The AGM morning session, from 11am until 1pm, is just for current members of Somerset Wildlife Trust and is free to attend.
The Members’ Day consisting of the AGM, buffet lunch, panel talks and afternoon tea is £14 (plus booking fee). You are also very welcome to invite a guest who is interested in our work to the afternoon talks that start at 2pm. The price for your guest to join us, which includes afternoon tea, is £14 (plus booking fee).
For more information and to book please visit somersetwildlife.org/AGM-2022 or phone 01823 652429
To vote you will need to complete the online proxy voting form by visiting somersetwildlife.org/AGM-2022 or return the proxy voting form by post, part of the AGM insert, ensuring we receive it no later than 11 am on 3rd November 2022.
Derek Gow
Well renowned farmer, nature conservationist, reintroduction expert and author
Dr Lucy Rogers
CEO, The Vincent Wildlife Trust
Stephen Egerton-Read White-tailed eagle Project Officer, Forestry England
Jenny Murray Senior Restoration Projects Manager, Blue Marine Foundation
Stephen Moss
AGM Chair. President, Somerset Wildlife Trust
From beavers and butterflies and everything in between, the reintroduction of native species, lost for decades or even centuries from the British countryside is a hot topic. They’re a part of the rewilding story everyone wants to know more about and can be
a key part of re-establishing natural processes and restoring ecosystems.
Our 2022 Members’ Day will explore the place of species reintroductions in our plans for a Wilder Somerset 2030, alongside the recovery and restoration of wildlife-friendly
habitats across the county. Drawing on our own experience of reintroducing the large blue butterfly to Somerset in the 1980s, and with the help of our panel of experts, we will explore when to do this and what it takes for a reintroduction to be a success.
Welcome to our Autumn/Winter issue of Somerset Wildlife. As we all look forward to autumnal walks, the beautiful reds, oranges and yellows of the turning leaves of broadleaved trees, and darker evenings, it’s perhaps also appropriate to reflect on what a summer it has been.
We’ve had the highest temperatures on record, wildfires, high energy prices, and high food prices. The Met Office report on the State of the UK Climate shows that sea levels have risen by 16.5cm since 1900 and this is accelerating, and the Climate Change Committee report Progress to Parliament on net zero found that we are failing to meet our targets.
It is vital then, that our new Prime Minister recognises that action for nature and the climate must be the top priority for government action. Unfortunately, during the leadership contest candidates failed to fully address environmental issues at all. Instead, important legislation was put on hold, and George Eustace made a statement to the Environment Select Committee that the government will scrap the Habitat Regulations that protect important species and habitats.
What does all this mean for Somerset Wildlife Trust, and more importantly for nature?
Consultation with our supporters and members on our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy told us to be bold and stand up for nature. We are being, and will continue to be, more public in calling for systemic and legislative changes required for nature’s recovery. Our campaign, with the RSPB, for an immediate moratorium on peat extraction is an example of this.
Working in partnership is vital, as set out in our strategy, and we’re delighted that The Wildlife Trusts have launched a national strategy, Bringing Nature Back 2030, to deliver more together, including our campaign with partners to put the environment into the list of top political priorities.
We’re stepping up our work to deliver nature’s recovery in Somerset, with a focus on species that are missing from our ecosystems (p.30-35) and protecting and increasing our precious habitats such as woodland (p14-18).
To bring about real change we need everyone to take action for nature, and our Team Wilder approach is supporting communities to affect change in their areas. Our Community Empowerment Pack will support Wilder Communities and individuals to take meaningful action; our Wilder Schools work supports young people, the decision-makers of tomorrow, to take positive environmental action.
Our first Big Count, for the Great Somerset Wildlife Count, received amazing support with almost a thousand new records from 154 people. We’ll be building on this with our future counts. This data really helps us to understand what’s happening to wildlife in Somerset.
Thank you to all our members and to everyone who has taken part in our events, activities and campaigns so far. We couldn’t do this without you.
Georgia Stokes Chief Executive Officer£
donation
Join
Volunteer Find something
Leave
Shop
Stay
warm welcome from
Find out more about a small creature that’s having a big impact.
Somerset’s Highlights
News on our work and highlights from around the county.
Partnership working to reduce the effects of climate change p. 12
14 Ancient woodlands
Majestic and magical, but increasingly missing from our landscapes. We look at the importance of ancient woodlands and the amazing habitats and creatures within.
Guest writer, Michael Jordan, Chair of the Fungus Conservation Trust, opens the lid on the silent and magical world of fungi and gives us some to look out for in Somerset this autumn.
We look back on another busy year and say thank you to YOU for all your help.
We take a look at the part species reintroductions play in restoring natural processes and strengthening ecosystems across Somerset as part of our nature recovery strategy.
It’s all about you and the amazing things you have done and can do for wildlife in your local patch!
Put your feet up and tackle our wordsearch or hit the kitchen with our wild recipe.
46 Last Word We pick up some energy from well-renowned wilding aficionado and beaver expert, Derek Gow, as he talks about the importance of letting nature itself give us a helping hand.
Somerset Wildlife is produced by Somerset Wildlife Trust
34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 5AW
enquiries@somersetwildlife.org somersetwildlife.org 01823 652400
Editor Kirby Everett kirby.everett@somersetwildlife.org
For any queries about the magazine or advertising, please contact the editor.
Features writers
Ed Drewitt, Kirby Everett and Michael Jordan
Design Tina Hobson tinahobson.com
Got a question about your membership?
For any query about your membership, donations or support, please email membership@somersetwildlife.org or call 01823 652429
Our vision is for a Somerset wide Nature Recovery Network creating more space for wildlife benefitting everyone, and playing its part in helping reverse biodiversity loss and tackle the climate crisis. We are the county’s largest independent conservation organisation and a charity dependent upon over 22,000 members.
The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Trust Council.
Patron: Simon King OBE
President: Stephen Moss
Chair: Graeme Mitchell
Hon Treasurer: Richard Atkin
818162
FSC®
are nocturnal creatures and spend much of their time in the branches of trees and dense hedges in order to avoid predators. The word dormouse comes from the french verb ‘dormir’, to sleep, which is a fitting name for dormice, considering they spend much of their time asleep in the nests they have woven for themselves. When they are awake, they spend the majority of their time searching through woodland, using hedges as highways to look for food.
Dormice are not technically a true mouse - they are related to mice and squirrels but are classified in their own separate family. These beautiful creatures are considered rare and vulnerable, due to a reduction in wild habitats and the building of more roads, which they cannot cross easily.
To help counteract this, we have partnered with National Highways to launch a new project, Dormouse Reconnected, part of the Network for Nature programme that will improve habitats across England, benefiting people, nature and wildlife.
We are working with Animex International to pilot the installation and use of wildlife bridges along the M5 near Taunton, to help reconnect isolated populations of critically rare hazel dormice with wider populations towards the Blackdown Hills.
The project involves working with the local community, volunteers and local businesses to record, monitor and improve habitats at local green-spaces close to the motorway embankment - as part of Team Wilder.
We are also partnering with Somerset County Council to manage and re-plant a community area to help deliver Somerset’s ecological strategy, in which the hazel dormouse features as a keynote species. Reconnecting populations and habitats forms part of our Nature Recovery goal
Dormice are synonymous with the British countryside and an incredibly special inhabitant of Somerset’s beautiful, ancient coppiced woodland. We hope that by working with our generous partners and the local community, we can start small to support this isolated population, help them thrive and have a lasting impact.
As we head into autumn and winter, with many species starting to hibernate, it’s a great comfort to know that so many people are committed to protecting wildlife across the county. This is a direct result of the recovery work we are carrying out, with the help of supporters like you, to improve habitat connectivity and create space for nature.
At the start of summer we launched one of our biggest projects to date - The Big Count! We asked people in the county to keep their eyes peeled for 12 key species. Whether out on a walk, exploring local green spaces, on school grounds, at work – anywhere – we asked people to look out for wildlife and log it on the iNaturalist platform.
We were amazed that in this short period nearly 1,000 records were logged.
These records gave our experts great insight into how creatures such as slowworms and bullfinches are making Somerset their home.
The Big Count was part of the Great Somerset Wildlife Count - Somerset Wildlife Trust’s community science initiative, delivered in partnership with Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC); a programme of citizen science events and activities that aims to get people inspired and involved in collecting important data about the wildlife on their doorstep.
Citizen science and platforms such as iNaturalist are a key to our strategy, because there are gaps in our knowledge that we need people living in the different areas of the county to fill in. If we don’t notice wildlife declines, we run the risk of losing species forever.
Somerset Wildlife Trust has just secured a further three years of funding from the Hinkley ‘C’ Community Fund for a new project called Somerset’s Wilder Coast.
We are currently looking for any community groups, businesses, schools or youth groups that we can support or partner with – with a focus on conserving and raising awareness of our coastal habitats; not just the sea and seashore, but also more inland, to connect terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems to the sea.
Here are some of our most recent achievements.
We hit the huge milestone of followers on Twitter.
raised so far this year by our Team Wilder fundraisers!
