements.

This proactive engagement is a great example of the Trust using its reputation, convening power and expertise to secure a wilder future for everyone across the county. Whilst the legislation is far from perfect, our positive intervention means that Nottinghamshire’s LPAs are

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS

A growing partnership

Many members will be aware of our longstanding work with Nottingham Trent University to protect the high-profile peregrine pair that nests on the university’s Newton Building in the City Centre – but are perhaps unaware just how far back our relationship stretches or the range of projects and initiatives we work together on.

Whilst the single chick that hatched this year will soon leave the nest, our partnership is far from fledgling - dating back decades and rooted in our work with Brackenhurst Agricultural College – which became the University’s third campus back in 1999. Since then, we’ve continued to support undergraduate studies, with many students choosing to carry out research linked to our nature reserves. A number of Brackenhurst/NTU alumni have joined the Trust staff down the years including our City Nature Recovery Officer, Lorna Griffiths and Senior Nature Recovery Officer (North) Mark Speck. You might also be interested to note that the Vice Chancellor of NTU is also an Honorary Vice-President of the Trust, providing us with a platform to engage with current Vice Chancellor Edward Peck.

The Brackenhurst campus – base for the university’s animal, rural and environmental sciences courses provides vital support for our ongoing research with academic input particularly focused on our species recovery programmes. A great example of recent collaboration has been the dedicated PhD research linked to our badger reintroduction project being carried out by Billy Howard. Whilst

the research is ongoing, Billy has now taken his work with the Trust to a new level – being elected as a Trustee at last year’s AGM.

Elsewhere we regularly collaborate with NTU’s Sustainability Team and engage with student programmes in an effort to inspire more action for nature. In recent months the relationship has moved into exciting new territory with EMEC Ecology, our wholly owned subsidiary commissioned by NTU to carry out baseline assessments as part of the Univerisity's Nature Postive Pledge. The Trust has also led guided walks for staff and students at Attenborough Nature Reserve and received an £800 donation via the Green Rewards Scheme.

Alongside the University of Nottingham, with which the Trust also has a long and productive association, NTU is a key player in the City of Nottingham through the Universities for Nottingham initiative. Being based in Nottingham ourselves and having ambitions to see a ‘nature first’ transformation of our city, starting with Broadmarsh’s ‘Green Heart’, we look forward to fruitful collaboration to influence decisions about the City and our wider county for decades to come.

better placed than many across the country to respond to and capitalise on the opportunities presented by BNG. In addition to our work on BNG we continue to input to the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies for the county via the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Implementation Group.

Lobbying secures new commitment on Biodiversity from first ever East Midlands Mayor.

Prior to the General Election the Trust was already busy lobbying to ensure that nature has a voice in key decisions affecting our region. Through the spring, we teamed up with colleagues from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to put the case for greater investment in nature recovery to candidates to be the first mayor to head up the newly created East Midlands Combined Authority. The authority will have a major say, with responsibility for key issues such as transport, housing, net zero and the visitor economy. In addition to supporting a ‘Green’ Hustings for candidates alongside Friends of the Earth and local groups we coordinated a biodiversity ‘Round Table’ meeting with Labour Candidate Claire Ward. This was attended by community groups from across Notts and Derbyshire – all engaged in nature-based projects. As a result of the meeting, Claire Ward made a commitment to set up a Mayoral Taskforce to ensure that Biodiversity was considered as part of key decisions and following her election in May we look forward to working with the new Mayor to ensure that the taskforce is established and has a significant impact.

UK NEWS

Biodiversity Net Gain falls short

new era beckons as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) – a requirement on developers to ensure wildlife habitat is left in a better state than it was before the building project began – has become mandatory for all major and minor developments in England. The Wildlife Trusts have actively contributed to the evolution of this legislation for many years, recognising that development is often necessary, but does not have to be achieved in a way that harms nature.

This legislation has the potential to transform our planning systems whereby developers deliver more for nature - contributing to its recovery - rather than accelerating its decline. This is vital if we are to meet our international obligations to restore 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by 2030.

Biodiversity Net Gain could not only make a positive contribution towards nature’s recovery but also help address the climate emergency in the process. However, The Wildlife Trusts are concerned that Biodiversity Net Gain is not currently on track to address the severity of the continuing nature crisis.

