conservation team report 2015 - 2016 - welsh wildlife · the assets for which the conservation team...
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Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales
www.welshwildlife.org
Conservation Team Report 2015 - 2016
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Conservation Team report 2015-2016
Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Members of the conservation team ......................................................................... 4
1.2 Our assets .............................................................................................................. 8
1.3 Our funders ............................................................................................................. 9
2. Nature Reserves ............................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Introduction to our work on our nature reserves ...................................................... 9
2.2 Habitat management ............................................................................................. 13
2.3 Research .............................................................................................................. 17
2.4 Recording and monitoring ..................................................................................... 19
2.5 Volunteers ............................................................................................................ 22
2.6 Access management ............................................................................................ 26
2.7 Interpretation ......................................................................................................... 29
3. Wider Countryside ....................................................................................................... 30
3.1 Introduction to our wider countryside work ............................................................ 30
3.2 Partnerships.......................................................................................................... 31
3.3 Representation on committees.............................................................................. 33
3.4 Planning ................................................................................................................ 36
3.5 Consultation responses ........................................................................................ 37
3.6 Wider Countryside Projects ................................................................................... 38
3.6.1 The Co-operative: Woodland Wanderers - Lizzie Wilberforce ....................... 38
3.6.2 Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project – Becky Hulme ............................................. 39
3.6.3 Biffa Award: Pwll Waun Cynon – Carys Solman ............................................ 41
3.6.4 Swansea SUDS – Rose Revera .................................................................... 42
3.6.5 Working in the Rhondda – Sarah Woodcock .................................................. 43
3.6.6 West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands – Tara Daniels ....................................... 44
4. Marine Conservation .................................................................................................... 45
4.1 Future Fisheries - Sarah Perry ......................................................................... 45
4.2 Marine Research Summary – Sarah Perry ........................................................ 47
4.3 Living Seas, outreach & awareness raising – Natalie Brown ............................. 48
4.4 Living Seas, volunteers – Laura Evans .............................................................. 49
5. Campaigns ................................................................................................................... 51
5.1 Badgers and bovine TB ........................................................................................ 51
6. Media and public awareness ........................................................................................ 51
6.1 Media work ........................................................................................................... 52
6.2 Talks and presentations ........................................................................................ 52
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6.3 Events ................................................................................................................... 52
6.4 Wildlife queries ..................................................................................................... 54
7. Consultancy and contracts ........................................................................................... 54
7.1 Consultancy .......................................................................................................... 54
7.2 Contracting ........................................................................................................... 56
8. Education ..................................................................................................................... 57
9. Plans for 2016-17 ......................................................................................................... 59
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1. Introduction This report covers the work delivered by the Conservation Team of the Wildlife Trust of
South and West Wales (WTSWW) during the financial year 2015-2016. It covers the full
breadth of work undertaken by the team, including both core funded activities and fixed-term
grant funded projects. Many of these projects produce reports of their own, and more detail
on any area of work included in this report is available on request from the member of staff
involved. Contact details for all the team members are available below.
Detail of work delivered on our reserves can also be found on BARS, the online biodiversity
action reporting system, http://ukbars.defra.gov.uk/ . The maintenance of this database of
our work is undertaken by Nigel Ajax-Lewis.
This report is written by all the members of the Conservation Team and their volunteers, and
compiled and edited by Conservation Managers Lizzie Wilberforce and Rob Parry.
1.1 Members of the conservation team
This year saw a number of changes to our team, with the end of some fixed-term funded
projects, and the beginning of some new initiatives.
We waved a sad goodbye to long-standing member of staff James Davies, our estates
worker on Gower who joined us as an apprentice in 2006; we plan to replace this post in the
coming year.
We welcomed Alexandra Kinsey and Megan Howells as our 2015-16 placements from the
Cardiff University Professional Training Year scheme, based in Parc Slip. We also welcomed
Lorna Baggett back to the team; Lorna had previously worked with WTSWW as a Cardiff
placement herself, but joined the staff team permanently in June 2015 as People and
Wildlife Officer based in Tondu. September 2015 also saw the start of the WREN-funded,
three year West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands project, and Tara Daniels joined the
Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot team in the project officer role. Sarah Woodcock joined the
staff at Tondu in August 2015 as the Wildlife Sites officer working on the NRW-funded
Healthy Hillsides project in the Rhondda valleys. Seasonal contracts issued during 2015
included the Skomer Assistant Warden (Jason Moss, returning for a second year), Skomer
Field Worker (Elisa Miquel Riera) and Skomer Seal Assistant (Alex Dodds).
At Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre, Sarah Perry was joined by two new staff members:
Living Seas Awareness Officer Natalie Brown (supported by funding from Natural Resources
Wales (NRW)) and Living Seas Volunteer Co-ordinator Laura Evans (supported by funding
from the WCVA).
Other staff changes included a period of maternity leave for Rebecca Killa from December
2015, with maternity cover being provided in Carmarthenshire by Ceri Evans.
Fixed term funding remains the greatest driver of staff turnover in our team.
The contact details for each team member are given below.
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Conservation Team Staff April 2015 – March 2016 inclusive
Rob Parry 07989 478176
Conservation Manager [email protected]
Lizzie Wilberforce 07970 780553
Conservation Manager [email protected]
Lorna Baggett 07812 063444
People and Wildlife Officer [email protected]
Natalie Brown 01545 560224
Living Seas Awareness Officer [email protected]
Richard Brown 07971 114303
Skokholm Observatory Warden [email protected]
Bee Büche 07971 114302
Skomer Warden [email protected]
Tara Daniels 07855 009622
West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands Project Officer [email protected]
James Davies
Estate Worker, Swansea Neath & Port Talbot (until January 2016)
Alex Dodds Skomer Island Grey Seal Monitoring Assistant (October 2015)
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Laura Evans 01545 560224
Living Seas Volunteer Co-ordinator [email protected]
Em Foot 07980 932332
Wildlife Trust Officer, Ceredigion [email protected]
Giselle Eagle 07971 114303
Skokholm Island Warden [email protected]
Ceri Evans 07970 780558
Wildlife Trust Officer, Carmarthenshire (maternity cover)
Megan Howells 01656 724100
Cardiff University placement (Professional Training Year)
Becky Hulme 07972 201202
Mid Wales Red Squirrel Officer [email protected]
Tim Jones 07811 117140
Wildlife Trust Officer, Bridgend & Vale [email protected]
Rebecca Killa 07970 780558
Wildlife Trust Officer, Carmarthenshire [email protected]
Alexandra Kinsey 01656 724100
Cardiff University placement (Professional Training Year)
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Catherine Lewis 07972 176963
Education Officer [email protected]
Vaughn Matthews 01656 724100
Conservation Officer [email protected]
Jason Moss
Skomer Island Assistant Warden (March-Nov 2015 and March 2016 onward) [email protected]
Rose Revera 01656 724100
People and Wildlife Officer [email protected]
Elisa Miquel Riera
Skomer Field Worker (April – August 2015)
Sarah Perry 01545 560224
Future Fisheries Project Officer & Living Seas Science Officer [email protected]
Carys Solman 07896 798371
Wildlife Trust Officer, Valleys [email protected]
Nia Stephens 07805 467018
Teifi Marshes People & Wildlife Officer [email protected]
Eddie Stubbings 07971 114302
Skomer Warden [email protected]
John Thomas Estates Worker, Teifi Marshes
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Paul Thornton 07966 564372
Senior Wildlife Trust Officer, Swansea Neath and Port Talbot [email protected]
Nathan Walton 07971 114301
Wildlife Trust Officer, Pembrokeshire [email protected]
Sarah Woodcock 07976 464284
Wildlife Sites Officer [email protected]
1.2 Our assets The assets for which the Conservation Team are responsible did not alter during this
financial year, although work is underway on the acquisition of one new site and the renewal
of leases on a number of others, some of which have not been formally in our portfolio for
some years. We are currently responsible for 90 nature reserves (if our south Gower coast
sites are considered individually), totalling 1735 ha of land. A spreadsheet of our holdings
and tenure details is held by Nigel Ajax-Lewis and all our land is submitted each year to
Welsh Government on a Single Application Form, all our land being registered on their IACS
system (with the exception of common land). The map below shows the distribution of the
reserves (accurate at April 2016).
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1.3 Our funders The Conservation Team continue to benefit from a wide range of external funding sources,
which are critical to our ability to deliver the range and breadth of work that we seek to
achieve.
We are particularly indebted to NRW for the significant funding they contribute to a wide
range of our conservation activities, but particularly to the management of our Sites of
Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
We were also fortunate to benefit from a number of very generous legacies and individual,
and local group donations to the Trust, both restricted and unrestricted, which supported our
conservation work, but which we do not list individually in this report.
We are grateful to the following grant and corporate funders for their support during 2015-
2016. We would also like to extend our thanks to those grant foundations who did not wish to
be named but who have made significant contributions to key projects during the year.
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biffa Award Bridgend County Borough Council Carmarthenshire County Council The Co-operative CWM Environmental Dale Sailing Dow Corning EH Smith Builders Merchants Environment Wales Gower AONB SDF The Gower Society GrantScape The Green House, Llandeilo JNCC Llanharan Community Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Natural Resources Wales Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority People’s Postcode Lottery Rees Jeffreys Road Fund RSPB SITA Trust South Hook LNG Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council Waterloo Foundation WCVA Welsh Government Welsh Ornithological Society WREN The Wildlife Trusts
2. Nature Reserves
2.1 Introduction to our work on our nature reserves The ongoing management of our nature reserves takes up a significant proportion of staff
time. Just maintaining the status quo with regard to conservation condition and public access
is a significant responsibility in terms of investment (both capital and revenue) by the Trust
and the Conservation Team. All of the team contribute in some way to the management of
land for conservation gain. The Wildlife Trust movement as a whole is a significant
landowner and one of relatively few conservation charities who specialise in this. Our
management of local nature reserves, varying in significance from local to international
importance, is a key part of our organisation’s identity in the public eye. The following
sections of the report provide case studies and some facts and figures to summarise our
nature reserve work in the last year.
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The table below shows the total number of recorded staff and volunteer days involved in
direct on-site management of mainland sites (Skomer and Skokholm are not included),
arranged in descending order. Please note that voluntary wardens’ time is not included in
this table, nor is local group activity (such as the Lavernock and Coed y Bwl groups); these
data reflect only the volunteer time in work parties as reported by Conservation Team staff.
This represents a total of 1290 staff days directly involved in mainland land management
over the year (1301 in ‘14-‘15) and 4192 days in total, including volunteers (4034 in ‘14-‘15).
The figures encompass all reserve-based activities; breakdowns by activity type are detailed
later in the report. Support from volunteers more than triples the investment of management
time we are able to make in the conservation of our land and other priority sites, and the
value of this cannot and should not be understated.
Nature Reserve or third party site County Direct management- total person days
Parc Slip Glamorgan 449
Teifi Marshes Pembrokeshire 448
Taf Fechan Glamorgan 301
Brynna Woods & Llanharan Marsh Glamorgan 274
Pwll Waun Cynon Glamorgan 255
Carmel Carmarthenshire 155
Third Party Sites (combined) All counties 154
Gelli Hir Glamorgan 152
The Dranges Glamorgan 148
Coed Garnllwyd Glamorgan 145
Coed Maidie B Goddard Ceredigion 121
Castle Woods Carmarthenshire 120
West Williamston Pembrokeshire 96
Cwm Colhuw Glamorgan 95
Llyn Fach Glamorgan 92
Ffrwd Farm Mire Carmarthenshire 79
Cwm Clettwr Ceredigion 75
Pengelli Forest Pembrokeshire 74
Pant Da Ceredigion 65
Coed y Bedw Glamorgan 57
Priors Wood & Meadow Glamorgan 54
Cors Ian Ceredigion 50
Coed Gawdir Glamorgan 42
Dowrog Common Pembrokeshire 39
Cadoxton Ponds Glamorgan 36
Y Gweira Glamorgan 32
Llangloffan Fen Pembrokeshire 28
Elizabeth and Rowe Harding Glamorgan 25
Overton Mere Glamorgan 25
Coed Simdde Lwyd Ceredigion 25
Cwm Ivy & Betty Church Woods Glamorgan 23
Rhos Glyn yr Helyg Ceredigion 23
Caeau Llety Cybi Ceredigion 23
Pembroke Upper Mill Pond Pembrokeshire 22
Rhos Pil Bach Ceredigion 21
Cors Goch Carmarthenshire 20
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Old Warren Hill Ceredigion 19
Port Eynon Point Glamorgan 19
Rhos Cefn Bryn Carmarthenshire 19
Llannerch Alder Carr Pembrokeshire 18
Craig Cilhendre Glamorgan 18
Nant Melin Carmarthenshire 16
Kilvrough Manor Woods Glamorgan 16
Coed Penglanowen Ceredigion 16
Redley Cliff Glamorgan 16
Westfield Pill Pembrokeshire 15
Cardigan Island Ceredigion 13
Hambury Woods Glamorgan 13
Goodwick Moor Pembrokeshire 12
Cemaes Head Pembrokeshire 11
Penralltfach Gerddi Pembrokeshire 11
Poor Mans Wood Carmarthenshire 10
Rhos Fullbrook Ceredigion 9
Coed Barcud Glamorgan 8
Overton Cliff Glamorgan 8
Peel Wood Glamorgan 8
Rhos Glandenys Ceredigion 8
Talley Lakes Carmarthenshire 8
Coed Wern Ddu Carmarthenshire 7
South Gower Coast Glamorgan 6
Deborahs Hole Glamorgan 5
Lavernock Point Glamorgan 5
Rhos Marion Ceredigion 5
Melincwrt Falls Glamorgan 5
Penderi Cliffs Ceredigion 4
Long Hole Cliff Glamorgan 3
Berry Wood Glamorgan 3
Killay Marsh Glamorgan 3
Llanrhidian Hill Glamorgan 3
Allt Cross Inn Fach Carmarthenshire 3
Coed Llwyn Rhyddid Glamorgan 2
Coed Pont Bren Pembrokeshire 2
Red Jacket Fen Glamorgan 2
Baglan Badger Sett Glamorgan 2
Pennar Fawr Ceredigion 2
Allt Crug Garn Ceredigion 1
Bolgoed Quarry Glamorgan 1
Redden Hill Glamorgan 1
Lockley Lodge Pembrokeshire 1
St Margaret’s Island Pembrokeshire 1
Broad Pool Glamorgan 1
Llyn Eiddwen Ceredigion 1
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Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Glamorgan
MainlandPembrokeshire
Skomer &Skokholm
The pie chart to the left shows the distribution of
combined data for staff and volunteer time
dedicated to the positive management of land
(this time including Skomer and Skokholm) during
the last year, by geographical area. It shows a
reasonably equitable division of resource between
mainland west Wales and Glamorgan, and the
significant requirements of the Pembrokeshire
islands. Glamorgan has slightly increased its
resource share since 2014-15 from 29 % to 35%.