For those of you that have visited Honeygar, you can’t help but notice one big standout tree in the landscape. This lone and very big black poplar is at least 80 years old and stands at an impressive height. Once widespread across the UK, this species is now threatened and found in increasingly fewer and isolated places.
Do you give nature a helping hand through the winter? Or perhaps your garden hosts a sea of snowdrops or a blanket of bluebells?
No matter how large or small your outdoor space is, we want you to open your Wilder Garden this winter, to inspire your friends, family and neighbours to make their own spaces more wildlife-friendly. With a few guests and a little tea and cake, you could raise vital funds for wildlife at the same time.
Get your Wilder Open Garden Pack to find out how at somersetwildlife.org/ wilder-open-gardens
Thanks to a kind donation from a supporter, we are further enhancing the species’ survival on the Somerset Levels. Over the winter we planted 11 pure black poplar saplings and as they reach maturity, we hope that these will in turn produce viable seed that will allow the species to spread in the landscape.
The amount of surveys we complete each year on intertidal flora and fauna alone.
The Big Count –we received 977 observations on 141 species.
Our Catcott nature reserve is quickly becoming a hotspot for exotic-looking birds! Following the excitement of the glossy ibis which have been gracing the site recently, a rare hoopoe recently flew by for a few days.
The name is pronounced ‘hoopoo’ after the sound it makes. More at home in mainland Europe, a few
Somerset Wildlife Trust is heading up a new beaver consultation that could herald better wetlands for wildlife and climate in Somerset.
Beavers, a mammal native to mainland Britain, were hunted to extinction in the 16th century. The end of beavers led to the loss of the mosaic of lakes, meres, mires, tarns and boggy places that they were instrumental in creating and maintaining.
Studies have shown that beavers can provide valuable ecosystem services such as improved water quality, increases in habitat and biodiversity and natural flood management.
However, we need to learn to co-exist with this returning species, otherwise beaver activity could cause damage to housing and infrastructure, agriculture,
overshoot most years and end up in southern Britain, and it was wonderful to have this bug eating beauty on one of our reserves. This rare breed has nested in Somerset in the past (1931 and 1977), so who knows, perhaps hoopoe will once again breed in the county if we all continue to work together to make space for nature.
Earlier this year, the Government and Natural England announced a set of landmark nature recovery projects to protect wildlife and improve public access to nature, and Somerset was one of the chosen areas.
The five unique nature recovery projects, spanning nearly 100,000 hectares, will transform people’s enjoyment of nature in Somerset, the West Midlands, Norfolk Cambridgeshire and the Peak District.
These multi-partnership projects plan to see newly created and restored wildlife-rich habitats, corridors and stepping-stones which will help wildlife populations to move and thrive across town and countryside.
The 6,140-hectare super National Nature Reserve sits at the heart of the Somerset Wetlands nature recovery project. The project is now underway and aims to build on the excellent work being done within the super NNR, but on a scale nearly ten times larger. We’re working with local partners and landowners to enhance nature recovery across 60,000 hectares through habitat creation and investing in strategic solutions that make the wetlands more sustainable and the landscape more resilient to climate change.
Stay tuned for further updates on this mammoth project!
trees and fisheries, as well as disruption to land and river uses. Locally, there are concerns about the potential for beavers to disrupt water level management infrastructure in the Somerset Levels, possibly leading to flooding.
The development and communication
of a clear beaver strategy is needed to provide countywide, location-specific understanding and policy. If successful, this will ensure there is a well-informed, planned, and managed approach to enable us to happily coexist with beavers in Somerset.
The Adapting the Levels partnership project was started in order to bring together and empower those who live and work on the Somerset Levels and Moors, a climate vulnerable area, to take action on climate change adaptation.
The project is now well under way and so far we have worked with a variety of stakeholders to increase understanding of climate change and the need for adaptation. We have worked with them to ‘co-create’ adaptation plans, so the Somerset Levels and Moors can thrive in our future climate, and developed a toolkit for people to use to act in their communities. We can’t wait to see how this project develops and measure its impact on Somerset’s future.
We recently made the difficult decision to restrict dogs to being allowed only on public rights of way (the droves) at our Westhay Moor and Catcott nature reserves.
We have closed permissive paths to dog walkers in the central area of the reserves where wildlife and habitats are under direct threat from canine disturbance. Dogs are however permitted on the two public access droves, under close control at all times.
Whilst we appreciate there are many responsible dog owners who visit, we have had to make this decision as a direct response to a number of issues caused by a growing number of irresponsible dog owners, in particular at Westhay.
Our number one priority is looking after vulnerable wildlife and fragile habitats, and so we hope you understand why we have had to make this decision.
We continue to work with communities and land managers in east Mendip through the Mendip Wildlife Links project. This year this has included running training for local people in habitat management and creation as part of work funded by local quarry company John Wainwright Ltd. This funding has also supported a ‘Wilder Schools’ training session, where local teachers got together to explore ways wildlife friendly school grounds can support learning and
wellbeing with cross-curricular links. If you live in east Mendip (roughly the area within the triangle between Chilcompton, Frome and Shepton Mallet) and are interested in taking action for nature, SWT’s Engaging with Nature Coordinator Pippa Rayner, can provide support and advice where needed to help get something happening in your community.
Please get in touch to find out more! pippa.rayner@somersetwildlife.org
Our Team Wilder cyclists peddled hard for between 35 – 100 miles around the beautiful country lanes surrounding our Somerset Levels nature reserves. Together they raised just under £8,000 to help us continue to protect our wildlife and wild places.
Find your own challenge for wildlife at somersetwildlife.org/challenge-yourself
As we head to Halloween, we’re going barmy for bats. In the summer we hosted The Big Bat Count, as part of our Great Somerset Wildlife Count initiative, and in partnership with the Somerset Bat Group.
The event opened up the world of bats, allowing people to identify them and understand their importance in our ecosystems
This was a pilot event that used the very latest, cutting edge bat detecting technology to collect data about the bats we have in one of the county’s biggest urban environments, and it was a great success. We collected some insightful data about the Somerset’s bats, which we will use to continue conserving the habitats they call home.
Earlier this year, some of the Somerset Wildlife Trust team set up a pop-up wildlife garden at Bath and West Show.
The team wanted to demonstrate how beautiful a “wild” garden can be, and inspire people to make more room for wildlife in their own gardens!
We received a Gold from the judges and won the People’s Choice Award for our wildlife garden — thanks to the help and support of The Nature Gardener (Tony
Watt) and so many incredible volunteers for their hard work.
As we head into autumn and winter, there are still lots of things you can do to make your garden more wildlife friendly. You can build a hedgehog house, install a bird box, add late flowering plants and keep your bird bath topped up. Keep an eye on our website for more articles and tips on turning your gardens into a wildlife haven for winter.
Our wonderful Patrons have the opportunity to enjoy a close and special relationship with the Trust, meet the people involved and get a behind the scenes glimpse of some of our most vital work. This year’s exclusive events included at guided walk with experts at Yeo Valley Organic Farm (pictured), a dawn chorus walk at Westhay Moor and a summer stroll through Babcary Meadows. To find out more about becoming a Patron and joining us in the autumn for a guided walk at Daycott Sleights and lunch and walk with CEO Georgia Stokes at Langford Heathfield, please visit the website or contact Lucy Marsh at lucy.marsh@ somersetwildlife.org
Thanks to the Jubilee Biffa Awards we have been able to complete important maintenance work at Westhay. We have been able to purchase the materials and tools for reedbed cutting, creating age structure, opening channels and cutting and maintaining lines of site for visitors.
We would like to say a huge thank you to the South East Somerset Local Area Group for all the work they have done for the Trust since setting up decades ago. Your support has always been very much appreciated.
Our Charity of the Year Partnership with Hauser & Wirth has now come to an end and so we would like to say a big thank you to the organisation and everyone who supported us through this brilliant partnership.
We look at the importance of ancient woodlands and the amazing habitats and creatures within.
Across Somerset there are many woodlands that are classed as ancient, meaning they have been here as far back as the 1600s and some even before this. Take a walk in one and you’ll stumble across precious little telltale clues that tell of its humble beginnings long ago. With their magical plant species and fascinating tree regrowth patterns, ancient woodlands represent one of our richest and oldest wildlife habitats, whose unique ecosystems, given life by their undisturbed soils, are essential for so for much of our wildlife, from woodland flowers to birds and butterflies, a plethora of invertebrates, and the vital micro creatures that
the eye cannot see. They are in fact home to a quarter of England's priority species for conservation. But more than the extreme richness of their biodiversity, and their amazing contribution to helping regulate water and soil in the wider landscape and provide wellbeing benefits for peopleand unlike newly planted trees or more recently regenerated native woodland - ancient woodlands are right now one of the ultimate kings of carbon capture within the realm of naturebased solutions. Ancient woodland makes up 25% of all UK woodland, but it holds 37% of all the carbon stored in woods and trees. 77 million tonnes of carbon are already stored in ancient and and long-established woodland,
Ancient trees are precious. There is little else on earth that plays host to such a rich community of life within a single organism.