We believe that UK Government needs to set more ambitious targets.

Rachel Hackett, planning and development manager at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “It’s extremely disappointing to see that some of the rules and guidelines for Biodiversity Net Gain fall short of their intended ambition. Given the uncertainties surrounding habitat creation, a gain of 10% will at best hold the tide against nature loss to development and provide a contingency to ensure no overall loss of biodiversity. But if we want to secure real recovery for nature, we need to see at least 20% gain.”

We will continue to call for regulations and guidance to be more effective and strive for a gold standard for Biodiversity Net Gain. Afterall, there is a nature crisis in the UK – one in six species are at risk of extinction and the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We propose developers and local authorities go beyond the minimum requirements and aim for at least a 20% gain for nature.

We’d like to see the UK Government changing policy and guidance so the sale of excess biodiversity units is prevented. We’d like no further broadening of permitted development rules and Government to provide policy guidance to ensure Biodiversity Net Gain for

The Great Big Nature Survey

Last year The Wildlife Trusts launched The Great Big Nature Survey, calling on the UK public to share their views on some of the most important issues affecting people and wildlife. We asked questions like: How often do you get out into nature? Should people try to control nature to better protect it? How important are green spaces to you? And what roles should people, business, and government have in looking after nature?

The Great Big Nature Survey helps to identify what people in the UK and islands really think about wildlife and how we, as a society, should protect it. The results also support The Wildlife Trusts when holding the UK governments to account over their environmental policies and priorities, in this election year and beyond.

Whatever your views on nature, however important (or not) it is to you, join more than 21,000 people that have already taken part and make your voice heard by taking The Great Big Nature survey today. If you’ve taken the survey before,

Making friends with molluscs

The Wildlife Trusts have joined forces with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to publish a new Wild About Gardens guide, Making Friends with Molluscs. The guide reveals the fascinating world of slugs and snails and challenges common myths about these creatures. For example, did you know that the

permitted development is made a matter for local consideration rather than a blanket exemption.

Local Planning Authorities also need to be resourced with the right level of skills and capacity across departments to oversee the Biodiversity Net Gain process to ensure it is properly implemented, monitored and enforced. Finally, Biodiversity Net Gain must be ‘additional’ to existing mechanisms for nature conservation and enhancement.

When it comes to protecting, restoring and managing the natural environment, The Wildlife Trusts up and down the country have unmatched experience, knowledge and expertise. Nature conservation is our primary charitable objective. So, for decades we have delivered high-quality Biodiversity Net Gain habitat and offered specialist advice and consultancy to developers, local planning authorities, partners and communities. All our funding is invested with the purpose of delivering gains for nature.

UK HIGHLIGHTS

Discover how The Wildlife Trusts are helping wildlife across the UK

Strawberry Hill Forever

The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants is a step closer to securing ownership of the uniquely special Strawberry Hill, thanks to generous funding from Biffa Award. Securing the future of a Bedfordshire farm that has been left to rewild for 25 years represents one of the most exciting land transactions in the Wildlife Trust’s history.

wtru.st/BCN-Strawberry-Hill

Booming Success

Prompted by the near-extinction of a member of the heron family, a long term conservation project by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and conservation partners has doubled the area of bittern-suitable reedbed habitat. With a breakthrough this year, the first male bittern in recent history was recorded ‘booming,’ making its mating call on Amwell Nature Reserve. wtru.st/Herts-bittern

thank you! Do please take it again, so that we can track how people’s views on these important issues have changed over time.

For more information visit wildlifetrusts.org/ biodiversity-net-gain Have your say at wildlifetrusts.org/ great-big-nature-survey

majority of the 150 slug and snail species in the UK can actually positively contribute to your garden ecosystem?

One of their most significant roles is as nature’s clean-up crew; molluscs feed on rotting plants, fungi, dung and even carrion, helping to recycle nitrogen and other nutrients and minerals back into the soil. They can also clean algae off the glass of greenhouses, leaving behind their trademark trails.

