How should we approach rewilding?

John Hiskett, Senior Conservation Officer

Rewilding. The term is often used but the practice varies from less intensive management of existing nature reserves to George Monbiot’s vison of uplands and the large scale projects in continental Europe where whole landscapes are being returned to a pre-industrial farming model.

One model, closer to home, is that followed by the Knepp Estate in Sussex which I had the opportunity to visit in early September. Knepp covers 3,500 acres set in rolling countryside between The Weald and South Downs and has been developing as a rewilding project since 2002.

At first glance, Knepp appears to be like any other area of grazed farmland but it soon becomes clear that things are very different. Hedges are wide and sprawling and in early September covered in berries unlike the closely trimmed hedges of most farmland. Fields are largely unfenced and grazing animals are free to wander between them. Many fields are developing a patchwork of hawthorn and blackthorn dominated scrub with willow in wetter areas.

The re-wilding experiment is driven by grazing animals, which include Old English Longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, red, roe and fallow deer and Tamworth pigs, which are left to roam free within 3 large enclosures. These animals are frequently encountered but are fairly sparsely scattered throughout the project area. This has led to welcome but unplanned increases in the ecological value of the area. Benefits of the increase in scrub has resulted in Knepp currently holding one of the largest breeding concentrations of nightingales in Britain, and becoming the top purple emperor breeding site in the UK. In addition turtle doves, which are in steep decline elsewhere, are increasing.

The economic model at Knepp includes agri-environment payments, income from safaris and income from a camping and glamping site which has been established in recent years, along with income from sales of free range meat. This latter highlights a major difference between Knepp and other well-known rewilding projects such as Oostvaardersplassen in Netherlands. At Knepp numbers of grazers are controlled by culling with the resulting organic free range meat adding to the income of the estate, whereas at Oostvaardersplassen grazing animals are left to live and die naturally. However, the lack of predators means that numbers are very high, giving the impression at first glance of herds of animals in African savannah. As a result, Oostvaardersplassen has progressed from a landscape with large numbers of trees and areas of scrub, when I first visited 10 years ago to almost bare grassland due to overgrazing, as was apparent on a visit earlier this year. In comparison at Knepp where numbers are artificially controlled through culling, well wooded parkland is developing with high biodiversity value.

What lessons are there for re-wilding projects elsewhere? The different forms of re-wilding all have their place and new projects should seek to use the most appropriate model. Oostvaardersplassen is attempting to create wholly wild landscape but absence of predators means that numbers of grazing animals have increased to a level which some argue is having a detrimental effect on the ecology of the habitat. In contrast at Knepp and other similar projects there is a return is to a more extensively managed landscape that is rich in some of the biodiversity that has been lost over much of lowland Britain as a result of agricultural intensification in recent decades. However, this model may need to be modified in areas where sensitive and rare habitats require management intervention if they are to persist in their current form.

 
Although bigger is obviously better it would be possible to establish extensive management at a smaller scale than at Knepp and one could argue that NWT and others are already doing this in places such as Roydon and Grimston Common. A Living Landscape in a farmed lowland landscape could be made up of large nature reserves and areas of extensively managed farmland linked by wildlife rich ecological corridors.

Fungus Foray Fun

Fiona Roat, Breckland Local Group

The Breckland Local Group had a wonderful morning with Dr Tony Leech. he is a very enthusiastic, generous and knowledgeable guide.

On the day 32 species were found which included six new ones to the site records, bringing the site total to 208.

Although not new to the site or in any way rare, the Orange Mosscap (Rickenella fibula), pictured, is not easy to find at 1cm across, especially when there’s only one on it’s own!

We are already hoping to get Tony to guide us on a different site next autumn.

What’s wrong with the centre of Norfolk?

Mark Webster, Project Officer

Join us for a bat walk in NWT Foxley Wood

It’s a part of Norfolk that doesn’t get the attention it deserves but at least NWT hasn’t forgotten it… and neither have the Heritage Lottery Fund. A series of free events in central Norfolk (with more around North Walsham too) could be the ideal time for you to discover some hidden gems.

Ask people to think of wildlife in Norfolk and most of them will conjure up images of wading birds flying over our Northern coastline, or perhaps acres of reeds beside the world-famous Broads.  But there are lots of NWT reserves - and many other great places to see wildlife – right in the heart of the county. So often people get stuck in traffic jams heading for the seaside and they are going straight past some really wonderful woods, wetlands and heaths.