Sir David Attenboroughwith 1.7 million tonnes absorbed by UK ancient woodland every year (State of the UK's Woods and Trees 2021 report) Add the carbon that is held within the dead wood within them and the undisturbed soil and this figure goes higher. We are talking about places that do some serious a heavy lifting in terms of regulating our climate. Despite their value, and the fact that they are simply irreplaceable, our ancient woodlands are a far cry from the wildwoods that would have once covered Somerset over 7 - 8,000 years ago before it started to be cleared for agriculture and heath. Alongside red and roe deer these wildwoods were home to hundreds of wild boar rooting through the soil, aurochs (an ancient
wild woodland ox) and bison browsing leaves, engineering woodlands into diverse, mosaic environments providing homes to many different wildlife. Most wildwood had disappeared in Somerset by 3,000 years ago.
It’s a little known fact that nearer the north coastline of the county grows ancient Atlantic or Celtic temperate rainforest, where it benefits from the moist influence of the sea and prevailing weather. These are mostly found in valleys and riverines on Exmoor and the Quantock Hills. The high quantity of rainfall provides a rich, moist environment and where epiphytes - lichens, mosses and ferns, such as the hard fern - can grow high up on branches and tree trunks, creating
They are bryophytes, early plants that even after 500 million years, remain simple and without a vascular system to move water and food around their leafy structures – instead they rely on a moist environment for oxygen to diffuse across their outer cuticle.
a cool, green environment from the ground level up to the canopy. Down at the ground level luscious mosses and liverworts thrive, coating rocks, fallen trees and tree bark, hart’s tongue ferns (relating to its resemblance to a hart or deer stag) grow on the woodland floor and you’ll see dippers and grey wagtails hopping in nearby streams.
During the 1980s only woodlands larger than two hectares were surveyed in Somerset, missing many of the smaller yet valuable examples. Today, Katherine Murkin (Ancient Woodlands Inventory Officer) along with volunteers, is surveying smaller woodlands that are less than two hectares in size. Most of these are previously coppiced woods. Ancient semi-natural woodlands still retain the character, soil composition and indicator species that are characteristic of an ancient semi-natural woodland, such as bluebells, wood anemone, wild garlic, guelder rose, service tree and spindle.
“So far, we have found 10% of Somerset is now woodland, of which almost one third is ancient woodland,” explains Katherine. “However, that figure does not consider the split between ancient semi-natural woodland and Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS), so it might be that quite a bit of it is actually conifer woodland on older woodland sites, which is not quite so good for biodiversity as it sounds. Somerset has not been well wooded for a very long time so to have nearly as much woodland now as in 1086, when it was 11% of the county, will help nature recovery.”
A veteran tree may be old or a younger tree showing signs of rot where tree branches have fallen off or rot has affected the main trunk. Ancient trees on the other hand will be old (and veteran).
For example, an oak woodland may have oak trees 200 years old, some of which are veteran, and nearby may be ancient trees that are 400 – 500 years old or more. Each veteran or ancient tree nurtures special ecological relationships with the soil, fungi and other wildlife that have been ongoing for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Where new woodlands or expanding woodlands are desirable there is the question of whether we let natural regeneration do the job or plant nursery trees.
Rachael Fickweiler, Head of Nature
Trees growing from acorns buried by Jays are an example of natural woodland regenation.
“The effects of light or air pollution from surrounding land use or development, and the impacts of climate change can penetrate a long way into woodlands. Expanding and linking woodlands can help buffer these effects. Allowing scrub and trees to develop and expand into surrounding species-poor grassland can achieve this, with natural regeneration from seed sources within the woodland encouraged, rather than tree planting, which will result in a more resilient woodland into the future.“
In Somerset, most environments will turn into woodland, particularly those dominated by oak, if left undisturbed and unchecked through natural regeneration. However, woodlands do not appear overnight and even well wooded areas
In Somerset, most environments will turn into woodland, particularly those dominated by oak, if left undisturbed.
Katherine Murkin Ancient Woodlands Inventory Officer
Above: Coppicing trees is a practise dating back to the stone age.
Below: Planting nursery trees adds an element of rigity.
Barnacle lichen resembles tiny grey barnacles on tree bark and an ancient woodland indicator. Trees living in clean moist air may be covered in many different types of lichen; the cleaner and wetter the woodland atmosphere, the larger and leafier the lichens.
Prickly featherwort is a liverwort of watery environments in Atlantic oak woodlands, forming dense mats on trees and rocks close to streams and rivers.
that look like a woodland may lack the essential ingredients – plants, fungi, bryophytes, bacteria and invertebrates - above and below the ground, that have existed for thousands of years in ancient woodlands. Natural regeneration enables plants, in particular trees, to naturally grow from seeds that have dropped from local trees or been buried by animals such as grey squirrels or jays (and remained uneaten). These will be adapted to the local climate and natural selection will ensure those fittest seedlings develop into heathy trees. They will also grow in the places that are right for them, popping up all over the place.
Planting trees adds an element of rigidity – often a restricted selection of species, dug into the ground as saplings all lined up and evenly spaced. They are often from horticultural stock selected for characteristics such as tall, straight trunks and hence lack the variety and quirkiness of wilder tree genetics.
Climate change and the extreme weather we are experiencing affects Somerset’s ancient woodlands. For example, consecutive wet summers followed by consecutive dry summers stresses oak trees and makes them more vulnerable to diseases. This may also affect the woodland plant life, particularly those that rely on a wet or moist climate all
year round. We are monitoring our ancient woodlands, giving them time to breathe and ensure they are resilient to hot summers and wet, warmer winters.
Many woodlands in Somerset have been a monoculture of ash. Ash dieback may see more diverse woodlands develop as other tree species take the place of those ash trees that have died. Rachael Fickweiler, Head of Nature Reserves and Land Management, explains how ash dieback has been affecting our nature reserves. “Our woodlands in East Mendip have been particularly badly affected. Some woodlands are made up of 90% ash, of which 90% have been affected by ash dieback. Many trees diseased trees have been extra stressed due to recent dry periods. In the rest of Somerset, for
If visiting our woodlands in Mendip please check on our website beforehand as to their current status. Some sites are currently closed to the public or have path closures in place.
example, the south and west (Blackdown Hills and Polden Hills), the situation is less severe as there are more diverse and mixed woodlands with less ash.”
“Where ash dieback is present, we are having to fell dangerous trees along roadsides and well-used public access routes. Tree branches or even whole trunks can suddenly fail so we need to ensure footpaths are safe while minimising the trees that we cut down. We also want to identify and retain any trees that show signs of disease resistance.”
“Where ash dieback has affected woodland it can create new habitats for wildlife such as standing and lying dead wood and lighter open woodland spaces. We will monitor the natural regeneration
Ancient woodlands are part of the Somerset Tree Strategy that will enable nature recovery across the county.
Ancient woodlands have undisturbed soils full of a myriad of earthworm tunnels, nematodes, bacteria and fungi. These soils take a long time to develop. Trees rely on kilometres of fungi mycelium – the thread like structures – that develop intimate relationships with the roots of trees and other plants, as well as bacteria, exchanging nutrients to help keep both plants and fungi healthy. The networks of fungi beneath our feet enable trees to ‘communicate’ with each other and differ-ent species of trees, for example, oak and birch, will even exchange nutrients to each other through the fungi, benefiting each species at separate times of the year and when they most need it.
that happens over time –where it is mostly ash we may have to selectively restock the woodlands with other species although our preference is to let nature take its course.”
One of Somerset’s finest ancient woodlands is Asham Wood in Mendip, though sadly it has been badly affected by ash dieback. Despite its value as an ancient woodland, it is not immune to changes around it and there are several planning applications that have the potential to limit Asham Wood’s connectivity with the wider landscape and for its borders to expand in the future. “Ancient woodlands are part of our tree strategy to enable nature recovery across the county. We will focus funding to protect trees and increase woodland cover. For those that are threatened the Trust will do its best to secure their protection”, explains Simon Clark, Head of Nature Recovery.
1 Thulbear Wood
Just a few miles south-east of Taunton with open glades and rides.
2 Aisholt Wood
A mini wilderness on the Quantock Hills with a stream along the valley bottom.
Outstanding views across Aller Moor and towards Kings Sedgemoor on the Somerset Levels
When planting saplings, use protective tubes that decay over time rather than grow into the tree.
Leave dead wood and wood piles –taking it all away for log fires re-moves important homes for wildlife and interrupts the natural carbon cycle of returning the wood back to the soil.
Report older, veteran trees to the Woodland Trust, ati.woodlandtrust.org. uk
Locate and record Trees of Taunton on iNaturalist, tinyurl.com/33rhwedh
Find out how to plant new trees in the right place by reading our blog tinyurl.com/bdf648k3e
Get some ideas about how to manage woodlands for wildlife with this useful resource sylva.org.uk/ suite-myforest
Find out how to protect ancient trees through tree preservation
We became owners of Honeygar in March this year, when its ownership was transferred to us by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which bought this former dairy farm at our request and then leased it to us giving us time to fundraise. Our ambitious plan is to transform it into a pioneering wilding site, boosting biodiversity, improving water quality and rewetting its peat soils so they no longer emit carbon.
