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www.welshwildlife.org
Conservation Team Report 2013-2014
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Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales Conservation Team report 2013-2014
Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Members of the conservation team ......................................................................... 4
1.2 Our assets .............................................................................................................. 7
1.3 Our funders ............................................................................................................. 9
2. Nature Reserves .......................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Introduction to our work on our nature reserves .................................................... 10
2.2 Habitat management ............................................................................................. 12
2.3 Research .............................................................................................................. 17
2.4 Recording and monitoring ..................................................................................... 18
2.5 Volunteers ............................................................................................................ 22
2.6 Access management ............................................................................................ 24
2.7 Events ................................................................................................................... 26
2.8 Interpretation ......................................................................................................... 27
3. Wider Countryside ....................................................................................................... 28
3.1 Introduction to our wider countryside work ............................................................ 28
3.2 Partnerships.......................................................................................................... 28
3.3 Representation on committees.............................................................................. 29
3.4 Consultation responses ........................................................................................ 30
3.5 Projects ................................................................................................................. 30
3.5.1 Water for Wildlife - Rhiannon Bevan .............................................................. 30
3.5.2 Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project – Lizzie Wilberforce ...................................... 32
3.5.3 Reconnecting our South Wales Water Voles – Nia Stephens ........................ 32
3.5.4 Local Wildlife Sites in South East Wales– Laura Dell ..................................... 33
3.5.5 Neath Port Talbot Community Engagement - Vaughn Matthews ................... 35
3.5.6 Water vole and American Mink Project .......................................................... 35
4. Marine Conservation .................................................................................................... 37
4.1 Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre – Laura Mears ............................................. 37
4.2 Future Fisheries - Sarah Perry ............................................................................. 38
5. Campaigns ................................................................................................................... 39
5.1 Badgers and bovine TB ........................................................................................ 39
5.2 Funding for seabird research ................................................................................ 39
6. Media and public awareness ........................................................................................ 40
6.1 Media work ........................................................................................................... 40
6.2 Talks and presentations ........................................................................................ 41
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6.3 Events ................................................................................................................... 41
6.4 Wildlife queries ..................................................................................................... 42
7. Consultancy and contracts ........................................................................................... 42
7.1 Consultancy .......................................................................................................... 42
7.2 Contracting ........................................................................................................... 42
8. Education ..................................................................................................................... 43
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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 2013-2014. 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 of the areas of work included in this report is available on request from the member
of staff involved.
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 enormous effort of maintaining this
online database of our work is undertaken by Nigel Ajax-Lewis.
This report is written by all the members of the Conservation Team, and compiled and edited
by Conservation Managers Lizzie Wilberforce and Rob Parry.
1.1 Members of the conservation team
We were fortunate to see our team grow significantly during this financial year, particularly
due to new grant funding secured to support project posts. Laura Dell (Wildlife Sites Officer)
and Nia Stephens (Skomer Assistant Warden during 2013, becoming Water Vole Officer in
January 2014) joined the team in their current posts courtesy of Welsh Government’s
Resilient Ecosystems Fund (administered by Natural Resources Wales (NRW)). Cath Lewis
joined as Education Officer following the departure of Jade Camacho. Lorna Baggett
became our Cardiff University year out placement based at Parc Slip. Rhi Bevan started as
Water for Wildlife Officer working in the Swansea area. Rebecca Killa, who started the year
as Assistant Wildlife Trust Officer for Swansea Neath & Port Talbot, became Wildlife Trust
Officer for Carmarthenshire, backfilling what had previously been part of Lizzie Wilberforce’s
role. Howard Jones joined the team in the new post of Teifi Marshes ranger in May 2013
supported by funding from Biffa Award. Project funding for the Future Fisheries work
secured by Sarah Kessell also supported Sarah Perry to join the staff team, hosted by
Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre.
The contact details for each team member are given below.
Conservation Team Staff April 2013 – March 2014 inclusive
Rob Parry 07989 478176
Conservation Manager [email protected]
Lizzie Wilberforce 07970 780553
Conservation Manager [email protected]
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Lorna Baggett 01656 724100
Field Assistant, Cardiff University Placement [email protected]
Rhiannon Bevan 07974 742585
Water for Wildlife Officer [email protected]
Richard Brown 07971 114303
Skokholm Observatory Warden [email protected]
Bee Büche 07971 114302
Skomer Warden (job share) [email protected]
James Davies 07971 114306
Estate Worker, Swansea Neath & Port Talbot
Laura Dell 01656 724100
Wildlife Sites Officer [email protected]
Em Foot 07980 932332
Wildlife Trust Officer, Ceredigion [email protected]
Giselle Eagle 07971 114303
Skokholm Island Warden [email protected]
Howard Jones 07964 833195
Teifi Marshes Ranger [email protected]
Tim Jones 07811 117140
Wildlife Trust Officer, Bridgend & Vale [email protected]
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Rebecca Killa 07970 780558
Wildlife Trust Officer, Carmarthenshire [email protected]
Cath Lewis 07972 176963
Education Officer [email protected]
Vaughn Matthews 01656 724100
Conservation Officer [email protected]
Laura Mears 01545 560224
Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre Project Officer [email protected]
Rose Revera 01656 724100
People and Wildlife Officer [email protected]
Sarah Perry 01545 560224
Future Fisheries Project Officer [email protected]
Carys Solman 07896 798371
Wildlife Trust Officer, Valleys [email protected]
Nia Stephens 07805 467018
Skomer Assistant Warden (Mar-Nov 2013), Water Vole Officer (Jan 2014 onwards) [email protected]
Eddie Stubbings 07971 114302
Skomer Warden (job share) [email protected]
John Thomas Estates Worker, Teifi Marshes
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Owen Thomas 01656 724100
Apprentice, Bridgend & Vale
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]
Lewis Yates
Skomer Island Field Assistant (Apr-Aug 2013)
1.2 Our assets The assets for which the Conservation Team are responsible continued to grow
during the financial year. We are currently responsible for around 90 nature
reserves, totalling 1783.37 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 February 2014).
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The most significant change to our nature reserves portfolio during the last year was
the acquisition of Carmel National Nature Reserve. This site, previously managed by
The Grasslands Trust under lease from Tarmac, came under threat when The
Grasslands Trust was dissolved. The site was subsequently purchased by the
Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) who in the last year (now under the name of
NRW) leased the site to WTSWW. It came with grant funding for its management,
from CWM Environmental and GrantScape; this is supporting Becca Killa as Wildlife
Trust Officer to look after the reserve for the coming year.
CASE STUDY: The acquisition of Carmel National Nature Reserve, Carmarthenshire Carmel supports a range of habitats and species with woodlands, heathlands, and grasslands all
represented. Geology has governed much of how the landscape today looks, it underpins the
ecological and land use diversity.
Limestone dominates, and is responsible for most of the landscape features, including the topography
and past industrial use. Quarries and kilns are integral to the reserve. Woodland at Carmel is found
on the underlying limestone, and it is thought to be one of the best examples of calcareous woodland
found in Wales, in terms of the richness and diversity of flora. Ash is dominant with Hazel common,
the ground flora is lush with Dog's Mercury, Ransoms, Bluebell, Wood Anemone, Pignut and Yellow
Archangel. Uncommon in a Welsh context are Herb Paris and Lily-of-the-valley.
There is a large expanse of dry neutral grassland to the
west of the reserve. Here the vegetation is rich with
Knapweed, Devil's-bit Scabious, Common Bird's-foot
Trefoil, Tormentil, Eyebright, and Yellow Rattle. Locally
frequent species include Whorled Caraway, Great
Burnet, and Greater Butterfly Orchid. Additional interest
is provided by areas of calcareous grassland associated
with the old quarrying activities. Mouse-ear Hawkweed,
Wild Thyme and Glaucous Sedge are prominent.
The neutral grasslands are of regional importance for
their waxcap fungal community. Also the rarity
Olivaceous Earth Tongue occurs here. Sausage Beard
Lichen, a Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) species
for the county, is found on several mature Hawthorns.
The south of the reserve is bordered by a ridge of
quartzite from the Marros Group and is also of high
nature conservation value. The crest of the ridge is
dominated by a mixture of dry heath, with additional areas of wet heath, damp pasture and locally, dry
acidic grassland on the flanks. The crest of the ridge where freely draining soils prevail are
characterised by Heather, Bilberry, and Western Gorse. There is extensive Purple Moor Grass at the
poorly drained areas at the base of the ridge, where Cross-leaved Heath and Deergrass are frequent.
Fauna of note include bats. Greater Horseshoe, and myotids including Natterers and Daubenton’s use
the caves especially for hibernation. There are signs of Badger activity over much of the reserve.
Dormice are thought to be present, but are not yet confirmed. There are good records of Slow Worm,
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Common Lizard and one sighting of a Grass Snake. Invertebrates include the Dingy Skipper, Brown
Banded Carder Bee, Heath Bee-fly, Hornet Robber-fly, and a very localised harvestman. Green
Woodpecker and Cuckoo are frequently heard on the reserve and Tawny Owl regularly nests. Other
birds include Spotted Flycatcher and Stonechat.
The variety of habitats, and the diversity of species they support has resulted in Carmel having high
protection. The site has been designated National Nature Reserve, Site of Special Scientific Interest
and Special Area of Conservation.
Rebecca Killa
1.3 Our funders The Conservation Team continue to benefit from a wide range of external funding sources
which are a critical to our ability to deliver the range and breadth of work that we seek to
achieve.
We are particularly indebted to Natural Resources Wales (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). Welsh Government also
make a major contribution to the management of our woodland nature reserves through the
Better Woodlands for Wales grant scheme.
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.
We are grateful to the following grant funders for their support during 2013-2014:
Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biffa Award Big Lottery Fund (Awards for All) Bridgend College Bridgend County Borough Council Bumblebee Conservation Trust Cardiff University Carmarthenshire County Council City & County of Swansea Crown Estates Dow Corning The Co-operative CWM Environmental Dŵr Cymru / Welsh Water Farming Connect Ffos y Fran Fund Environment Wales
The Gower Society GrantScape JNCC Llanharan Community Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Natural Resources Wales PCNPA SDF Fund Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership People’s Postcode Lottery People’s Trust for Endangered Species Tata Steel Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council Valleys Regional Park Waterloo Foundation Welsh Government WREN
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2. Nature Reserves
2.1 Introduction to our work on our nature reserves For our Wildlife Trust Officers and Conservation Officer especially, ongoing management of
our nature reserves takes up a significant proportion of staff time. Maintaining the status quo
with regard to conservation condition and public access is a significant responsibility in terms
of investment 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 in our
nature reserve work in the last year.