CASE STUDY - Long term, holistic management of WTSWW’s Gelli Hir nature reserve Where we have ancient semi-natural woodland (ASNW) without non-native invasive species, or undesirable species, and no history of recent management, then we need do little on site other than maintain the fencing to exclude livestock and ensure paths are kept open. The woodland ecosystem will look after itself and nature can thrive. In contrast to this, some woodland can be more demanding of our input. Some sites are also easier to access than others. Why struggle to manage inaccessible woodland? The key to sustainable habitat management practices is good access. Gelli Hir is one of WTSWWs most popular woodland reserves for visitors, with good access infrastructure, a mix of tracks and informal paths, a bird hide, the charcoal making site and a small carpark (opened for events). It is also one of the more demanding woods; a mix of woodland habitats, part ASNW, part secondary woodland, areas with Rhododendron and Cherry Laurel, areas with even aged canopy trees closely spaced and with little understorey, areas of in rotation Hazel coppice, areas of over-stood Hazel coppice, areas that have been well thinned, a grassy ride, a pond, areas of wet woodland and several Badger setts. There are records from the late 1990s / early 2000s of Dormice here, although recent survey effort has found no indicators of their presence.
Anecdotal evidence and indicators throughout the woods show that Gelli Hir has seen continuous management interventions for at least the last one hundred years (and probably much longer). The old Keeper of the woods told me about the removal of all the “tidy timber trees” in the years preceding the Trust’s acquisition of the site in 1967, I have also been told of timber harvesting earlier in the 20th century. Deep in the woods in areas that may now be considered inaccessible, ruts can be seen in the woodland floor from
heavy timber extraction machinery. Another anecdote came from a person who grew up in the local village of Three Crosses, he recalled playing and camping in the woods long before it was a nature reserve and described it as “utterly choked with Rhododendron”. Since the woods have been a nature reserve, the management objectives may have changed but management has been pretty much continuous. The rides and paths were managed and areas were coppiced through the 1980s by the Trust’s staff and volunteer wardens, and a major effort was made to eradicate Rhododendron and Cherry Laurel. In the
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early 1990s there was significant investment funded by the National Grid in access improvements and the main track, the Parish Road, which was rebuilt and drainage improved. The late 1990s saw the enlargement of the pond and renewal of the bird hide as part of an HLF project. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, thinning and coppicing were carried out in a number of areas by volunteers and contractors as part of a Dormouse project. There were further habitat and access improvements carried out in the late 2000s as part of the North Gower Woodlands project. Between 2009 and 2014, Gelli Hir was in the Better Woodlands for Wales grant scheme which saw staff-led habitat management work including thinning and coppicing. The effort to eradicate Rhododendron and Cherry Laurel has been virtually continuous since the acquisition of the reserve, and is ongoing.
In 2015, Gelli Hir was entered in to the Welsh Government’s Glastir Woodland Management (GWM) grant scheme which is contributing to the continued habitat and access management of this reserve. Revision of our ten year management plan for the woods began in early 2016, which will incorporate the GWM actions into the first five years along with other biodiversity and access actions we consider desirable, and help inform the sustainable management of this nature reserve into the future. The overall aim is to have approximately half
of the 28 ha under “active management”, with the other half being managed with minimal intervention. The choice of these minimal intervention areas has been informed by features of the woodland (such as existing well-spaced canopy trees, areas of wet woodland or the presence of a Badger sett) and here we will maintain paths and public access, monitor for the presence of or spread invasive species and deal with them as appropriate, and little else. In the areas of active management our vision is for a diverse, thriving and vigorous understorey with well-spaced and a mixed age structure to the canopy trees.
Paul Thornton
2.2 Habitat management This section details habitat management on WTSWW reserves and on third party owned
land, including through our wider countryside projects. The data show this year’s efforts
comprise a swing away from scrub control on open sites, and an increase in staff time
investment in woodland management such as thinning and coppicing. This reflects the
beginning of Glastir Woodland Management contracts on four reserves and the
commencement of the WREN-funded West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands project.
Activity Staff days (‘15-’16) Previous year (‘14-’15)
Control invasive non-native species 275 238
Scrub control 136 253
Thinning woodland 115 48
Coppicing woodland 99 50
Mowing/cutting open habitats 77 64
Site visits, maintenance, H&S 61 Recorded differently
Removing waste materials 38 29
Fencing 32 43
Grazing (arranging, supporting) 19 12
Species based interventions 18 Not recorded
Managing ponds, ditches etc 16 28
Installing other infrastructure 15 21
Installing nest & bat boxes 13 Not recorded
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Hedgelaying 5 23
Seed collection 5 Not recorded
Sowing 1 3
Planting woodland 1 Not recorded
Such habitat management regularly brings together the best elements of WTSWW’s work-
managing nature reserves, working with partners such as NRW, and engaging and training
volunteers. As such it is best represented by a number of case studies from the year.
CASE STUDY: The management of Coed Garnwllyd nature reserve
Coed Garnllwyd in the Vale of Glamorgan is a 13 ha nature reserve consisting of ancient broadleaved woodland and a meadow, situated less than 1 km northeast of Llancarfan. It is underlain with limestone and contains species typical of calcareous woods such as Herb Paris and Early Purple Orchids as well as Bluebells, Wood Anemones and other characteristic woodland species. The woodland is mixed Ash with neglected Oak/Ash coppice and a varied shrub layer including Holly, Wayfaring Tree, Hazel and Crab Apple amongst others. The meadow used to have Common Spotted-orchids and Devil’s-bit Scabious but has gradually become rank and overtaken with scrub due to lack of management in recent years. In 2015 we put an article in the local newspaper asking for volunteers to help us start up management of the reserve once more. The volunteer wardens for the reserve, Rob and Linda Nottage, had been faithfully visiting every year to monitor the Herb Paris and Early Purple Orchids as well as providing many other species records and we are indebted to them for their continued hard work.
Rob and Linda were joined by a few other keen volunteers who had seen the article and in the autumn we reinstated coppice management within the woodland. An area of 0.4 ha will be coppiced in rotation every 2 years in order to open up areas of the woodland and get more light to the ground flora which will also benefit invertebrates. The hardy volunteers created excellent, dense habitat piles from the coppiced wood which will provide habitat for birds such as Wrens, small mammals, fungi and a range of invertebrates. We were also
joined on two days by an enthusiastic group from NRW who appreciated being able to help out and we were grateful for their contribution. In addition to the coppicing we also managed to start pushing back dense scrub from around the meadow in order to start restoring it to its former glory. This is going to be a long, hard task involving lots of Blackthorn bashing, brushcutting and mowing of the grassland but hopefully, with the help of our dedicated band of volunteers, we will manage to get the meadow back under more suitable management so that it doesn’t regress again – that’s the task for next winter.
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In the summer our focus turns to species monitoring and path maintenance, with a lovely swathe of Wood Anemones already on display in the recently-coppiced area as I write. A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped out in the reserve this winter – we couldn’t do it without you.
Vaughn Matthews
CASE STUDY: Bog restoration and management at Carmel NNR, Carmarthenshire This winter we continued our bog restoration at Carmel NNR. The ‘Garn South (South)’ compartment has a raised bog area which was in an unfavourable condition, due to historical peat cutting and drainage ditches. The bog has a higher cover of Purple Moor Grass than a pristine bog should have, and a lower cover of Sphagnum moss; there is also scrub encroachment. Since 2013 we have used four Caerneddau ponies to graze the bog in the summer months,
this has helped reduce the Purple Moor Grass cover on the bog, and also helped with scrub clearance. In the south of the bog there were four drainage ditches, with a north-south orientation. There was no sign of an inflow at the upstream (north) end of the ditches, so it appears that they drained the adjacent peat. To block these ditches we used recycled plastic pilings donated to us by Iestyn Evans and Jamie Bevan from NRW. The plastic pilings are approximately 120 cm long, and they interlock to make a solid dam. We had a volunteer work day to block the ditches. We dug a trench across the ditch, locked the pilings together then drove them in using a large rubber mallet. The pilings have stopped a considerable amount of water been lost from the bog. Pictures: (Top) view looking south East, knocking in the plastic pilings across the ditch. The blocking of the ditches
and the continuing summer grazing of the bog will help the bog species such Bog Asphodel. (Bottom) view looking east across a large ditch, the water is flowing from left to right.
Ceri Evans
CASE STUDY: Habitat management for Lapwing at Parc Slip nature reserve The Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) was once a common farmland bird species, breeding in open pasture, arable fields and wetlands. In recent decades, as farming practices have changed, these habitat types have been disappearing from the Welsh landscape, resulting in a drastic decline in the breeding population of Lapwing in Wales. The reduction in the breeding Lapwing population witnessed in the wider countryside is also manifest at Parc Slip
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nature reserve, which had up to nineteen pairs of Lapwing breeding on the reserve in the mid-1990s. In the spring of 2014, just one pair of Lapwing nested at the reserve and although the pair had two broods, none of the chicks fledged to adulthood.
Over the past 2 years, the staff and volunteers at Parc Slip have been working throughout the autumn and winter to carry out conservation work aimed specifically at increasing and improving nesting and foraging habitat for Lapwing. The project, which has been supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, SITA Trust and Bridgend Country Borough Council, has so far involved over 350 volunteer hours. One of the largest tasks has been to reduce dense scrub and encroaching trees from the margins of the main Lapwing breeding field in order to increase
the amount of suitable habitat and to eliminate perches for aerial predators. Removing the scrub and gorse from around and within the habitat has also meant that these cannot be used to harbour predators such as mustelids and Foxes. To help reduce predation further, electrified predator fencing was erected around the Lapwing field at the reserve. Breeding Lapwings need a variety of habitats within a small area, as they need different conditions for nesting, and chick rearing. To provide nesting sites for the Lapwings, shingle banks were created and maintained to introduce cryptic areas where nests could be concealed. Introduction of Highland cattle has been another important conservation measure, as by grazing the field they have helped to prevent the scrub from re-establishing, and have produced rough, uneven grassland, which is attractive as both nesting and feeding habitat. The dung produced by the cattle has been especially good for attracting dung beetles, which are a nutritious food source for Lapwing chicks. To create further foraging grounds for adult Lapwing and their chicks, volunteers helped to dig a series of small ponds and scrapes on the reserve, which attract a range of invertebrate prey. Small wooden shelters are being trialled in 2016 to see whether they can provide protected feeding sites for Lapwing chicks. Volunteers have helped to monitor Lapwing activity through the breeding season and Cardiff University students will be undertaking research to further provide information on Lapwings
and their habitat requirements and preferences at Parc Slip. The project is part of an ongoing plan to increase the numbers of breeding Lapwing at Parc Slip over time, and efforts will be made each year to continually improve the conditions for this iconic bird.
Lorna Baggett
CASE STUDY: Creating a management plan for Skomer Island Having an agreed and up-to-date management plan is an aspiration for all WTSWW nature reserves. Having a written plan allows staff the opportunity to discuss their vision and aims for the site with colleagues and partners, and agree on a programme of works that will help achieve that vision. An agreed management plan can also contribute to applications of funding for site management. Plans facilitate long term continuity of management for sites during periods of change in staff, volunteers and resources. For some small nature reserves, a management plan need be little more than a map and a list of proposed management actions. However for some sites, much more information is
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required; the larger and more complex the site, the greater the need for a detailed plan. On Skomer Island, WTSWW has been fortunate to receive a huge amount of help from Mike Alexander, previously a Skomer warden, and now employee of NRW, responsible for Wales’ National Nature Reserves. Mike has researched and compiled a huge amount of existing information about the island and created a new, gold standard management plan which is held in bespoke CMS software, with shared access between those responsible for reporting on, and updating, the plan. He has done almost all of this
work in the capacity of a volunteer and we are indebted to his enthusiasm and dedication. On Skomer, much of the season’s work is made up of meticulous and thorough monitoring of the seabird ‘features’ of the SSSI and Special Protection Area (SPA). This is incredibly detailed work, and it is very sensitive to any small variation or drift in methodology. Having a full and detailed management plan allows us to record detailed maps and precise instructions for all projects, and this will help prevent any change in the methods (or their application) over time, ensuring the ongoing accuracy and precision of our data. The data gathered on Skomer contribute to the UK’s reports to the EU on the status of our seabirds, and so safeguarding data quality is essential. Creating a new management plan also provides the opportunity to ask some very fundamental questions about WTSWW and NRW’s vision for the site. Led by Mike and with support from the Islands Conservation Advisory Committee, this latest iteration of the plan makes a decisive shift from vegetation management and monitoring, to surveillance only. This involves accepting the presence of Rabbits as a ‘new natural’. This in turn allows the seabirds to remain the primary feature on which resources can be concentrated, and allows the vegetation to respond without intervention to the strong forces such as nutrient enrichment and salt spray that fundamentally drive its changing nature.
Mike Alexander & Lizzie Wilberforce. Photo of Skomer by Mike Alexander.
2.3 Research The conservation movement as a whole has been criticised in recent years for its failure to
engage in and learn from current research and latest knowledge. At WTSWW we work hard
to address this issue, by building relationships with universities in our area of operation,
supporting many students to work with us during their studies, and publishing the outcomes
of our own work wherever we can. We have been fortunate to benefit from strong
partnerships with many academic institutions, particularly Cardiff, Swansea and Aberystwyth
Universities, and UK-wide institutions through their involvement in the Pembrokeshire
Islands.
Consequently, WTSWW undertakes and supports a wide array of research projects,
particularly on its nature reserves. Much more detail on this topic can be found in the
WTSWW Research Report 2015, however by way of example, we record below two case
studies of work involving WTSWW staff and volunteers in the last year. Further examples
can also be found in the Marine Conservation section of the report.
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CASE STUDY: Understanding Skokholm’s soils
In addition to surveys of Skokholm’s current vegetation, work was begun in 2015 to try and discover which species may have been present before humans arrived to the island. A team of researchers led by Julia Webb of the University of Gloucestershire, in collaboration with Aberystwyth University, visited Skokholm in August 2015 to undertake pollen and spore analysis of substrates laid down prior to humans. The following text, provided by Julia, summarises the rationale and methodology of this exciting project.
This research project aims to investigate the vegetation history of Skokholm and to document the last time that the island was extensively wooded (Skokholm being a Norse name reputedly meaning Wooded, or Pole, Isle). A study by the same team on neighbouring Skomer Island has revealed evidence challenging the conventional archaeological view that the Island was wooded and subsequently cultivated. The landscape on Skokholm is more natural, having not been so disturbed by human activity, and so offers a suitable location for a continuation of the reconstruction work that was piloted on Skomer.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the sediment accumulation is also more favourable on Skokholm than that experienced on Skomer. Archaeologists currently suggest that the natural vegetation of the Island consisted of low shrub Oak (similar to the present day coastal wooded areas on the Pembrokeshire mainland), with inclusions of Elm, birch and Hazel and with willow and Alder in the wetter areas and valleys. This natural vegetation would have been altered by the initial settlers, who cleared native woodland to create valuable grazing land and later introduced alien species to gardens and enclosures. There is no indication that the current vegetation on Skokholm is returning to such native woodland, although this is perhaps due to Rabbits impacting the growth of successional species. It is hoped that this study will enable future conservation plans to reflect the vegetative history of the Island.
