Protecting Wildlife for the Future

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River Allen Project Update

TheWarblerUrban

News from the Urban and East TeamWorking for living landscapes Issue 5 Autumn 2013

DORSETWILDLIFETRUST

In this issue...• River Allen Project

• Upton Heath update• Brownsea news

• Wild About Bournemouth• Urban Wildlink update

• Get involved

One of the project sites before restorationPhoto: A Baker

River Allen walk at Honeybrook FarmPhoto: N Hoar

Understanding and appreciation for our precious local chalk

stream has been building up, thanks in no small part to world-renowned cameraman Hugh Miles. Hugh has a passion for his local river and has generously given both his time and talents with a sold-out talk and showing of his film about the river, Liquid Gold, and his multi-award winning film Puma, Lion of the Andes. The event raised a staggering £2279 and kick-started a wave of interest in conserving the river and its wildlife. See p4 for details of Hugh’s next film show.

Other events included walks and events to raise awareness of the need to protect the important biodiversity of the Allen and make sure the habitat is the best it can be for the wildlife that depends on it. In this we have been supported by many

local people and organisations, including the Allendale Centre and Honeybrook Farm.

With permissions now in place for practical work on the river, we have signed up twenty enthusiastic volunteers, all ready, willing and able to get stuck in this autumn. Working with the Environment Agency, the Wild Trout Trust and Casterbridge Fisheries, we can’t wait to get started! Some of the habitat restoration work will be done by contractors under our supervision but our volunteers

will be involved in many tasks, such as planting berms (artificial sections of river bank to return a more natural course to the river) to species surveys.

The River Allen Project is supported by Biffa Award, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, which uses landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services; other funders are Sembcorp Bournemouth Water and Carter Conservation Trust. To find out more or to volunteer, contact Rachel Pearce, River Allen Project Officer rpearce@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk.

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and volunteers, now the work begins!

Nicky Hoar

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with a very specific herbicide, Asulox. Whilst the wet summer last year hindered our spraying, this summer the weather has been good and has enabled us to spray about 13 hectares. We have also been busy spraying some of the other undesirable species, which, like bracken, would eventually dominate the heath if left unchecked. On our hitlist were Rhododendron, Gaultheria and laurel.

With the vegetation very low along the main track, now is the right time to improve fire access from Beacon Road to the old railway line. Funding from the Interim Planning Framework, set

Upton Heath Update

The fire of 2011 may be old news by now, but we

are still having to deal with the consequences. The most noticeable being the sea of bracken that is poking its head above the recovering heather and gorse plants.

Bracken is part of the heathland flora, but the traditional control, of cutting it for bedding for grazing animals, is long gone. Whilst rolling bracken is a good method of control, the steep slopes and earthworks left from mineral extraction, particularly on the Rothchild Estates land, make that impractical. The only realistic method of control is spraying

up to mitigate against pressures on heathland, from SITA Trust, Higher Level Stewardship and from the Upton Heath Appeal, has enabled us to deal with drainage issues and to resurface the majority of the track. Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, who suggested that the work should be done to improve their access, have now driven the route and are very pleased with the improvements.

In April we were delighted to show the SITA Trust board members around Upton Heath and discuss the work we are achieving with their funding, including restoration of ponds and of bare areas in ‘The Pits’ and clearance to restore heathland on the Rothchild land.

If you would like to join our HeathWatch volunteers in helping to protect Upton Heath, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/heathwatch or see p4 for contact details.

Andy FaleSupported by

Volunteers & staff found a record 101 silver studded blue butterflies on Upton Heath in our July survey!

Record Breaking Butterflies

Dorset Fire & Rescue test the new fire access track

Photo: A Fale

SITA Trust visit to Upton Heath with wardens Andy Fale & Nigel Brooks and Nicki Brunt 4th from r, 2nd from r & far r

Photo: DWT

Silver studded blue butterflyPhoto: A Fale

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Urban Wildlink is a major Living Landscape project around the urban areas of Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset, involving conservation organisations, local authorities, private landowners, businesses and the local community. For more information visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/urban_wildlink

Nicky Hoar

wildlife, including moths, bugs and nesting terns in the DWT nature reserve. Thank you to all the organisations and volunteers who helped to make the weekend such a success.