I often do a talk entitled “Rough and Common – the hidden wildlife gems of Mid-Norfolk” and every time I find that even people who have lived in the area all their lives are not aware of all the great places that they can visit on their doorsteps. I’ve been working in this area for two years now, and I’m certainly still discovering new places every month.

Many people come to Foxley Wood for the bluebells in spring – well, I can certainly understand that, they are absolutely stunning – but they miss out on seeing orchids there later in the year.  And there are lots more NWT reserves to see check out the cluster of sites between Dereham and Reepham, but you can also enjoy many other beautiful green spaces, including these:

Mayfields Farm

• Mayfields Farm at Themelthorpe is somewhere I have visited and worked at many times. There’s a great variety of habitats including grassland, a number of very different ponds, a small woodland and lots of species-rich hedgerow. 
• Bawdeswell Heath County Wildlife Site near Swanton Morley is one of my favourite places, as I have a particular fondness for heathland restoration projects. Walk through the birch woodland, passing some veteran oaks, and you will come to two open patches where heather is thriving despite the constant pressure from bracken, gorse and tree seedlings coming in. There’s a car park on the busy Swanton to Bawdeswell road, making this site easily found. 
• Carbrooke Millenium Green near Watton is a very impressive site for a relatively small village, with growing woodland, a maze, an orchard and a lovely pond. 
• Other great places to explore in central Norfolk include Dereham’s own Neatherd Moor and the 60 acres of Litcham Common.
  

Bawdeswell Heath

If you still don’t fancy wandering around these places alone, why not come with us?  As part of a Heritage Lottery Funded project, Norfolk Wildlife Trust in partnership with TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) are running a series of free short courses in central Norfolk (and, I should say, around North Walsham too).  Between 27 September and 10 November there are 11 chances to learn more about a wide range of different local flora and fauna, including bats, fungi, mosses, as well as discovering how to take great wildlife photos. 

There will be a bat walk at Foxley Wood, giving you the rare chance of exploring Norfolk’s largest ancient woodland at night. There are also two Mushroom Forays led by county fungi recorder, and real enthusiast for his subject, Tony Leech. 
 
Indoor events will include renowned wildlife cameraman, Jerry Kinsley showing some of his stunning nature photos, and sharing the secrets of his success, which includes the somewhat surprising use of a skateboard. Meanwhile, back outside, there will be two chances to find and identify some fascinating if oft-forgotten plants, the mosses, and see how marvellous these tiny plants really are! Just like the wildlife sites of mid-Norfolk themselves, we have all just gone past these ‘primitive’ organisms on the way to see something bigger, but they really repay closer inspection with a hand lens.

I’m really pleased to have got some real experts who are also great communicators to lead these sessions, so I do hope that you may be able to take advantage of some of these free opportunities to learn about local wildlife (and the history of the railways around North Walsham). 

For more details about how to join any of these walks and talks, please contact me via markw@norfolkwildlifetust.org.uk  or 07843 069 567, or see the What’s On pages of the NWT website.

Up the creek

Norfolk Wildlife Trust's David North explores Norfolk’s last true wilderness in a traditional crabbing vessel. 

Henry and My Girls, David North

Its 6.30am and I’m in Wells to meet Henry, and to board his restored crab boat, My Girls. It’s been blowing a brisk northerly for the last couple of days but fortunately the heavy skies and heavy rains of the last 24 hours have been blown elsewhere and the early morning sun is bright on Wells marshes.  And it’s the marshes I have come to explore.  Not many boats could attempt the narrow saltmarsh creeks that wind their way between Cley and Wells. And not many navigators know these creeks well enough to attempt the journey and find safe passage through this maze of sinuous, shallow and ever-changing channels. The great thing about ‘My Girls’ is her shallow draft. As long as we have a couple of feet of water under us Henry says we should be ok and that traditional crab boats were made for just this landscape.  So on a rising tide we are off, and with the town of Wells slowly disappearing behind us we head east towards Stiffkey and into a landscape as wild as anywhere on this planet.

Leaving Wells behind, David North

I love the North Norfolk coast – its wildlife and its wildness – and I think I know this coast quite well.   I have walked the marshes over many years and once was lucky enough to fly over them in a small plane, giving me a birds-eye-view and revealing intricate patterns invisible when you are on the ground.  But being in a boat brings a new perspective. Exploring the marshes on foot means being out at, or near, low tide.  Here in the boat we are out amongst the marshland on a rapidly rising tide. Everywhere is movement and change: what was solid land moments before becomes water. Water that moves in strange patterns with currents running both up and down a creek at the same time, creating swirls, mini-whirl-pools, upwellings, calm, oily flats and silver sunlit ripplings. 