Suitable soil core sites were selected on the basis of sediment depth and the need to minimise disturbance to breeding species. Coring was completed using a Russian Borer (5cm chamber) and a Piston Corer, which revealed up to 120cm of organic matter accumulated at the surface. In total three sites were sampled and soil retrieved for analysis. Cores have subsequently been analysed using X-ray powder diffraction (awaiting results)
and sub-sectioned ready for pollen and spore analysis.
Julia Webb, Richard Brown & Giselle Eagle
CASE STUDY: COBWEB Project at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre (CBMWC) COBWEB (Citizen OBservatory WEB) is a four year research project, creating a platform to enable citizens within UNESCO Biosphere reserves to collect environmental information
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suitable for use in research, decision making and policy formation using mobile devices. The project is led by the University of Edinburgh with funding from the EU’s FP 7 Programme, which is designed to respond to Europe’s employment needs, competitiveness and quality of life. The partners in Wales include Ecodyfi, Environment Systems, Aberystwyth University and Welsh Government. COBWEB is funded by the European Union under the FP7 ENV.2012.6.5-1 funding scheme, EU Grant Agreement Number: 308513. CBMWC has been involved with this project during the last year, in the Co-design phase of the project. This phase was designed to involve members of the local community and local organisations in the development and improvement of COBWEB through pilot data collection. Our project (mapping marine megafauna) involved the development of surveys designed to record the sightings of marine megafauna, from land or sea within the Cardigan Bay area, including the Dyfi Biosphere. We investigated the development of two different types of surveys, one survey suitable for members of the public, without any prior knowledge of surveying and one focused towards the collection of data from more stringent scientific surveys, designed to enable us to migrate from paper records to electronic data recording. The project was aimed to reach and engage with a variety of citizens, people who spend time on the Welsh coast, on sea going vessels as well as engaging with trained marine observers for input into the use-ability of the device and surveys created. Despite the inclement weather experienced a number (>20) of successful testing sessions took place throughout the field season (April to September 2015), during which marine megafauna sighting data were successfully collected. The project showed that with further development the COBWEB app has the potential to be used for recording marine species information. This includes both opportunistic sightings information reported by citizen scientists but also for recording more in-depth scientific data, using specific protocols and procedures. Further information on the COBWEB Project can be found at www.cobwebproject.eu/
Sarah Perry
2.4 Recording and monitoring A key part of any site’s management is the recording and monitoring of its conservation
features, allowing us to assess whether or not they are in favourable condition, and allowing
us to complete the feedback loop and adjust our management of the sites and our advocacy
work accordingly. Around 423 person days were recorded in this area of work during 2015-
2016 on mainland reserves alone. This shows a large increase on last year’s 99 days, but
this reflects more efficient recording processes within the Team. It should be noted that
many more days again are delivered on the Pembrokeshire islands and at Cardigan Bay
Marine Wildlife Centre; these are not included in the breakdown below. Many additional
unrecorded days are also undertaken by mainland volunteers, who report results to us but
whose investment of time is not currently quantified.
The table below summarises staff effort (and the volunteer effort recorded in direct support
of these staff days) on survey and monitoring on our mainland sites, both on our own nature
reserves and on private land. We distinguish here between survey (establishing the
presence/absence/extent of a feature for the first time) and monitoring (working to detect
trends in a known feature over time). Consultancy survey and monitoring time is not
included.
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Activity Staff days Volunteer days
Survey activity
Bats 4.75 2.5
Bioblitz 17 12
Birds 3.5 0
Dormouse 2 0
Dragonflies/damselflies 1 0
Dung beetles 0.5 0
Harvest mouse 1 1
Hoverfly 0.5 0
Hydrology 4 0
Invertebrates (general) 1.5 0
Marsh Fritillary 0.5 4
Moth 1.5 0
Otter 0.75 1
Rabbit 1 2
Reptiles 0.5 1.5
River condition survey 0.75 1.25
Shrill Carder Bee 1 1
Vegetation 4.5 6.5
Water vole 1.5 0.5
Monitoring activity
Amphibians and reptiles 7 9.25
Bats 1 0
Bee Orchid 0.2 0.6
Birds (general) 4.25 3
Birds (CES ringing) 4.5 12
Brown hairstreak 3.5 47.5
Butterflies general 1.5 0
Deer (inc. damage) 3.5 6
Dormouse 15.5 41.25
Dragonfly 2 4
Greater Butterfly Orchid 0.5 2.5
Gulls 1.5 11
Lapwing 8.5 19.5
Marsh fritillary 10.25 43.5
Mink 5 5
Moths 27.5 8
Nest box use (general) 6 11
Vegetation 3 2
Water Vole 3.75
Yellow Whitlow Grass 6
Two case studies follow to demonstrate the value of such monitoring and recording.
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CASE STUDY: Monitoring Marsh Fritillaries in Ceredigion Every year, in September, we look for Marsh Fritillary larval webs on at least three of our Ceredigion rhos pasture, reserves. This habitat, rich in devil’s bit scabious, is the ideal place for the butterfly to lay its eggs. Rhos Pil Bach and Rhos Glyn yr Helyg SSSIs are both part of a long term monitoring scheme by Butterfly Conservation. Rhos Fullbrook has also been monitored for many years but not as regularly. In recent years we have also looked for them at Rhos Glandenys and Rhos
Marion but have not found anything yet- we’ll keep looking! The monitoring involves walking transects through the reserve looking for the webs, marking where they are and recording areas of suitable habitat. The weather and number of surveyors is also noted. The number of webs and caterpillars naturally go up and down from year to year. Rhos Pil Bach used to be a key site in the area but in recent years numbers have significantly dropped so that they are now only just clinging on. There is currently a happier story at Rhos Glyn yr Helyg where in the last 4 years numbers have risen dramatically, from 0 in 2012, to 671 in 2015. The area we found them in also increased. It was amazing to see so many webs and not have to really search for them. We saw many different shapes and sizes of web and also sizes and colours of caterpillars.
There are many caterpillars in each web, generally built on a scabious leaf which is consumed by the larvae/caterpillars before they move on, as a group to another leaf, to build another web. You can often see a trail of old webs and work out where the caterpillars have travelled, sometimes a surprisingly long way!
Em Foot
CASE STUDY: Monitoring deer at the Teifi Marshes WTSWW staff at the Teifi Marshes have been working in partnership with the Deer Initiative and with local landowners to monitor the deer population in the Teifi area. This is to get a better understanding of the size and movements of both the Red Deer population and the (non-native) Sika population. The Sika are considered a threat to the Red Deer through hybridisation and are subject to a Welsh Government action plan. The Teifi Deer Management Group met twice in 2015. The group consists mainly of local landowners who either have an interest in the deer or who have been having problems with deer damaging crops and fences. Staff from WTSWW, the Deer Initiative, and BASC were also present. Landowners have been asked to report back numbers of deer seen on their land to try to build up a picture of the local population. It became clear that some landowners would be controlling deer on their land and were interested in attending a course on best practice. In January 2016, BASC ran a DSC level 1 course for four landowners which was part funded by the Deer Initiative and held at WTSWW’s Welsh Wildlife Centre (WWC). Staff from NRW
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attended on the day to train landowners and WTSWW staff on taking samples from a deer carcass to be tested for bovine TB. The TB status of the local wild deer is not known, and the area falls within an area of Wales where the problem of TB in cattle is severe. The animal sampled for TB during the training appeared to be a Sika / Red hybrid; DNA samples have been sent off for confirmation. TB test kits were provided for all course attendees by the Deer Initiative and spares are now kept at WWC. On the nature reserve itself more emphasis has been placed on monitoring the non-native Sika to gain a better understanding of their numbers in the event that the Welsh Government make the decision to control them. Trail cameras were placed at 10 locations across the reserve. Sites were chosen in areas where the animals had been seen in the past, in areas with no public access and on the borders of WTSWW land to ascertain whether the animals were moving off the reserve.
This map is reproduced from Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or Civil proceedings. Welsh Government. Licence Number: 100017916 (2015).
The map shows the reserve boundary in green. Cameras are marked with a red or a blue star on the map. Blue cameras picked up footage of Sika deer (pictured)
or possible hybrids. Red cameras picked up only red deer. The number of Sika is difficult to estimate from trail camera footage however there appear to be two stags and an unknown number of hinds. It
is thought that the Sika are fairly localised and tend to stay on lower wetter ground and do not venture far outside the reserve boundaries.
Nia Stephens
2.5 Volunteers Total volunteer hours donated to the Conservation Team can be difficult to record, as some
input is on a more casual basis and full paper records are not kept in all cases.
However, during 2015-2016, we estimate that our team engaged with around 350
committed (long term), active volunteers and many more on a more casual (short term)
basis. This includes ‘hotspots’ of activity include the Pembrokeshire Islands, CBMWC,
flagship reserves such as Parc Slip and Teifi Marshes, and groups associated with the
Wildlife Trust Officers. An estimated total of 200 new volunteers were engaged with during
the year. A total of 945 individual volunteer workparty dates were led (on both mainland
and island reserves) by Conservation Team staff. These figures do not include the
additional, significant amount of work delivered by WTSWW’s local volunteer groups,
particularly at Lavernock and Coed y Bwl.
We estimate the volunteer contribution directly to our team to be 6366 person days during
the year 2015-2016. This is an increase on the figure of 5864 from 2014-15 but may in part
reflect increased accuracy of recording. It cannot be over-stated how important this
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contribution is to our ongoing conservation work; much of what we do, particularly in the
routine but critical maintenance of our nature reserves and recording, could not be done
without this volunteer contribution. In capacity terms, it effectively doubles our team in terms
of number of worked days.
The case studies below reflect the diversity of volunteer involvement. Two are written by
volunteers themselves.
CASE STUDY: Volunteering and photography
Over the past few years I have helped to support WTSWW by helping with practical land management, species recording and raising awareness for wildlife. My name is Chris Lawrence and I am a WTSWW volunteer and amateur wildlife photographer. Covering a number of reserves throughout the South Wales Valleys has naturally provided a diversity of opportunities as a volunteer. Although installing bird boxes at Taf Fechan or building ponds and reptile hibernacula at Pwll Waun Cynon are often considered among the more glamorous tasks I get to contribute towards they take up comparatively small amounts of time. The majority of work is focused around maintaining the reserves, helping to preserve the habitats and wildlife whilst also keeping it accessible to the public. The general maintenance differs from one location to the next, the meadows of Taf Fechan for example constantly requires the encroaching scrub to be kept in check, an easy task made difficult as the number one culprit, Hawthorn, is capable of fighting back. Meanwhile at Pwll Waun Cynon a relentless invasion from two alien species consumes much of our time as we battle to prevent them from devouring stunning, biodiverse, wildflower meadows. Litter picking is easily a contender for least glamorous job but nevertheless is one that needs doing and a considerable amount of time is dedicated to keeping reserves litter and waste free. Despite the countless hours spent maintaining the various reserves, the elation of looking back across an area you’ve just cleared of scrub, invasive species or litter is equal to that of seeing birds nesting in their newly fitted home and it never grows old. Supporting WTSWW has not been limited to practical management as I also offer my abilities as a photographer, providing images of wildlife, landscapes and work being carried out that has been used for a number of purposes. Capturing our day to day efforts not only provides the Trust with their own photographic records but also provides a visual representation that can be used to advertise the work we do to funders, partners and also the public. Spending time as a volunteer on the reserves not only gives me a great insight into its key its features, but also means being out in all conditions and a slight change in the weather can take reserve from beautiful to breath-taking in a moment. Solidifying these liquid moments into a photograph has also proved useful and now several of my images are proudly displayed as the banner photograph for Llyn-Fach, Taf Fechan and Pwll Waun Cynon on the WTSWW website. These images, are, however more than just aesthetic part of the reserve description, they can serve as an awe-inspiring landscape that has to be marvelled in the flesh, and in this way draw the public into the reserves.
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The very heart of my photography however has to be the wildlife, flowers, insects, fungi, birds, mammals and all other manner of living things, this diverse passion has proved useful in a number of aspects. At the foremost of these is my use of photography in recording species, especially at Y Gweira where I am the volunteer warden. Obtaining a photograph of a species allows a record to be verified and also provides evidence if it is questioned, this particularly important for species not previously recorded at a
reserve or ones that are more tricky to identify. Images of wildlife are also utilised for an array of publications from children’s activity sheets to corporate magazines and event diaries, using images in this way are a fantastic way to capture the interests of the public and partners. Remarkably, many of the photos I have taken on WTSWW reserves in South Wales are now being used in various publications by a number of Wildlife Trusts throughout the UK, which for me, makes the work we do here all the more important and worthwhile.
Chris Lawrence (WTSWW volunteer). Photographs are by the author.
CASE STUDY: Valuable Volunteers (Pembrokeshire) It has to be said that without volunteers, the Wildlife Trust would cease to exist. This is how important and recognised their input is to the operation of the organisation. The roles that volunteers can play varies greatly and includes services such as providing general
administrative support, being a front of desk face at visitor centres, getting involved in practical reserve based work, species monitoring and survey work, representing the Trust at shows and events and managing local group branches. In Pembrokeshire, we are fortunate to have an excellent network of volunteers that number in the 50s. These are mainly distributed among offering support at the WWC Visitor Centre, managing the south and mid Pembrokeshire local branches of the Trust and helping
with the management of the fifteen nature reserves on the mainland. They are of differing ages and abilities and support the Trust with constant commitment and enthusiasm.
As the Wildlife Trust Officer for Pembrokeshire, my role lies primarily in managing the 15 nature reserves spread across the county. I therefore work very closely with those volunteers keen to help on practical and species monitoring work on these sites. On average I have twenty volunteers who regularly attend weekly ‘work parties’ and are key to undertaking a variety of habitat management regimes such as coppicing, scrub clearance, burning, invasive species
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control and grassland management where numbers are required to meet objectives and targets. The Trust saves vast amounts of money through working with volunteers to undertake such tasks, as opposed to paying for contractors to do the job. It is amazing how many hands make light and quick work! Other practical based work includes maintaining and repairing reserve infrastructure such as bird hides, boardwalks and fences and some volunteers have skills that greatly benefit this type of work. During nesting seasons,
habitat work tends to cease due to avoiding any disturbance to breeding species and so our focus shifts to more wildlife survey and monitoring work. Here volunteers are vital to being able to undertake surveying over large areas of land and provide time to do so on a regular basis depending on what it being surveyed for, such as weekly counts for butterflies. The Wildlife Trust is also fortunate to have Voluntary Reserve Wardens on a number of their sites. They help in survey work, flagging any issues that need fixing and generally keeping an eye on the goings on and are able to act should a Wildlife Trust Officer not be available. In Pembrokeshire, eight of my sites have these wardens and make a valuable difference to their ongoing management and relieving pressure on myself. Our volunteers are constantly recognised for the contributions they make and annual social gatherings occur where there is a chance for them to all get together and partake in food and drinks provided for by the Trust. I could not imagine my work without volunteers.