Located at the heart of the Somerset Levels and Moors, Honeygar will connect nearby Avalon Marshes nature reserves and strengthen the county’s Nature Recovery Network, enabling wildlife to migrate across the wider landscape. Rewetting Honeygar’s precious peat soils is key so a variety of habitats can form, encouraging wildlife to return and turning the site from being a carbon emitter, to over time become a valuable carbon sink.
In the short time we have been looking after Honeygar, we have managed to achieve some amazing things…
We are absolutely delighted to share that we reached the three million pound mark of our £3.4m fundraising goal.
Words cannot express how grateful we are for our wonderful supporters and grant givers. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far - over 1,200 people, including now 13 Honeygar Pioneers, as well as major grant funders that include the People’s Postcode Lottery, Garfield Weston Foundation, Banister Charitable Trust, John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust and Golden Bottle Trust. Our Honeygar appeal has raised over £105k, and £100k was matched by a very generous supporter. We hope with the continued generosity of our supporters, we will be able to raise the remaining £400k as soon as possible. Thank you all so much for helping us get so close to realising our ambition for Honeygar.
This year alone we’ve seen lots of work taking place, including improved access tracks and the installation of a series of new dams, which means over 75% of the site is now isolated from the surrounding drainage network. We are already seeing water levels within Honeygar rise and the peat start to rewet.
We’ve had students, volunteers and staff out measuring carbon emissions, soil moisture content, soil organic and mineral content and water levels. We’ve also had surveys done on a whole range of plants and animals to demonstrate how nature is doing at Honeygar now, and to provide us with a baseline to demonstrate and measure improvements.
We’d very much like to introduce you to our new ‘Wilding Honeygar Officer’ Joe Hampson. Joe is joining us through the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts’ Precious Peatlands Project, a vital funding stream enabling the protection and restoration of England’s peatlands. Joe’s exciting role over the next few years will be to work with communities in the local landscape, as well as coordinate and evaluate the extensive range of science and evidence gathering projects we are developing at Honeygar.
To find out more aboutthe Honeygar project andhow you can help, pleasevisit: somersetwildlife. org/honeygar
We would like to thank the late David Ralph Wishart for his foresight and generosity in leaving a gift in his Will to the Trust that is supporting Honeygar. This very generous legacy will have a lasting impact on Somerset’s wildlife and wild places, supporting our vision to create a greener and wilder future for the people, places and nature of Somerset.
David’s memory will live on through the healthy, vibrant and diverse natural world he has helped protect here in Somerset. Thank you David.
MARSH HARRIER: GRAHAM HALL
At the last count, there were at least 15,000 types of fungi in the UK. In this feature, guest writer, Michael Jordan, Chair of the Fungus Conservation Trust, opens the lid on the silent and magical world of fungi and gives us some to look out for in Somerset this autumn…
Accordingto the first big report on the state of the world’s fungi, led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the fungal kingdom is vital to life on Earth. But despite that, more than 90% of the estimated 3.8 million fungi in the world are currently unknown to science.
They provide medicines and food and play a vital role in plant health - without fungi, there is no healthy soil, and without healthy soil, there are no happy trees. But they can also wreak havoc by causing plant and animal diseases. Closer to animals than plants and in a kingdom all of their own, fungi are all around us, some too small to be seen; in the soil, our bodies and in the air.
If you go down to the woods at any time during the autumn you can be pretty sure of some surprises, though they will not always be big ones! Autumn is the season when most members of the fungus kingdom emerge from their hiding places in order to get on with the all-important business of reproducing. Fungi are
quite fragile organisms that grow as branching, thread-like structures called mycelia and spend most of their lives in soil, compost and rotted wood, where they are to some extent protected from heat, cold and drying up, and where they have a readily available source of food.
Choosing to appear in autumn has a lot to do with weather conditions. The autumn months generally offer the cool, damp conditions that fungi need in order to come out ‘on parade’, and they do this in an eye-catching assortment of what we like to call mushrooms, toadstools, crusts, brackets, fingers, and blobs. These parts of the fungus that we see are their reproductive or fruiting structures, properly called sporophores. They are a bit like the apples on a tree, and yet the comparison only goes so far, and ‘fruiting’ is a term that mycologists disapprove of because it is suggestive of green plants. The fungi constitute a kingdom, a wholly separate order of living things that in lifestyle, form and function shares very little in common with daisies, dandelions, oaks and ashes.
Not all fungi adopt similar lifestyles. Of more than 15,000 fungus species in the UK, many are saprophytes - the biological term that describes a plant, fungus or organism that lives on dead or dying organic matter, generally of plant origin but sometimes animal too. Then there are those fungi that engage in a symbiotic relationship with living green plants. In woodlands they are, by and large, species that develop an intimate two-way relationship with trees and shrubs, each supporting the needs of the other in what is known as a mycorrhizal association. A few fungus species are true parasites, mostly attacking green plants, but sometimes infecting animals and even other fungi. The forms that develop shelves or brackets on the trunks of trees may look like parasites but most are technically saprophytes.
The Fungus Conservation Trust strongly discourages picking wild fungi to eat. There is growing evidence that it is causing real problems for species that we need to protect in our woods and fields. It can also have lethal consequences! Meeting up with a self-styled expert for a foraging trip, and then thinking you can distinguish the good, the bad and the ugly with any kind of certainty is a dangerous myth and each year we see alarming consequences reported. The safest and most environmentally friendly place to pick up a supply of mushrooms is at the supermarket!
Genetically speaking, fungi are more closely related to animals than plants. Like us, they breathe in oxygen and give out CO2. Unlike plants, they don’t need sunlight to reproduce, instead they rely on other organisms for food – just like animals.
The largest living thing on Earth is actually a fungus (not the blue whale!). Just one of the species of the genus collectively known as honey mushrooms, and discovered in 1998, there’s an Armillaria ostoyae fungus that covers 2,384 acres –almost 10 square kilometres. It’s been around for at least 2,400 years - possibly up to 8,650 years. Despite its rather sweet-sounding name, it kills trees, feeding off both live and dead wood for nutrients.
Glomalin, a by-product from mycorrhizal fungi, can capture and store carbon in the soil, removing it from the atmosphere.
A fungus has been discovered capable of breaking down plastics in weeks rather than years.
Some people will tell you that the rule in fungus hunting is ‘look but don’t touch’. This may seem sensible advice but it won’t necessarily help you to identify fungi with any degree of certainty. Stripping a woodland area of its edible mushrooms, and picking a single fungus to look closely at its details are in different orders of magnitude. Many of the critical features that distinguish one species from another are not always obvious during a casual inspection, and you do need to be able to examine it from all angles, feel its texture, sniff it, and sometimes (this is strictly for the experts) even test it with the tip of the tongue. It’s worth mentioning that you can come to no harm by handling even the most lethally poisonous fungi.
Fungi provide an important food source for an assortment of small woodland creatures, and some of them form intimate and mutually beneficial organic links with trees. They are also integral to the process of rotting down of organic material and returning it to soil. But the main purpose of the visible ‘fruiting’ part of the fungus is to develop and liberate microscopic spores. These are distinct from seeds in that they cannot germinate into new organism on their own. Each fungus spore is either a ‘plus’ or a ‘minus’ with only half the required complement of chromosomes. After they are shed, spores drift on air currents and they then need to have a chance meeting and fusion with a spore of opposite polarity. This chancy ‘mating’ is the main reason why fungus spores are produced in very large quantities.
Fungi are being used to turn crop waste into bioethanol.
Fungi help trees talk to each other. Beneath every forest and wood lies a complex network of roots, fungi and bacteria that connects trees and plants to one another - the ‘Wood Wide Web’. One specific type of fungus, the Mycorrhizal fungus forms an essential symbiotic relationship with plant roots. The fungus mycelium (the root like structure) donates water and in return, the plant roots give the fungus carbon, carbohydrates and other nutrients. It’s this symbiotic relationship that allows trees to have underground conversations, such as issuing warnings about attacking insects, drought, and disease. sciencefocus.com/nature/mycorrhizalnetworks-wood-wide-web/
DNA studies show that there can be thousands of different fungi in a single sample of soil, many of which are unknown and hidden - so-called “dark taxa”.
Many of the critical features that distinguish one species from another are not always obvious during a casual inspectionDEVIL’S FINGERS: ANITA GOODWIN EARTH TONGUE: AMY LEWIS
For beginners learning to distinguish fungus species, a good one to start with is sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare). It’s common during the autumn, growing in clumps on rotten wood and it’s a typical saphrophytic species. The way it develops is similar to most ‘mushroom’ types of fungi. A stalk elevates it into the open air and a cap protects the vulnerable parts, which are the gills that lie beneath the cap and bear the developing spores. The sporophores of sulphur tuft are greenish-yellow and they can grow to about 10 cm tall producing chocolate coloured spores that, when ripe, colour the gills. The species bears a little characteristic ring zone on the stalk, the remains of a partial veil that protected the immature gills and then broke away as the cap expanded. It is poisonous.