Brownsea Goes Wild

To celebrate the National Trust’s 50th anniversary

year on Brownsea Island, Dorset Wildlife Trust staged a very special ‘Wild About’ event over a whole weekend in June. Our free wildlife road show is now a much loved feature of summer and Wild about Brownsea gave people of all ages an opportunity to discover the nature of the island. Families enjoyed two action-packed days with everything from forest schools, face painting, puppet show and crafts to getting up close to Brownsea’s amazing real

Urban Wildlink Update

Wild About Bournemouth

Urban Wildlink has had a massive boost with a

donation of £15,000 by the Southern Co-op and £2000 from Outdoor adventure equipment suppliers, Osprey Europe. This is on top of over £58,000 raised so far in our public appeal. A huge thank you to them and to all of you who have donated! Meanwhile, with our partners, we’ve been busy with

Wild About Bournemouth occurred on a sunny

Saturday in July in Boscombe Chine Gardens. This year’s event was a joint effort between the Bournemouth Natural Science Society (BNSS) Bournemouth Naturally Project and DWT. We aimed to showcase the wildlife of Bournemouth and to encourage local people to learn about their urban wildlife. We were joined

management and access plans for the sites, consulting local people and developing ideas for future activities. All this work will go into our bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund this autumn.

If you would like us to keep you up to date with progress on the project, please visit the website to sign up for our monthly Urban Wildlink e-news.

For the first time, Brownsea has an underwater camera, bringing live images of the rich marine life just off the island’s quay, as featured on BBC’s Autumnwatch. This is a partnership between Dorset Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and John Lewis Partnership. Come and see what lives beneath the waves in Poole Harbour without getting wet – it’s on view in the National Trust cafe every day. If the screen is blank when you visit, just ask a member of staff to switch it on! The island is open daily until 3rd November.Nicky Hoar

by a host of local conservation groups with displays and activities. Notably ARC brought a smooth snake to the day, DWT brought locally caught moths and BNSS brought live butterflies and other insects. Despite a hot day the event attracted many enthusiastic local families. I would like to say a big thank you to all involved.Heather DixonBournemouth Naturally Project Officer

Wildlife craftsPhoto: A Fale

Wild about BournemouthPhoto: N Hoar

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Get Involved

Contact the team Nicki Brunt - Urban & East Dorset Living Landscapes Manager

Rachel Pearce - Conservation Officer (River Allen)Noel Bergin - Conservation OfficerNicky Hoar - Conservation Officer

Amy Baker - Skills for the Future Conservation TraineeAndy Fale, Warden - Urban & East nature reserves management

Nigel Brooks, Warden - Urban & East nature reserves managementSusanna Holford - Urban Wildlife Centre Administration Assistant

Chris Thain - Brownsea Island Nature Reserve Manager Abby Gibbs - Brownsea Island Warden & Woodlands & Trees Officer

Goodbye and good luck to Sally Wright and welcome to Emma Godden who takes over as Brownsea Skills for the Future trainee.

01202 692033 (01202 709445 - for Brownsea Island staff) urban@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Urban Wildlife Centre, Beacon Hill LaneCorfe Mullen BH21 3RX

The Urban Warbler | Edited: Nicky Hoar | Design: Errin Skingsley

Green Team

This season our Richmond Fellowship volunteers

have a lot to be proud of, not least an incredible 5 years of conservation volunteering with us by Mark Brown! Mark’s cheerful nature and willingness to get stuck in to whatever task we throw at him is typical of this brilliant group.

The Richmond Fellowship for Community Mental Health has supported our conservation work loyally for 6 years, not only making a difference for nature but also making a difference for themselves. Thank you!

Nicky Hoar

Richmond Fellowship

Green Team is a work programme which allows

young people aspiring to work in conservation the opportunity to build their experience and skills.

This year, no matter what the weather, we worked hard on a multitude of different tasks. Many of us got sunburnt in soaring temperatures whilst pulling out Himalayan Balsam (an invasive species), got stuck in the mud (literally) whilst restoring ponds and even got our faces painted whilst helping out at the ‘Wild about Bournemouth’ event. We also ate cake.

We all really enjoyed Green Team this year and would recommend it to anybody!

Georgina Hopkins, Green Team

Events

Thank you to all our brilliant volunteers! If you can’t make

our weekday tasks, why not join our Urban Weekenders? We normally meet the last Sunday in the month at 10am at the

Urban Wildlife Centre.

Friday 29th November - Hugh Miles’ film ‘Tiger’

dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/events

Green Team Zoe Hughes & Rory Chanter restoring a pond

Photo: N Bergin

Scott Cahill, Neil Gibson, Nicky Hoar, Matt Bennett & Mark Brown

Photo: DWT