Nathan Walton
CASE STUDY: Parc Slip at night
Working in the voluntary role of Field Assistant for WTSWW, as part of my Ecology degree at Cardiff University, gives me knowledge, skills and opportunities to work with the conservation team; enabling me to work towards a career in this field. As spring arrives, daylight continues to lengthen and the weather becomes milder. Conservation efforts have shifted from habitat management to monitoring emerging species. This also provides a valuable opportunity to engage with the public and explore some of the nocturnal taxa at the reserve. Ponds at night. This was one of the first nocturnal events held in the height of amphibian breeding season. Following an introductory talk by Lorna Baggett, participants used torches to scan the ponds and surrounding vegetation. Two species of newt, Palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus) and Great Crested Newts (Triturus cristatus), were of particular interest as they are elusive and can be easily overlooked. Great Crested Newts, a European Protected Species, are our largest native newt. They have black bodies, with a bright yellow-orange and black patterned underside. These patterns can be used to identify them on an individual basis, important information for the Trust’s monitoring programs. During the breading season males are seen with pronounced crests and a white flash on the tail, whilst females lack these features. The males use the tail and crest in an elaborate courtship dance, wafting sexual attractants (pheromones) towards the female. Although these newts are best observed in this aquatic stage, little is understood about their behaviours during the terrestrial stage in August/September. Bat Walk. At dusk, participants arrived and were given an introductory talk by Lorna. As bats
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use frequencies beyond the range of human hearing, we used heterodyne detectors to transpose their echolocation calls and make them audible to us. The peak frequencies detected during the walk allowed us to identify and record the different species. As the light faded we were lucky enough to spot Pipistrellus (spp.) bats emerging from a known their roost. During the night we detected a total of four bat species on the reserve, Common (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Soprano Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) and Daubenton (Daubentonia madagascaiensis). We watched Daubenton’s skim over the canal water surface in pursuit of invertebrates, which they flick up into their mouth using large dark feet. All UK bat species are protected by law; our non-invasive use of detectors to monitor the reserve’s bat species is well suited to both gather information and give public insight into these mammals with minimal disturbance to them. During both of these events it was a pleasure to talk to enthusiastic people and answer their questions. I have seen that with an increased awareness we can inform and inspire people of all ages about these animals and how they can help protect them. For me, being involved with such events is building my confidence, leadership skills and experience in public engagement and I look forward to future involvement in events during my placement.
Alexandra Kinsey
2.6 Access management After habitat management, the creation and maintenance of public access to our nature
reserves is the most significant time and financial commitment that the Conservation Team
makes in terms of management of our nature reserves.
Providing good public access is essential to the delivery of our remit to inspire and engage;
however, this requires the access to be safe and appropriate, and also where possible to be
accompanied by such interpretative material as is necessary and desirable to help visitors
make the most of their visit and take our conservation message away with them.
The table below shows the number of staff days spent working on areas associated with
public access (through the leading of volunteer work parties). This year we have also
reported some new categories of access work, to reflect the amount of time spent ensuring
safety for visitors, and also mitigating the impact of visitor pressure. It is particularly notable
that the time spent assessing tree safety and dealing with dangerous trees has increased
this year, with a number of significant fallen trees processed during the severe weather of
the winter months.
Access work Number of staff days Previous year
Clear of vegetation 134 159
Maintain/repair infrastructure 46 55
Install new infrastructure 35 31
Resurface 3 21
Clearing litter 15 19
Tree safety work 42 17
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Clearing dog mess 3 4
Legal issues 5 Not recorded
Total 283 305
It is worth noting that again a high number (15) staff days were spent simply clearing litter
from nature reserves, and this was backed up by a further forty three days of volunteer time.
A total equivalent of three staff days were also spent clearing up dog mess (something we
do not generally ask reserve volunteers to do), and this is definitely an under-representation,
as it is not routinely recorded. Also, many staff outside the Conservation Team play a key
role in Parc Slip’s weekly ‘poo patrols’. Public access remains a priority for us, but the
commitment in cleaning up after visitors remains significant.
This year we have chosen three case studies that reflect the diversity of activities and
considerations Conservation Team staff face in providing public access to wild places.
CASE STUDY: The Swainson’s Thrush twitch on Skokholm
Managing public access on some sites is easier than others. Skokholm Island is half an hour’s journey by boat from the mainland, and ordinarily does not receive day visitors, because poor weather and sea conditions so regularly defeat arrangements. So what do you do when a rare bird arrives, and lots of people want to come and see it?
Skokholm has a fine history of turning up rare birds and we knew it was only a matter of time before one arrived which would generate sufficient interest as to warrant a visit from mainland birders. However in the absence of regular day trips, how would the boat logistics work? Skokholm is also a very fragile Island due to the honeycomb of seabird burrows, so how would we manage an increased number of visitors? How would the guests who had already visited the Island to
get away from the crowds, react? When a Swainson’s Thrush appeared on 2nd June 2015, a first spring record for Britain and only a second Welsh record, we knew that, if it stuck around and the weather cooperated, we would want to find positive answers to these questions. Luckily the bird regularly returned to an exposed branch in the Courtyard and the storm which had brought it from North America soon abated. Dale Sailing organised a booking system and 40 twitchers arrived mid-morning on 4th June.
After what seemed like an eternity, the bird eventually hopped onto its favourite branch allowing everybody excellent views. The following day a group of 12 were accommodated and the last twitch on the 8th allowed a further 24 people to witness only the second bird to
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ever be twitched on Skokholm. A bucket was rattled on each occasion and £223.27 was added to the Observatory fund, money which allowed us to purchase video recording equipment for the infrared viewer used on guided Storm Petrel walks. We also got to answer our questions; John Reynolds and the team at Dale Sailing organised the booking system perfectly and were happy to work around the tides and bad weather, local birders helped us to manage the crowd, keeping everyone to the marked paths and our resident guests were excited to be part of such a rare event. The response from the birding community was excellent and summed up by the tweet of one of the visiting birders: ‘I have been on many twitches and birding trips this year, have to say I enjoyed the Swainson’s Thrush trip the most’.
Richard Brown & Giselle Eagle
CASE STUDY: Parc Slip: a new bird hide, and a Biffa Award prize
The Rob Strachan hide was constructed in March of 2016, this hide overlooks the newly created field of scrapes that have been so successful since they were created in 2014. The scrapes over the last two years has seen Little Ringed Plover and Lapwing nesting on the shingle, and Kestrels seen frequently hovering above. The introduction of this new hide gives accessibility to less abled bodied visitors to have an amazing close up of the wildlife we have on this scrape. The hide was constructed working with contractors, staff and volunteers and a ramp was also put in place to accommodate wheelchairs and electric scooters.
This project was funded with money from winning the prestigious Biffa Award Rebuilding Biodiversity award 2015. It is dedicated to the memory of eminent ecologist Rob Strachan, a great supporter of conservation work in Wales.
Tim Jones
CASE STUDY: Fly tipping: a hazard of land ownership
As land-owners and managers, the Wildlife Trusts must regularly face the problem of littering on our reserves, be it items dropped by visitors (or their dogs), through to serious fly-tipping incidents. The problem has been particularly bad in some areas recently. Local Authorities across Wales are making efforts to encourage household recycling, by getting strict with refuse collections, and refusing to accept unsorted rubbish from the doorstep or at the local dump. These positive changes have led to a massive increase in recycling efforts by people, but have also unfortunately led to a spike in fly-tipping. The Trust has recently seen some reserves being strewn with bin-bags, from people unwilling or unable to recycle. The Valleys officer and volunteer team have spent a large proportion of their time over the last year clearing up fly tipping incidents and other litter from reserves: Heaving heavy loads up out of river gorges, filling skips, endless visits to the dump, and sorting through all sorts of unpleasantness.
Swainson’s Thrush © Julian Petrie
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Litter pollutes our environment and is sometimes a danger to wildlife, but its most immediate impact is visual. It puts off visitors, volunteers and members. People whose support the Trust relies upon so much. And so it presents a dilemma. We could spend huge amounts of time making sure that our reserves are litter free, but it would be done at the expense of other conservation work.
Sometimes when the team encounters litter we are already carrying armloads of equipment and can carry no more. Sometimes we have a gang of wildlife-loving volunteers who spent all day yesterday picking up litter and want to do something more interesting today. And sometimes, on the grand scale of things, there is simply something more important to do for wildlife. All we can hope is that people understand the time pressures and dilemma at hand, and that they continue to report incidents, visit and enjoy our reserves, and lend us a hand in whatever way that they can.
Carys Solman
2.7 Interpretation
Maintaining and delivering new interpretative material for our nature reserves and visitor
centres is an ongoing area of work for our Conservation Team, usually dependent upon staff
securing external funds such as grants. Here are two examples of a wide suite of work
delivered by the team this year. The first is particularly notable as being supported by a very
generous legacy left to the Trust’s work in north Ceredigion.
CASE STUDY: Four new leaflets for our Ceredigion reserves Leaflets about our nature reserves serve two purposes: they provide information to visitors to the reserve before they go and while they are there; they also encourage people to visit a place they’ve never been to before.
Not all of our reserves have leaflets yet though- they can be quite costly and time consuming to design and produce. The wet winter weather provided the opportunity to design four more for Ceredigion reserves Penderi Cliffs, Cwm Clettwr, Caeau Llety Cybi and Coed Simdde Lwyd. The Megan Jones legacy provided the finance needed. The new leaflets include directions to the reserve and access details, maps, photographs and information about the reserve and the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The leaflets will be available on our
website to view and download, at the Welsh Wildlife Centre and on the reserves themselves.
Em Foot
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CASE STUDY: New interpretation for Melincwrt Falls, Neath Port Talbot
Melincwrt Waterfalls Nature Reserve, found near Resolven in the Neath Valley, is predominantly mature upland Oak woodland, containing a spectacular 80-foot high waterfall. It is an important tourist attraction in Neath Port Talbot, famed for its waterfall, wildlife and industrial heritage. With this in mind, WTSWW were recently awarded some grant funding from Neath Port Talbot Council to update the interpretation panels at this nature reserve. Working with the local community council at Melincourt, it was identified that new panels would be most usefully placed in the car park and on the wall of Marion Hall, at the entrance to the reserve, for which permission was kindly granted by the Trust for Pensioners who own the building. In the car park, a remnant panel from the days before the Glamorgan Wildlife Trust joined with Wildlife Trust West Wales to form WTSWW, can be found showing a map of the nature reserves and information about the wildlife and heritage. This panel has been updated to show our current logo and photographs of the nature reserve, with the descriptive text remaining almost unchanged (below):
Figure 1: Old panel contrasted with new panel
A large (1.5m x 3m), colourful panel showing visitors the wildlife and other interesting features that they may see on the nature reserve will be placed on the wall of Marion Hall.
These new panels will inform visitors of what they may see in the nature reserve and guide them to the entrance to the nature reserve, whilst also providing information about WTSWW.
Rose Revera
3. Wider Countryside
3.1 Introduction to our wider countryside work Most of the work detailed so far has related to conservation work delivered on our own land
holdings. We also deliver a great deal of work each year by working in partnership, and
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delivering species or habitat focussed projects at a wider landscape scale. Some of this work
is described below.
3.2 Partnerships Much of our wider countryside work is dependent upon working in partnership with
government agencies, the private sector, and other conservation charities. This extends our
reach and influence and can also lead to increased ability to access funding, knowledge and
skills. Three examples of active partnership delivery in the last year are given below.
CASE STUDY- Aberystwyth University I was approached by Geoff Oldridge, tutor at Aberystwyth University, when he was looking for a practical project for his students. He was looking for a site with several tasks to keep a number of students occupied. We arranged a site meeting at Coed Penglanowen and came up with a plan.
The main task was to build a lovely oak bridge across the Nant Paith between Coed Penglanowen and Nanteos driveway. This had been proposed in the past but had never come to fruition. A smaller bridge across a stream and two oak benches were also built. A new path which forms a loop at the east end of the reserve was included in the plan to link the new bridge to the existing path, open up another section of the reserve and get rid of the dead end path.
Most of the materials and time were provided by the university but we made a donation, from the Megan Jones legacy, to help cover the cost of some of the materials that had to be bought in and as the students ran out of time, regular work day volunteers finished the path. The path and bridges are open for use and will hopefully be well used by locals and visitors to both the reserve and Nanteos Mansion.
Em Foot
CASE STUDY- Cardiff University
My placement at Parc Slip Nature Reserve started at the end of August 2015. There are two of us on placement at Parc Slip: Alexandra Kinsey and myself. My placement is a sandwich year added on to a three year zoology degree that I am studying for at Cardiff University. So far, my degree has been focused on academic research and literature, fieldwork and practical conservation are rare opportunities. While the academic side of conservation (understanding population genetics and ecosystem processes) is important, learning about the practical side of conservation of British wildlife is just as important, perhaps more so.
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To finish university as a more rounded individual, I wanted to do a placement where I would be able to get involved in practical conservation. In addition to being involved in the species monitoring and management of the Trust’s reserves this placement has given me the chance to study a range of native species in depth, from bryophytes to Dormice. It has improved my identification skills and knowledge of a wide range of British wildlife. Every day on placement has been different. I have been lucky to be involved in almost everything the Parc Slip conservation team does. This includes: dragonfly surveys, pond dipping, Water Vole surveys, Lapwing monitoring and, more recently, breeding bird surveys. Over the winter months habitat management has been important. This has mostly involved cutting down encroaching trees and creating habitat piles from the timber, but also tasks such as pulling bramble, litter picking, cutting gorse, digging ponds, and hedgelaying. Throughout the year I have also been involved in events helping to educate and enthuse the public about wildlife, such as: bat walks, moth mornings and reptile rambles. These events and surveys, as well as being enjoyable, have vastly improved my own knowledge and identification skills. The Trust has also given Alexandra and me the chance to work on our own research projects (see research report 2015), such as trying to reducing Lapwing chick predation through the use of artificial shelters at Parc Slip, reducing Lapwing egg predation through conditioned taste aversion, and more recently we have begun researching Yellow Meadow Ants at Parc Slip. In addition, I have attended all-staff meetings which has given me a real insight into: how much effort and work it takes to run a conservation charity, the value of the members and how vital the different members of staff are to ensuring the organisation can continue to do their work, protecting and conserving welsh wildlife. In fact, the most beneficial and enjoyable part of this whole experience has been working with and talking to the team every day. The work and effort that goes into projects and events, and the whole Trust, is extraordinary and I am grateful to everyone at Parc Slip for all the time and expertise they have shared with me.