There can’t be many who don’t recognise the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). With its striking red and white spotted cap, it’s one of our most distinctive woodland fungi. In its immature state this species possesses not one but two protective veils. There is a partial veil which, when the cap expands, is left as a frilly ring on the stalk. Then there is an additional total veil which served to fully enclose the young sporophore but which when the cap expands breaks up into the familiar white patches and is also left in the form of warty rings at the stalk base. The various parts of this species, except for the cap, are white. The sporophores can grow quite large, up to 18cm in height and with a cap diameter of 10cm. It is found mainly associated with birches but also associated with pines. This species is pretty but also poisonous!
Among the commonest of the ‘bracket’ fungi that grow in tiers on dead wood, is turkey tail (Trametes versicolor). It can be found throughout the year but it is at its best during the autumn months. It comes in a confusing assortment of colours ranging through ochre, green, blue, gray and black, but the cap surface is always concentrically zoned and typically has a white outer margin when fresh. The brackets can extend to about 8cm diameter and are quite thin and woody to feel. The underside is porous and white, the pores leading into tubes that serve as the counterpart of gills and bear the spores. This species provides a good illustration of the importance of looking at the bits underneath because there is a different ‘bracket’ fungus called Bjerkandera adusta that can look remarkably similar on top, but on the underside the pores are smoky grey.
Let’s get to know some of the species you can look out for on your autumn walks in Somerset
One of the endless fascinations of fungus-watching lies in the sheer diversity of colour, shape and size. They range from the familiar to the bizarre and the sessile earthstar (Geastrum fimbriatum) probably falls under the latter heading. The sporophore takes the form of a thin inner bag that, when ripe develops a little hole at the top through which the mass of spores is ejected. The bag is at first encased with a thick outer protective wall which, as the fungus matures, splits into arms that then reflex back and lift the whole thing slightly off the ground. The species, in common with others of similar construction, relies to no small extent on rain to do the job of spore dispersal. When a raindrop hits the bag it serves to agitate the mass of spores inside and they are then ‘puffed’ out, to drift away on the air currents.
One of the most delightful surprises among fungus species that produce their sporophores away from the autumn season is the scarlet elf cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca). The little shallow cups, up to 5 cm across are either found solitary or in small groups, and they emerge on bits of rotten twig in damp situations, from January to March. In a typical woodland winter landscape that has become virtually devoid of colour they can sometimes be partly hidden by leaf litter, but otherwise they stand out dramatically in their hues of brilliant scarlet. These are members of the Ascomycota group that produce their spores in microscopic finger-shaped structures called asci, which line the inner surfaces of the cups. When the spores are ripe the tips of the asci break off and under pressure the spores are exploded upwards to catch the air currents.
The glutinous earth tongue (Geoglossum glutinosum) provides more evidence of the extraordinary diversity of shapes and sizes that fungi have developed over the millions of years that they have colonised the planet. The earth tongues are members of a major group of fungi known as the Ascomycota, and this one is a typical species of grasslands. In common with others among the earth tongues, its sporophores develop as slender elongated structures that look remarkably tongue-like. They are black and they can grow to a maximum height of 5cm. As the name also suggests the surface is glutinous, and so it feels viscid or sticky especially in wet weather. This is however the only British species of earth tongue that possesses a slimy coating. It can be found from late summer to autumn but it needs sharp eyes and is actually quite a rarity.
One can be forgiven for believing, now and again, that fungi have the knack of mimicking other life forms, because the devil’s fingers (Clathrus archeri) looks for all the world like a starfish that has landed in the middle of a field. It is actually a member of the ‘stinkhorn’ group of fungi, the members of which emerge from gelatinous eggs, the thin outer ‘skin’ of which can be seen in the photo as a small white bag. The sporophore then erupts, dramatically, into five colourful ‘arms’ in this species. These are covered in dark green ‘goo’ that contains the spores and smells like rotting flesh. The purpose is to attract flies that paddle about, thinking they have found a tasty meal, and then fly away disappointed but also carrying the spores on their feet. The fungus has thus evolved with an ingenious insect dispersal mechanism.
2021-22 was a transformational year for the Trust, when we launched our ambitious strategy, Wilder Somerset 2030, and grew to support its delivery. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our staff, members, volunteers and partners, we emerged far stronger from the pandemic than we had ever imagined.
Our strategy sets out to ensure at least 30% of land and sea is managed positively for nature by 2030 so Somerset has a strong and connected network of wild spaces - Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network. Nature reserves are vital refuges for wildlife and core habitats in the wider landscape but we must work with and influence the practices of many more landowners and make strategic land acquisitions ourselves – like Honeygar and to buffer our nature reserves – if we are to reverse the tide of nature loss.
2021-22 HIGHLIGHTS
• Acquired Honeygar as a pioneering 81-hectare wilding site on the Somerset Levels and Moors
• Established land advisory team to provide bespoke advice to farmers and landowners
• Improved water retention at Westhay Moor and footpaths for visitors
• More Mendip landowners working together for nature’s recovery - farm cluster covers 18% of Mendip Hills AONB area
• Established Somerset Peatland Partnership to co-ordinate peat policy and explore potential to restore peatlands at larger scale
• Secured Green Recovery Challenge Fund grants for partnership work in Avalon Marshes and ash dieback
For nature to recover we need more people taking action for nature, a critical mass of at least one in four to tip the balance in nature’s favour so more people follow their example. To do this we are building a movement for nature across Somerset – Team Wilder, which includes you, our members. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to experience nature but unless more people do something on their local patch for wildlife, we won’t be able to achieve our target of 30% of Somerset being in good condition for nature.
2021-22 HIGHLIGHTS
• Launched Team Wilder with resources, training and a pioneering Community Action Map
• Engaged with more communities and people to act locally to help nature recovery
• Extended youth work with five Green Influencer groups turning their ideas into practical action
• Over 300 volunteers across the county, including more Water Guardians monitoring water quality
• Refocused Wilder Open Gardens scheme so more people can open their gardens, raising funds and inspiring visitors to garden for wildlife
• Resumed outdoor sessions of our Somerset Nature Connections project, supporting mental health and nature connection
• Completed Somerset’s Brilliant Coast project and secured funding to continue working on the coast
Monitoring and demonstrating progress towards nature’s recovery in Somerset through a shared online Somerset State of Nature platform is our third strategic goal. This will inform what action is needed and where, whether by us or by others.
It is only by gathering evidence of the abundance and diversity of wildlife and habitat condition, including through citizen science, that we will be able to make the best decisions for nature’s recovery and deliver the right solutions for climate change and people.
2021-22 HIGHLIGHTS
• Launched Great Somerset Wildlife Count citizen science programme with pilot Frog and Toad Spawn Count
• Created parish-level pilot Nature Recovery Network map in Taunton to help communities take action for nature
• Conducted baseline State of Nature Reports for two Somerset District Councils - Sedgemoor and Somerset West & Taunton
• Started two-year inventory of Somerset’s ancient trees that will help protect ancient woodland and wood-pasture
• Completed five-year Local Geological Sites Survey, updating designations and boundaries to inform future planning decisions
We need to build our organisation to deliver a Wilder Somerset 2030 and to ensure our own actions support our aims. We grew in 2021-22 to support our ambitious plans and refocussed our work to match our goals. People are the lifeblood of our charity and central to our new strategy, connecting our three strategic goals. We adapted our team structure and roles to ensure we have the expertise, support and influence we will need if we are to succeed in our vision for nature’s recovery in Somerset.
• Increased member numbers to an all-time high of 22,108 giving us a bigger voice for nature – thank you so much for your support!
• Raised staff understanding of diversity, through an inclusivity week and training on neurodiversity
• Established a Climate and Nature Emergency Group to monitor our progress towards carbon neutrality
• Introduced a new database to support fundraising and relationship management
• Highlighted the importance of gifts in wills via a pilot legacy advertising campaign
For nature to recover we need more people taking action for nature, a critical mass of at least one in four to tip the balance in nature’s favour.
The Trust had another exceptional year with income growing to £6.1m (£3.8m: 2020-21), including £2.3m raised for Honeygar. 34% more was invested in our charitable activities supporting nature’s recovery, including as a result of new grants secured.
We have had fantastic support for Honeygar and, of the £2.3m secured at year end for its acquisition and wilding, £1.5m supported its purchase in 2021-22 and some will be spent in future years as we begin restoring natural processes.
Trust expenditure grew by £900k to £3.4m (£2.5m: 2020-21) as we increased our spending on delivering our new strategic goals, in particular, making space for nature and developing Team Wilder, our new movement for nature.
We achieved a surplus of £818k (£1.17m: 2020-21) on unrestricted funds after transfers, including an increase of £396k in designated funds representing the funds raised for the acquisition of the buildings at Honeygar.
We recognised a surplus of £793k (£186k: 2020-21) on restricted funds, as a result of funds given by funders to deliver specific outcomes that will be spent in future financial years. This includes £679k raised for Honeygar but not yet spent.
As a result of planned growth in 2022-23, our financial reserve target has increased which has resulted in the income fund being £262k below our financial reserves target, which is set as four months’ operating costs.
The Trust recognises the importance of ongoing financial resilience particularly in the increasingly challenging economic climate and as such plans to develop alternative income streams, through growth in land advisory and ecological consultancy, alongside continuing to grow fundraising.