The table below shows the total number of recorded person days (staff plus volunteers)
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 at Lavernock and Coed y Bwl);
these data reflect only the volunteer time in work parties directly led by Conservation Team
staff.
Nature Reserve or third party site County Direct management- person days
Parc Slip Glamorgan 521.5
Teifi Marshes Pembrokeshire 518.0
Taf Fechan Glamorgan 455.5
Castle Woods Carmarthenshire 193.8
Cwm Colhuw Glamorgan 121.0
Coed Maidie B Goddard Ceredigion 118.8
Gelli Hir Glamorgan 114.5
West Williamston Pembrokeshire 107.0
Pengelli Forest Pembrokeshire 74.5
The Dranges Glamorgan 65.0
Cwm Clettwr Ceredigion 58.5
Brynna Woods & Llanharan Marsh Glamorgan 57.0
Poor Mans Wood Carmarthenshire 56.0
Elizabeth & Rowe Harding Reserve Glamorgan 54.0
Caeau Llety Cybi Ceredigion 52.3
Carmel Carmarthenshire 51.8
Dowrog Common Pembrokeshire 50.5
Rhos Marion Ceredigion 42.8
Llangloffan Fen Pembrokeshire 41.5
Coed Simdde Lwyd Ceredigion 35.5
Rhos Glyn yr Helyg Ceredigion 31.8
Coed Penglanowen Ceredigion 30.0
Cors Ian Ceredigion 29.0
Rhos Pil Bach Ceredigion 29.0
Pant Da Ceredigion 28.0
Priors Wood & Meadow Glamorgan 24.0
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Ffrwd Farm Mire Carmarthenshire 21.8
Melincwrt Falls Glamorgan 19.8
Dow Corning (third party site) Glamorgan 19.5
Hambury Wood Glamorgan 19.5
Afan Valley (third party site) Glamorgan 17.5
Old Warren Hill Ceredigion 16.8
Cwm Ivy & Betty Church Reserve Glamorgan 15.8
Port Eynon Point Glamorgan 14.5
Coed y Bedw Glamorgan 14.0
Goodwick Moor Pembrokeshire 14.0
Rhos Fullbrook Ceredigion 13.0
Talley Lakes Carmarthenshire 13.0
Cors Goch Carmarthenshire 12.0
Rhos Cefn Bryn Carmarthenshire 11.5
Lockley Lodge Pembrokeshire 10.0
Pennar Fawr Ceredigion 10.0
Pwll Waun Cynon Glamorgan 9.5
Rhos Glandenys Ceredigion 9.5
Nant-y-Coy Woods (third party site) Glamorgan 9.0
Overton Mere Glamorgan 9.0
Kilvrough Manor Woods Glamorgan 8.0
Penderi Cliffs Ceredigion 8.0
Cardigan Island Ceredigion 7.5
Redley cliff Glamorgan 7.3
Canaston (third party site) Pembrokeshire 7.0
Craig Cilhendre Glamorgan 6.5
Allt Crug Garn Ceredigion 6.3
Long Hole Cliff Glamorgan 6.0
Tywi Wildwood (third party site) Ceredigion 6.0
Llanrhidian Hill Glamorgan 4.5
Berry wood Glamorgan 3.3
Deborah's Hole Glamorgan 3.0
Lavernock Point Glamorgan 3.0
Killay Marsh Glamorgan 2.8
Pembroke Upper Mill Pond Pembrokeshire 2.5
Red Jacket Fen Glamorgan 2.0
Cemaes Head Pembrokeshire 1.5
Coed Hirwaun (third party site) Glamorgan 1.5
Baglan Badger Sett Glamorgan 1.3
Coed Barcud Glamorgan 1.3
Bedford Park (third party site) Glamorgan 1.0
Coed Llwyn Rhyddid Glamorgan 1.0
Overton Cliff Glamorgan 1.0
Seven Sisters (third party site) Glamorgan 1.0
Westfield Pill Pembrokeshire 1.0
Allt Pencnwc Ceredigion 0.6
Bolgoed Quarry Glamorgan 0.5
Broad Pool Glamorgan 0.5
Coed Gawdir Glamorgan 0.5
Coed Wern Ddu Carmarthenshire 0.5
Coed y Bwl Glamorgan 0.5
Peel Wood Glamorgan 0.3
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2.2 Habitat management The majority, though not all, habitat management is undertaken by staff with the support of
volunteers. Where a job is outside the training or equipment capabilities of the team, and/or
where external funding is available, contractors may be used.
During the last year, a total of 306 staff days with volunteer support were spent undertaking
habitat management on our nature reserves. Many of these activities comprise ongoing
commitments (i.e. annual activities such as scrub management), and are listed in order of
scale in the table below.
Activity Number of staff days
Scrub control 113
Control invasive species 62
Coppicing 31
Thinning woodland 22
Mowing /cutting grassland 21
Fencing 14
Clearance/excavation 10
Tree safety work 10
Removing waste 8
Installing other infrastructure 7
Hedge laying 4
Maintenance/repairs 3
Sowing 1
Total 306
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.
Cardiff, Bridgend,
Valleys & Vale, 340
Carmarthenshire, 161
Ceredigion, 229
Pembrokeshire, 323
West Glamorgan,
280
Total number of staff days and staff-led volunteer events spent on land management 2013-14 by region
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CASE STUDY: Brynna Woods and Llanharan Marsh habitat management The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales took ownership of Brynna and Llanharan Marsh in March
2012, and a number of management objectives were identified. One of these was to open the marsh
area up and to graze this with cattle. Llanharan Marsh, which lies within the site, used to be a SSSI,
but was de-notified in 1990 following deterioration due to the lack of appropriate management. The
marsh was once home to Marsh Fritillary butterflies, the objective within the marsh is to create
suitable habitat for them once again.
In September 2012 we set about mapping the marsh. This involved walking the boundary and
marking waymarks with a GPS of what practically could be reinstated back to marshy grassland. We
identified approximately 4 acres in total. The fence line was measured, and after lots of negotiations a
very keen contractor was brought in to fence the marsh. This turned out to be a mammoth task with
the weather that winter turning the marsh to a lake.
The marsh clearance began in December with volunteers and staff keen to clear willow and scrub off
the marsh, the trees cut were delicately woven into a fantastic hedge; this had several benefits, it is
excellent nesting habitat and it also formed a barrier around the outside of the barbed wire. Most of
the clearance was finished in time for the arrival of three highland cattle, these were locally owned
and proved to be a real attraction with the local community and visitors to the marsh. During their first
summer (2013) they made a significant impression on the marsh with large areas opened up with a
patchwork of long and short vegetation and Devil’s-bit Scabious appearing in areas for the first time in
over twenty years.
Brynna woods is a real urban reserve with the community at the heart of all the work done on this
reserve, this project was rewarding for staff and volunteers that played an active role in all the work
involved.
Tim Jones
CASE STUDY: Meadow restoration work at Teifi Marshes We have been carrying out a hay meadow restoration project over the last year, targeting two
relatively species poor grassed areas, one to the front and one to the rear of the Welsh Wildlife
Centre. The aim of the project is to restore traditional species rich meadows; with an MG5 Crested
Dog’s Tail (Cynosurus Cristatus)/ Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) target community. We hope
to achieve a breathtaking display of meadow flowers through spring and summer, and a botanically
species rich sward, with c. 30 species per square metre.
The project started in autumn 2013. Firstly, the two meadow areas were cut extremely short, a labour
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intensive procedure using mower and then metal bladed brush cutter, to achieve a sward measuring
c. 40 – 50mm. A small chain harrow was sourced and heavy logs were tied to it, to add additional
weight. This was then towed repeatedly behind a UTV, with the aim of creating bare soil patches
among the sward at a rate of around 50%. Volunteers followed behind the harrow, and hand sowed a
wildflower mix containing a very high proportion of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor).
Yellow Rattle, an attractive semi-parasitic grassland annual, supresses grass growth and can produce
a better display of wild flowers. It germinates in late February to March and flowers through June,
setting seed in late July. At the end of each growing season, as the annual Yellow Rattle plants die
away, bare gaps are left into which new wild flowers can readily establish.
The sown Yellow Rattle has shown up well this spring, with large patches established on each of the
meadow sites. The Yellow Rattle mix will be re-sown this autumn (as described above) to ensure its
presence in the following year. Once the Yellow Rattle is well established a locally sourced diverse
wild flower seed mix will be sown.
Ongoing management would ideally involve a cut and collect in late July, and the use of grazing stock
until autumn; to further depress vigorous grass growth and provide germination sites for wild flower
seeds, through light poaching. Due to the sites’ proximity to the Wildlife Centre, it is not currently
considered appropriate for animals to be used. Hence ongoing active
management will include cutting and collecting the annual hay crop, and
autumnal harrowing to create bare patches for seeds to establish.
Howard Jones
CASE STUDY: Elizabeth & Rowe Harding Nature Reserve, Gower – cliff face de-vegetation, restoring the SSSI feature
By nature a lot of conservation work is repetitive. Some tasks, such as Himalayan Balsam pulling,
have to be repeated year in year out at the same site. Some tasks, such as coppicing or thinning, are
at different locations in the short term but these sites will be returned to on a cycle or maybe 7, 15 or
30 years. Since I started my employment with WTSWW in 2007 the idea of de-vegetating the cliff face
in E&R Harding Nature Reserve had been discussed, but with such a task there is no cheap, easy
solution. It was for these reasons that the challenge of delivering this project through the winter of
2013/14 was interesting. I am not the first to have tackled this, I have heard stories told of volunteers
stuck on the cliff face in the 1970s and many of the trees on the quarry floor had been coppiced
previously.