Megan Howells
CASE STUDY- Penparcau Forum & Aberystwyth Botanical Society
This new project was set up by the Penparcau Community Forum in partnership with the WTSWW to encourage local people to learn to identify and record the wildlife of their square mile. They employed local ecologist Chloe Griffiths to recruit volunteers who have already begun a busy survey season. The project began with the fantastic contribution from the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre of all the wildlife records ever made in the Penparcau area. Chloe worked through all 1500 or so records, and created a list of surveys based on them. Some surveys will attempt to re-find rare or unusual species that haven’t been seen for a significant amount of time, and some will aim to provide data on species that we know to be common in our area, but are under-recorded.
Following the winter season of setting up the project, the spring season has been very busy with brand new surveys set up for reptiles and
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amphibians. We have run bird walks, shark eggcase hunts, Frog hunts, Lizard hunts and even a session on coastal lichens.
We ran a session to engage people with a little-known group of species, maritime lichens. Lichens are a key species group to record, as their growth or decline can show us how pollution is affecting our local environment. There are very few people in our area with the skills to identify even common lichen species, so this very specialist training, given for free by our County Plant Recorder, was particularly important. It has already led to new lichen records being sent in.
The popular mermaid’s purse hunt went from strength to strength, with volunteers finding well over a thousand egg cases from 5 species of ray and catshark. We have now been able to provide solid evidence to the Shark Trust of not just which species use our bay, but their relative population numbers.
Seventeen people attended a Pond Dip session on the Parc y Llyn nature reserve, including some very enthusiastic small children and their equally excited parents! As well as being a family-friendly pond dip, this session was designed to contribute to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s National Monitoring scheme. We were delighted to be the first to record Palmate Newts in this area, and a wide variety of freshwater insects were also found, proving that the ponds are in a healthy state.
A further key achievement for the project was to set up the first reptile Survey on Pen Dinas since 2012, when it was initially surveyed by WTSWW. It is of particular value if surveys can be repeated in the same area over time, as this produces more reliable and meaningful data, so we set up our survey based on WTSWW’s earlier work.
Six local people helped set up the artificial shelters (refugia) which reptiles will sometimes bask on, or hide under, in key “hot spots” around Pen Dinas. We will be checking these sites regularly over the summer, and have already been successful in finding five Lizards and one Slow Worm. The Lizard records alone are already an improvement on the 2012 numbers, which is very encouraging.
This partnership between the WTSWW and the Penparcau Community Forum has been very positive. It brings together local expertise and support in terms of research, materials and hands on help from the Trust. We look forward to a greatly increased flow of biological records from Penparcau, to help
conserve its diverse wildlife for the future. This project gratefully acknowledges funding from the Nineveh Charitable Trust.
Chloe Griffiths (North Ceredigion local group & Nature of our Village Project)
3.3 Representation on committees The Conservation Team represents WTSWW and the Wildlife Trusts in Wales on a number
of local and national committees, and staff share their individual expertise on a wide range of
external committees across our patch. This increases our networking opportunities,
improves our partnership working, allows us to increase our reach through advocacy and
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lobbying, and helps us stay up to date with the latest developments in the wider policy world.
The list below is not exhaustive but gives a flavour of the variety of panels, committees and
partnership in which our staff were represented during 2015-16:
Bridgend Biodiversity Partnership Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership Ceredigion Biodiversity Partnership Coed Lleol CWM Environmental / GrantScape grant panel Dowrog Grazing Association Dyfed Archaeological Trust members Glastir Monitoring & Evaluation Stakeholders Llais y Goedwig Mary Gillham Project Steering Group Merthyr Tydfil Biodiversity Partnership Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership Mynydd Mawr Steering Group Neath Port Talbot Biodiversity Partnership Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership Pembroke Millponds Action Group Skomer MCZ Advisory Committee
Swansea Biodiversity Partnership Upper Ely Marsh Fritillary Steering Group Vale of Glamorgan Biodiversity Partnership Wales Mammal Biodiversity Action Forum Wales Squirrel Forum WBP Grassland & Heathland Ecosystem Group WBP Invasive Non-native Species Group WBP Species Expert Group WBP Wetlands Ecosystem Group Welsh Beaver Steering Group Wildlife Trusts Wales Producer Group WTW Evidence & Knowledge Group WTW Living Landscapes Group(s) WTW Living Seas Group
WWBIC Board of Directors
CASE STUDY- Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership
One of my roles as the Wildlife Trust Officer for Pembrokeshire involves representing the Wildlife Trust as a member on the Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership’s steering group. A number of organisations work together in Pembrokeshire to maintain and improve local biodiversity. These include WTSWW, NRW, The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, The National Trust, Pembrokeshire County Council, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Keep Wales Tidy to name a few. Together, they form the Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership. The Partnership has written a Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) to co-ordinate existing and initiate and co-ordinate new actions to conserve, enhance and promote biodiversity in Pembrokeshire, taking account of local and national priorities. It covers the area within the County of Pembrokeshire, including the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park the inshore waters and seabed around the Pembrokeshire coast to twelve miles offshore. The group continues to build on existing partnerships and initiatives and develops new networks and mechanisms to deliver the LBAP. The LBAP is designed as a reference document to aid decisions being made by any land managers to ensure a coordinated approach to protecting our locally distinct wildlife. It was published in 2000 and contained seven Habitat Action Plans and twenty four Species Action Plans. The full partnership seeks to achieve its aims by:
Promoting partnership working between all agencies and organisations that protect and enhance biodiversity in Pembrokeshire.
Reviewing the national and local priority species and habitats identified in the LBAP and prioritising species and habitats in Pembrokeshire for which action plans need to be prepared.
Involving all partners and stakeholders in the development and implementation of the LBAP for the Partnership through the establishment of working groups, action groups and consultation with existing groups.
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Consulting on and publishing Species Action Plans and Habitat Action Plans. Future reviews of the LBAP are subject to public consultation and individual action plans are subject to consultation within the Partnership.
Monitoring the delivery of the LBAP, evaluating progress towards implementation and revising the LBAP as necessary.
Overseeing the implementation and management of the Biodiversity Action Reporting System (BARS) in Pembrokeshire to aid involvement in UK reporting and other reporting obligations.
Agreeing and reviewing the partnership’s annual work programme and that of the Biodiversity Implementation Officer that it supports.
Supporting the development of projects undertaken by individual organisations that are contributing to LBAP targets.
Identifying opportunities for integrating biodiversity into other policy areas, plans and projects throughout Pembrokeshire
The role of Partners within the Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership is primarily to further the aims of the partnership as a whole, and not just the aims of individual partner organisations. The steering group for the Partnership involves members from a few key organisations and meets regularly to further the aims of the partnership and identify opportunities for joint working within the county. It also helps with the progression of the Biodiversity Implementation Officer’s work programme whose main remit lies with education
and awareness raising, reviewing and updating Habitat and Species Action Plans, progressing and supporting conservation projects, species surveys and biodiversity information sharing. My input to the partnership as the Wildlife Trust Officer for Pembrokeshire has included supporting the Biodiversity Implementation Officer in updating the Dormouse, Water vole and Brown hairstreak Species Action Plans and Oak woodland Habitat Action Plan, feeding information into the State of Wildlife in Pembrokeshire reports produced in 2011 and soon to be updated and published again in 2016 along with attending ‘Wildlife on Your Patch’ species survey events for local communities. I also have a voice in determining which projects the Partnership is able to support through small scale funding and provide knowledge where and when applicable. Every year the Partnership holds a conference bringing together member organisations and other conservation based individuals. Here there is a chance for the Biodiversity Implementation Officer and member organisations to provide updates on steering group and partnership actions. A number of short presentations are given on recent projects and policy developments followed by networking sessions and a field visit to a conservation site. A newsletter is also produced three times a year and available for download from the Partnership’s website. I regularly submit articles for this newsletter and have given talks at past conferences.
Biodiversity is fundamental to the physical, economic and spiritual well-being of all who live and work in Pembrokeshire. The Partnership strives to protect and enhance the wildlife special to the county and continues to deliver projects that provide true outcomes.
Nathan Walton
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CASE STUDY- Wales Beaver Partnership
The Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted to extinction in Wales several hundred years ago, as it was for much of Europe. By the end of the 19th Century, estimates suggest that the entire species numbered no more than 1200 individuals, scattered in four main populations across Europe (Norway, Germany, France and Belarus). The Welsh Beaver Project is a Wales wide project spearheaded by the Wildlife Trusts in Wales and designed to return the Eurasian Beaver back to our rivers, streams and wetlands. With such a large an ambitious project, the Wildlife Trusts work closely with a wide range of partner organisations, including NRW, expert beaver ecologists and local landowners. The Wildlife Trusts’ Steering Group, in partnership with a local landowner, have already submitted one license to reintroduce Beavers back to Wales and we hope that more will follow in the coming years. WTSWW believes that a managed reintroduction of Beaver to Wales would have a beneficial impact on or freshwater ecosystems and the habitats and species they support. They are a keystone species, which means that other species and their habitats depend on Beavers being in the system. The license application which was submitted in July 2015, is currently being consulted on within and NRW, and the Steering Group are hopeful for a positive response soon.
Rob Parry
3.4 Planning Influencing local planning decisions, either through individual site casework or through
responding to consultations on strategic documents like Local Development Plans (LDPs), is
a significant route through which WTSWW can influence the fate of wildlife in the wider
countryside of south west Wales.
At present, WTSWW does not have the capacity to systematically review planning lists.
However, we do engage in large, strategic individual developments such as the Swansea
Bay Tidal Lagoon, large opencast mines and wind farms. We also respond to local
applications flagged up by members and concerned members of the public. Through this
latter route, we responded to fourteen local planning applications over the year, with a
further fourteen investigated but not responded to.
Here we detail two ways in which we have been working to increase our influence in this
important area.
CASE STUDY- Wildlife Sites, Cardiff & Local Development Plans
Following on from the success of the Local Wildlife Sites in South East Wales project (reported last year), we were asked to extend the project to more sites in Cardiff. The aim was to identify owners of further sites and provide them with information on the wildlife value of their land and encourage positive management. The Habitat Management Toolkits produced through the previous project were used and tailored to each site.
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Whilst each site is important in its own right and support habitats and species of conservation concern they are also a remnant of more extensive natural habitat tracts and come in to their own when looking at a landscape scale. Statutory Sites and Nature Reserves are used to protect our most valuable areas, however they cover a very small proportion of the wider landscape and, on their own, are not enough to support the nature recovery required for successful protection of our wildlife in the future. An example in the Cardiff SINC (Sites Important for Nature Conservation) network is a small number of sites around Wenallt Road. Five small, horse-grazed pastures were found to support a total of 21 species with 23 taxa of waxcaps within a total area of 10.78 hectares in surveys supported by Cardiff Council that led to the publication of the Provisional Atlas of Waxcap Fungi Hygrocybe in Cardiff (2009). SINCs provide a mechanism for wildlife to be considered when Local Authorities are developing their Local Development Plans. This framework of sites can provide the backbone for wider landscape projects looking at ecological integrity and the ability for wildlife to adapt to changing circumstances in the future e.g. predicted climate change. In the current financial climate of public bodies it is up to organisations like ourselves to ensure that this framework persists. Projects supporting positive management are critical to minimising the loss and degradation of these sites. Outside of working with landowners and managers of individual sites creating landscape scale projects that brings these sites in to a wider programme adds weight to their protection. Our projects in RCT CBC in the Rhondda and the Marsh Fritillary Rhos Pasture landscape between Llanharan, Tonyrefail and Church Village look to show how the network is valuable and how previous protection of sites through s106 (funding agreements) have contributed to green infrastructure of the areas and the wider benefits this can bring to both wildlife and communities in the area.
Sarah Woodcock
CASE STUDY- Planning workshop
In December 2015, WTSWW held a workshop for its conservation staff and placement students, to provide training in responding to planning applications. Planning responses can be put in by any member of the Conservation Team, but are most often submitted by Wildlife Trust Officers (for local developments) or Conservation Managers (for larger, strategic developments). Staff outside the Conservation Team are also active in this area of work including the Head of Biodiversity & Policy and the Chief Executive.
The training day included talks on current planning policy and nature conservation legislation, and how to respond effectively to planning applications. We were grateful to be supported on the day with presentations from Lindsey Rendle (Ecologist, Carmarthenshire County Council), Leanne Bird (Senior Ecologist / Biodiversity Officer, Ceredigion County Council) and Sorrel Jones (Conservation Officer, Gwent Wildlife Trust).
Lizzie Wilberforce
3.5 Consultation responses Directly as WTSWW and also through contributions to Wales Environment Link (WEL) and
Wildlife Trusts Wales (WTW), Conservation Team staff input into a number of consultation
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responses during 2015-2016. This is a key mechanism by which we can influence future
policy and legislation in favour of the environment. Consultations in which we engaged
included (but are not limited to):
Scallop dredging in Cardigan Bay
Sharing the location of TB breakdowns
Strategic framework on Welsh Agriculture
Nature Recovery Plan
Environment Bill
EIA Agriculture Regs
Shooting of Greenland White-fronted Geese
CASE STUDY: Greenland White-fronted Geese
Closing in March 2016, Welsh Government this year consulted on a number of different approaches to ‘promoting the conservation of white-fronted geese in Wales’. The consultation paper proposed a number of approaches, some of which permitted the shooting of white-fronted geese.
WTSWW, working with Wildlife Trusts Wales, responded to the consultation strongly supporting a statutory ban on the shooting of all white-fronted geese. The Greenland White-fronted Goose is on the edge of extinction in Wales. Given the long-term decline in the species, any mortality risks having a serious effect on the Welsh population. The Welsh wintering Greenland White-fronted Goose population is crucial to the maintenance of the national and international distributional range of this species. Therefore, Wales has a global role to play in its protection. Species of White-fronted Geese are not easy to tell apart and for this reason WTSWW supported a total ban. In addition to responding directly to the consultation, WTSWW provided a pro forma response following its own position and promoted this to members and the public through WTSWW’s social media channels. This approach of engaging the public in responding to important consultations will increasingly be an important tool if we wish to influence policy in Wales in an effective way.
Lizzie Wilberforce
3.6 Wider Countryside Projects This section details the results of just some of the larger wider countryside projects which we
have delivered during the year. Each of these projects has received significant external
funding, and often employed dedicated Conservation Team staff time in their delivery. These
projects are exemplars of our impact and reach, beyond the boundaries of our nature
reserves, and exemplify delivery of landscape scale conservation, often taking an ecosystem
approach.
3.6.1 The Co-operative: Woodland Wanderers - Lizzie Wilberforce
Woodland Wanderers was a two year project that ran between 2015 and 2016, and which funded by the Co-operative. The project was created to open up the wonder of Welsh woodland to local communities and Co-operative staff, customers and members by involving them in the care of woodlands and encouraging an understanding and connection with them.