The full annual report and accounts 2021-22 is available in the publications section of our website,
news-publications/publications. The full accounts have been subject to a statutory audit by an independent auditor who gave them an unqualified report.
Donations and legacies 3,524,946 1,871,246
Charitable activities:
More space for nature – nature recovery 709,654 164,407
More space for nature – nature reserves 738,987 626,881
A movement for nature 265,710 415,105
Telling Somerset's story 187,819 126,664
Other trading activities (including First Ecology) 626,663 509,555
Investments 17,332 13,496
Other income 95,265
Total 6,071,111 3,822,619
Raising funds (including First Ecology) 1,089,564 856,350
Charitable activities:
More space for nature – nature recovery 514,595 260,496
More space for nature – nature reserves 866,220 798,341
A movement for nature 697,141 475,089
Telling Somerset's story 183,012 154,546
Total 3,350,532 2,544,822
Net gain on investments 34,344 183,097
Net income 2,754,923 1,460,894
Freehold nature reserves 4,272,386 3,128,562
Other tangible assets 1,256,804 847,651
Investments 935,695 908,540
Current assets 4,222,215 2,836,540
Current liabilities (615,977) (248,493)
Provisions for liabilities (Ash Dieback) (288,819) (445,419)
Total net assets 9,782,304 7,027,381
Endowment funds 2,885,758 1,741,433
Restricted funds 1,386,188 593,242
Designated funds 4,308,407 3,512,684
Unrestricted funds 1,201,951 1,180,022
Total charity funds 9,782,304 7,027,381
Total reserves 9,782,304 7,027,381
Less
Restricted funds (1,386,188) (593,242)
Tangible and heritage fixed assets (5,529,190) (3,976,213)
Available financial reserves 2,866,926 2,457,926
Financial reserves include £1.9m (£1.49m: 2020-21) which has been designated by Council for specific purposes in future years.
Other fundraising activities
Other
Data services
First Ecology
A total of £637k (£202k: 2020-21) legacy income was recognised in the year, from 10 gifts in wills, of which one £400k legacy is restricted for Honeygar and £237k has been credited to the designated development reserve for future projects. Gifts in wills represented 10% of our income in 2021-22 and are expected to be of growing importance to deliver our strategy, though we expect their value will continue to vary greatly each year.
Membership
Thank you for being a member
Collectively you, our members, contributed more than ever before through your regular support, a total of £835k (£757k: 2020-21), which was 14% of our 2021-22 income.
Raising funds
Income from donations and appeals grew to £2m (£913k: 2020-21) representing the year’s largest source of income and 33% of overall income. This includes an exceptional £1.5m donation restricted for Honeygar, plus many donations from members and supporters to appeals, donations raised by our growing number of supporters fundraising for us in their communities, plus our Patrons and new Honeygar Pioneers.
Grant income grew to £1.6m (£1.3m: 2020-21), representing 27% of total income, mainly due to new grant funded projects including £348k received in the year for two Green Recovery Challenge Fund projects and £105k for Honeygar.
Thanks to your generosity and profits from our ecological consultancy, First Ecology, last year we were able to invest £3.4m to help nature recover in Somerset and also secure Honeygar as a pioneering wilding site.
Learn more about our work in
plans for 2022-23 and put your questions to the trustees at our 2022 AGM (see inside cover for details and to book).
We take a look at the part species reintroductions play in restoring natural processes and strengthening ecosystems across Somerset as part of our nature recovery strategy.
If you explore the Somerset Levels
you may be lucky to spot a water vole, hear a bittern, see great egrets, or hear the bugling calls of reintroduced cranes. Environment organisations restoration of excavated peat voids alongside protection of remaining wet meadows, bog and fen habitat have turned this landscape into a rich, watery network of habitats, rich in wildlife. Many species have arrived at this very special place at their own pace, such as otters, bats and birds like reed warblers and marsh harriers. Yet other wildlife may be completely missing, unable to find their own way back to a now more favourable landscape. Like the crane, they may need to be brought back via carefully considered reintroduction programmes.
As we work towards ensuring 30% of Somerset is available and protected for wildlife by 2030, our landscape-scale nature recovery approach is likely to involve reintroducing some species to ensure the habitats can work as they would have done in the past. Our Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy commits us to wilding: managing land in a way that mimics how nature works when left uninterrupted.
The aim of wilding is to restore dynamic natural processes (functioning ecosystems). They can occur at a large scale with herds of animals grazing landscapes, or at a small scale such as pollinators working industriously in a garden. Restoring natural processes means creating dynamic systems where species can move easily through the landscape, and where an interconnected web of species that depend on each other naturally regulates distribution and abundance.
Wilding is not about leaving the land alone entirely, it is about initial
The wilding approach will usually require some interventions up front to allow natural processes to be restarted; it is essential to create the right conditions for nature to thrive in the context of landscapes that have been heavily managed by humans for centuries. These interventions could include:
blocking up drainage ditches to restore peatlands;
taking grass cuts initially where there is a high nutrient load in grassland previously in agricultural production;
removing dams so fish can move more freely;
reconnecting rivers with floodplains and restoring their natural course.
Once these interventions have taken place we will watch and see what happens with very limited interventions.
As part of a wilding approach, some landscapes in Somerset may also benefit from bringing back missing species to create a resilient ecosystem. Many species have disappeared due to habitat loss and fragmentation, over hunting or persecution. As habitat is restored through nature recovery networks and species are protected, there is the opportunity to reintroduce species that will help restore natural processes. However, there is a lot to consider before doing so, including ensuring they have the right conditions to thrive in the 21st century.
Returning a species, through a reintroduction, is something we would only consider when there is a clear biodiversity or ecosystem benefit. Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) is a leader in the recovery of small carnivores, including through reintroductions. It has over 40 years' experience of working with pine martens, a species once found across Britain, and led on
“With pine martens being so wideranging and elusive, it has been vital to the project's success to have the support of people from local communities, with over 60 volunteers helping to monitor the martens as they settle in to the Forest of Dean.”
“Bringing local people on board with a reintroduction is essential for its success. If pelicans are to soar once again above the Somerset Levels, they need to have acceptance, understanding, and support from local communities who will have to live with them.”
“Keystone species are essential for healthy, functioning ecosystems; they need all (or the majority) of things that are part of it.”
“We want to create the right conditions so a species can return as a healthy, functioning population, just as the successful reintroduction of the red kite has done across England.”
In Somerset, the large blue butterfly – which went extinct in the UK in the 1970s - was successfully reintroduced at several locations during the 1980s, including our own Green Down nature reserve that supports a large population due to its careful management by Mark Green and his team.
is not decided on a whim, as Steve Carter, Carnivore Programme Manager for VWT explains, “It can be risky, complex and very expensive without any guarantee of success. It is usually done as a last resort once the reasons for a species’ disappearance have been resolved and where it is unlikely to return by itself. It is also important that any proposed reintroduction complies with the IUCN Guidelines for Conservation Translocations, and any relevant national guidance.”
When assessing whether an animal can be reintroduced a huge variety of factors are considered including: the biology and ecology of the animal, their potential impacts on other species and their economic impact. Of particular importance is engaging the wider community and key stakeholders: it
is important that people know what the animal is and the implications of it being released into the wild.
“Reintroductions also require long-term funding and commitment such as postrelease monitoring and engagement, to maximise the sustainable recovery of the species and so local people have someone to go to if they have any concerns,” says Steve. “An exit strategy is also important to consider - this may involve stepping back from the project at a certain point and allowing volunteers to continue monitoring or stopping the project if there are any undesirable consequences.”
As part of restoring natural processes in woodlands and open country across Somerset, pine martens and wildcats are both potential candidates. These
Dr Cat McNicol Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Prof Sam Turvey Institute of Zoology Shelly Easton Nature-based Solutions Manager Simon Clarke Head of Nature RecoveryCranes have successfully been reintroduced in Somerset.
medium-size predators went missing from our countryside due to loss and fragmentation of habitat and persistent persecution in previous centuries.
Pine martens have survived in places with suitable woodland habitat and are more widespread today than wildcats. Recently pine martens have been reintroduced into southern Scotland, mid-Wales and the Forest of Dean. A national recovery plan for pine martens, produced by VWT, with support from Natural England and NatureScot, will ensure that any future plans to reintroduce pine martens take into account the wider picture.
“While there is a growing appetite for pine martens to be in the wild across counties such as Somerset, they are still only recovering in Scotland,” says Steve Carter. “There are therefore concerns over the number of animals that can be sustainably removed from Scotland for proposed reintroductions. It’s important that the conservation status of any donor population is not adversely affected. The recovery plan allows for space to step back, assess areas for future translocations and timescales and strike a balance with the species conservation in Scotland.”
The recovery plan considers south west England (Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) as the next region – with good habitat - to be given serious consideration for a pine marten reintroduction. Discussions are already underway in Devon and Somerset through the Two Moors Pine Marten Project that is being led by Devon Wildlife Trust as part of a wider partnership. Still in its very early stages,
Somerset, Devon and Cornwall are being considered for pine marten reintroduction.
the project is working closely with a wide range of stakeholders and communities including farmers, gamekeepers, foresters and specialist conservationists to explore the potential of reintroducing pine martens on Dartmoor and Exmoor and to co-design approaches to avoid or mitigate potential risks.