Sula Rules The Waves

Alderney Wildlife Trust has recorded its seabird life in more detail than any other island, all thanks to Sula, the wildlife survey boat. Now, Sula needs sponsorship to support her important role in advancing conservation. Her next voyage is to help monitor the island’s grey seals, protect guillemot colonies and map Alderney’s tidal flow and marine habitats.

wtru.st/Sula-Sponsorship

Many of our much-loved garden visitors, including frogs, song thrushes, and ground beetles, rely on slugs and snails as a key food source. By supporting these molluscs, gardeners indirectly support a diverse array of wildlife too.

WILD RESERVES

Around the reserves

New partnership to restore and create vital wildlife habitats in the Trent Valley

The Trust’s Thriving in a Wilder Trent project has been awarded £875,602 to enable us to work with partners to create new habitats to benefit a range of species from common terns to bitterns and otters across the Trent Valley.

The project is one of only twenty across England to be funded through the Species Survival Fund – a partnership with Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Locally it will deliver work with farmers and landowners covering a 90 km stretch of the River Trent from Dunham Bridge in North Notts, to Willington in Derbyshire, improve 28 kilometres of canal and 50 hectares of farm wetland and marshland for wildlife.

The project will increase the area of existing priority floodplain habitats including reedbed, wet woodland and hedgerows, and bring new land into positive management to enhance connectivity. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust sites that will benefit include 1 Attenborough Nature Reserve near Beeston, 2 Skylarks Nature Reserve at Holme Pierrepont and 3 Besthorpe Nature Reserve in the Trent Vale north of Newark. In addition to enhancing established nature reserves, the project will fund habitat creation in partnership with private landowners.

Project partners include Canal & River Trust, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Gedling Conservation Trust, Nottingham City Council, RSPB, Severn Trent and Trent Rivers Trust.

Speaking following the announcement that Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Thriving in a Wilder Trent had been selected, Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said:

“We are absolutely delighted that our Thriving in a Wilder Trent project has been selected as part of the hugely competitive Species Survival Fund programme. Thanks to Defra’s support via The National Heritage Lottery Fund, we are now able to work with partners and other landowners across the Trent landscape to increase priority habitats and improve connectivity to support nature’s recovery on a huge scale. The programme will deliver much needed investment in threatened habitats such as reedbed and hedgerows – benefitting species including bittern, otter, skylark and other farmland birds – as well as providing opportunities for communities to take action for nature and climate. The success of our bid underlines the scale of our ambition and our capacity to collaborate with others for the benefit of nature and people.”

For further details

Visit our website using the QR code:

Attenborough for all

As we go to print, we’re just putting the finishing touches to a programme of activity designed to provide supporters, visitors and the local community to help shape how we deliver our vision for 1 Attenborough Nature Reserve

The Attenborough for All project will gather up-to-date information and evidence to support future funding bids which will translate our vision into action. Attenborough for All, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is a listening project to understand our existing audiences and any barriers to access.

We want to better understand a range of issues including who visits the reserve and why, how visitors feel about different parts of the reserve, how we can deliver opportunities for nature to recovery and inspire visitors to take action for wildlife in their daily lives.

For further details and to contribute visit our website: nottinghamshirewildlife.org/ attenborough-for-all

Focused efforts to boost turtle doves

Turtle doves, the UK’s fastest declining bird species, are set to benefit from the sowing of new wildflower strips at 4 Idle Valley Nature Reserve –one of its last strongholds in the county - thanks to support from the Metamorphosis Trust.

Skylarks Nature Reserve

WILD RESERVES

Conservation grazing programme notches up quarter of a century of success

The Trust’s nature grazing programme has come a long way since the arrival of our first Shepherd Paul Kemp and a few dozen Hebridean sheep back in 2001.

We now have hundreds of rare breed sheep, Herdwicks as well as Hebrideans, and around 70 Lincoln Red and Longhorn rare breed cattle which enable us to deliver traditional and natural management of valuable open habitats including meadows and other grassland, heathland and scrub. Access to our own livestock enables us to manage areas not suitable for machinery and grazing provides greater variation and diversity of habitats.

Whilst based at 4 Idle Valley our grazers and grazing team deliver valuable management on nature reserves across the county with able support from reserve-based Nature Recovery staff, who assist with checking animals, providing water, maintaining stock fencing and rounding up the occasional escapee.