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WTSWW wanted to encourage greater involvement in the woodlands by local people, and at the same time improve the quality of the woods for wildlife.
The project supported our Wildlife Trust Officers across WTSWW’s patch to run woodland workparties and events, all of which were open to local communities and promoted via local Co-operative stores. Above: woodworking skills session at Gelli Hir on 23 June 2015. Right: some of the pupils from Llechryd School under the wicker badger sculpture, with their Woodland Wanderers crowns.
The events above have contributed to the eradication of invasive species in our woodlands, improving visitor access through footpath improvements, and beginning a large coppicing programme in Gelli Hir which will benefit woodland flowers, butterflies and dormice in the woodland. At the same time, volunteers have learned about tool use, woodland management techniques and the wildlife that occurs in woodlands. Two specific events were held to train attendees in woodworking skills and one of these was attended by Co-operative staff. The project also hosted a number of wildlife recording events, including butterfly, dragonfly and bat walks in Priors Wood & Meadow and Gelli Hir nature reserves on Gower. It also aimed to engage with the younger generation through supporting us to work with a number of schools who visited woodlands at the Teifi Marshes and Parc Slip, and through running family events. We are indebted to The Co-operative for supporting this initiative.
3.6.2 Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project – Becky Hulme The Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project has been running since May 2014; it is run by WTSWW on behalf of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership (MWRSP). The Partnership aims to expand and protect the unique population of Red Squirrels in mid Wales, one of only three significant Red Squirrel populations remaining in the whole of Wales. The project works with local residents and landowners in the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Focal Site (MWRSFS), a designation awarded to the Tywi forest area in 2009 by the Welsh Government. The main objectives are to spread awareness of the Red Squirrel and its conservation needs and to encourage evidence-based community-led Grey Squirrel control. During the year, the project has made a great deal of progress. The general level of awareness about the MWRSP, about Red Squirrels in mid Wales and their conservation needs has increased. A healthy core of local volunteers has been established who are taking the project forward with great enthusiasm. The development of partnerships between MWRSP, forest managers, other UK Red Squirrel conservation groups, as well as local organisations has helped increase the impact of conservation efforts.
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The Trap Loan Scheme (TLS) is run by a network of ten volunteer groups, headed by voluntary Local Coordinators. The main objective of the TLS is to reduce the population of grey squirrels in the MWRSFS, to enable the small population of native Red Squirrels to expand and flourish. The Grey Squirrel has been identified the main threat to the Red Squirrel’s future survival in mid Wales. The TLS provides members with training, equipment, information and support to undertake sustained Grey Squirrel control on their own land, or, with agreement, on neighbouring land. The TLS has grown and now has nine voluntary Local Coordinators and over 70 members. Over the past twelve months, over 1,200 Grey Squirrels were dispatched as part of the scheme. The Project Officer is also working with NRW and private forestry companies to encourage control of Grey Squirrels in the woodlands that they manage. The project is working in partnership with the British Association for Conservation and Shooting (BASC) to create a ‘buffer to the buffer’ for the MWRSFS in terms of Grey Squirrel control. The BASC Green Shoots project is operating a TLS encircling the focal site buffer, to create a more extensive Grey Squirrel control zone around the MWRSFS. As a result of this partnership, BASC have run two formal courses in Grey Squirrel control, training nine MWRSP TLS members. Many more TLS members have been trained one-to-one in Grey Squirrel control techniques by their Local Coordinators.
Volunteers have also been working to monitor the Red Squirrel population in the MWRSFS. 4 camera traps are in place in different locations within the MWRSFS, all monitored by volunteers. 2 of the camera traps are receiving regular visits from one or more Red Squirrels. Other voluntary tasks have included help with publicity, equipment storage, and translation of publicity materials. In all this year, 78 volunteers have given over 2,500 hours to the Project. 2 Volunteer Gatherings were held this year, in July and in February, to thank the most active project volunteers for their contributions and to enable networking between the local groups.
The Red Squirrel Officer has been working to promote the project in local communities; three editions of the e-news mailing ‘Red Squirrel News’ have been circulated, with contributions from Project volunteers. A bilingual MWRSP website (http://midwalesredsquirrels.org/), managed by WTSWW, is up and running. This facility provides information and advice to interested members of the public and to landowners, as well as providing a red squirrel sightings reporting facility. A MWRSP leaflet has been produced and 10,000 information leaflets are being distributed.
The Project Officer has given talks and presentations on the Red Squirrels in mid Wales to nine different groups in or near to the project area, with a total of 272 people attending. With the help of five volunteers, Red Squirrel information stands have been set up at five events and shows in the project area. The Project has also run two public drop-in events to raise awareness of Red Squirrels in the MWRSFS, and to increase membership of the TLS. Funding from Carmarthenshire County Council has enabled the creation of two Red Squirrel interpretation panels. The project is also working to improve habitat management for Red Squirrels in the MWRSFS. In order to thrive, Red Squirrels require a balance of certain tree species, as well
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as continuity of habitat. Following a meeting early in the year, NRW and the three private forestry companies operating within the MWRSFS have produced proposals for management of their sites with Red Squirrels measures incorporated. The plans have been analysed and the Project has responded with recommendations for improvements.
The Project is also working with the Welsh Government, Glastir Scheme, the agri-environmental scheme for Wales. The MWRSP hosted a site visit of Glastir Officers to a woodland in the MWRS focal site; the visit focused on appropriate management of woodlands for Red Squirrel conservation. The MWRSP is liaising with Welsh Government regarding appropriate measures for Red
Squirrel conservation that can be incorporated in to Glastir agreements for landowners in the MWRSFS.
3.6.3 Biffa Award: Pwll Waun Cynon – Carys Solman The area was at one time considered to be the most polluted place in Britain, with a phurnacite plant pumping out harmful pollutants into the atmosphere and waterbodies, and local communities and wildlife blighted by ill-health. A few decades after the closure of the plant, the WTSWW is now managing a nature reserve there, and wildlife has reclaimed the former wasteland.
Pwll Waun Cynon Nature Reserve (photographed above, © Chris Lawrence) comprises seven hectares of meadows and woodland, with a large pond and wetland area at its centre, and the Cynon River bordering on the east. In 2015 the Trust was delighted to receive a Biffa Award grant to manage the reserve, and set about the task of reclaiming the habitats from the invading scrub and non-native invasive species. In recent months the meadows have been enclosed with fencing, and thanks to a new grazing agreement and many hours of scrub clearance, the grasslands are being recovered from creeping succession. Swathes of Japanese Knotweed are being chemically treated, and volunteers spent much of last summer pulling and cutting huge areas of Himalayan Balsam.
Bird and bat boxes and habitat piles now dot the site, and a pond and large reptile hibernation bank have been created. Otters, Dippers and Kingfishers are spotted along the river banks, and Grass Snakes, Water Shrew, amphibians and a variety of waterfowl utilise the pond and wetland areas. Willow Tits and Woodcock have been spotted in the woodland, and the site’s species list is growing impressively thanks to the efforts of intrigued volunteers.
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Pwll Waun Cynon is by chance one of the Trusts most visited reserves, due to it being bisected by a heavily used footpath, railway line and train station. The engagement opportunities are great, but so too are the problems associated with heavy footfall, such as littering and occasional vandalism. It was the kind of reserve that filled us with trepidation when we visited it at the start of the project, such were its problems. But it is the kind of reserve where things can only get better, where every visit can result in positive change and new species discoveries, and where the before and after shots can be marvelled at.
In a valley where much of the floodplain has been built upon, Pwll Waun Cynon’s pond, flood meadow and wet woodland is a precious stepping-stone in a series of fragmented wetland habitats. Now is a great time to visit, to get involved with ongoing works, or to simply enjoy following its restoration.
3.6.4 Swansea SUDS – Rose Revera In the last Conservation Team Report, I introduced the concept of SUDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems), which are an alternative to traditional drainage. The idea of SUDS is to store water following rainfall and release it slowly, thereby greatly reducing the pressure on our river systems. SUDS can help reduce flooding and water pollution and also provide recreational space for people as well as habitat for wildlife.
In 2015, we worked with Natural Resources Wales to identify areas in Swansea where SUDS could be created for the benefit of wildlife and the local community. We then had a budget of £4000 to design and create one of these SUDS. We worked at the Swansea Vale Resource Centre in Llansamlet with New Horizons, a support organisation for people with disabilities, to create raised Rain Garden planters on their building. We built raised planters, high enough to be accessible from a wheelchair, and redirected the downpipes from the guttering into the planters. These were lined with pond liner, filled with gravel, sand and soil and contained outflow pipes to allow a slow release of water following storms (above).
They were then planted with suitable plants, including native wetland plants such as Ragged Robin and Purple Loosestrife. One of the planters also contained a pond to create habitat for aquatic invertebrates. Left: design of SUDS planters
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The Rain Gardens were officially opened on St David’s Day, with New Horizons, the Wildlife Trust and representatives from NRW, Keep Wales Tidy and Swansea Council coming along on the day (left). The Rain Gardens can now be used by NRW as an example of how to create retrofitted SUDS.
Victoria Hill, Assistant Manager at the Swansea Vale Resource Centre, said ‘I am really pleased to have worked with the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales to create a Rain Garden at the Swansea Vale Resource Centre. Where we previously had tarmac and not much else, we now have lovely raised planters which are also helping wildlife and the environment. The service users at New Horizons have enjoyed helping with the creation of the Rain Gardens and they now have a new place to go to
enjoy wildlife and get some peace and quiet.’
3.6.5 Working in the Rhondda – Sarah Woodcock In 2015 WTSWW were funded by NRW to host a Wildlife Sites Officer for 18 months to establish a landscape scale partnership led conservation project in the Rhondda.
The project developed from one of the three exploratory trials conducted by NRW as a result of the Environment (Wales) Act that creates legislation for the management of Wales’ natural resources. The trial in the Rhondda (2014-2016) held extensive consultations to investigate the key priorities and opportunities within the Rhondda valleys. A priority that emerged from these discussions was the need for a joined-up approach to help reduce the scale and impact of wildfires, whilst improving hillside habitat. The partnership includes Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC, NRW, WTSWW, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Welsh Government, Public Health Wales, South Wales Police, Butterfly Conservation, PONT and neighbouring CBCs Neath Port Talbot, Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly.
The Rhondda valleys host an extensive tract of connected mosaic habitat that, in contrast to the wider countryside, has enhanced its value for wildlife having, in the main, not been subject to agricultural improvement or development. These habitats support a wide selection of species characteristic of the area such as the Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Skylark, Nightjar and Adder. The potential for this landscape however is not being realised due to the legacy of industry (reclamation schemes with no follow-up management), extensive forestry (drainage of deep peat soils and loss of upland habitats) and an annual pattern of localised large uncontrolled wildfires (arson). The initial stage of the project involved a priority mapping exercise which highlighted the large extent of land in public ownership: approximately 40% Welsh Government Estate managed as NRW Forestry and 20% RCT CBC. In addition the majority of the hillside and upland area is selected as Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) (See image: SINCs= orange hatching, Black Line = Rhondda catchment
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area, grey = urban area). Following the mapping exercise priority sites have been selected for development of management plans with initial pilot management in 2016 that incudes: coordination with SWFRS on establishing controlled burn fire breaks as part of their internal wildlife control training programme; new ways of collecting wildfire data (mapping of perimeter of burn areas); bracken bruising using horses on the shallower slopes; cutting regimes to assist recovery of burnt areas.
This pilot work is informing the development, alongside the partnership, local landowners and the community, of a long-term strategy for implementing positive management of the SINC sites. Further opportunities include coordinated upland bog restoration (currently initiated through individual s106
agreements as a result of windfarm development) and extensive conservation grazing to restore the Ffridd and upland habitats.
3.6.6 West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands – Tara Daniels The West Glamorgan’s Wild Woodlands Project covers twelve woodlands within the 15 mile radius of the WREN site which fall across parts of the Gower, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot area funded by WREN provided by FCC Environment to the Landfill Communities Fund. The project focuses on improving habitat, controlling invasive non-native species (INNS), engaging with local communities, and ensuring continuation of management.
The project started in September 2015 when there was a heavy emphasis on practical woodland management such as clearing rhododendron, coppicing, thinning and respacing, a lot of which was match funded by the Glastir Woodland Management project, but very time constrained. As many of you will know the beginning of April marked the change of season, and type of work as the ‘bird breeding season’ officially began. Since then the work has
shifted to surveys and writing of management plans. The plans are a work in progress and will be added to as additional data is being collected during the rest of the season. A woodland ground flora survey and breeding bird survey have already taken place on Gower as well as in Neath area including looking for Pied Flycatcher in Craig Cilhendre. Though he project will still continue to carry out INNS control of summer species, with this shift in work pattern, the volunteer work parties have been largely given back to Paul to work on other reserves not covered by the project, at least until September.
With a 23% increase in volunteer numbers in 2016, volunteer days have been brought up to 51 over Jan and February. Advertising continues as we would like to develop our work with volunteers further in this area.
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4. Marine Conservation
2015-16 was a significant year for WTSWW’s marine conservation. Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre, with whom we had worked closely in partnership for many years, fully incorporated into WTSWW at the start of the financial year. Staff had already been on WTSWW’s payroll, but from April 2015 the full running of CBMWC and its staff came onto WTSWW’s books. CBWMC therefore officially became WTSWW’s marine team, although the Centre retains its distinctive identity and brand that is so well known locally.
4.1 Future Fisheries - Sarah Perry To plan a sustainable future for the traditional fishing industry and the marine environment, conservationists and marine biologists need to work directly with fishermen to bring the two strands of knowledge together. To achieve our aims, we needed to begin with improved accessible information and this lay at the heart of our Future Fisheries project. The current phase of the project, reported in part last year, was completed during 2015-16. This project aim was to paint a picture of a sustainable fishing industry in Wales, with a clear understanding of those practices that could have an impact on species population levels and marine habitats to the extent that the ecosystem may be affected. We can then help promote low impact fishing practices and work with the fishing industry and regulators to look into adapting those which are not. Through liaison with stakeholders our Future Fisheries project identified that information on the fishing industry in Wales is not easily available; with different data sets and reports held in various locations, with much information not easily accessible and often difficult to decipher.
In addition, to be able to promote low impact fishing practises and be able to make informed decisions on “which fish to eat” we require more detailed information on and an improved understanding of the current structure of the Welsh Sea Fisheries, information on fishing practises as well as current and historic trends associated with the Welsh fishing industry. To fully understand the fishing industry we require information on the management of the fishing industry, the issues and trends that guide the fishing industry.
Our Living Seas: Future Fisheries, The Welsh Fishing Industry report draws together information currently available on the fishing industry in Wales. Landings data from 2012 was analysed in order to identify information on the trends in the fishing industry in Wales and provide information for future discussions and partnership working with the industry.