Why did the work need doing? What follows is a little information about the reserve: Ilston Quarry is a
significant feature in WTSWW’s E&R Harding Nature Reserve, Ilston, Gower. Last quarried in 1966
the quarrying activities revealed geological features of national and debatably international
importance. The 7.7ha site was established as a nature reserve being leased to WTSWW in 1967 and
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was subsequently gifted to the Trust in 1989. It comprises quarry face, spoil heaps, woodland,
plantation, meadows and seasonal pools, since its acquisition appropriate management has
enhanced the natural regeneration of the site. The quarry face is notified as a SSSI and is important
because the quarrying activity exposed alternate beds of crinoidal limestone with clays associated
with thin seams of coal – a geological exposure unique in Wales. The SSSI citation describes Ilston
Quarry as “an excellent locality for the demonstration of sea level changes and the study of facies in
late Dinantian times.” It is this SSSI feature this project intended to protect and enhance. Geologists
from Natural Resource Wales (formerly CCW and the body responsible for ensuring notified features
are maintained) have classified the geological feature to be in “unfavourable/declining” condition due
to the quarry floor and cliff face becoming over grown with scrub. The site management status
answers the question “what do we want Ilston Quarry to look like?” with:
The rock face will be accessible and visible to study the fossil beds, carbonate sequence and the cycles of sea-level change. And in a condition where scrub growth and trees, scree and soil accumulation, do not cover all of the quarry face. Maintaining exposure of the sections ensures that the geology at Ilston will continue to provide a location for the study of rocks and environments of early Carboniferous.
Much of the information regarding the geological interest means nothing to someone familiar with
conservation land management for biodiversity. Very useful advice was given by NRW’s geologist,
Sid Howells. Also, even to someone who does a lot of coppicing , thinning and scrub clearance
rationalising some of the clearance work was a challenge; however, the trees cut on the quarry floor
will be cut in future on a coppice rotation and other areas will be brought into a coppice cycle to
diversify the age structure of the trees and scrub throughout the reserve. As part of this clearance the
opportunity was taken to remove some of the tree encroaching in and around one of the seasonal
pools. Also, while we had funding necessary hazard warning signs were installed and safety work,
such as fencing around the massive limekiln were carried out.
The first challenge was to find the funding to allow the work to be carried out; we had been awarded a
small amount of money through the Forestry Commission’s “Better Woodlands for Wales” scheme but
needed much more. After an unsuccessful application to a major funding body we started
conversations with the Gower Society, an organisation whose aims are to preserve and enhance the
landscape, nature and character of Gower and they generously agreed to fund the project. The next
challenge was to find a team who could deliver the specialist work we could not do “in-house”. Much
of the work on the ground was done by ourselves and our volunteer team but the work on the cliff face
required specialists and we used a company familiar with working on SSSI sites from Blackwood,
Bespoke Access & Civils.
The photo at the start of this text show the “before” and the photo below is the “after”. The contrast is
dramatic as you can see. We have received many comments on what a good job we have done on
the site and it is always nice to hear praise from our members and from the public. Sid Howells, NRW
geologist has said the SSSI feature of the site is in the best condition he has known it in two decades.
The last task to be done was the “final polish”, removal of any mosses, Ivy, Bramble and so on to
16
expose the rock features at the very base of the cliff. This job however has not been done due to the
high risk to us from rock fall – much of the cliff face is still very loose, something those who may study
the geology will need to consider. One of the last things we did on site was install a “warning – risk of
falling rocks” sign and as we did so about two tons of rock came crashing down the cliff.
Thanks go to the volunteers who put in a lot of effort through the winter and to the funders The Gower
Society and Better Woodland for Wales (NRW).
Paul Thornton
CASE STUDY: Parc Slip Nature Reserve- recent developments Throughout 2013 and into 2014, WTSWW have been working to increase the number and extent of
wildlife habitats at Parc Slip Nature Reserve, including the creation of arable crops, wildflower
meadows and most recently a large area of wader scrapes.
The network of scrapes has been created in partnership with Natural
Resources Wales (NRW) and covers an area of c.3ha of former improved
agricultural pasture, now comprising of 14 large scrapes interspersed with
marsh and bare soil for ground nesting birds. The scrapes were
completed in January 2014 and are already starting to attract wildlife,
including wildfowl and waders, such as Lapwing, which remains one of
the priority species for WTSWW at Parc Slip.
It is hoped that the shallow water bodies, plentiful edge habitat and islands will provide the ideal
breeding conditions for this iconic species as well as other waders, amphibians such as the Great
Crested Newt and many freshwater invertebrate species.
Key to the new wetland habitat is the creation of an
elevated bird hide, which stands 3.3m off the ground,
facing west, overlooking the scrapes. The elevated
hide has been named the Mary Gillham Hide in
memory and recognition of an inspirational naturalist
and one of the Wildlife Trust’s staunchest supporters.
As well as enthusing people about wildlife, the hide
will also be used by researchers to record and
monitor the changes in habitat and species over
time.
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Future plans for Parc Slip will focus predominantly on Lapwing, managing and creating habitats to
increase breeding success and ultimately increase the population as a whole.
Rob Parry
CASE STUDY: Ceredigion’s Rhos Pastures For those unfamiliar with the term “rhos” it is a
Welsh term for wet or marshy grassland. It is
dominated by Molinia tussocks (waiting to trip you
up), rushes and flowers like Devil’s-bit Scabious
and Cotton Grass. It is a place where you will need
your wellies year-round! It is also the home of the
Marsh Fritillary butterfly, the food plant of the Marsh
Fritillary larvae being Devil’s-bit Scabious. Much of
the rhos pasture in the county has been drained for
agricultural purposes, leaving only patches,
generally in the south. Photo: Rhos Glyn yr Helyg,
2013.
Our (WTSWW) rhos pastures are grazed throughout the summer by cattle or ponies in fairly low
numbers. This helps with the scrub control, prevents coarse grasses from dominating and opens up
areas around the tufts and amongst the rushes to allow the butterflies to breed. We use animals from
local farms to graze our reserves. Numbers are kept low to prevent poaching and overgrazing.
Many hours/days every winter (out of bird nesting season) are spent with volunteer work parties
clearing scrub from our rhos pastures; both from the edge and from pockets in the middle- Brambles,
Willow, Gorse and Birch all encroach. It is difficult to say which is the worst offender but Brambles are
the worst to remove and come back the quickest!
Marsh Fritillary larval web surveys are carried out in the late summer/early autumn- walking a transect
looking for webs full of little black larvae on the leaves of Devil’s-bit Scabious. Ideally this is carried
out after a period of dry weather on a sunny day, but this is Wales and the reality is often very
different! It is hard to describe the disappointment of not finding any webs after a day (or days) bent
over double, desperately searching amongst the leaves and tufts. The joy of finding a web full of
larvae on a site where they haven’t been seen for several years is almost worth it
all though!
Most of our rhos pasture sites in Ceredigion are SSSI, and we are grateful to
NRW for funding for this work.
Em Foot
2.3 Research WTSWW undertakes and supports a wide array of research projects, particularly on its
nature reserves. This topic is not covered in detail here as it can be found in the WTSWW
Research Report 2013.
18
2.4 Recording and monitoring A key part of site 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 110 staff days were spend in this area of work during 2013-2014 on
mainland reserves alone, with many more again on the Pembrokeshire islands, also a great
many times more undertaken by mainland volunteers reporting to us (although this time
contribution is not currently well recorded unless the work is undertaken with staff present).
Two case studies follow to demonstrate the value of such monitoring and recording.
CASE STUDY: West Williamston Nature Reserve - Brown hairstreak monitoring project West Williamston nature reserve in Pembrokeshire has been
leased from the National Trust and managed by WTSWW since
1979.
The reserve is home to the largest colony of Brown Hairstreak
butterflies (right) in West Wales. This is the largest of the UK
hairstreak family, and is an elusive butterfly, spending most of the
time either high in the tops of Ash "master" trees, where they feed
on honeydew from aphids and bask in the sun, or amongst thick
hedges. They are found on woodland edges and hedgerows, laying their eggs on young Blackthorn. A
foreshore transect egg count has been carried out at West Williamston annually since 1995 – this will
be its 20th year.
The reserve is bounded on two sides
by the tidal waters of the Cleddau
Estuary. The foreshore transect runs
from left to right just above the high
tide line and the band of green
maritime grasses and plants (see
aerial photograph, left). In extreme
winter conditions waves deposit
seaweed and debris at the foot of the
Blackthorn - even covering, on
occasions, Brown Hairstreak eggs
themselves. These eggs hatch in
spring.
The area was quarried for limestone until the late 1800s, and today tidal gullies cover a large
percentage of the site. Two areas of mixed woodland dominate, and consist largely of Ash – there is
little Oak. There is an important geological fault known as ‘The Limestone Ridge’ that supports a small
colony of Dingy Skipper, and Silver Washed Fritillary are also present throughout the reserve in
summer. The saltmarsh is the most prominent habitat on the reserve and Brown Hairstreaks are
sometimes seen basking on Sea Beet in August and September.
In 1995, after several summers’ sightings of adult Brown Hairstreaks, a 500m foreshore transect was
set up along the band of blackthorn that runs from south east to north west just above the high tide
19
line and saltmarsh, as seen on the map below. On the first Sunday of that November, an egg count
was organised with a total of 244 eggs found.
The foreshore transect is 500m long and divided into 100m sections. These sections are further
divided into 25m lengths for the purpose of count recording by volunteers.
The chart (left) shows the total
annual number of Brown Hairstreak
eggs recorded on the foreshore at
West Williamston since 1995. The
most recent transect egg count was
undertaken in December 2013 with a
total of 651 eggs found, a new
record for the reserve. This is almost
double the total of 374 found in
2010. The lowest number ever
recorded was just 16 in 2002.
It is worth noting that in 2008 the egg
count month was changed from
November to December as milder winters resulted in leaves remaining longer on the Blackthorn,
making the eggs harder to find.
The annual transect counts are carried out as consistently as possible and
with the help of volunteers. The only year to differ was in 2000 when the
weather was atrocious, the number of volunteers was 8 (the minimum
needed), and rain was so heavy visibility was difficult. The total number of
eggs (see picture, right) found along the transect was 52 but the searches
would not have been as efficient as usual.
