How hunters ended up in the cross hairs for their plans to kill Bambi

Gardiner sets out wild deer control improvements

Defra News 29 August 2006

It is hoped the amount of damage caused by England's growing wild deer population will be reduced under proposed changes to deer protection laws.

Problems caused by wild deer are increasing as numbers rise rapidly in some parts of the country, according to Biodiversity Minister Barry Gardiner, who launched the new measures.

“Wild deer populations are damaging some of our most threatened woodland habitats and causing millions of pounds worth of damage to agriculture,” he explained. “In addition, they are presenting an increasing hazard on our roads, with more than 300 people injured each year in deer related road accidents.

“The current laws were framed when deer numbers were smaller and no longer promote effective, sustainable deer management. These proposed changes will ensure that we strike the right balance between conserving deer and effectively addressing the problems they cause.”

A consultation has been set up until 24 October which people are invited to submit their views of the following proposed changes:

- Allowing smaller calibre rifles to be used to shoot the smaller species of deer;
- Allowing any reasonable and humane means of destroying deer that are suffering due to injuries or disease, and for dependent young to be humanely killed if their mother has died or been killed;
- Reducing the close season by two weeks;
- Introducing licences for deer during the close season to prevent the deterioration of natural heritage or to preserve public health and safety;
- Allowing licensed taking or killing of deer at night to protect natural heritage, preserve public health and safety, or prevent serious property damage

The consultation information can be found at
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/deer-management/index.htm

Interactive map of UK renewable energy locations goes live

DTI Press release P/2006/192, 26 August 2006

On and offshore wind farms, solar power schemes, hydro electric and biofuel projects across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can all now be located at the click of a mouse.

The DTI web facility at http://maps.restats.org.uk/ gives descriptions of the projects, along with their status - approved, under construction, operational etc - and their installed capacity. The site also contains quarterly reports providing separate statistical updates on the delivery of renewable energy schemes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The database called RESTATS, the Renewable Energy STATisticS, contains 17 years of data from 1989 to 2005. RESTATS currently holds information on heat and electricity generated from all the following sources

* Biofuels, including the combustion of biomass and wastes, co-firing, gas from landfill sites and digestion processes
* Hydro-electricity, both large and small-scale
* Wave power
* Wind turbines and wind-farms - onshore and offshore
* Solar - active solar heating and photovoltaics
* Geothermal aquifers

It is worth noting that the database is designed to provide a history of planning applications, therefore the maps show all projects, including those which did not achieve planning approval. Similarly, some sites may appear more than once, where applications have been re-submitted or a separate application for an extension is made.

Information contained in the RESTATS database is perhaps the most reliable means by which the success of the UK New and Renewable Energy Programme can be measured and monitored.

www.restats.org.uk

www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=223171&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

New measures to protect marine environment

Defra Press Release Ref: 389/06, 24 August 2006

New measures to protect the marine environment were announced by Defra. They include the first three of a network of marine conservation areas around the coast of England and measures to protect the biodiversity of Lyme Bay, following recent concern about the damaging impact of scallop dredging in the area.

Mr Bradshaw, Defra Minister, said:
“The Government is committed to increasing and extending our protection of the invaluable marine environment. It is imperative that we ensure a sustainable future for people to continue benefiting from and enjoying all that the sea has to offer, and so that this wonderful environment continues to exist for future generations.

“To this end, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) will be consulting in early 2007 on the creation of a number of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

Three of the areas being considered are:

Haig Fras - an isolated bedrock reef, north west of the Isles of Scilly
Dogger Bank - large sublittoral sandbank in southern North Sea
North Norfolk sandbanks and Saturn Reef – offshore ridge sandbank and living reef in southern North Sea.

The Minister also said he would also take urgent steps to protect rare pink sea fans and other important marine features in Lyme Bay off the Devon and Dorset coast.

The JNCC expects to consult on a further five SAC sites at the same time subject to discussions with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.

www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/060824a.htm

First site to be designated to protect water voles declared in Kent

English Nature Press Release 16 August 2006

The first Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to be designated specifically to protect water voles has been announced by English Nature. The 9,000 ha Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay SSSI unites eight existing sites (Dungeness, Walland Marsh, Cheyne Court, Romney Warren and North Lade in Kent; and Camber Sands and Rye Salting, Rye Harbour and Pett Level in East Sussex) and also includes 2,300 hectares of newly notified land.