This work helps us to begin to understand the local, national and international pressures and how they are shaping the future of Wales’ fishing industry, as well as identifying gaps in data and resources. Our aim was to gain an idea of which fisheries; the species, caught locally, by low impact methods can be supported and which cannot. This information will help guide further Future fisheries and other Living Seas work.
Another part of the Future Fisheries project involved working with people who come into contact with the marine environment whether because they live by the coast, visit the coast, use the sea for recreation or simply because they consume or sell fish. We wanted to raise awareness of the marine environment and fisheries in particular, helping people understand
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why it is important and how they can help, particularly in their capacity as consumers and retailers. We also aim to add value to the information held by statutory bodies and provide information for the public that is easily accessible. As part of our Future Fisheries project we liaised with representatives from Welsh Government departments, representatives of the fishing industry including the Welsh Fishermen’s Association, academics who have been involved in Fisheries management and research in Wales, over 20 fishmongers, 8 seafood merchants and 58 local restaurants/cafes, other relevant organisations and representatives from local councils and members of the public with an interest in fisheries in Wales. We identified sources and at the same time, realised how little information is known about the industry. In addition to our ‘Living Seas: Future Fisheries, The Welsh Fishing Industry’ report, we produced a second report, ‘Living Seas: Future Fisheries, Assessment of Welsh Fisheries’. This assessment involved the identification of the top ten species of sea fish and shellfish of importance to the Welsh fishing industry (Welsh fishing vessels landing into Welsh ports). For the top ten species identified which included common whelk, European Lobster, King Scallop, European Seabass, Edible Crab, Common Prawn, Spider Crab, Common Sole, Crawfish and Thornback Ray a simple sustainability assessment was conducted. The assessment methodology and the report followed a similar format to that developed by Devon Wildlife Trust. The Future Fisheries assessment aimed to take into consideration fishing methods, fish species being caught and commercially important species according to the fish landings information into Wales for 2013. The report produced represents our assessment of the ecological sustainability of the sea fish and fishing around the south and west coast of Wales and is based on best evidence, raw data and information available at the time of writing. Data collated to support our Living Seas: Future Fisheries, Assessment of Welsh Fisheries’. included information on species biology, current management and the identification of capture methods. In addition as part of the Future Fisheries project we were interested in the Deck to Dinner plate scenario, in order to find out about the origin and destination of fish caught in Wales. We carried out a small pilot study in which we interviewed the local fishers, fish mongers, seafood merchants and local restaurants that we had contacted, to build up a picture and greater understanding of the Deck to Dinner plate in Wales. This is something that could be further developed in the future in order to gain a real understanding of the scenario. The results of the pilot study are documented in the Living Seas: Future Fisheries, Assessment of Welsh Fisheries’ report on the WTSWW and CBMWC websites. In addition to the two main reports produced as part of the Future Fisheries project we also produced a range of interpretive artefacts this included:
Recipe Book entitled ‘Wild Welsh Fish Dish recipe book’. To produce this book we worked with local establishments and Living Seas champions to showcase a range dishes, using seafood caught locally in Welsh waters using low impact methods. The recipe book is available for sale at Wildlife Trust outlets; the cost of the book will cover the cost of re-prints.
Cardigan Bay Sea Quest – is the first 3D virtual reality game of its kind in Wales and forms an important part of our Future Fisheries project. It is a unique 360 degree
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virtual reality experience using the latest Oculus Rift (O.R) technology and is designed to help raise awareness of the marine environment whilst fostering an understanding of the local fishing industry in an entirely new way that inspires the whole family. Cardigan Bay Sea Quest was launched on Saturday 11th July at the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre in New Quay, which officially became the base for our Living Seas Marine team of staff and volunteers on the 1st April 2015. A video of the launch can be found on our YouTube channel. Sea Quest has been an excellent way to start to engage people with Living Seas and Future Fisheries.
The Future Fisheries project has highlighted the need to continue to raise awareness of the marine environment as a whole, and the importance of the environment to local industries as well as wildlife. By raising awareness in this way, we can help to foster behavioural changes in consumers, retailers and fishers.
4.2 Marine Research Summary – Sarah Perry Multiple Living Seas research and monitoring projects continue to take place at the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre. Projects include:
ShoreFin Project – 2015 was the second year of our ShoreFin project, our shore based dolphin photo-identification project based in New Quay bay. Throughout the 2015 field season sixty-one bottlenose dolphins were identified from photographs taken by the ShoreFin project in New Quay bay. The results from the project indicate that New Quay bay is a favoured area for mothers and their young and those animals visiting the area were primarily foraging. A number of dolphins were observed feeding in the bay, this enabled the project to photograph and subsequently identify important prey species, these include Salmon, Mullet, Mackerel and Bass. This project has been hugely successful both in terms of the research data collected and for raising awareness of the work of the Living Seas team based at CBMWC as well as for raising awareness of the marine environment with members of the public. The full report is available to download from the WTSWW website.
Dolphin Watch surveys in collaboration with Ceredigion County Council continued throughout the 2015 season with a total of 1006 surveys from New Quay harbour wall being conducted between March to December. This provides valuable information that contributes to the management or the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and helps to monitor the effectiveness of the local codes of conduct.
Boat Based surveys - Our long-term collaboration with local eco-tourism operator Dolphin Survey Boat Trips continued during the 2015 field season which enabled us to conduct
193 vessel based surveys out into Cardigan Bay. Our volunteer researchers spent 483 hours collecting data during vessel surveys and recorded a total of 1045 dolphins, 932 Atlantic grey seals, and 96 harbour porpoises. The longer surveys (4 hour and All Day surveys) enabled us to continue collecting data for our Cardigan Bay bottlenose dolphin photo-identification project. Data collected through these vessel
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based surveys have been used in various publications including the Atlas of Marine Mammals of Wales 2012, JNCC’s Joint Cetacean Protocol and more recently it has been used to determine potential Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for Harbour Porpoises.
Dolphin Acoustics – Our acoustic data collection continued throughout the 2015 field season and in April 2016 part of this research was published in a peer reviewed paper; Helen M Hiley, Sarah Perry, Steve Hartley and Stephanie L King (2016), What’s Occurring? Ultrasonic signature whistle use in Welsh bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), in the journal of Bioacoustics.
SeaSeals Project (Atlantic Grey Seal Photo-identification) - The seal photo-ID project continued sorting and analysing historical and new images taken in 2015 with the aim of creating a catalogue of individuals photographed in Cardigan Bay area in order to learn more about their travelling habits and areas that are important to them. We are collaborating with other organisations working in the Irish Sea in order to learn more about their wider movements and areas of importance to this species.
Atlantic Grey seal breeding site census - three dedicated seal surveys were conducted in collaboration with Dolphin Survey Boat Trips. The surveys were conducted aboard DSBT’s rib Orca, a 6m Humber rib (rigid inflatable boat). Surveys took place on the 28th September (New Quay to Ynys Lochtyn), 2nd October (Llanon to Aberystwyth) and 4th October (Ynys Lochtyn to Cemaes Head). A total of 16 seal pupping sites were identified between Aberystwyth and Cemaes Head.
Unusual sightings report – A mapping exercise to look at the sightings, recorded during boat surveys, deemed as unusual in the Cardigan Bay area between 2005-2015; it includes unusual marine birds, jellyfish species or frequencies of jellyfish, Sunfish and other marine mammals or large vertebrates. A full version of this report is available to download from the CBMWC website.
Our Living Seas Science Officer Sarah Perry also supervised a number of student projects including; ‘Social interactions of Bottlenose Dolphins which behaved aggressively towards harbour porpoises in the Cardigan Bay SAC in 2014’ by Rebecca Bakker, ‘An Investigation into the effects of boat proximity on the behaviour of Bottlenose Dolphins in Cardigan Bay’ by Sinead Martin and ‘Investigating the potential impacts of vessel activity on Bottlenose Dolphin behaviour’ by Emma Lowe.
Further more detailed information on all of these projects and studies can be found in the WTSWW Research report.
4.3 Living Seas, outreach & awareness raising – Natalie Brown
In 2015 our Living Seas Team appointed a part time Living Seas Awareness Officer to lead on the development, coordination and delivery of a programme of environmental education and community marine awareness activities linked to our living seas work. In addition to all our outreach awareness events and activities between April 2015 and the
end March 2016 we welcomed over 18,000 visitors through our visitor centre doors. Our Living Seas Team based at CBMWC provide year round marine environmental workshops and activities to schools and groups of all ages. CBMWC also has a programme of events, which run throughout the school holidays. These events and activities are an
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essential tool for engaging with the public, for raising awareness of the local marine wildlife and the threats they face as well as providing an opportunity to disseminate information on all the Living Seas conservation and research work of the WTSWW. Between April 2015 and April 2016 our Living Seas Team hosted and participated in a total of 84 events, talks and educational stalls, allowing us to engage with approximately 2,429 people. This engagement also gave CBMWC the opportunity to raise money through donations to help support the Living Seas team valuable marine conservation work. Throughout the year, during the school holidays CBMWC hosted a range of children’s events including Marine Mondays (drop in marine themed crafts and games), Seashore Safaris (educational rock pooling) and Become a Dolphin Detective (dolphin themed games and a mini land survey). The Living Seas team received great feedback from these events, with many people returning to participate in other events offered by CBMWC, or returning to the same event several times during the holidays.
The Living Seas team also delivered three talks to outside groups and put on marine educational activities for four children’s groups including primary schools, the Girl Guides and a large children’s group from Kent. We also had the opportunity to attend external events such as the Ray Ceredigion Play event on 5th August 2015 in Aberaeron and the Aberystwyth Sea2Shore Festival on 22nd August 2015 enabling us to engage with more than 600 additional people.
CBMWC staff and volunteers undertake beach cleans on a regular basis, during this year a total of 68 beach cleans where carried out, collecting a total 20,241 pieces of litter from New Quay’s beaches and surrounding area. The team also organised several large community beach cleans with Keep Wales Tidy and Surfer Against Sewage, where members of the public and local schools also participated.
WTSWW is grateful to Natural Resources Wales for funding this project.
4.4 Living Seas, volunteers – Laura Evans Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre (CBMWC) continues to rely on the generous help and support of Living Seas volunteers in order to carry out much of our research and awareness raising work. Volunteers played a vital role in establishing CBMWC and continue to make a difference to the work of CBMWC, allowing us to reach our aims and objectives and improve and achieve year after year.
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CBMWC offers volunteering opportunities to both those living locally to New Quay as well as people from across the UK and worldwide who wish to become involved with our work. Our local volunteers commit to a few hours a week, all year round whereas, our seasonal volunteers join us from March to November for different time periods, volunteering full time in order to gain valuable work experience or as part of university placements. From April 2015 to March 2016, 58 (19 local and 39 seasonal) volunteers donated around 14,000 volunteer hours to CBMWC. Living Seas Volunteers assisted with a range of activities including land and boat based marine mammal surveys, data entry, running our busy visitor centre, assisting with educational events and activities and conducting beach cleans.
Discovering Living Seas Project Our Discovering Living Seas Project, supported by the Volunteering Wales Fund (VWF) via the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), started in July 2015 and has enabled our Living Seas team to continue and develop our volunteering programme. The project has also enabled us to recruit, train and support a larger number of volunteers. Through this project our Living Seas team at CBMWC are working towards the Investing In Volunteers (IiV) Standard. We will use the IiV Health check to assess our volunteering practises and we will then work with our assessor to achieve the IiV accreditation. This process will allow us to ensure that our volunteers receive the best training, management and support; it will also highlight our commitment to our volunteers and best practise in volunteer management. As part of the project our Living Seas team have developed an in-house volunteer accreditation scheme, The Discovering Living Seas Portfolio. This scheme aims to develop skills and knowledge in various key modules and is a way for volunteers to demonstrate and provide evidence to employers of the skills that they have developed during their volunteering time. Volunteers must complete at total of six core modules, including marine mammal surveying techniques, marine species identification, conservation and the public and running a visitor centre to achieve the Discovering Living Seas Certificate. The portfolio is currently being trialled by our Living Seas volunteers at the CBMWC and with their input and feedback we will continue the development of the scheme over the next year.
Volunteers are an essential part of the Living Seas Team at CBMWC and much of our research and awareness raising work could not be done without the contribution of our dedicated volunteers.
Thank you to all our funders and volunteers for their help and support.
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5. Campaigns
WTSWW, along with many Wildlife Trusts, runs high profile campaigns on conservation
issues that are pressing either nationally or sometimes locally within their patch. Here we
describe our work towards one campaign that has remained high profile in the last year.
5.1 Badgers and bovine TB
The issue of badgers and bovine TB has remained high profile in the last year with the progress of culls in England and Badger vaccination in Wales. During the summer of 2015, WTSWW continued to support Welsh Government in the delivery of the Badger vaccination policy. We worked with Welsh Government in north Pembrokeshire, with WTSWW land forming part of the government-led vaccination programme in the Intensive Action Area. We also promoted their work in the Welsh Wildlife Centre. We also continued with our second year of badger vaccination at Castle Woods nature reserve. In 2015, vaccination occurred in the Castle block on the mornings of 28 and 29 July and in the South Lodge / Church block on the mornings of 30 and 31 July. Trapping was very successful, with a total of 27 unique individuals vaccinated over the four nights, including 23 cubs. A significant number of re-traps occurred on the second night of each session. On this basis we have good grounds for believing we successfully vaccinated a large proportion of the resident Badger population. We have been fortunate to benefit from financial support to undertake the Badger vaccination work at Castle Woods. Fifty percent of the project costs are being met by the Welsh Government Badger vaccination grant. The rest has been provided by WTSWW core funds, a Badger vaccination appeal by WTSWW to its members, and funding from the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Later in the year it was announced that a global shortage of the BCG vaccine (used for both humans and Badgers) meant that no vaccine would be available for Badger vaccination programmes in the UK in 2016. WTSWW recognises the priority of human health and the necessity of making this unfortunate decision, and supports Welsh Government in its attempts to resolve this situation. Modelling work has suggested that an interruption will not be problematic and we hope very much that vaccination will continue at the first opportunity. WTSWW continues to oppose Badger culling, and support Badger vaccination and, going forward, work to make cattle vaccination possible.
6. Media and public awareness All of the Conservation Team are involved in media work to varying degrees during the year,
working in partnership with other staff teams to deliver our message.
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6.1 Media work Figures from the Conservation Team staff show that they participated in fifteen radio
interviews, fourteen television appearances, and a minimum of thirty local newspaper and
magazine articles. However this will be an under-estimate, as we do not currently fully
capture the output of the Team’s media work. This area is reported more fully by the
marketing and communications department. However, it remains an important part of the
Conservation Team’s remit.
6.2 Talks and presentations During the last year, members of the conservation team delivered 75 talks, reaching an
estimated total audience of 2218 individuals. This is an increase on 58 delivered during the
previous year.