Statistics can be deceptive and care is needed when interpreting data
without including relevant history. For example, at the time there was
concern to have results of only 16 and 32 in the years 2002 and 2003. By
2005, however, it was realized that the extensive new young Blackthorn
appearing in adjacent fields would be infinitely preferable to females laden with eggs than the old,
wizened Blackthorn along the foreshore edges.
Left: Volunteers preparing for the 19th foreshore
transect egg count on Sunday 1st December 2013
When the reserve was first established in 1979
three fields between the car park and the
beginning of the foreshore were grazed by
livestock and managed by the National Trust.
They also own these fields and were not under
the Wildlife Trust’s management. This continued
until the late 1990s when lease details to the tenant changed. The National Trust was managing the
fields as hay meadows and the new tenant rented them for his horses. This change in regime resulted
in Blackthorn establishing itself within the field boundaries and then encroaching into the fields. To
begin with this young Blackthorn was cut and removed by the National Trust yet following negotiations
between the two Trusts an agreement was reached to manage the fields as meadow whilst also
catering for the Brown Hairstreak.
Foreshore
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
Nu
mb
er
Survey Year
20
The image to the right shows part of the middle
field in 2006 with new Blackthorn growth
spreading out from the mature Blackthorn
behind it. Once it was realised that high
numbers of eggs were being laid on this young
Blackthorn, further detailed discussions took
place with the National Trust and they
eventually agreed to leave certain stands of
Blackthorn untouched.
With increased overall count numbers, and
confidence in good, appropriate management,
The Wildlife Trust extended their lease on
West Williamston to take on the management
of these fields in 2008. Building on existing
knowledge and evidence, a Blackthorn
management plan was developed that covers
both the foreshore and the fields. Excellent
results since then have reflected this good
management (with the exception of 154 in 2011 – one of the wettest years in memory in
Pembrokeshire). Chosen stands of Blackthorn are coppiced on a 5 year rotation, but the plan is
flexible and amended if Blackthorn that is due to be cut is still in prime condition. The map (above left)
shows areas of rotational coppice in the middle field.
Blackthorn management is carried out in July, before egg laying begins again in August.
Adults fly from late July, peaking in August, and can remain on the wing until November. In the years
when October has been fine and warm adults have been seen as late as the 12th along the foreshore,
though very tattered and with obvious loss of scales.
Last December’s egg count was the 19th consistent count at West Williamston. After the morning
foreshore transect count further searches continued on other parts of the reserve (as is done every
year) including the three fields, glades and limestone ridge. These additional
searches produced good results with the final total count for the whole reserve
reaching 1611 eggs, the second highest total since recording began. We hope
that this year’s count will be on par if not better!
Nathan Walton
CASE STUDY: Seal monitoring on Skomer Island WTSWW has been monitoring the Grey Seals on and around Skomer for more than 30 years, with
the financial and staff support of NRW through their monitoring programme in the Marine Nature
Reserve (MNR). This long set of data is invaluable when it comes to assessing the health of our
21
marine environment and seals are very good indicators of how well our seas are faring. Every day
during the Grey Seal breeding season, which runs from late August through to December, WTSWW
staff visit the pupping beaches on Skomer and record new-born pups and the progress of the older
pups. All pups get followed from birth to weaning and we note how fast they grow, moult, and whether
they survive. As seal pups look alike we mark them with sheep dye which often involves clambering
or even abseiling onto otherwise inaccessible beaches and into caves.
We also record numbers at seal-haul outs and take photos of the breeding adults. These photos help
us to identify individual seals so that we can shed light on the life history of the individuals that breed
on Skomer. In order to identify the adults we compare every photo with a catalogue comprising 800
formerly identified animals.
All data is then collated and analysed in a report 100 pages long which gives detailed information on
population size, survival rates, behaviour and fitness of the Skomer seals.
Number of seal pups born in Skomer Marine Nature Reserve 1983-2013
Cow 13.SC097.DWB was seen in Cornwall for the first time on 16/04/12 and pupped on
Skomer in October 2013
Ed Stubbings and Bee Büche
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
19
83
19
84
19
85
19
86
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
20
10
20
11
20
12
20
13
No
. o
f p
up
s
Total Skomer pups Total Mainland pups Whole MNR pups
22
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 2013-2014, we estimate that our team engaged with around 300
committed (long term), active volunteers and a further 100 on a more casual (short term)
basis. ‘Hotspots’ of activity include the Pembrokeshire Islands, Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife
Centre, flagship reserves such as Parc Slip and Teifi Marshes, and groups associated with
Wildlife Trust Officers. Around 200 new volunteers were engaged with during the year. A
total of 495 individual volunteer workparty dates were led on mainland reserves by
Conservation Team staff. These figures do not include the additional, significant amount of
work delivered by WTSWW’s local groups, particularly at Lavernock and Coed y Bwl.
We estimate the volunteer contribution directly to our team to be in the region of 2000-2500
days during the year 2013-2014. It cannot be over-stated how important this 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. It is worth many thousands of pounds to the Trust in effort that would otherwise
have to be bought in.
CASE STUDY: The Skokholm Island Restoration Project- The Invaluable Role of
Volunteers
The first day of March 2013 saw both the Dale Princess and Lady Helen loaded at Neyland with
tonnes of materials, the first volunteers and the Wardens. This was the start of an impressive six
weeks of spring work parties with further volunteers arriving on the 14th, 17
th, 26
th and 30
th March and
on 6th April. The buildings had overwintered well which allowed the work parties to concentrate on the
planned improvements. The new header tank, which stores water pumped up from the Well by a
water ram, was connected to the Wheelhouse, Central Block and Farmhouse. This was linked into
two solar hot water systems and saw hot and cold running water provided to the kitchen and every
bedroom for the first time in the Island’s history. The solar electric system was finished in the
Farmhouse and Central Block which allowed for the provisioning of lights in every room. Contractors
were brought in to continue the improvements at the South Haven jetty. This involved boat deliveries
of over six tonnes of cement, scaffolding and shuttering along with many hours of volunteer time. One
of the aims of the jetty work was to remove the old winch base, but it soon became apparent that this
was firmly embedded deep into the jetty and was thus incorporated into the new structure. Two of the
three Heligoland traps, which were started in 2012, were finished.
Work then began on the recently purchased
Lighthouse. It was decided that the old generator room
would be converted into a large versatile space,
suitable for lab-work, talks, lectures, interpretation and
exhibitions. Consequently the three cumbersome
generator bases had to be removed to the Lighthouse
compound to await transferral to the mainland. The
solar electric system was modified and connected to all
of the rooms and a solar hot water system identical to
the two at the farm was installed. Further work at the
Lighthouse involved converting two of the bedrooms
23
into the Wardens’ Accommodation. The remaining two bedrooms were decorated and the old
workshop on the ground floor was converted into a bunk room, all intended for use by researchers
and visiting ringers. While all of this was underway, the usual preparations for the season were also
advancing; there was painting of walls and floors, carpentry jobs in the bedrooms, machinery was
serviced and there was a tremendous amount of cleaning. The weather throughout March was rather
inclement; sub-zero midday temperatures seldom recorded on Skokholm, multiple hard ground frosts
and snow flurries, coupled with gale force north easterly winds, made for difficult working conditions.
That so much was achieved in such circumstances is testament to the amazing group of people
working on the restoration project. April saw the last of the spring work parties, with work focussing on
lime washing the exterior walls and roofs of the Wheelhouse, Central Block and Farmhouse. The old
Red Hut, a handy dumping ground for decades, was cleared out and organised ready for the storage
of dry timbers and other building material. Works concluded with the completion of the Well
Heligoland, built on the same footprint as R.M Lockley’s favourite trap.
The amount of work completed in just six weeks was overwhelming and could not have been
achieved without the enthusiasm, skills and energy of all of the volunteers and contractors involved.
The final Work Party of the season arrived on 9th September. The first task was to bury the blue water
pipes that supply water from the well to the farm, a task which had been long delayed as we secured
the appropriate paperwork and the attendance of an onsite archaeologist for the digging. New
windows, doors and door-frames replaced tired and rotting ones in the Cottage, Wheelhouse and
Workshop. Excavations at North Pond continued, a process which over several seasons will see the
development of an impressive series of scrapes ideal for passage waders. Efforts were made to cut
up the old metal water tanks and dumper truck for removal from the Island. Work also began at the
Lighthouse, with doors scraped down and repainted as well as the arduous task of removing decades
of paint from the interior metalwork of the lantern. Work will continue on the Lighthouse in 2014.
Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle
CASE STUDY: Volunteers at Taf Fechan Nature Reserve, Merthyr Tydfil When we received a Biffa Award grant to manage Taf Fechan Nature Reserve a couple of years ago,
it was clear from the start that a gang of dedicated volunteers would be needed to help us implement
the management plan. The 50 hectare reserve is a steep sided river valley, with over 4km of paths, a
large and rather overgrown Hazel coppice, several grassland areas rapidly scrubbing over, and no
vehicular access.
Posters were put up in shops, bus stops, community centres, libraries and
pubs, calling on local people to come out and help manage their local
nature reserve. At first it was slow going, with patchy attendance and
woefully small groups. But soon a core-group of regulars was
established, and over the last year they have become good friends,
making often difficult and demanding work a fun shared challenge.
One of the keys to the success of this volunteer has been keeping it fun!
Morale has certainly been boosted by the addition of a couple of fun-
loving, positive characters to the gang, but the power of the ‘End of
Coppicing Season Barbeque’ or ‘Start of the Summer’ trip to the pub
cannot be underestimated. Nor can the value of involving volunteers in the supposedly ‘boring’ side
of management, for example allowing them to attend certain meetings and site-visits with other
organisations, and giving them a copy of the management plan so that they can see what they are
working towards. This sort of involvement has engendered a real sense of ownership and
24
commitment to the reserve amongst the volunteers, a feeling so strong that a couple of them were
recently made volunteer wardens for the reserve.
This sense of ownership and involvement amongst local people
is so important to the long-term management of the reserve.