 

Big skies across the Marshes, David North

We ground several times, but, on a rising tide, its usually just minutes before, with Henry at the tiller, our outboard swings us back into the current and eastwards towards Morston.  There are ancient wooden posts that jut from the mud that could easily punch a hole in a keel and in one place a low bridge where we must duck as we pass under.  From the boat of course there are those fantastic huge landscape views across samphire and sea-lavendar-decked marshes and those huge North Norfolk skies, horizon to horizon, above.  These will be familiar to all who love these marshes but for the moment, as we navigate creeks barely wider than the boat, it’s mud that holds my attention.   

'Cauliflower and mashed potato' mud, David North

The English language lacks enough words for mud: there is mud here with the texture of cauliflower and mashed potato. There is mud, shiny, smooth and silvered by sun. There is mud that is black, and brown and grey, and even orange in places. There is mud that sprouts miniature cacti forests of samphire and mud patterned with footprints of shelduck and redshank. There is join-the-dots mud, pricked with sowing-machine regularity, by the beaks of now invisible waders. As the tide rises towards its high it becomes harder to see the edges of the channels that our boat, My Girls, most move within. It’s strange to see just the tops of marsh plants waving over a sea of water. There are forests of sea asters, apparently floating, their flowers not quite open yet, but hinting at yellow and purples soon to come.

Oystercatchers, Blakeney Point, David North

Then a change of scene. We are out into open water and catching the full force of swell from those preceding days of northerly winds. It’s exhilarating, and if not quite a roller-coaster, certainly enough to make me hang on tight until we enter calmer waters in the lee of Blakeney Point.  There are black and white oystercatchers at the seaward end of the spit, roosting out the high tide which has covered their feeding grounds. A more careful look reveals dunlin, grey plovers and a single black-tailed godwit amongst them. The lives of these waders is driven more by tide than by day and night. They will feed all night if that’s when the tide is low and muddy feeding grounds are exposed.  There are common seals hauled up on the Point, but the seals that follow us across Blakeney Pit are greys, heads bobbing above the waves, giving us searching, curious Selkie stares before diving, only to bob up again even closer.

Half-way house, David North

We pass inland, or should that be ‘inwater’, of the bright blue National Trust former lifeboat house and then, sail now rigged,  past ‘half-way house’, the watch-house, where once  ‘preventative men’, the early coastguards, pitted their wits against smugglers of brandy, baccy and geneva (gin). I wonder if there are still smugglers today, but sadly, if so, then it’ more likely drugs or human trafficking that’s plied. A sad  reflection on today’s world.   There are gulls and terns that fly over the boat with raucous calls; black-headed, herring and great-black backed gulls and both common and little terns.  Little terns are one of my favourite birds, elegant, graceful with and almost ethereal beauty as they hover before plunge-diving for small fish. I’m not alone in admiring them. It was Simon Barnes who described little terns as ‘what black-headed gulls dream of becoming when they die and go to heaven’.

Coming in to Cley, David North

Our journey ends navigating the newly dredged, but still narrow, river channel through waving reeds to disembark at the quayside next to Cley windmill.  So what will I take away from this voyage though North Norfolk’s wild marshes under the lovely terracotta sails of My Girls.  What I value most is the privilege of time spent in a truly wild place where the only sounds are wind, waves and the calls of curlew and redshank.  Salt-marshes are truly wild: shaped by the forces of nature, scorched by summer sun, swept by winter storm.  Places that are home for waders, seals and some highly specialised and very fascinating plants, but where we humans are never quite at home. Fleeting visitors, like me, that pass through on an adventure, always aware that tide and change makes these challenging places to explore.

Wild places, like these Norfolk saltmarshes, are rare as hen’s teeth in our modern world.  In North Norfolk we have some of the finest, least spoilt and most extensive saltmarshes in Western Europe.  Priceless!  Let’s make sure they, and their wildlife, are protected and valued as one of Norfolk’s most precious assets.

 Exploring  the saltmarsh coast:

Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves at Holme Dunes and Cley and Salthouse Marshes are great places to see some of the wildlife characteristic of North Norfolk’s coastal marshes.

The North Norfolk coast path between Wells and Cley follows the top of the saltmarshes providing great views over the marshes.

Under sail, David North

If you are interested in exploring the creeks by boat then details of how to book a trip with Henry on his restored, traditional crab boat My Girls, and other coastal adventure trips can be found at www.coastalexplorationcompany.co.uk  

A week of coastal experiences at NWT Cley Marshes

Amanda Schrem recently completed a week's work experience at NWT Cley Marshes and discovered what a lot goes on  at this busy visitor centre and reserve.