The livestock are helping us to work towards delivering our commitments to manage and improve the condition of our Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Local Wildlife Sites as well as delivering relevant Countryside Stewardship commitments.

In recent years we’ve increasingly moved from grazing with sheep to more cattle as this provides opportunities for better quality and more diverse habitat. Cattle are also less prone to other issues such as dog attacks which have been a problem on some reserves.

Bluebells

still a draw at Bunny Old Wood

After a damp and somewhat dreary spring, the famous bluebells at 5 Bunny Old Wood, near East Leake, continue to delight visitors at this historic woodland. Whilst the bluebells and other spring flowers draw visitors from far and wide, the ever-popular Bunny Wood Open Day – known locally to some as Bunny Wood ‘bluebell’ day –continues to draw the crowds. Over 70 people enjoyed the event this year in the company of Chris Terrell-Nield and other local volunteers who help with the monitoring and upkeep of the wood.

We’re also working towards moving the balance of the cattle herd more towards Longhorn cattle and last year invested in our own Longhorn bull. Longhorns are our favoured breed because their grazing and browsing behaviour most closely resembles that of missing aurochs in our landscapes; they can feed and keep good health condition across a wide range of habitat types and despite their size and fearsome looking horns, have a gentle nature and are relatively easy to handle thanks to the halter training the team do with the cattle. The establishment and expansion of our nature grazing work over the past 25 years has required investment in around 60km of stock fencing which needs to be maintained and repaired. To reduce our long-term costs, we’ve considered alternative management approaches including trialing modular metal fencing and the use of ‘No Fence’ collars which keep animals in a designated area using electrical impulses to create a virtual fence. Thanks to funding from Defra we have been able to purchase 20 such collars and hope to purchase more as project funding comes online.

The collars will allow us to set up remote grazing zones that will reduce the need for internal grazing compartments, therefore reducing maintenance costs and allowing more targeted management.

New equipment will make a massive difference on northern reserves

Thanks to funding support from Natural England, we now have access to a range of new equipment to boost our nature recovery efforts on nature reserves across the north of the county. A new All-Terrain Vehicle will make access for staff and volunteers so much easier at the vast 4 Idle Valley Nature Reserve and a new bracken roller and wood chipper will be used across several northern reserves to help with habitat management and restoration.

Volunteers values are vital at Idle Valley

As a voluntary organisation, we are reliant on the time and talent of volunteers for much of our work and nowhere is this more evident than on our nature reserves. Whilst accurately recording volunteer input across dozens of nature reserves is difficult, the team at 4 Idle Valley Nature Reserve recorded almost 3000 volunteer hours invested in just over 6 months! So, to all our Notts volunteers, whether you work outdoors helping to care for our nature reserves, lead guided walks, support engagement with families and young people, provide advice and support on a committee or support our office teams – we salute you!

Halter training the longhorns © Agnes Kiemel

A journey of hope towards nature’s recovery

Memories of childhood – those long summer days messing around by the river. My little patch of childhood heaven lay underneath an old bridge made of the local limestone speckled with fossils from long ago. We floated out on tractor inner tubes or caught the tiddlers – mottled brown bullheads, minnows and sticklebacks – and hunted for crayfish. The river danced with mayfly – food for grey wagtails, swallows and martens. Banished to memory only, for later, the dredgers moved in, deepening the river and removing the riverside plants. The floodplain field’s old pasture was stripped and re-seeded to grow landscaping turf. Bullheads are now a red data book endangered species and native crayfish not far from extinct.

It’s a story that can be told across Britain – the last few decades have been calamitous for wildlife. Almost every measure you use shows that same picture. Kent Wildlife Trust’s splatometer is a good example. This measures the number of insects that (sadly) get splattered on your number plate. Comparisons between 2005 and 2020 shows a 50% decline. That insect apocalypse plays out as far few pollinators, essential for our real food security, and is already reducing the UK £100m apple crop. The song of the dodo will now never be known but its message is clear – the fragmentation of wildlife habitat drives species extinctions but equally the opposite is true.

For this does not need to be a tale of doom.