Grant funding is short-lived, staff members come and go and
organisations change, but if local people feel that the nature
reserve is ‘theirs’, which indeed it is, then it will never go
neglected.
Over the last couple of years the existence of this dedicated core
group of workers has allowed other more sensitive groups to
become involved, since there is always a back-up if the work is
not completed or goes a bit pear-shaped. These groups have
ranged from service users of the mental health charity Hafod, the
homeless charity Llamau, children from a local youth-club, and
an entire year-group from the local High School. The key to
successful involvement of these groups in carrying out
conservation tasks has been to relate it as closely as possible to
wildlife that can be seen, touched and experienced. Nothing enthuses a bunch of tired, teenage,
Bracken-bashers more than holding a Slow Worm in their hands, or seeing one foul on their teacher’s
hands.
And all groups, including the old-hands, are given a fresh burst of enthusiasm
for their tasks when reminded, through direct contact, about the precious and
exciting wildlife that they are working for.
Carys Solman
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):
Access work Number of work party days
Clear of vegetation 157
Maintain/repair infrastructure 31
Resurface 15
Install new routes or surfaces 10
Total 213
25
Enhancements to public access is an area where the team regularly requires the support of
external funding, and one such case study from a successful Ceredigion project is given
below.
CASE STUDY: Access Management at Coed Maidie B Goddard, Ceredigion
Coed Maidie B Goddard can be a very confusing nature reserve
until you get to know it- two very similar long wet meadows, patches
of woodland, streams and two further meadows. For this reason, in
2013, a project was started to improve navigation. A grant from The
Big Lottery Fund has provided new waymarkers marking three
coloured routes through the reserve, a leaflet showing these paths
and giving information about the nature reserve (available in leaflet
holders at the site entrances) and a new bridge over a stream
where the old bridge was unfortunately smashed by a falling tree!
(South Ceredigion Local Group contributed to this part of the
project.) On the waymarkers there are also QR codes that link to
various pages of the WTSWW website and one that links to a pdf of
the reserve leaflet on the leaflet holders.
I would like to say that this project has been the culmination of lots
of work that has been done over the last few years, but access management is always ongoing. Last
month a bridge that we installed in the woodland 4 years ago had to be moved downstream, and the
path to it diverted, after the land under it eroded too much and the large oak tree next to it was
undermined too. The bridge was installed originally after a chasm appeared in the path almost over
night! It is not always so dramatic! Brambles grow across the paths, rushes, grasses and flowers grow
over the meadow paths and need strimming, trees sometimes fall over, steps need repairing and
bridges, stiles and gates need maintaining.
There has also been a lot of work done to improve the very muddy woodland paths over the last few
years. Wood cut during the thinning process is laid across the mud and ditches are dug on either side
to create Roman-style causeways. We’ve made steps this way too. Work will continue on more of the
paths over the next few years. All this work is done by a dedicated team of volunteers who turn out
whatever the weather!
Health and Safety rears its head where people and trees meet
(along paths or where they congregate); particularly big, old,
interesting trees. Recently contractors have removed overhanging
dead wood in some of the older woodland blocks where there is a
path. It’s not always the ones you expect to fall though; after one of
the winter storms we had to clear a very large oak branch that had
fallen over the path and a stile.
We have seen an increase in the number of people visiting the site since we started
this work and made walking round the site easier.
Em Foot
26
2.7 Events Events are run by many different departments within WTSWW, and a very large additional
number by our local groups. The contribution of the Conservation Team is largely through
events delivered in partnership, and through events held on our nature reserves. This
section deals with the latter; events not based on our nature reserves are covered later in
this report.
Events led by our staff on or around our own nature reserves are an important tool for
engaging with current and potential members, raising awareness of wildlife, local issues and
local sites, and demonstrating best practice.
In the last year, Conservation Team staff led 65 local events across our patch, in which we
estimate that 980 people participated. Staff also led 74 walks in which 1110 people
participated.
CASE STUDY Events at Cwm Colhuw Nature Reserve, Vale of Glamorgan Cwm Colhuw lies on the clifftop on the outskirts
of the town of Llantwit Major, Vale of
Glamorgan. It is well-used by local residents
and contains part of the Wales Coast Path.
Apart from fortnightly workparties on the site,
we have also been raising the profile of the
reserve by running events for the local
community. These have included bat walks and
moth trapping nights along with an art
exhibition by the local arts and crafts group
which was inspired by the sights and sounds on
the nature reserve.
Bat walks are always popular and last year’s at
Cwm Colhuw was no different with plenty of local residents keen to get out and experience the sights
and sounds of pipistrelles feeding directly overhead (see picture below). The presence of bats led to a
future volunteer workparty installing a number of bat boxes in the wooded area in the north of the
reserve. Future bat walks will hopefully assess whether these are being used.
Moth trapping evenings are another good way to get people to experience and appreciate nocturnal
wildlife that they may never have seen or enjoyed before. WTSWW staff and members of the
Glamorgan Moth Recording Group were on hand with five moth traps to show the diversity of these
beautiful nocturnal insects. Over 100 species were recorded between 21:30 and 01:30, though not
many of the participants were hardy enough to stay until the end!
An exhibition by local artists was also held in a nearby gallery with all the varied work being in some
way influenced or inspired by the reserve. The work ranged from
textiles to sculptures and from photography to paintings and was a
very successful enterprise. The exhibition will soon be displayed in
the Visitor Centre at Parc Slip.
Vaughn Matthews
27
CASE STUDY: Events at Parc Slip Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre The re-opening of the Parc Slip Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre in May 2013 has given the Wildlife Trust a
fantastic base to run wildlife events for those who would like to know more about wildlife or to see
wildlife that they would otherwise struggle to come across. An events programme was designed to
create a varied and interesting series of walks, talks and workshops in order to make it as easy as
possible for visitors to engage with and learn about wildlife. Walks run over the past year include bird
walks, dragonfly walks, reptile rambles, bat walks, bumblebee identification workshops and many
more.
The most popular events run in 2013 were the weekly Reptile
Rambles, in which staff and volunteers from the Wildlife Trust led
visitors on a reptile survey of the nature reserve, educating visitors
on the ecology of the animals whilst also recording sightings to
monitor the reptile populations of Parc Slip. From May to September
2013, over 200 people came along to the Reptile Rambles and over
300 reptiles and amphibians were sighted. The Reptile Ramble
season has now started again for 2014 and we hope it is as
successful as last year’s season.
The other events also did very well, attracting an additional 300
people to come along and learn about British wildlife. Visitors have also been given the opportunity to
take part in practical conservation work on the nature reserve, through species-focussed events such
as the Lapwing Conservation Days which concentrated on scrub clearance in Lapwing breeding
habitat and through Friends of Parc Slip, a volunteer group established last year. The Friends of Parc
Slip has approximately 25 regular members who meet one Saturday a month to undertake
conservation tasks on the reserve, including bug hotel creation, litter picks, balsam bashing, scrub
clearance, ditch clearance and much more.
Rose Revera
2.8 Interpretation Maintaining and delivering new interpretative material for our nature reserves and visitor
centres is an ongoing area of work for our Conservation Team, again often dependent upon
securing external funds. Here are a few examples of work delivered by the team this year:
New leaflet for West Williamston
New ‘dogs on leads’ signs and gorge trail signage at Teifi Marshes
Significant new interpretation for Parc Slip Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre
New panels for Old Warren Hill and Coed Penglanowen
Upgraded leaflet for Coed Maidie B Goddard
Repairs to panel at Melincwrt
New leaflet for Taf Fechan
New welcome signs at Cwm Clettwr
New waymarkers and signage for Coed Maidie B Goddard
Various species ID sheets for use by reserve visitors
New leaflet for Coed y Bedw
New leaflet for Goodwick Moore
Renovated panel at Elizabeth & Rowe Harding nature reserve
28
3. Wider Countryside
3.1 Introduction to our wider countryside work Most of the work detailed so far has related to our conservation work delivered on our own
land holdings. We also deliver a great deal of work each year by working in partnership, and
delivering species or habitat focussed projects at a wider landscape scale. This work is now
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. Two examples
of active partnership delivery in the last year are given below.
CASE STUDY- ‘Branching Out’ project with Tir Coed The Branching Out Project was a Communities and Nature initiative, run in partnership with the
woodland charity, Tir Coed. WTSWW contributed the nature reserves as sites for the work, and some
staff input, and we benefitted greatly from the partnership with regard to Tir Coed’s skills and
experience in working with the target audience as well as the infrastructure produced by the project.
The Branching Out project worked with teams of young volunteers aged 16 to 28 years who are not in
education, employment or training (NEET) on improvements to the infrastructure at 8 WTSWW Nature
Reserves. The aims of the project were to:
enable disadvantaged young people to improve their confidence and self−esteem whilst also
developing their practical and team working skills.
increase the volume of visitors by creating new facilities from wood, and
increase the economic value of visits through attracting more visitors.
Volunteer Engagement: A programme of work was developed for each
WTSWW reserve; the nature of activities undertaken by participants varied
according to individual skills and needs. Due to the use of sharp tools and
the underlying problems faced by many disadvantaged young people,
supervision ratios were high − 1 Instructor to 4 young volunteers. This
ensured that each volunteer was given the best possible chance of
achieving. The Instructors and Support Instructors also supported
participants more generally to help them to overcome barriers that might
prevent them from engaging, such as picking them up from home,
preparing lunch for them as well as giving substance misuse advice and
signposting them to other agencies or giving a work reference.
Impact on volunteers: Many of the 87 participants who engaged with Branching Out activities faced
multiple challenges. These included a disengagement from education and employment, a lack of
basic skills such as literacy, difficult home lives, drug and/or alcohol abuse, housing issues and a lack
of social skills. In addition to this, 30 participants had a recognised learning disability or mental health
condition which affected their learning capacity, ranging from dyslexia to schizophrenia.