Amanda on the beach at West Runton

On my first day, we started off with the mandatory staff health and safety procedures and paperwork. Once that was done, we went to Sheringham for the Coastal Creations event, which involves collecting various interesting objects from the strandline and using them to make art. It was great fun and I learned a lot about all the objects found on the strandline, for example that mermaid's purses are actually egg cases, that cat sharks exist in Norfolk and something that looks like dried seaweed but is actually a type of animal called hornwrack, smells like lemon when first washed up.

In the afternoon we went up to Cley beach to collect some plankton samples, as preparation for an upcoming sea dipping event- this was something I had never done before.

A bit of 'Marine Mayhem'

On the second day, I went on "A Walk with the Warden" event, which included birdwatching. I learnt a huge amount about the history of Cley and, as a complete birdwatching novice, the difference between an avocet and a black-tailed godwit.  In the afternoon I worked on reception. This was completely new to me and a bit daunting at first but I ended up really enjoying it. On day three I had the morning off! In the afternoon I invented some arts and crafts that children could make during the "Marine Mayhem" event on Saturday. I made a fish out of a recycled bottle and tissue paper, and an 'egg-box rock pool'. I also did some odd jobs in the office, like laminating. In the evening, I got involved with the "Coastal Stroll and Supper".

Rockpooling at West Runton

In the morning of the fourth day, we ran the Rockpooling event at West Runton. There were a lot of people and it was great fun, I hadn't been rockpooling for years. Someone caught a scorpion fish, which was fascinating to see! It was great learning about other life in the rock pools as well,  a highlight was seeing a velvet swimming crab. In the afternoon I helped set up the room and organise tea and coffee for the afternoon talk on "Life between the Tides".

Day five was the day of the "Marine Mayhem" event with crafts and activities for families. I was helping out with that, doing things like using the badge machine and helping with the recycled bottle craft.

Puppets from the Norfolk Girl puppet show

On my last day of work experience, we set up the "Norfolk Girl" event, an interactive puppet show based on a chapter from the book "Mystery of the Mystery Mist".  In the afternoon I organised some event promotion and designed some news posters for upcoming events.

Overall, I had a very interesting week that gave me a great insight into work on and around a nature reserve. I would like to thank all the staff at NWT Cley Marshes, in particular Rachael Wright, Cley Community Education Officer for organising my fantastic week!

For more information about events and activities at NWT Cley Marshes visit https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on

What are the chances of that happening?

Life is full of coincidences and Norfolk Wildlife Trust volunteer Derek Longe had a special and rather unusual encounter with a special insect at NWT Thorpe Marshes one evening...

Imagine a damselfly flying well after eight o'clock at night.  It lands onto a photo in a published article about the same species at the same nature reserve. Slim chance you may say? Improbable? Well this actually happened!
 
Here is the photographic proof - 

Willow emerald damselfly admiring a picture of itself, Derek Longe

Mating willow emerald damselflies by Tabs Taberham

The damselfly in question was a male willow emerald damselfly seen at 8.16pm on 19th July 2017 at Thorpe Marshes NWT reserve.  This is a recent coloniser being seen first in Suffolk in 2007 and is rapidly spreading across the south-east of England. The peak emergence time is in August/September and most records range from July to October. This year the first seen nationally was back in June in Essex. Some had been more recently sighted around the local Norwich area so that was not an unexpected species.

Local naturalist and NWT volunteer, Chris Durdin leads monthly walks around Thorpe Marshes NWT reserve.In July, the regular walk is moved to the evening (the June one also) to take advantage of the longer daylight hours. That afternoon was particularly warm and humid, the evening temperate remained above 20C during the duration of the walk.
Warm enough for insects like damselflies to be still active that late in the day.  

At a point where this species has been sighted in previous years, Chris stopped and explained about the willow emerald damselfly and the various tree species it oviposits into. He then mentioned that I had witnessed a pair egg-laying into bramble last September on the reserve and that I had an account of this unusual event recently published in the journal Atropos. Having the article on me, I handed it to the others to have a look at. Whilst one of the group Ann Greenizan had it in her hands to read, a male willow emerald Damselfly magically alighted onto the article photograph. He stayed there just long enough for me to get a couple of photos before flying off, disappearing into the windblown vegetation.

This species has been variously described as "this stunning damselfly","an elusive beauty","enigmatic" and "unique". In my eyes, this surreal combination of real life and printed matter reinforces that "specialness" to me of the willow emerald damselfly!