While in much earlier stages, there is also potential for wildcat reintroductions in the south west. Slightly larger than a domestic tabby cat, with longer legs and a bushy tail, wildcats were once found all across the UK. They were pushed back to remote pockets in Scotland where they were safe from persecution. Peter Cooper, ecologist on a variety of reintroduction programmes and involved in wildcat feasibility studies through Derek Gow Consultancy, describes how one day they may be in Somerset. “The wildcat
is no longer here for no other reason than historic persecution. In Scotland, the wildcat is in fact in sub-optimal habitat and functionally extinct as a species; it fares better across lowland countryside and woodland where it preferentially feeds on small mammals, particularly rabbits, rather than birds.”
Feasibility studies are currently being carried out to determine whether wildcats may one day be prowling across western Britain. Two potential reintroductions are being explored and, as part of these, University of Exeter PhD student Tom Dando, is currently investigating social attitudes and practicalities of reintroducing wildcats, supported by VWT, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Wildwood Trust. This will be followed by community and stakeholder engagement work.
Pine martens have survived in places with suitable woodland habitat and are more widespread today than wildcats.
Like any reintroduction, there is a lot to consider and it will be a long process before any decision is made.
Across Somerset’s watery landscapes there are ‘missing’ species that historically would have been responsible for harmonious natural processes and healthy ecosystems. The beaver, the ultimate water engineer, is one such species. Remarkably beavers are already living wild in Somerset, in the Rivers Frome and Avon, where they remain relatively undetected. While Somerset Wildlife Trust has no current plans to reintroduce beavers into the county, they are likely to find their way into more rivers and water bodies in coming years, particularly from dispersing wild-living beavers on the River Otter in Devon. Our Nature Based Solutions Manager, Shelly Easton, is producing a strategy that will help support landowners who may find beavers on their land, inform the public and bust any myths about them. “It is important that real concerns and misconceptions about beavers are resolved, ” explains Shelly. “Beavers will be an important part of how Somerset deals with changing climate. Predictions show there will be more river flooding events in Somerset while the hillier areas will become drier and suffer from drought. Beavers on higher ground will help hold water (and pollutants) back in their dams, keeping the land wet and slowing the flow downstream. Combined, the presence of beavers will help improve river water quality, increase wildlife diversity and prevent floods and droughts.”
While beavers engineer the waterways another species helps sort out the big fish from the fry! The world’s largest
There is potential for wildcat reintroductions in the south west.
freshwater bird, the Dalmatian pelican, is also one of Somerset’s ‘missing’ species. Benedict Macdonald, award-winning author of ‘Rebirding: Rewilding Britain and its Birds’ now works full term as a rewilding conservationist. “The Dalmatian pelican is near threatened, living in colonies at freshwater lakes such as the Danube Delta in Romania and Lake Mikri Prespa in Greece. However, it was once living on wetlands across the UK, including the Somerset Levels, several thousand years ago. Its large size and habit of nesting in colonies made this bird vulnerable to hunting
Dalmation pelicans once roamed the Somerset Levels.
and overharvesting,” explains Benedict. Fastforward to 2022 and he has helped launch the pelican working group. “There is the chance to do a well-considered reintroduction of Dalmatian pelicans in the UK, in the fens and broads of East Anglia. Either some of these birds will make their own way to the Somerset Levels or, if there is great enthusiasm and support in Somerset, we can release birds there too” says Benedict.
Professor Sam Turvey from the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, while keen to see pelicans back in the UK, offers some caution.
“Conditions here would have been very different to where pelicans still survive in southeast Europe. The
Remarkably, beavers are already living wild in Somerset, in the Rivers
Frome and Avon.
Avalon Marshes have been a complicated and dynamic landscape, alternating between sea and freshwater wetland over many thousands of years. Carbon-dating and other analyses of their bones will help inform exactly when pelicans were here, when they disappeared and whether they used freshwater or marine environments. The answers will help establish what environmental conditions are required to support a viable population.”
Whatever the evidence reveals there is optimism for a species that contributes towards a healthy wetland ecosystem as Benedict explains, “Dalmatian pelicans are a keystone species in a wetland ecosystem. They feed on mediumsize fish and help ensure the fewer individuals that do reach adulthood are larger and fitter, meaning healthier fish populations in the long term.”
While many reintroductions focus on the large, generalist mammals and birds, they may also include smaller invertebrates, such as butterflies, field crickets, glow worms and rare ants. The next decade is an exciting time for both increasing the amount of habitat for wildlife in Somerset and to explore the opportunity for reintroducing missing species into Somerset’s ecosystems that will help ensure the future survival of other species that rely on them while overtime reducing the need for human intervention. Some species, such as the white-tailed eagle and the osprey, which already spend time feeding here in the autumn ahead of their long migration south, may even find their own way here to breed thanks to reintroductions in other parts of southern England. n
Be a wildlife advocate – in many ways we have forgotten, as a society, how to live with wildlife. As we seek to restore nature we will need to get used to more wildlife interacting with us. We need to work together to show the positives of this for all of us.
Come along to our 2022 Members’ Day on 5 November to hear from a panel of experts involved in reintroductions and put your questions to them. Check out the details on the inside front cover and book your ticket online!
Read Wilding by Isabella Tree.
Visit the Knepp Wildland Project (below) on the Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex.
Visit Steart Marshes and see how nature is reclaiming flooded farmland.
Black-winged stilts have successfully bred at WWT Steart Marshes.
Our nature reserves are more important now than ever before. Not only are they refuges for some of Somerset’s most beautiful and at-risk species, they also have a vital role in the restoration of wild spaces across the County.
If we are to achieve our strategic goal of having 30% of Somerset being managed for nature by 2030, our nature reserves will be the havens from which rare creatures and plants could supply newly wilded habitats with the wildlife that has long since been lost.
Every penny that YOU have donated has been put back into maintaining these precious sites.
Every year the cost of looking after our nature reserves increases. This year we’ve budgeted £2,600 a day to care for our reserves. This will cover just the daily costs of doing the minimum our reserves need. this covers not only maintaining the precious habitats but repairing the fences needed for conservation grazing, dealing with the impact of diseases like ash dieback, and keeping our visitors safe and able to enjoy the fantastic wildlife that lives on our reserves.
We are lucky enough to have many committed and skilled volunteers freely giving their time to supporting our reserves team, but even with their support, we find ourselves being hit by huge cost increases. Fuel, power and materials are all going up at the fastest rate for 40 years and all this while agri-environment funding is decreasing.
The future of our nature reserves is far from secure
We know times are hard for many people but if you can give to our Nature Reserves Fund today it will make a huge difference to our work by plugging the widening gap in our nature reserves’ budget. Your gift will go directly to wherever the need is greatest on our nature reserves. We say this often, but it remains true. Without you - our amazing supportersour reserves would languish and their effectiveness as the core of Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network would be diminished.
Any gift you can give to The Somerset Nature Reserves Fund will always go straight to our nature reserves, ensuring that they are kept in the best possible condition to support the wide range of species that rely on them as well as helping us achieve our ambitious conservation goals. Please help us if you can by visiting somersetwildlife.org/appeals/ reservesfund You can also donate securely by card by telephoning 01823 652429
Our reserves are protecting wildflower meadows, which have reduced by
since
Every donation, whatever the size, will make a difference. Thank you so much for your continuing support.
Get involved in activities and events, visit wonderful nature reserves, and directly contribute to preserving Somerset’s natural spaces.
Welcome back to the Team Wilder section. In this issue, we catch up with some of the brilliant things the younger generation are getting stuck into around the county.
Schools across Somerset are increasingly valuing the amazing potential of their school grounds for wildlife. From a small pond made out of a washing up bowl to leaving wildflower margins to grow on playing fields, there is a plethora of ways we can incorporate wildlife into school life and with over 300 schools across the county, just imagine the difference we can make if every school in Somerset becomes a Wilder School!
As part of the Green Influencers Scheme we are working with students in Bridgwater, Street, Taunton and Glastonbury who have all chosen environmental action projects involving improving their own school grounds for wildlife. Young people are keen to lead the way and above all inspire others to take similar steps. Green Influencers at Bridgwater College Academy have even planted hundreds of trees and persuaded their Design and Technology class to build nesting boxes to encourage birds around the school grounds.
To help our Somerset schools on their exciting Wilder Schools journey, Somerset Wildlife Trust have launched our Wildlife in School Grounds Pack. Packed with information, project ideas and useful curriculum links to help teaching staff incorporate wildlife and nature into almost all aspects of school life, embedding the vital role the school grounds can play in naturebased teaching, learning, play and wellbeing.
During a recent teacher training workshop, teachers expressed a desire to begin the process of improving their school grounds for wildlife, but
were unsure how to start, or whether their schools could afford the costs involved. The prospect of embarking on such a project can sometimes feel overwhelming when already dealing with a very busy workload! The Wildlife in School Grounds Pack can help to break tasks down into manageable, affordable activities which together can build up to have a big impact for wildlife.