A programme of Agored Cymru (Open College Network in Wales) accreditation was put in place for
the participants. Feedback showed that many of the young people felt very proud of their
achievements; 24 out of the 87 participants achieved a level 1 or 2 Agored Cymru unit. In addition to
29
the formal accreditation, the participants who were 25 years old or under joined a WCVA Millennium
Volunteers programme, which acknowledged their voluntary work with a series of 50, 100 and 200
hour certificates. In all the 87 participants collectively completed a staggering 5,528 hours of
volunteering. For many of these young people this was the first type of accreditation, or positive
acknowledgement of their work that they had received and it proved to be a real boost to their self-
confidence, as well as improving their employment opportunities.
Community Engagement & Visitor Volumes: The improved visitor facilities created by the Project
Participants were intended to attract an increased number of visitors to these sites. To increase
public awareness, events were held at each of the 8 WTSWW Reserves. Events included organised
walks and tours, school visits, fairs and open days and were well attended.
As many of the Reserves did not have any obvious signage, ‘welcome signs’ were installed at the
entrance of 2 of the Reserves and entrance archways at another 2. These works help to make the
Reserves more apparent to passers-by and therefore are hoped to attract an increased number of
visitors. The new facilities, created mainly from timber sourced from site, including benches, visitor
shelters, boardwalks, bridges and wildlife hides, will make for an enhanced visitor experience, and
hopefully ensure an increased number of visitors at these reserves in the future.
Visitor volume data was collected from all 8 WTSWW sites using both electronic and manual
counters. Despite some anomalies, analysis of the initial data reveals that visitor volumes have
increased on all 8 Reserves since the site works have been completed.
Becky Hulme
Becky was the Branching Out project officer for Tir Coed during the lifetime of
the project, working closely with WTSWW. From May 2014 she will be working
for WTSWW as our new Mid Wales Red Squirrel Officer.
3.3 Representation on committees The Conservation Team staff sit to represent the Trust and share their individual expertise
on a wide range of external committees across our patch. This increases our networking and
improves our partnership working, allows us to increase our reach through advocacy and
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 are represented:
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 Group Gower Ranger Liaison Group Llais y Goedwig Merthyr Tydfil Biodiversity Partnership Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership Mynydd Mawr Steering Group Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnership Pembroke Millponds Action Group Skomer MNR Advisory Committee Swansea Biodiversity Partnership Swansea Rural Development Partnership Vale of Glamorgan Biodiversity Partnership
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Bat walk, Clydach, Swansea Canal
Wales Mammal Biodiversity Action Forum Wales Squirrel Partnership & Forum WBP Invasive Non-native Species Group WBP Species Expert Group WBP Wetlands Ecosystem Group Western Wales River Basin District Liaison Panel Wildlife Trusts Wales Producer Group WTW Living Landscapes Policy Group WTW Living Landscapes Delivery Group WTW Living Seas Group WWBIC Board
3.4 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 large number of
consultation responses during 2013-2014. These included:
Environment Bill white paper
Pollinator Action Plan
Sustainable Development Bill
Application of Community Impact Levy
Dŵr Cymru / Welsh Water consultation
High Nature Value Farming and Agri-environment Schemes
NRW’s UKWAS certification
3.5 Projects We have decided to include a separate section in the report for the larger wider countryside
projects which have received significant external funding and in many cases, employ
dedicated staff.
3.5.1 Water for Wildlife - Rhiannon Bevan
Swansea County has some of the most polluted
waterways in Wales. Despite drastic
improvement in water quality across the country
since the decline of heavy industry in South
Wales, many of our urban waterways have been
suffering the effects of urban diffuse pollution
(UDP.) UDP is directly and indirectly caused
through the abuse and misuse of local
waterways and household sewerage systems,
and also inadequate provisions of surface level
water storage, which leads to regular sewer
overflow and localised flooding.
The Swansea Water for Wildlife project, which makes up part of the Welsh Water and NRW
funded Clear Streams campaign, aims to raise awareness of the issue of UDP through direct
engagement with local communities in an effort to re-connect local people with the water
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Volunteers from Communities First
back to work scheme with WTSWW’s
Water for Wildlife Officer installing a
pond in Townhill
bodies in their area, and encourage a sense of stewardship towards local rivers, streams
and bays in the community. Showing people wildlife can be a great catalyst for behavioural
change; if people have seen first hand the wildlife in their local area, they are more likely to
work to protect it. To this end, I (WTSWW’s Water for Wildlife Officer) have been hosting a
series of regular public wildlife watching events, often in conjunction with established
community groups that do not currently have a wildlife aspect to their activities.
The events focus on some of Swansea’s most polluted
watercourses, including Salmon Migration Watch on the
Tawe, Bat Nights on the Clyne, Otter surveys on the
Llan and many more, these events are underpinned by
the message of responsible water use, and its
importance to wildlife conservation. Information leaflets
that have been produced by WTSWW about identifying
aquatic pollution, avoiding pollution incidents around
your home and correctly reporting pollution incidents to
NRW are handed out at each of these events.
Individuals from all sectors of society are encouraged to
attend these free events, and a specific emphasis has
been placed upon engaging with some of the most
disaffected members of society. Joint work with
organizations such as Communities First and
Swansea Mind has ensured that these sections of
society are being reached.
One of the methods that has been most effective at engaging with the difficult to reach
community members has been the water butts & ponds campaign, wherein 100 water butts
and 100 ponds have been distributed and in some cases installed free of charge to
Swansea residents, along with an informative pack full of information about Water and
Wildlife.
Through work with Communities First, the majority of the
water butts and many of the ponds have been supplied to
residents of Communities First areas, which has worked
fantastically at opening a dialogue between these
communities and the Water for Wildlife Officer, and
genuine progress has been made towards lessening the
incidents of local water abuse, whilst also reducing the
water load burden on local sewage systems and reducing
the risk of CSO discharge & overflow, and creating
habitats for many different types of wildlife. Contact is
being maintained between event attendees and pond and
water butt recipients through a regular newsletter update,
and a follow-up survey of wildlife using the ponds will be
conducted in late Summer.
Children from Gors Community School, Townhill creating a pond at their Eco Awareness day.
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Instilling a sense of environmental responsibility in young people has been at the heart of the
Water for Wildlife Project, and work has been undertaken with several schools in Swansea,
ranging from creating school campus ponds to Water and Wildlife/Eco awareness days,
which seek to teach pupils about the relationship between their behaviour towards water at
home and the impact on the wildlife in the local community.
3.5.2 Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project – Lizzie Wilberforce
The Mid Wales Red Squirrel Partnership MWRSP
was set up in 2002 to progress the conservation of
the remaining red squirrel population in the
coniferous forests surrounding Llyn Brianne. The
partnership has actively fundraised and worked
through the many different organisations involved to
deliver a significant amount of research into the red
squirrel population, and now, from a position where
relatively little about the population was known, is
now working actively towards landscape-scale
conservation.
The many partners include three local authorities (Powys, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion),
NRW, private foresters (companies such as Tilhill and individual managers), Brecknock
Wildlife Trust, The National Trust, and the MISE project.
In recent years, WTSWW has led on a lot of fundraising on behalf of the wider partnership,
including significant grants secured from Environment Wales (2012) and Welsh Government
(£60,000 through the Ecosystem Resilience and Diversity Fund, 2013). This has enabled us
to undertake some significant contractor-led grey squirrel control at a landscape scale. The
MWRSP represents a truly effective partnership; whilst WTSWW has been leading on the
conservation action to tackle grey squirrel populations, other members of the partnership
have led on tackling appropriate habitat management and red squirrel research.
In 2013-14, WTSWW secured over £100,000 towards
this project, with funding from Environment Wales, The
Co-operative (from the carrier bag levy from its food
stores and pharmacies in Wales), legacy funding from
Megan Jones, and a number of other grants and private
donations. This enabled the recruitment of a five year, part time Mid Wales
Red Squirrel Officer by WTSWW, Becky Hulme, ready to start in the next
financial year.
3.5.3 Reconnecting our South Wales Water Voles – Nia Stephens The Water Vole is Britain's fastest declining wild mammal and has disappeared from many
parts of the country where it was once common. It is threatened by habitat loss, but has
suffered particularly from predation by the introduced American Mink.
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The aim of the current project is to increase our
understanding of Water Voles in South and West Wales
by establishing a more complete database of their
distribution. Using a combination of maps showing
known Water Vole populations, old records and aerial
photographs showing habitat type, we have identified
key areas to survey for the species. We hope that this
increased survey effort will help us understand the
distribution and highlight vulnerable populations.
Most of the surveys are being done on private land and early spring was spent collecting
landowner contact details and then gaining access permissions from landowners. We also
tried to ensure that we had permissions to make all survey results public record. While
surveying land we are identifying areas which could benefit from habitat improvement; either
within existing populations or nearby in order to increase habitat connectivity between
populations. We then hope to work with landowners to carry out capital works to improve
Water Vole habitat in these areas.
This project is funded by Welsh Government’s Resilient Ecosystem Fund, administered by
NRW, with match funding provided by a legacy from Megan Jones.
3.5.4 Local Wildlife Sites in South East Wales– Laura Dell
In the first 3 months of 2014 the Trust has been
embarking on a new pilot project funded by the
Resilient Ecosystems Fund, looking to locate
Local Wildlife Sites in South-East Wales with the
aim of building up a network of valuable wildlife
habitat. When considering the rapid rate that we
are losing habitat due to urbanisation and
intensive farming, e.g. 95% of wildflower
meadows being lost in the UK since the 1950’s
(probably much more since this figure was
estimated), the project couldn’t have come at a
more crucial time.
Local Wildlife Sites are recognised as some of
the most important places for wildlife in each county and because they lie outside of the
network of statutory protected sites, such as SSSIs, being able to get them into favourable
management for wildlife through working with the owners is vital to protecting them. The
main emphasis of this project is landowner engagement. We want the owners of these sites
to realise their potential as wildlife safe havens, be proud to own them and keep looking after
Ragged Robin in a species-rich marshy grassland recognised as a Local Wildlife Site this year
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them for wildlife. This is why the Wildlife Sites Officer is going out and about searching for
the owners and providing habitat management advice to ensure these valuable sites are
protected for the future. If needed this visit is also being followed up by a plant survey so the
owners understand why the site is so important. It is planned that by the end of 2014 at least
35 sites across 7 local authority areas in Glamorgan will have been recognised. Two lucky
sites will also have some essential habitat management carried out thanks to funding
provided by the project. This could involve things like stock fencing where it is needed and
scrub control to restore grasslands.