Conservation: challenge and opportunity

Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Head of People and Wildlife, David North gives a personal view of what the challenges ahead might be for our wildlife and natural environment post Brexit and how we can take action.

Few people would disagree that today is a time of great changes. For both agriculture and nature conservation the future is less certain today than for a generation. Though no one knows for sure what the impact of Brexit will be on agriculture and nature conservation undoubtedly, there will be new challenges and opportunities.

Many of us will have come across the term SWOT analysis which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Now perhaps is a good time to apply this tool to wildlife conservation. Though what follows is purely my personal take on some of the challenges and opportunities facing wildlife conservation -  if this in any way stimulates further thinking about how we can best protect wildlife in changing times then it will have served a useful purpose.

Some of the 1,400 NWT volunteers Elizabeth Dack

Strengths:  The biggest strength we have as a movement is surely a groundswell of public support.  It’s said that more than 7 million people in the UK belong to conservation organisations and both the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts have more members than any political party in the UK. 

Weaknesses:  The continuing loss of habitats and wildlife so clearly demonstrated in many studies, including the recent State of Nature reports, shows clearly that despite many conservation success stories in protecting special sites as nature reserves, and some notable species success stories, such as otters and red kites, that the loss of wildlife in the wider countryside has continued in every decade since the 1940s. Our biggest weakness has been our lack of success in protecting formerly widespread and common species in the wider countryside.

Photo: David Tipling

Opportunities:  In recent times each year £3 billion pounds of funding has gone to support agriculture in the UK through the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.  Some of these funded schemes, such as Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), have brought about environmental and wildlife benefits and also provided vital financial support to conservation bodies including Norfolk Wildlife Trust, RSPB and National Trust. However, they have largely failed to prevent continuing degradation of our countryside for wildlife. As we take back national control of agricultural support payments there is a huge opportunity to see some of these funds targeted more effectively at helping farmers and conservation organisations to restore wildlife habitats on a landscape scale.  Given that more than 70% of our countryside is farmed if we are to stand any chance of reversing the destruction of vital wildlife habitats and the declines we see across so many formerly common species then the future structure of agricultural subsidies will be crucial. The government has promised a 25 year vision for nature and this needs to clearly identify how in new ways agricultural support funding will better enable farmers and nature conservation bodies to work together to create a more diverse, more wildlife-friendly, richer and more beautiful countryside for both people and wildlife.

Kingfisher by David North

Threats:  It seems to me that the biggest threat is the low priority given to wildlife and the countryside in political discussions about our future.  This was clear during the last election when environmental issues were barely mentioned by politicians or the media.  The threat is that a healthy and wildlife rich ecology, rather than being seen as the bedrock on which our future health and wealth depends is seen as a minority interest of a few awkward activists and naturalists.  We (and in this ‘we’ I include readers of this Blog and NWT members!) know that healthy, properly functioning ecosystems provide us with clean air, clean water, natural  pollution control, help mitigate climate change, provide free natural flood controls, keep our soils healthy, enable  pollinators to ensure our crops thrive and contribute massively to human happiness, health and wellbeing.  But do our politicians and decision makers really understand and act on this?

So if any of this rings true what can we do?  The Government is promising, for the first time in a generation, an Agriculture Bill (the last major Agriculture Bill was in 1947).  We can make sure our elected MPs know that we want to ensure that any Bill that determines how agriculture support will be provided in future absolutely ensures that the health and beauty of the countryside, and the value of restoring healthy functioning ecosystems rich in wildlife delivering the ‘ecosystem services’ such as pollination, healthy soils, and clean water is high on the priority list. The Wildlife Trusts nationally are working with other major environmental bodies to ensure that conservation organisations speak with one voice to ensure that the environmental protections currently provided through the EU Habitats Directive, EU Birds directive and other European environment laws are not lost when we leave the EU.  You can find out more at www.greeneruk.org 

NWT Foxley Wood by Richard Osbourne

However, as was shown when the plans to sell off public forests were reversed, public opinion is a powerful voice when it comes to politics.  I believe that decisions made in the next few years will be crucial to the kind of future environment our children will inherit.  We can all play a part in ensuring that new opportunities for reversing the declines in nature are taken and threats of weakened laws to protect wildlife averted. But we can only ensure this if we make sure as individuals that our voices are heard. And heard loud and clear by the people who will be taking decisions which will affect our countryside and wildlife for a generation.  If you care about the future of our countryside and wildlife please make sure your voice is heard. Wildlife doesn’t have a voice in the decisions which will determine its future. We need to be its voice.