The source of many a British river is high on the blanket bogs of our uplands. These peaty waters run the colour of tea, especially after storms as the peat washes out. Yet on a rain-lashed day, I sit on the banks of the River Feshie looking at trout in crystal clear water, for Glen Feshie has been ‘rewilded’. Likewise, as those increasingly intense summer droughts take hold, the tributaries of the River Otter in Devon remain as green oases, for the River Otter has another charismatic mammal in its reach – beavers.

During Storm Desmond, which caused havoc in Cumbria as floodwaters burst out of the rivers and into the homes and livelihoods of the people of Carlisle or Cockermouth, one river stayed in its banks. The River Liza had been restored to its natural function, braiding and meandering, accumulating logs and stones so that when the storm hit, the Liza’s natural obstructions held the water back, filtering it and releasing it more slowly. Imagine, the cost saving if all the streams of the Lake District National Park were allowed to run natural and free.

In all these cases, people have intervened to restore the natural processes that bring nature back to balance and back to abundance. From peatland rewetting to leaving dead wood on a tree, to reconnecting a river to its floodplain, reintroducing natural grazing or bringing back top predators such as lynx and wolves, they are all interventions that bring natural function back to our landscapes and to our lives.

Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, shares his vision of a Wildler Isles

The results are spectacular. Dorset and Hampshire & the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts have acquired farms and taken them out of arable farming to ease the pollution pressure on coastal ecosystems. Rooting by pigs (we are not allowed to reintroduce wild boar yet), extensive semi-natural grazing by hardy cattle (a proxy for the long-extinct auroch that once roamed Britain) and renaturalising streams work alongside the natural recolonisation by wildlife. Fields, once almost devoid of wildlife, are now full of finches, buzzing with insects and multi-coloured once more with flowers and scrub.

On a tributary of the River Otter, a shallow flooded field oozes with beauty and splendour of wildlife returning in profusion. Herons, egrets and waders poke the wet soil for food whilst damsel and dragonflies stalk the sweeps of purple and yellow flowers. This return of wildlife abundance cost nothing, required no permissions and was not planned. Rather it resulted from a pair of beavers deciding this place would make a wonderful place to call home.

I return to my childhood memories once more – this time cowboy movies with buffalo on the Great Plains of North America. Magnificent beasts racing across the open grasslands. Only later did I learn that there were over 60 million of these mighty beasts just a few centuries ago and only 547 left by 1880 – an incredible decline and testament to rapid agriindustrialisation of the Plains following European emigration. And much later, I learned that Europe had buffalo too –European bison – whose decline had preceded their American cousins much earlier leaving less than 50 animals by the 1920s.

Yet, as in North America, captive breeding and eventual wild release has re-established European bison, albeit still at fairly low numbers. Imagine then, the excitement of seeing wild bison once again in Europe. This time in the high Carpathian Mountains of Romania – a brief heart-pumping encounter deep in the beech woods. Imagine, excitement doubled at the prospect of bison in Britain, yet this is exactly what Kent Wildlife Trust has achieved at Blean Woods.

Restoring natural processes – whether bison in woodlands or Sphagnum once more flourishing on an upland moor or an old oak being given the grace to gently rot from its core over many hundreds of years – is changing the way we think about how to restore nature. What is so exciting about this way of thinking - rewilding, is that it gives us an approach, a way of working where we can have a realistic chance of turning the nature and climate crisis around.

This is a message of hope that lights the path through. It starts with a rewilding of our imagination, it continues with deliberate interventions to restore natural processes, it culminates in a rapid rushing back of wildlife. If we give wildlife space, it will return.

Join this rewilding revolution. Rewild your garden. Adding dead wood, a pond and putting in some structure – a bit of shrubbery for example – has been shown to vastly increase garden wildlife diversity and abundance. Encourage your local school to let the grounds go a bit wilder; ask the Council to plant street trees and leave the grass long in the local park; ask your MP to ban burning on upland moors and allow Sphagnum to recover and while you’re at it, ask them to get on with licensing beaver reintroductions. Rewilding is a journey – a continuum of increasing wildness from window box to National Parks that go way beyond looking pretty and have their wildlife restored. This is a journey of hope and recovery. A journey towards our much wilder isles.