Although much of the land that makes up the new protected area had previously been designated as SSSIs there are a number of reasons why English Nature decided to amalgamate them and designate new land. Importantly the new site includes the whole of the actively evolving stretches of coastline between Winchelsea Beach, near Rye, and Greatstone, north of Dungeness point, as well as the whole of the shingle foreland with its associated marsh and peat deposits. Scientists can study the patterns of the shingle and other soils to model the formation of Dungeness over the last 5,000 years, and to try to understand the likely impacts of climate change and sea level rise on this stretch of our coast. Understanding these impacts will assist decision-makers in managing our coast for the benefit of current and future generations of people, as well as for wildlife and the unique landscapes.

A programme of monitoring and habitat enhancement work by the Environment Agency and the Romney Marsh Countryside Project is helping to maintain a large water vole population - the new SSSI is the first in England to be designated specifically to protect water voles. Water voles have undergone a long term decline in Britain and it is predicted they may eventually disappear from 94% of their former sites, a decline exceeding even that for the otter.

The new boundary has been drawn up following a year of research into the wealth of nature conservation interest in the area. The final recommendations have now been passed by English Nature’s Executive Committee.

A 4 month public consultation period will now begin with all landowners and tenants that own or work land within the SSSI. They will have an opportunity to discuss this with English Nature staff and if necessary to make written representations or lodge an objection to the notification.

www.english-nature.gov.uk/news/story.asp?ID=823

Protected bears to be culled

Times 12 August 2006

Norway is permitting hunters to shoot three bears to control the growing bear population. The cull form September to mid-October is in the northern region of Finnmark,  where more than fifty brown bears reportedly live. The protected bears could only be shot if they had harmed sheep, but Norway has decided that its brown bear population should not exceed 150.

Village campaign secures woodland

BBC News 8 August 2006

Villagers who launched a fund-raising campaign to buy 76 acres of ancient woodland on their doorstep have secured a £115,000 grant to purchase the site. Locals in Llangennech, near Llanelli, feared if Troserch Woodland fell into private hands, public access to the land may be stopped. Generations had enjoyed the site but there were few official rights of way. Most of the paths on the land were "permissive" - in other words, not official public rights of way.

The Troserch Woodland Society - which was formed by campaigners in April - plans to create additional paths and bridges opening up more of the land. It delivered 2,000 leaflets to houses in and around Llangennech which borders the woodland on the banks of the Morlais river. The campaign also won the backing of Llangennech Community Council, Llanelli Green Network, Carmarthenshire Council and the Woodland Trust.

The grant to buy the woodland came from Cydcoed - a Forestry Commission Wales community woodland project, which is funded by the European Union and Welsh Assembly Government. Project officer Ben Maxted said: "Community ownership gives local people real power to control their local environment and to create the kind of woodland they want.

More big cats are spotted outside town

Paisley Daily Express 8 August 2006

More big cats have been spotted in the countryside around Paisley. Trackers believe there is a female leopard or black leopard with two fully-grown cubs living within four miles of Paisley town centre.

Sandy Smith, from the Scottish Big Cat Investigation group, said they had received reports of the big cat family in woodlands between Paisley and Bishopton: “If our information is correct, this would mean there must also be a male big cat somewhere around who would be the father of the cubs. It also means that when the two cubs become fully independent after about a year their mother could be ready to have more cubs.

And the cubs themselves would be looking for mates when they reach adulthood so the big cat population in Renfrewshire could rise substantially. As reported previously in the Express, there have been several sightings of large creatures resembling lynxes and leopards in woods and along riverbanks across Renfrewshire.

Experts with binoculars, telescopes and cameras have mounted 24-hour vigils hoping to see and photograph some of the exotic animals which have been regularly showing up at places like the Merchiston Hospital grounds, near Johnstone; forests at the Royal Ordnance Factory, near Bishopton; and Ranfurly Castle golf course, near Bridge of Weir.