Through Wilder Schools we aim to connect the schools involved with each other and their communities as part of the Team Wilder network, supporting, sharing ideas and working together for wildlife. Together we can build a nature recovery network, with school grounds playing an important role as stepping-stone and corridors for wildlife to move, live and thrive between larger areas of habitat.
But it’s not just the wildlife that can benefit. The time a young person spends interacting with nature can indicate their attitudes towards the natural world as an adult as well as supporting their physical and mental health. Research conducted by Learning through Landscapes suggested that improving school grounds would also increase a young persons enjoyment and social interactions during break time. When speaking to students across Somerset, many have expressed the desire for sensory planting within recreation areas to provide sensory stimulation as such areas can often appear stark.
We know that many more that 1 in 4 children and young people are ready to take action for nature, school grounds at the heart of our community are a great place to start.
Above: Wildflower areas are one way schools can invite nature into their grounds.
Below: Our pack is stuffed with ideas for schools.
The time a young person spends interacting with nature can indicate their attitudes towards the natural world as an adult
were collected by
people who got involved with
walked, ran, swam, cycled and abseiled to raise funds for wildlife this year!
“From an early age I have always been fascinated by nature, from watching David Attenborough documentaries to family walks on the Somerset levels - looking for birds. This then moved to a love for butterflies, dragonflies and plants. Over the years I expanded my knowledge in these areas and in 2019 set myself the challenge of looking for all the remaining UK butterflies I hadn’t seen - by the time I was 18. This came about after a conversation whilst looking for vagrant Long-tailed Blues in Brighton with a much more experienced ‘butterflier’ who was close to completing their similar aim. Family camping trips and holidays have since been influenced by what’s currently on the wing and where. I saw the final 3 species on a recent family holiday, with the final species (Mountain Ringlet) being found after a long hike to the top of Hartsop Dodd in the Lake District.
In January 2021 we moved to a house a few miles from Wells, and one of its main attractions was its proximity to Westhay NNR. We visited it frequently and volunteered our help; I now assist Kevin Anderson who is the Visitor Experience Officer at the reserve. I’m usually around the Viridor Hide or Tower Hide, helping visitors to identify things or explaining what they might see if they’ve never been before. It has been an absolute delight watching the wildlife and becoming familiar with species such as Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier and Bittern. May is an annual highlight, with many calling Cuckoos, emerging dragonflies and Hobbies arriving from
Africa – we watch them from the hides, catching the dragonflies in midair and eating them without pausing in flight. October is another fascinating month, and my husband and I joined the team counting the Bearded Reedlings. At this time of the year they fly in little groups uttering their “ping ping” calls and are a little easier to spot than at any other time – but still not easy! In the winter the migrant ducks arrive and the lakes are filled with Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Pintail, with a few Goosander and Goldeneye on 30 Acre Lake. The most delighted visitors are always the ones who spot an otter! It is a miracle, what SWT has achieved at Westhay in the
last 30 years, and we are delighted to play a small part in supporting them.
This year (2022) our volunteering activities extended; we met Fred Giles who organises butterfly surveys across the Avalon Marshes and now we are part of the team which does the transect at Catcott. So far we have found 20 butterfly species there, many of them abundant. My husband Mike also got involved at the new reserve at Honeygar Farm, setting up and developing the weather station there, which will give valuable information on temperature, wind, humidity, pressure, rainfall and sunshine.
Mike and Alison Uren
Peatlands are amazing habitat for a wide range of species including rare plants such as round leafed sundew, invertebrates and birds such as snipe and marsh harriers. Peat is a significant store of carbon – more so than trees and forests. Globally and in the UK, peatlands are precious, covering just 3% of land area but storing 30% of the carbon in our soils. The Somerset Levels and Moors hold precious resources of peat and are estimated to store 11 million tonnes of carbon. How we treat this resource is vital. Despite UK government and Somerset declaring a climate
and ecological emergency, peat extraction continues on the Somerset Levels and Moors. With our partners, the RSPB, we are calling on the government and Somerset County Council to stop all peat extraction immediately.
As we go to press, we’re working on a campaign that YOU can get involved with to help us make this happen. Keep an eye on our website and our social media channels for more info. In the meantime, read up on the subject at https://bit.ly/3pCLRLm
The Wilder Community Action Pack is a basic guide to setting up an action group within your community, focusing on the practicalities of setting up and running a group for nature to ensure you are having a positive impact for both people and wildlife.
Somerset Wildlife Trust Volunteering and Community Awards will be announced at this year’s AGM, November 5th. This year the four categories are:
Individual: Awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to a Wilder Somerset.
Group: Awarded to couples or groups who have made a significant impact for wildlife in Somerset.
Youth: Awarded to individuals or groups who are under the age of 25 years. Long-service award: Awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution and have volunteered with or in association with Somerset Wildlife Trust for at least 10 years. May be a current volunteer or someone who has retired within the last 2 years from the date of award.
The nominations should reflect how the nominees have contributed to one or more of our aims to create a wilder Somerset. Nominees do not need to be registered volunteers of Somerset Wildlife Trust, see website for full details. Nomination must be submitted by October 30th.
For full details and to submit a nomination please go to:
Introduction versus reintroduction. They’re not the same thing but often used interchangeably. What’s the difference and are they both needed?
Reintroduction is what was most definitely here. An introduction is something that’s debatable, an example being something like a tree frog, for which there is only fairly grey evidence it may have once formerly existed in Britain. When it comes to the pool frog or moor frog, there is definite evidence that they were here in numbers, but we’re never going to know exactly why they disappeared unless we develop the apparatus for time travel. We’re looking at a landscape that is so impoverished in terms of both biodiversity and the food to feed wild creatures, anything that helps to stack up the base of the food pyramid is a good thing. And as the climate warms it’s reasonable to consider moving grey area species to areas where they might otherwise be able to survive if they’re unlikely to survive where they are.
Introducing or reintroducing new species is part of a broader rewilding approach. Is rewilding the answer to the nature crisis?
Everyone is very focussed on rewilding being the big answer, but actually it’s not. Sure, it’s a really important piece of the toolkit, but not the only piece. We have to be looking at a complete composite range of solutions. But whether it’s reintroductions or habitat alterations, what we don’t need to be doing is arguing about what we need to do. We just need to agree what we broadly want and then just do it.
What are the key things for making reintroductions a success?
You need to have knowledge and you need to have areas that are big enough to enable the creatures to expand out into them. If the areas are not big enough they can do very badly. And of course you need to have people with you. We always talk about stakeholders, but always the same ones. Stakeholders are everybody. There’s 67 million other people that live here including our children. We need to look at this in a more holistic sense.
What would you like most to see return to the UK?
Wildcats as a species are on the very brink of extinction in Britain and we have been shockingly slow to realise this. It’s as complicated as an Ethiopian wolf or other species that truly challenge people when it comes to ensuring its survival from a disease perspective or a hybridization work perspective - but we need to show that we are up to this and that animal has got to be next on the list.
What are some of the key challenges to something like a wildcat introduction?
Sloth, inertia, ignorance. All the normal ones. People think it is a species from very far away and someone else’s problem. But if you look at the old place names right the way through southern Britain, you’ll find Cat Cliffs and Cat Downs everywhere. They were a very common animal, but we
killed them a very long time ago. We’ve forgotten all about them. Amnesia. One of one of the biggest problems is amnesia.
How much did your childhood impact on where you you find yourself today?
My earliest childhood memory is of trying to catch minnows with my brother in a stream and a pair of fighting water voles falling out of the bank towards us. And that’s both being horrified by it and running back to dad’s car screaming and crying. If anybody told me that we would get to breeding our 30 thousandth one of these things in my lifetime I would have never believed them. You look at that and say well isn’t life ironic?
What moment led you to start the transformation of Coombeshead?
It was probably when the last curlew left in 2007 - and they were almost certainly just old birds coming to look at the last of the areas where they were born and we’ve never seen them since. And in the end that just plays on your mind and you start to think about the opportunity we have here; by simply taking the land and saying we’re not going to follow this common root of use, we’re going to look at something different.
Somerset Cheese or Somerset cider?
Cider. Absolutely. I don’t have a favourite. I like to browse my way through them. Old Orchard is rather good though.
Derek is one of our speakers at this year’s Members’ Day. Book your ticket now by visiting our website. Derek has just published a new book, Birds, Beasts and Bedlam – Turning my Farm into an Ark for Lost Species (Chelsea Green, £20)
Derek Gow is a farmer, nature conservationist and the author of Bringing Back the Beaver. Derek has played a significant role in the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver, the water vole and the white stork in England. He is currently working on a reintroduction project for the wildcat, a book on our lost wolves and rewilding Coombeshead, his 300 acre farm in Devon.
“As the climate warms it’s reasonable to consider moving grey area species to areas where they might otherwise be able to survive.”DEREK GOW: CHRISROBBINS.CO.UK (BACKGROUND EDITED)
been
times have shown us
just how much we need nature
even more
gift in your Will today
create more space for
where people and nature
thrive
sure the next generation
enjoy