Read more about the work of The Wildlife Trusts to bring wildlife back at a landscape-scale. wildlifetrusts.org/rewilding

Dr Rob Stoneman is director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts

Mayflies numbers have declined due to habitat loss

The Missing Lynx Project is exploring the potential for a lynx reintroduction in northern England

European bison have been reintroduced to Kent Wildlife Trust’s Blean Woods nature reserve

WILDER LIVES

Unlocking the power of collaboration

For 60 years Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has worked to protect and enhance some of the most important places for nature in the county, from ancient woodlands to wonderful wildflower meadows. Our charity is passionate about creating a healthy natural world which benefits everyone – but in the face of a combined nature and climate crisis we recognise that we can’t achieve our aspirations in isolation.

In setting out our vision for a Wilder Nottinghamshire by 2030, we highlighted the need to involve and inspire more people than ever before to act locally for nature’s recovery. In November, we set up the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network - a community for everyone involved in nature’s recovery across the county to celebrate action, encourage collaboration and inspire others to act. In just six months, the fledgling network has grown to nearly 60 groups the length and breadth of the county including those caring for local greenspaces and campaigners seeking to limit the use of chemical weedkillers on local streets.

Speaking about the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network , Liz Fleuty, our Head of People & Nature said: “The scale of the challenge means we can’t hope to achieve our goal of a Wilder Nottinghamshire alone. There is so much amazing work being done by volunteers, communities, landowners and businesses across the county, but we felt more could be done to celebrate positive action and ensure people felt part of a wider movement for change.

By connecting individuals, groups and organisations to share knowledge, expertise and resources we hope to inspire even more people to act.”

Groups already part of the network include Wild.NG, Bulwell Forest Garden and Basford Road Baptist Community Garden, Leyton Crescent Park Wildlife Group (Beeston), Wild Things Keyworth, the Lost Garden of Everton, Clarborough Primary School Gardening Club and Rufford Avenue Allotment Group, Green Southwell and Winthorpe Road Community Garden (Newark) and St Willfred's Church (Kirkby-in-Ashfield).

The Trust is committed to being part of people-powered movement for nature’s recovery acting at all levels, creating much more space for wildlife to thrive and speaking up for nature’s recovery - and we are calling on more groups to join the growing network. In time we hope to see network members supporting each other, sharing advice, expertise and resources but support already offered includes advice on setting up groups, information on wildlife gardening and habitat creation workshops.

Speaking about the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network, Trish Evans of Wild.NG said: “As like nature, when we connect, we thrive. It’s so inspiring to be part of the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network as it brings us closer to many great local projects, and we can grow a collective and positive movement.”

Alongside the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network , the Wildlife Trust has launched the Wilder Nottinghamshire Awards to recognise and reward local action. As we go to press, judging is underway – so look out for details of winners on our website and social channels.

For further information of how to join the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network visit our website via the QR code below.

Liz Fleuty, Head of People and Nature, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust

Basford Road Baptist Community Garden in Nottingham after planting up a neglegted area

WILDER LIVES

Transforming the community street by street by street

Our Head of Communications Erin McDaid reflects on the inspiring work of Wilder Nottinghamshire Network members Wild.NG.

Much of the inspiration to establish the network came from our experience working with amazing community groups across the county - groups like Wild.NG based in Sherwood, Nottingham. Wild.NG is building a quiet wilder revolution, ridding streets of worrysome weedkillers and ensuring swifts a safe return to city streets.

The group’s Poison Free Pavements project means dozens of streets are no longer sprayed to control ‘weeds’. Having raised their concerns about the destruction of wildflowers as well as the potential health and environmental impacts of spraying, the group recruited 150 residents. These residents are willing to ensure that wildflowers, which support pollinators and do no harm to pavements, don't make way for robust perrenial weeds and tree saplings. As a result, over 50 streets are now chemical free and bedecked with wildflowers through spring and summer.

Their Swift Street project has seen the installation of 60 swift nest boxes to ensure swifts scoping local streets after long migration journeys have somewhere to call home. Through passion and persuasion, the group have created six ‘Swift Streets’– each providing inspiration for yet more residents to get involved.