Crayfish rescue bid by Environment Agency

EA News 136/06 8 August 2006

The native white-clawed crayfish is to be given a helping hand by the Environment Agency in a bid to halt its dramatic decline. Several hundred of the protected species, increasingly under threat from the more aggressive alien species, the American signal crayfish, are to be moved to a safe haven where it is hoped it will flourish.

The Environment Agency in the south-west, assisted by crayfish experts at Avon Wildlife Trust, is to undertake the rescue by transporting crayfish from the Bristol Avon and moving them to specially identified streams in the Mendips. It is hoped that by re-establishing the native species in a particular area, free of the American crayfish, will help it to re-establish itself and increase in number. They will be caught from a threatened tributary of the Bristol Avon, in the Bt Brook catchment area near Chippenham and transported in prepared, cooled tanks to their new habitat in the Mendips.

The alien invaders were originally imported for food, but escaped into the wild where they now out-compete the smaller and less aggressive native white-clawed species. Signal crayfish also carry the fungal disease ‘crayfish plague’ to which native species have no immunity. Detailed investigations into interactions between crayfish and other species in the wild, and investigations into methods of controlling the non-native species has shown that unless action is taken, the native crayfish could be wiped out.

The native white clawed crayfish is a protected species by law:

• it is illegal to take native crayfish from the wild
• all removals, transfers and introductions of fish and crayfish to waters in England and Wales must be licensed by the Environment Agency
• you must have an English Nature licence before handling white-clawed crayfish

Did a cow eat the rare Ulster orchid found only 14 times in 110 years?

Belfast Telegraph 7 August 2006

A rare orchid has been discovered at the Ecos Park in Ballymena - and has promptly vanished again.It is thought that the Irish Lady's Tresses orchid (pictured right) found at the Ulster Wildlife Trust reserve in the park may have been eaten by one of the grazing cows.

The only parts of western Europe where the rare orchid is found are Western Scotland and Ireland, and in Ulster it has only been seen at 14 sites since 1892. Experts believe the orchid has already disappeared from six of those sites as it hasn't been seen there since 1986.
The flower is listed as a Priority Species in the UK because of its rarity and declining distribution.

Ecos Park environment officer Dr Cliff Henry said he almost stood on the orchid before spotting it. The plant is just four inches tall with pale cream flowers and grass-like leaves. The blooms wrap round the flowering stem in an upward spiral instead of sticking straight out.

Unfortunately, Dr Henry was unable to find the orchid again and believes it may have been eaten by one of the rare breeds cattle that graze the meadow. However, he is optimistic that they may reappear.

Invader turns to 'killer' on riverbank

Telegraph and Argus 4 August 2006

Bradford Council's countryside and rights of way service is fighting to save the humble water vole from the clutches of thousands of mink - which have colonised the district's canals and riverbanks after escaping from farms throughout the region.

Wildlife experts believe numbers of water voles could have already declined by up to 90 per cent in recent years thanks in part to an explosion in mink numbers.

Peter Britton, of the countryside and rights of way unit, said the Council was implementing an action plan which included laying traps for the hardy beasts, which have recently been spotted as far inland as Ilkley Moor:
"We are losing lots of bank-side nesting birds, particularly coots, moorhens and ducks. When the mink breed they also steal eggs and bring them back to their young. They are also agile enough to catch trout. And I am absolutely positive that the large number of mink have caused the decline in the district's water vole population far more than habitat loss.

"We now have quite an aggressive trapping programme in place, with traps laid throughout the area."

Attempts to eradicate mink in the 1960s after their arrival in the UK, predominantly from America, proved unsuccessful. An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Mink upset the balance of the ecosystem as they are bigger, faster growing or more aggressive than the native species and also have no natural predators to control numbers."

The top ten "most wanted" list of foreign species that have overstayed their environmental visa, were named by the Environment Agency. The following are present in the Bradford area:
1. Japanese knotweed
2. American signal Crayfish
3. American Mink
4. Giant Hogweed
5. Himalayan Balsam

How hunters ended up in the cross hairs for their plans to kill Bambi