6.3 Events Conservation Team staff ran a very large number of public walks and rambles during 2015-
16. A total of 155 walks were recorded, led by staff, with an estimated total of 1548
attendees. The majority of these events occurred on our nature reserves. A total of 42
training days were also run or organised by Conservation Team staff, training up 223
individuals; these include twenty training days run by Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre
and the formal training programme offered by Parc Slip.
Conservation Team staff recorded an additional 66 staff-led community events that they had
organised (reaching 1202 people) and CBMWC ran a further 71 marine-themed events,
reaching 1852 people. A further sixty events were attended by staff, events that were
organised by partners. Events held in partnership can include, for example, attendance at
large national shows such as the Spring Festival (Llanelwedd) or British Birdwatching Fair
(Rutland), the latter reaching over 20,000 people and engaging a critical audience for our
Pembrokeshire islands. County shows and small local events are also an important
component of our engagement work.
CASE STUDY: Unknown Wales conference 2015
In the year 2000 the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales joined forces with the National Museum of Wales to run a conference to celebrate Welsh wildlife. Every year since, the ‘Unknown Wales’ Conference has been a day dedicated to the unknown and underappreciated wildlife of Wales. The conference consists of a series of talks on some of these lesser known species groups, presented by experts at the top of their field. The talks are designed to inspire and interest people in habitats or species that are not often in the public eye.
In 2015 the conference did just this, delivering talks on a wide range of Welsh wildlife and natural heritage, including a presentation by Ben Evans on the geology of South Wales
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coalfields. Dr. Wendy Harris explained her research on the endangered Fen Orchid (Liparis loeselii), and Julian Carter delved into the mysterious world of limestone caves of Wales. Dr. Dan Forman gave an animated talk on the widely overlooked and poorly understood Polecat (Mustela putorius), and Colin Cheesman from Plantlife Cymru described how our precious native arable flora is vanishing fast. Perhaps the only iconic species to be included in the conference was the Osprey. Clive Faulkner, from Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, gave an account of the pioneering conservation project for Osprey that they are carrying out on the Dyfi Estuary in Mid Wales. To finish the conference, Professor Dianne Edwards, Fellow of the Royal Society and former President of the Linnean Society, gave a talk on the early evolution of land plants in Wales. This was one of the most important events in the evolution of life, resulting in the subsequent spread of plants and animals across the surface of the Earth, but it is rarely celebrated. The conference has been growing in popularity in South Wales; in 2015 there were over 200 attendees, and it provides an excellent opportunity for anyone to learn about wildlife and natural history, for free. We look forward to the Unknown Wales conference in 2016 and hope to be able to continue to educate and inspire people about unknown Welsh wildlife in the future. Many thanks to everyone who has helped to make it possible.
Lorna Baggett
CASE STUDY: Conservation day at Aberthaw
The reserve is managed in partnership between RWE npower Aberthaw Power Station and the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The day concentrates on key activities for preserving the area which has important Welsh habitats for a wide variety of flora and fauna, including a vegetated shingle bank, lagoon (one of only four in Wales) and sand dunes.
Since the Wildlife Trust became involved in 2003, 1052 species have been formally recorded. Of these 62 appear on the Section 42 list of species of principal concern for the conservation of biodiversity in Wales. Held in October, this event aims to prepare the Reserve for Spring so there is some forward planning to the tasks although some are reactive. This year the focus is to maintain flower rich neutral grassland, and maintain the access, and the meadow is mown annually to reduce the fertility making this excellent for wild flowers and orchids.
Thanks to all the volunteers that helped on this day. Tim Jones
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6.4 Wildlife queries Responding to queries about wildlife from WTSWW members and members of the public is
an important area of work, facilitating others to become more interested and to do their bit for
wildlife. Although difficult to record accurately, we believe members of the Conservation
Team responded to around one thousand such queries over the year. We also engaged with
other landowners seeking advice; we estimate seventy five landowners were advised in total
on issues relating to land management, influencing very approximately 1000 ha of land in
total, mainly through our Wildlife Sites project delivered by Sarah Woodcock.
Common queries included members of the public wanting to report sightings such as
Polecat, Grass Snake and other less commonly seen species, bats and development (or
bats stuck in houses), control of non-native species such as Japanese Knotweed, reports of
poor land management such as hedgerow trimming during the bird breeding season, and
requests for support with planning issues. In all cases where WTSWW staff could not deal
with the query themselves, the details were referred on to the relevant third party (such as
police Wildlife Crime officers, Welsh Government EIA Agriculture officers etc).
7. Consultancy and contracts
7.1 Consultancy A number of members of the Conservation Team also operate an ecological consultancy for
WTSWW, headed by Rob Parry. This work holds its own budget and is not reported in detail
here. However, the consultancy work is delivered by core staff and returns significant income
which is re-invested in our conservation work. Through the consultancy we also operate a
seasonal programme of professional training days based at Parc Slip which delivers against
our charitable objectives as well as raising income for WTSWW.
CASE STUDY: Ecological Appraisal of the Churchyard at St Augustine’s, Penarth
St Augustine’s is a Grade I listed Victorian church in Penarth. It was designed by architect William Butterfield and built between 1865 and 1866, replacing an earlier medieval church. The churchyard is over an acre in size and is now closed for burials. It consists of a mixture of closely-mowed and rank semi-improved neutral grassland around many old and decaying tombs and gravestones. It surrounds all sides of the church, but the main area looks towards Cardiff and has impressive views. The upkeep of the area is becoming more difficult as costs restrict regular maintenance, with scrub gradually encroaching on areas previously able to be cut. WTSWW was first approached by The Friends of St. Augustine’s in January 2015 to ascertain whether we could identify suitable grant bodies that could potentially fund the Friends’ natural and cultural heritage project. After successfully securing an Environment Wales grant, the Friends were able to appoint WTSWW, after a competitive tender process, to undertake a preliminary ecological appraisal of the churchyard at St Augustine’s Church. As part of the contract it was expected that local stakeholders were contacted and the local community involved as much as possible. The rationale of the survey and report was to undertake a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal
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of the churchyard which encompassed all flora and fauna present in the site. WTSWW were then to advise on the suitability of the site as an area of public green space where continued use by wildlife could be accommodated alongside its enjoyment by the local community, and as a resource to encourage greater understanding of wildlife and biodiversity. Objectives included:
1 Survey the churchyard and provide a site plan to scale 1:200 indicating best areas for conservation and the development for wildlife; preservation of graves; areas for sitting and relaxing; paths/access points.
2 Identify what wildlife is currently present within the identified area – including bats, especially whether the church was currently host to bat roosts.
3 Identify all plants, trees and lichens and report on which are likely to thrive and could be encouraged.
4 Generally report on the suitability of the site as a place that could be used as an environmental centre.
5 Prepare an outline long-term management plan, which should take account of any species which would need special protection.
Due to the difficulty in identifying lichens, a specialist was contracted to carry out a full survey of the churchyard. Churchyards are often productive places for lichens due to the variety of stones, vegetation and microhabitats that are present. The locations of any notable species were noted and could potentially influence future management of specific headstones etc. WTSWW staff then carried out botanical surveys of the churchyard in which areas with higher botanical interest were noted on a map in order to help direct future management. Other surveys carried out including birds, reptiles and invertebrates. External bat emergence surveys were undertaken in locations where we had identified potential emergence sites during a daytime inspection of the building. A number of community events were run in order to allow local residents to experience and learn about some of the wildlife that lives in and around the churchyard. These included bat walks, moth trap events and nature walks in which WTSWW staff walked around the churchyard checking reptile refugia and catching and identifying as many invertebrates as possible. Flowering plants were also identified and any queries from members of the public answered. These walks helped to illustrate how valuable churchyards can be for a range of wildlife. At the end of the project an outline long-term management plan was produced which takes account of any protected species present on the site.
Vaughn Matthews
CASE STUDY: Monitoring Water Voles in the Tywi forest
Since 2012, WTSWW has been funded by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), formerly Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) to undertake a survey and subsequent monitoring of Water Voles in the Welsh uplands. The Tywi Wildwood project covers a vast area of the Cambrian Mountains in central Wales, extending over the counties of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Powys. The area consists primarily of NRW Llanymyddyfri Forest District managed conifer plantation, with adjacent areas of moorland, heathland and rhos pasture.
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Amongst the conifer trees can be found a host of different wetland habitats for Water Voles, including ditches, streams and pools. After first confirming the presence of Water Vole in the Tywi Forest in 2012, WTSWW have been undertaking annual surveys and a monitoring programme designed to understand more about the Water Vole’s conservation status in the area. Although surveys have shown that Water Voles are found throughout the Tywi Forest, many of the habitats appear to be isolated in the landscape. As part of the project, NRW are restoring areas previously managed as conifer plantation to open habitats such as heath and blanket bog, giving WTSWW the opportunity to create and restore a large are of Water Vole habitat. Hopefully this will not only create more habitats for Water Voles, but importantly help connect existing habitat and populations, making the Water Vole population as a whole more robust in future.
Efforts at the Tywi Wildwood are now turning to more habitat creation, such as ditch blocking and pool creation as well as more intensive monitoring and genetic analysis, to see for certain whether the populations are isolated or connected.
Rob Parry
7.2 Contracting
The Conservation Team regularly carries out contracting work to bring in an income to
support the work on WTSWW reserves. Using the skills within the team along with our tools
and equipment by delivering appropriate contracts we can have a beneficial impact on the
wider environment. These vary from the team in Vale & Valleys carrying out footpath
improvements to benefit local communities, to the Pembrokeshire team managing five
Environmental Mitigation Areas besides the A40 for civil engineering firm COSTAIN with the
aim of enhancing these areas and creating valuable species-rich grassland and wetland
habitats. The team delivers a variety of such work across the entire WTSWW area.
CASE STUDY: Tree safety surveys
The significant investment necessary in tree safety work on WTSWW’s own property has been recorded above. Regular safety checks (especially in high risk locations and after poor weather) and mitigation and clear-up work form a significant part of the workload of all WTSWW’s mainland reserve managers. The skills gained through this route, including LANTRA training as well as many years experience, have allowed WTSWW staff to offer this expertise to partners through the land management contracting that we undertake.
During 2015-16, WTSWW undertook and co-ordinated a number of tree safety surveys under contract to Bilfinger Europa, on sites owned and managed by Cadw. WTSWW work closely with Cadw, and in the case of Dinefwr, the tree safety surveys undertaken around the castle for Cadw were directly adjacent to WTSWW’s own woodland property at Castle Woods, allowing us to take a wider view of tree safety in the area. The income received from this kind of land management contracting is directly re-invested in the Conservation Team.
Lizzie Wilberforce & Paul Thornton
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CASE STUDY: Monitoring Grey Seals on Skomer Island We are fortunate to receive contract income on Skomer for the monitoring of the Grey Seal population each autumn. This work is undertaken under contract to Natural Resources Wales, who monitor the Grey Seal population throughout the Marine Conservation Zone, of which the Skomer beaches form part. The Skomer monitoring in 2015 was undertaken by wardens Eddie Stubbings and Bee Büche, with support during the busiest month from Alex Dodds. In total, 246 pups were monitored on Skomer Island in 2015, of which 240 were definitely born on Skomer and six turned up either just before the start of moult, or moulting (wanderers). The total of 240 pups born on Skomer Island is the highest total ever recorded and 25 more than in 2014. 178 pups are known, or assumed to have survived on Skomer in 2015, giving a survival rate of 76%, which is higher than 2014 (68%) and in line with the average of the last ten years (76%). In 2015 the maximum haul-out of 360 animals was recorded on 16/11 on exactly the same date as the 2014 maximum haul-out (300 animals). A total of 27 different cows, and three bulls were photographed with obvious signs of being entangled in nets at some time in their lives, often with netting still embedded.
In 2015, over 2800 photos were taken of seals, of which 477 will be entered into the NRW Wales Seal ID database. We identified 90 seals with obvious scars by eye, of these 43 were known from previous years The whole report is available on the WTSWW and NRW websites.
Eddie Stubbings & Bee Büche
8. Education
Education work undertaken by the Conservation Team occurs largely through our input to
events and school visits to our flagship nature reserves. The greatest part was delivered
through our partnership with Dow Corning, who fund our Education Officer, Catherine Lewis.
The Education programme over 2015/16 included:
Visits to the reserves by schools and community groups for Outdoor Learning
Participation in school Eco Clubs
Schools grounds advice and improvements to encourage wildlife as an aid to learning
Wildlife Watch Group – included planting, invasive species control and orchid seed collecting
Wildlife Awareness Events
Pollinators Projects
During the year, WTSWW staff engaged with 46 primary schools, 9 secondary schools, and
five universities as well as many scout groups, and formal and informal continuing education
groups. Many of these schools took part in repeat visits to WTSWW sites.
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CASE STUDY: Cadoxton Ponds
Local Primary School Well-being & Nurture Group: These visits are ongoing, taking place every school term, with the aim to give the children new skills outdoors and increase their confidence. The group completed a variety of survey work and practical reserve management. They also grew Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) from seed, a late flowering nectar source for Shrill Carder Bee, at school, and then planted these out on the reserve as part of the Pollinators Project (pictured).
Catherine Lewis
CASE STUDY: Planting up Parc Slip’s courtyard
The Wildlife Watch Group, including parents and grandparents, transformed the courtyard, planting readily available garden plants, herbs and shrubs, with the aim to attract a range of pollinators to the raised bed area. They learnt about pollinating insects, and that when selecting plants for their own gardens, to look for the ‘Pollinators’ symbol. They also took home a plant to help them start to create their very own wildlife rich garden havens.
Catherine Lewis
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9. Plans for 2016-17 Conditions during the current financial year and coming years continue to be tight, with further and deeper cuts yet to come to local authorities and Natural Resources Wales. Against this backdrop of reducing funding, we are simultaneously seeing an increase in demand for our work and resources, as other people seek to find alternative ways of delivering biodiversity work. We will continue, as a result, to work hard to raise both grant funding but also unrestricted core funding through consultancy and contracting work to ensure that we can continue to deliver conservation work to the standard we have in recent years, and maintain our commitment to the routine habitat management and monitoring work that is so very important on our nature reserves. This will be a focus for the coming year. Exciting new projects which we look forward to developing further include Mountains to Marshes, a living landscape project focussed around the Rhondda valley and Tonyrefail area, and some new ideas for marine conservation projects at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre for which we hope to seek funding during the year. We also hope to secure a long term lease from Natural Resources Wales to manage Llyn Fach, an upland lake surrounded by cliff, scree, heath and bog in Neath Port Talbot. And last but not least, we will continue commit effort to the Wales Beaver Partnership in the hope of securing a licence for the reintroduction of Beavers to the wild in Wales.
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Published by The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales The Nature Centre
Fountain Road Tondu
Bridgend CF32 0EH 01656 724100
[email protected] May 2016