Last spring, the project reached a new high with an uplifting swift ‘homecoming’ parade involving hundreds of local school children marching along their nearest Swift Street chanting ‘Save our Swifts’. The march featured on Channel 4 News to highlight a Private Members Bill aiming to get ‘swift bricks’ incorporated into new build properties. Just a few weeks ago, the 2024 homecoming parade saw hundreds of pupils from Hayden Primary march with placards with similar chants and slogans.

Having been privileged to be present for both parades and seeing literally hundreds of local children and their families inspired by the plight of swifts to speak up and take action for nature, I have witnessed first hand the power of the network to make a difference. By bringing together groups such as Wild.NG across Nottinghamshire we hope to showcase the amazing work already underway to make our communities wilder and to inspire ever greater numbers to act.

Wild.NG marking up pavement wildflowers

Secrets of success with peat-free compost

Selecting plants is one of the most exciting parts of gardening, but compost choice can determine a great deal of success in the garden.

When selecting a compost, the most important thing is to look for a peatfree label. Taking peat out of the ground destroys important habitats and releases large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere, so gardening peat-free is an easy way to take positive action for wildlife and climate. If you can’t find peat-free stated on the bag, then the chances are the product contains peat. Something marked as organic or environmentally-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean it’s peat-free.

Peat-free mixes contain more microbes, many of which are beneficial for your plants but can change how the compost performs the longer they are left in the bag. To get the best from your compost, we recommend using it in the growing season you bought it or within a year of the manufacture date. If you are using smaller amounts of specialist mixes, such as ericaceous compost for acidloving plants, you could share with a friend or local gardening group to save on cost.

Not every peat-free mix will be a perfect fit for every gardener, so try a couple of different types to find one that suits your plants and growing environment. Peat-free compost has come a long way, with a wide range for every need and plant type available. All peatfree mixes are different, so you might also need to adjust watering and feeding a little. As a general rule, peat-free may need to be watered little and often compared to peat.

Getting to know what you need from your compost and which products give healthy, long-lasting plants can unlock a whole new world of gardening success for anyone, even if you don’t have the greenest fingers!

Meadows

A wildflower patch full of native annuals like oxeye daisy won’t need any compost at all, as these plants prefer low nutrient soils, so you can sow directly into bare ground.

Veg

Soil improvers and manures, which contain lots of organic matter, can add nutrients without the need for lots of fertiliser.

Seeds

Seed and cutting compost is specially mixed to suit these young plants, being much finer and containing less slowrelease feed than multipurpose compost. The fine texture is especially important for small seeds like foxglove.

Trees and hedges

As well as being brilliant for wildlife, trees and hedge plants often come bare root (not in a pot), so you can plant in the ground, just adding some mulch. Home compost or leaf mould are easy mulches to make yourself.

Peat-free compost is prone to a dry top so check with your finger to see if there is moisture lower down in the container and aim to keep compost just moist, stopping watering before it runs out the bottom.

Specialist plants

Look for products labelled as working for plant groups that need specific soil conditions (e.g. carnivorous sundews or ericaceous cranberries), as multipurpose compost won’t provide the conditions they need to grow well.

Pond plants

Use special aquatic mixes to fill pond basket planters, these are formulated to ensure nutrient release is slower, stopping leaching into the pond which can cause algal growth.

Houseplants

One of the biggest killers of houseplants is overwatering. Mixing houseplant-specific compost with grit or fine bark will help stop root rot by improving drainage.

Claire Thorpe is the peat-free campaign manager for the RHS, and is passionate about helping people garden sustainably.

Major funding successes underline importance of partnership

Back in February 2024, dozens of projects designed to harness natural solutions including tree planting and the creation of wetland habitats to reduce flood risk were given the green light. This included a scheme where Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust will work with partners including the Environment Agency and Nottinghamshire County Council, to reduce flooding in areas such as Shireoaks, Rhodesia and Worksop – all impacted by flooding in recent years.

This programme forms part of the Government’s commitment to invest in natural flood management processes which either protect, restore, or in some cases mimic, natural functions within floodplains and river catchments, to slow the passage of water and store water away from sensitive areas.