The first step was to gather lots of data on possible sites to visit ready for when the survey
season kicked off, keeping in mind sites that were within areas of South Wales considered
as priority grassland and heathland habitat by the Wales Biodiversity Partnership. Then it
was time to concentrate on promoting the project through production of a leaflet, attending
LBAP meetings and getting out there in the media. It was very exciting to see an article go
out in Welsh Icon News in February and to be interviewed for the BBC Wales Country Focus
programme!
To date we have 16 sites already
recognised and management
advice given. It has been
wonderful to know that there are
people out there who are willing
to look after Wildlife in Wales.
Working in partnership with the
Local Authorities, other NGOs
and the Landowners will make
this a fantastic collaboration with
the vision to keep expanding and
create a network of ‘local wildlife
sites’ that are being managed
favourably in order to maintain
and/or start creating corridors for
wildlife throughout the county.
We will be out and about
throughout the summer at various events to promote the project including Vaynor Show,
Vale of Glamorgan Show and Go Wild! Here we will be talking about the project and handing
out Habitat Management Toolkits in the hope that our management advice will be taken on
board all across Wales.
A Local Wildlife Site where the landowners have been advised to carry out some scrub control later in the year to help protect their grassland and prevent it turning to woodland in the future.
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3.5.5 Neath Port Talbot Community Engagement - Vaughn Matthews
WTSWW were contracted to carry out 10 days of community
engagement work spread across two sites in Neath Port Talbot
Borough. The first site was a small community woodland in the
village of Coed Hirwaun, near Margam where a local community
group had already been established. The second site was an area
of marsh fritillary habitat to the east of Seven Sisters in the Dulais
Valley.
Coed Hirwaun
The work here consisted of a range of activities tied into the
meetings of the established group. These began with wildlife surveys of the woodland to
establish what was present, then the production of leaflets for the local community
highlighting what they could see (see example above).
Community events included amphibian surveys, small mammal trapping (see picture below
left), moth trapping, nest box installation and a bat walk (planned for May 2014). An article
was also produced for the village newsletter
highlighting the work that was going on there.
We also assisted the community group with their
practical habitat management workparties. Tasks
included thinning trees around the woodland pond,
removal of Rhododendron and the installation of a
wooden bridge along one of the footpaths in the
woodland.
Seven Sisters
The work here consisted of community events and the
production of Marsh Fritillary information leaflets to inform
local residents how important their area is for this species.
Leaflets were produced both for the community at large and
also the local primary school specifically (see right). The
community events that were carried out were a bat/moth walk
and a bird walk. A reptile ramble was also planned but refugia
placed on site failed to detect any reptiles unfortunately.
3.5.6 Water vole and American Mink Project As well as the Reconnecting our South Wales Water Voles project outlined above,
WTSWW’s Conservation Team have been involved in a number of other initiatives relating to
Water Vole conservation. We are in the early stages of working in partnership with NRW to
re-introduce Water Voles to an area of south Carmarthenshire, using our Ffrwd Farm Mire
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nature reserve as a reintroduction site. In anticipation of this during 2013-14 we worked with
funding from NRW to deliver an American Mink survey and control project throughout the
Llanelli-Pembrey region of the county. We have also been working with NRW to develop a
water vole monitoring programme in the Tywi Wildwood in Ceredigion.
Our field assistant Lorna Baggett has also developed an all-Wales database for American
Mink sightings as outlined in the case study below.
CASE STUDY: All Wales American Mink Database
This year, supported by funding from Natural Resources Wales, WTSWW has been working on a
data collection project to find out about the distribution of invasive American Mink in Wales. The
project stems from the recommendations of an earlier WTSWW report on Water Voles and control of
American Mink, and because a further report published in 2012 showed no records of American Mink
in Wales. Given the potential impact of American Mink on our native species, there has been a
significant under-recording of the species, resulting in very little being known about their true
distribution in Wales.
Mink records were collected from wildlife organisations, the local records centres in Wales, angling
associations and members of the public, amongst others. Requests for the location and date of
American Mink sightings were put out at events, in newsletters, magazine articles and websites. We
were also collecting information about American Mink that had been trapped, seen dead on roads, or
where Mink field signs were found. To date 1345 records of American Mink have been collected, and
collation and storing the records in our database will be an ongoing part of the project.
The results of the project gave us a real insight into
the distribution of American Mink in Wales, showing
that they are widespread across Wales, and are
less limited in their distribution than Water Voles.
The record types were varied, but revealed that
most mink are seen alive in the wild, and that mink
trapping effort appears inadequate in relation to the
magnitude of the problem that they pose.
The results of the project will form an appendix to
the earlier mink report and will be available for use
by existing and future Water Vole conservation
projects.
This map shows the distribution of American mink
in Wales according to the records collected from
this project, and the Water Vole alert layer.
Lorna Baggett
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4. Marine Conservation
4.1 Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre – Laura Mears
During 2013-14, we continued with our land based surveys from New
Quay harbour on behalf of Ceredigion County Council’s Dolphin Watch
project. This study aims to improve our understanding of Bottlenose
Dolphin site use within the Cardigan Bay SAC, to monitor trends in
dolphin occurrence and levels of boat traffic, and to assess the
effectiveness and need for management measures that aim to reduce
the risk of disturbance or injury to dolphins by boats. We started
surveys on 25/03/2013 and finished on 02/11/2013 with our volunteers
spending 1674 hours in total on land watch.
Working with our local ecotourism partner Dolphin Survey Boat Trips
we are able to send a volunteer researcher on their trips to collect
important data on the marine wildlife encountered. This relationship
ensures that this part of our research is long-term and sustainable, as
boat surveys are funded by the paying public. Our volunteers joined
287 boat trips, recording 1342 dolphin, 515 Grey Seal and 71 Harbour
Porpoise sightings. As well as systematically recording effort and
sightings data, when circumstances permit we are also licensed by
NRW to conduct photo-identification of Bottlenose Dolphins. In 2013
we had 94 photo-ID encounters. We are still collating the data from
2013 but our 2013 catalogue will be available shortly.
On the longer trips (4hr and all day trips) acoustic recordings
were made of Bottlenose Dolphin vocalisations. Since 2010 we
have been collaborating with world renowned experts in marine
acoustics from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) of St
Andrews University to collect dolphin vocalisations to build up a
sound catalogue of dolphin vocalisations in Welsh waters.
Studies on the communication of wild Bottlenose Dolphins can
substantially add to our current state of knowledge of the
species. We know different types of vocalisations play an
important role in both their foraging behaviour and when they are
socialising. Therefore by making long term recordings of a
Bottlenose Dolphin population we can begin to identify key
foraging areas and socialising hotspots, which can then be used to inform marine policy.
From 07/02/2013 to 21/08/2014 our volunteers assisted
Bangor MSc student Ben Strachan to collect data on
the effect of smothering on the Sabellaria alveolata
(Honeycomb Worm) colony at Cei Bach. Every two
weeks on a low spring tide volunteers took photographs
over quadrats at set points on the reef and recorded the
sand depth in the centre of each grid in the quadrat.
These images were then passed back to Ben who used
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them to make a visual estimation of the percentage area covered by sand, rock, healthy S.
alveolata, unhealthy S. alveolata and algal species.
4.2 Future Fisheries - Sarah Perry Work on the Future Fisheries project started in October
2013. The overall aim of the project is to champion a low
impact, profitable fishing industry in Wales; whilst securing
Living Seas where marine wildlife thrives. The initial part of
the project is rather desk based and is focused on
gathering in information on the Welsh commercial fishing
industry and collating the information required in order to
produce a report drawing together information into one
resource in order to help guide our future work and engagement with the industry. One of the
main sources of information is the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) who hold all the
data on fishing vessels and catches in the UK and are the main source of raw data for the
report.
Plenty of data sorting and information has been
taking place to provide basic information on the
structure and nature of the industry in Wales with
graphs, statistics and numbers being drawn out. The
data available includes information on species
landings, vessel sizes, information on the ports
where fish are landed and which species are landed
where, number of days fished, fishing gear used to
catch and areas where fishing occurs.
The final report will include information on:-
- Background on the Welsh fishing industry
- Current management of the industry
- Types of fishing occurring in Welsh waters - methods and gear used
- Types of vessels working out of Welsh harbours
- Trends in employment in the industry
- Welsh fishing ports - locations, types of vessels in different ports
- Species landings into Wales
- Fish prices and trends
- Fish species information sheets
In addition, a number of Welsh Sea Angling Clubs have been contacted to find out what type
of information they may hold on species catches and locations of catches around the Welsh
coast. A number of clubs have provided their competition catch information which will be
ideally for mapping locations of catches of different species.
I have also had a meeting with the local Fisheries Local action Group (FLAG) here in
Ceredigion. They allowed me to give them a brief presentation to introduce the project. This
provided me with the opportunity to meet individuals involved in the industry as well as other
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interested parties which I can potentially call upon for further information. They are also a
possible source of funding in the future.
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 two campaigns that have been high profile in the last year, with involvement from
the Conservation Team (although also relying on many other staff teams for delivery).
5.1 Badgers and bovine TB
The controversial issue of the management of bovine TB in cattle has been in the news for
many years in Wales, and the Wildlife Trusts have been vocal opponents of culling since it
was first proposed for Wales, a position taken on the basis of a critical analysis of the
scientific evidence. This is a movement-wide position, with the Trusts campaigning in favour
of vaccination as the only effective method of tackling the disease and reducing its
prevalence in the badger population.
During 2013-2014, WTSWW ran an appeal to raise funds to begin vaccinating badgers on
one of our nature reserves, Castle Woods, in Carmarthenshire. Situated in a geographical
area where TB is common in cattle, and with the reserve home to many badger setts, this
seemed an ideal site for this project. We were also successful in securing funds from the
People’s Postcode Lottery for this purpose, and in early 2014 we received the news that we
had also been successful with our application to Welsh Government to match these funds.
We have now secured enough funds to deliver a five year programme of badger vaccination
at Castle Woods, working in partnership with our licenced vaccination contractor, EcoCon.