Having long championed the Natural Flood Management (NFM) approach, we are delighted that our proposal to work with farmers and other landowners here in Nottinghamshire has been backed – building on our local relationships and experience gained whilst acting as Catchment Hosts for the River Idle.

As we face up to the challenge of tackling the climate and nature crises and look for more sustainable and affordable solutions to prevent flooding from damaging homes and business premises, this latest support for Natural Flood Management is very welcome. We are very excited to be able to develop the next phases of our project with partners.

In addition to embracing natural solutions which will see the creation of new wetland habitats along with new woodlands and hedgerows, this approach harnesses the benefits of partnership – with charities and councils collaborating with landowners to develop and deliver schemes that help the wider community.

6 places to see

T rockpools

he glisten of the sea, blue skies and the cry of distant gulls may bring a calm contentment on a summer day at the beach. But if you have a taste for adventure, the salty breeze and the constant rush of waves across the rocks may draw you down the beach as the tide goes out.

Waterproof shoes or wellies make hopping and stepping across slanted slabs, barnacle clad rocks and large, loose stones more fun. And a few hours before low tide is the best time to explore your curiosity for what lies beneath. The most exciting creatures and richest diversity of marine life will be found where the rocks are exposed for the shortest time at low tide.

As the water slips, soaks and gurgles away, natural aquariums are left behind on the seashore. The habitat revealed is home to dozens of plants and animals that usually live way beneath the sea. Enjoy peering beneath the surface of shiny pools and celebrating rare finds. Observe delicate sea creatures without touching and replace rocks where you found them.

But keep an eye on the tide whilst there. It’s best to finish rockpooling within the first hour of the tide turning, if not before. Take only photos and leave only footprints behind. Here are six of our best beaches for exploring the watery wonders of rockpools.

1 Killiedraught Bay, Scottish Wildlife Trust

St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve is one of the finest rockpooling sites in Scotland. At low tide you’ll find seaweeds such as bladderwrack and kelp, as well as animals such as the breadcrumb sponge, bootlace worm and butterfish.

Where: Eyemouth, TD14 5AX

2 Glenarm, Ulster Wildlife

Visit the oldest village in Ulster, Glenarm. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is great for rockpooling at the north end of the beach. View a wide range of creatures from anemones to cuvie and sea-squirts to starfish. Well worth a visit.

Where: Glenarm, BT44 0AB

3 Flamborough Headland, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

At Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve with its striking chalk cliffs look for pools of bright starfish, crabs, tiny fish and a rich carpet of seaweeds. Guided rockpool rambles are offered at the Living Seas Centre, including a nighttime safari.

Where: Flamborough Cliffs, YO15 1BJ

4 Blackpool Sea Wall, The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside

The Blackpool Glitterball on New South Promenade will guide you to the sea wall. Here weird and wonderful wildlife live inside artificial rockpools. Creatures, such as crabs, anemones, shrimps, mussels and honeycomb worms can be found.

Where: Blackpool, FY4 1RW

5 Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset Wildlife Trust

Kimmeridge, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, is famous for its rockpools. Small and shallow, with inhabitants equally small and delicate. Come and discover Connemara clingfish, Montagu’s blennies and peacock’s tail seaweed.

Where: Wareham, BH20 5PF

6 Wembury Beach, Devon Wildlife Trust

One of the UK’s best rockpooling destinations, where creatures hang out in hundreds of crevices and pools. You may find cushion stars, beadlet anemones and the rare St Piran’s crab. Wembury Marine Centre runs summer rockpool safaris.

Where: Wembury, PL9 0HP

Did you explore any rockpools? We’d love to know how your search went. Please tweet us your best photos! @wildlifetrusts

Natural Flood Management techniques can help provide vital habitat for threatened species such as water vole -

Passionate about nature, climate and people?

Now the election is over, ask your new MP about their plans and tell them what's important to you:

WHAT are the top three actions you want to see for nature and climate?

WHY do you care about the impacts of wildlife loss and climate change?

HOW should the new UK Government improve and protect nature?

43% of Election 2019 voters also support environmental charities 84% of us are already taking action for nature and climate

93% believe nature loss “is a serious threat to humanity”

wildlifetrusts.org/ great-big-nature-survey