This work is scheduled to begin in June 2014.
5.2 Funding for seabird research Winter 2013-14 saw massive storms hit Britain, and by
February 2014 we were seeing equivalently massive seabird
wrecks along the Welsh coastline; over 38,000 seabirds were
reported dead along the western seaboard of Europe
altogether. Auks (and especially puffins) were particularly
affected by fish dispersal and a diminished ability to forage.
Immediately there were indications that Skomer birds were
40
involved, with many more rings from dead birds returned to the island’s researchers than in a
normal year.
We issued a press release around this time to raise public awareness of the issue, and this
coincided with an appeal for funds, on account of government cuts to funding of Sheffield
University, whose 42 year study of Guillemots on Skomer was consequently at risk of
stopping altogether. Although this did not affect us financially, we believed the continuation
of this study was essential to our understanding of the Guillemot population, our marine
advocacy messages, and our management of the island.
The island wardens were involved in much media work including BBC Breakfast news and
many other outlets and broadcast interviews. The story was also heavily taken up by the
printed press. A one day conference was held in Cardiff in partnership with Cardiff
University, Natur and Sheffield University to celebrate the seabird research and monitoring
taking place on our islands. These efforts combined to create a successful appeal. Sheffield
University itself has contributed to the continuation of the study in the coming season, and a
volunteer has been identified to undertake the work on the island, but the appeal is
supporting the project costs and the rebuilding of the study hide. The future for the study
remains uncertain, but the appeal has allowed us to buy critical time whilst we continue to
campaign for renewed funding and a greater understanding of the importance of long-term
datasets.
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.
6.1 Media work Figures from the Conservation Team staff alone show that they participated in 9 radio interviews, 7 television interviews, and around forty local newspaper articles, with fifteen making the regional press and five the national press (including the seabird wrecks).
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6.2 Talks and presentations Conservation Team staff delivered around 70 talks or presentations with total attendance
estimated at 1600. This includes some large conferences including Unknown Wales.
6.3 Events Events are run by many different departments within WTSWW, and a very large additional
number by our local groups. The contribution of the Conservation Team is largely through
events delivered in partnership, and through events held on our nature reserves. We have
already covered those delivered on nature reserves; this section looks at wider public
engagement through attendance at externally organised occasions.
In the last year, Conservation Team staff were involved in 35 partner-led events, which due
to their size reached a much greater audience than local reserve-based activities, and that
audience is estimated at 5000.
Events held in partnership can include, for example, attendance at large national shows
such as the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show (Llanelwedd) or British Birdwatching Fair
(Rutland), the latter reaching over 20,000 people and a critical audience for our
Pembrokeshire islands. County shows and small local events are also important.
CASE STUDY: Really Wild Food and Countryside Festival, Pembrokeshire
WTSWW had a stand once again at last year’s Really
Wild Food and Countryside Festival held in the Bishops
Palace in St Davids. We have actively supported this
event since it first started some 10 years ago now and is
one of the true highlights of the summer season. It
attracts thousands of visitors and has become renowned
for its friendly atmosphere, locally grown or produced
food and drink or foraged wild ingredients, wacky
entertainment and hands-on madness for every member
of the family. At the same time it actively promotes the natural environment, traditional skills and
crafts, and the conservation groups involved in helping manage it. Visitors are also able to get a
hands on experience with a number of different animal species ranging from owls and birds of prey to
dung beetles, newts and lizards.
The event is an excellent opportunity to promote the
work that the Trust does and manages to recruit a good
number of members every year. Building bird boxes
and bug towers along with leading mini nature ID walks
and talks are some of the activities that the Trust offers
to visitors of the festival. We also provide information on
a vast range of wildlife related topics and issues along
with a small shop where various goods can be bought.
Volunteers help man the stand with the Wildlife Trust
Officer for Pembrokeshire and as the festival gets more popular, the more volunteers are eager to
help out! Other organisations such as the National Trust, National Park and RSPB are also present
and between us all, provide a good voice for the conservation movement.
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This year’s festival has unfortunately been cancelled due to the sad loss to cancer of one of the
event’s organisers, Brian Powdrill. Brian and Julia Horton-Powdrill founded, financed and set up the
festival in 2004 to enable local producers and environmental organisations to promote their products
and services. He is great loss and our thoughts are with Julia and family.
We do hope to be at the festival again next year so if you haven’t been before, do come along!
Nathan Walton
6.4 Wildlife queries Responding to queries about wildlife from WTSWW members and members of the public is
an important part of what we do, facilitating others to get interested and do their bit for
wildlife. Although difficult to record accurately, we believe members of the Conservation
Team responded to around one thousand such queries. We also engaged with other
landowners seeking advice; 13 with site visits, 23 with site specific advice by phone or email,
100 by generic advice on the topic of interest.
7. Consultancy and contracts
7.1 Consultancy A number of members of the Conservation Team also operate an ecological consultancy, led
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. 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.
7.2 Contracting Members of our Conservation Team staff, particularly but not exclusively in Swansea Neath
& Port Talbot and Bridgend, undertake commercial contracting work through their roles in
WTSWW to help raise funds for the conservation budget.
CASE STUDY: WTSWW Conservation Team Contracting The great thing about the WTSWW conservation team is the breadth of skills & enthusiasm brought
by each member. Over the last few years we have developed a range of contracting services based
on these skills and experience. This originated in the Bridgend and Vale area with the local staff and
volunteers creating wildlife areas in schools for education. Now it has expanded across our region
offering services that fall within the remits of benefiting nature conservation and countryside access.
Our unique selling point is our understanding of conservation land management and low impact on
sensitive sites complemented by access to some specialist equipment and skills.
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In recent years the team has delivered work for local councils clearing and maintaining public rights of
way and installing stiles, gates and boardwalks. We have worked for the Woodland Trust using their
timber to build a riven chestnut fence on one of their sites and installing benches in community
woodland. Each year we coppice in the Bishopston Valley for National Trust Gower. We have
delivered habitat management in privately owned sites for owners and for organisations such as
Plantlife who have had us doing specialist work to benefit the scarce plant, Bastard Balm. From time
to time we get hired with our tools and machinery by other organisations working to similar aims, one
example being use of our mobile sawmills. We also carry out contracts to run volunteer workdays on
council owned sites and the like, and have worked alongside other organisations on engagement
work. A new contract being started in 2014 is with Actifwood Wales in Neath Port Talbot where we will
be delivering greenwood working activities for people with health issues. While delivering contract
work removes us from working on our own reserves it is a means of bringing an income to support or
costs, engaging with a wider audience and working in the wider countryside.
Paul Thornton
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, Cath Lewis.
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CASE STUDY: Education work at Dow Corning Cadoxton Ponds and Parc Slip The Wildlife Education Officer has been in post since beginning of March 2014 and is based between
Dow Corning Cadoxton Ponds and Parc Slip. Not all educational work is wildlife themed, as Dow
Corning support the local schools with Science & Engineering, Mathematics Mentoring as well as
Outdoor Learning.
The month of March saw a big focus on Science, in the form of preparation and participations in a
series of National Science Week events, with over 180 nine and ten year olds visiting for Science
Week. The pupils, who were from seven local schools, got a very hands on experience and learned
the process of making bath bombs and bubble bath. Each pupil was able to choose their own scents
and colours for their own bath bombs and bubble baths to take home.
Ten year-old Olivia Barnett from St Helen’s School in Barry said: “It was so much fun coming to Dow
Corning and learning how to mix different chemicals to make new things. It’s made me think that
science can be fun.”
Science week, which is run by the British
Science Association, is designed to help
encourage children to learn more about the fun
side of science, and inspire them to think about
it as a career option in the future. By the end of
it we can definitely say the children enjoyed
the session and were inspired by it.
William, who is nine years old and also from St
Helen’s School, said, “It was such a fun
morning, I didn’t think bath bombs and bubble
bath would be a part of science. I’d love to be a
scientist now.”
Image above: Science Group and the Mayoress of Barry at Eco House Cadoxton Ponds
These schools will return in the following terms to learn about environmental subjects such as mini
beasts, differing habitats and sustainable energy.
Cath Lewis
CASE STUDY: Ecological Training Courses at Parc Slip
Since 2011, WTSWW has been offer an annual programme of ecological training courses, designed
to offer participants an opportunity to learn more about specific elements of ecology and nature
conservation. Through the redevelopment of the Parc Slip Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre in 2013,
WTSWW has been able to offer more courses and cater for a greater number of participants.
The training courses cover essential conservation topics, from Conservation Law and Great Crested
Newt Ecology to Small Mammal surveying and Fern Identification. In total, ten ecological courses
were held during 2013, attracting over 90 individuals, equating to over 150 participant days, with
many individuals booked on more than one training course.
45
The table above shows the number of participants booked on each of the ten courses, demonstrating
their popularity and success. All courses are run by expert lecturers in their field, including Professor
Lynda Warren, Rob Strachan and Dr Rob Thomas. The high standard of lecturer ensures that
participants receive the best possible training.
The most successful courses are those that can take
advantage of the facilities within the Visitor Centre and on the
nature reserve, such as the Amphibian and Reptile Ecology
and Survey Skills training course, led by Peter Hill
(Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC)). The course
enabled participants and Wildlife Trust Staff to learn a great
deal of information about our native herpetiles within a
structured classroom session, which was then followed up by
practical outdoor survey sessions on the reserve. Parc Slip
has healthy populations of all commonly occurring Welsh reptiles, Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
and Common Toad (Bufo bufo), Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus) and the European Protected
Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus).
The ecological training courses will remain an annual fixture for WTSWW, with the aim being to offer
an even greater number and variety of courses for participants over the coming years.
Rob Parry
Ecological Training CourseNumber of
Participants
Conservation Law 20
Introduction to Ornithology 17
Amphibian and Reptile Ecology and Survey Skills 19
Small Mammal Identification and Survey Skills 11
Butterfly and Moth identification and Survey Skills 14
Introduction to Grasses 13
British Fern Identification 18
Dormouse Ecology and Conservation 17
Amphibian and Reptile Ecology and Survey Skills 12
Wildlife Crime; Identification, Reporting and Prevention 12
