Broad leaved helleborine which has started to grow on on SWTs Cambus Pools reserve

Stirling and Clackmannanshire SWT Group’s Annual Newsletter April 2015 - April 2016

1. Membership Local membership has increased from 665 in 2015 to 690 households in 2016.

2. Winter Meetings and Outings We have had some really good speakers at our meetings over the winter months and they have attracted correspondingly good audiences. The group is used to talks revealing our hidden wildlife but none was so astonishing as the description by Claire Fraser of the huge numbers of wild animals being looked after by the dedicated staff at The National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross. For instance, in the last year they treated 120 owls! Gordon Riddle’s talk about the wildlife on Canna in November inspired us all to visit the island. Katy Anderson of the Forestry Commission who had previously spoken to us about the reintroduction of water voles into the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park took us through the data she had collected on the owl populations and the impact of pine martens. Our SWT CEO Jonny Hughes led a discussion about wildlife reintroduction programmes like those associated with beavers, sea eagles and red squirrels … as well as those proposed for the wolf and the lynx. Ben Darvill of the BTO gave the group a most entertaining lesson on how to recognise bird songs and in preparation for the coming season we had talks on the identification of Scottish Orchids and Local Butterflies by Martin Robinson (Hardy Orchid Society) and Scott Donaldson (Butterfly Conservation). Our main outing was a visit to the nurseries at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh to see their efforts to grow and then reintroduce some of our rarest native plants. We also arranged outings to two of our local SWT reserves, the Jupiter Wildlife Centre in Grangemouth and Bomains orchid reserve near Bo’ness.

3. Conservation and Wildlife Monitoring

Wildflower Meadows: Throughout the summer of 2015 the group monitored the status of 13 wildflower meadows. We do this using GPS recorders which allow us to map the position of all the rare plants and compare them with previous surveys. At Braeleny Farm just east of Callander we noticed a significant reduction in the butterfly orchid population resulting from a change in grazing regime. We have brought this to the attention of the National Park Authorities and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Giant Hogweed: During the last 3 years the Forth Fisheries Trust has been trying to eradicate giant hogweed along the banks of the river Allan. This massive plant can be 3m tall and has toxic sap. It became a front cover story in national newspapers in 2015 when a succession of children got horrendous blisters as a result of contact with it. The Forth catchment is one of Scotland’s worst

Rare Scottish plants being raised to be reintroduced into the wild

at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

A 2m high impenetrable wall of Giant Hogweed along the banks of the Allan

A pine marten caught on a camera trap by the

Callander SWT Group

infested areas and FFT have been trying to systematically work down the River Allan from Braco clearing the banks with herbicide spray. Our group volunteered to help with the campaign by

identifying land owners and seeking permission to spray their land. On the whole we received overwhelming support although we had to get Scottish Natural Heritage to use the new Scottish Invasive Species Legislation to pressurise Rail Track into clearing its embankments around Dunblane. Under the supervision of Bill Jack we helped to eradicate 36,000 plants between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan.

Mammal Recording Group: Our web site ( http://www.swtstirling.org.uk/ ) has generated a number of requests from potential volunteers wanting to get involved in wildlife conservation. The committee decided that we probably had the resources to set up a much needed mammal recording group and Gabi Rice-Grunert volunteered to act as a coordinator. The inaugural meeting held in February was attended by 22 which was a very encouraging start. Mammal recording has been greatly facilitated by modern technologies. For instance, the great potential of camera traps was illustrated by local photographer Dave Taylor. These cameras are primed to fire when a beam is interrupted by a moving animal and will work during daylight or darkness. Dave caught red squirrels, pine marten, badgers, and otters on his camera over a six week period in Clacks.

A Local Wildlife Recording Centre: Since resurrecting our SWT group 15 years ago one of our major objectives has been to establish a Local Wildlife Recording Centre. These centres are run by paid staff who collect and archive important information such as the locations of species of conservation concern and the records and extents of protected wildlife areas. This information is important during the planning process to local authorities, developers and forestry companies. We are delighted to report that TWIC (The Wildlife Information Centre) currently based in the Lothians is to move into our area and both Clacks and Stirling Councils have agreed working relationships with them .

Local Nature Conservation Sites: The wildlife found on Sites of Special Scientific Interest

(SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and National Nature Reserves (NNRs) is protected by law. These designated areas are not intended to embrace every valuable wildlife site and serve only as examples. This leaves unprotected many other wildlife rich locations which naturalists would fight to preserve from development. Both Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils recognise such

Areas of Sheriffmuir ploughed ready for planting

conifers

Liz Albert and Sue Sexton marking orchids for removal

prior to building on a site at Plean

sites as Local Nature Conservation Sites (LNCS). Although they have no statutory protection there is a presumption against development. During the last year Laura Kubasiewicz has been employed to develop designation procedures and to digitally map existing LNCS sites. Some of the Clackmannanshire LNCS were also resurveyed including Cambus Pools which was significantly enlarged.

4. Protecting the Wildlife Interests Associated with Local Authority and Forestry Planning

The Planning Team: A network of members is in place to screen local Council and Forestry planning applications for their impact on wildlife. This involves a lot of work looking weekly at all the applications made to both Clacks and Stirling Councils and Forestry Commission Scotland.

Local Authority Applications: During the year we drew the planning authority’s attention to many sites which we believed required wildlife surveys before development could be approved. For instance, the demolition of old agricultural buildings often requires bat surveys. If possible we try to get involved in major planning applications at early stages when damage to wildlife habitat can often be easily avoided. An example was the proposed mountain bike track from the McRae Monument on Sheriffmuir down into Dunblane. This ran through an ancient oak woodland which has been easily avoided by rerouting the track through an adjacent conifer plantation. The Group also objected to a development plan for housing, a leisure/sports complex and hotel on the Keir Estate near Dunblane This area is rich in wildlife and was designated as green belt in the local plan. After much deliberation and public discussion Stirling Council turned down the plan however in the last few days the developers have appealed the decision. This is the third time a development has been turned down on this site and then has been subsequently appealed and so once again it will test the resolve of the planning team. We also noticed the dumping of industrial rubble on a LNCS site in Clacks which had not been granted planning permission. This has been subsequently stopped by Clacks Council.

Forestry Applications: During the last few years we have become involved with a number of large forestry applications in the Ochils. These applications are determined by Forestry Commission Scotland and by comparison with local authority planning procedures we found the system difficult to operate. The FCS web site was awkward to use and the quality of information was poor. The determination process also lacked transparency; for instance letters of objection and support were not published nor was the reasons for the final decisions. In addition, there seemed a lack of democracy with FCS officers making the decisions rather than elected representatives as in the local

Part of a Cambus Pools Reserve work party

authority process. Liz Albert of the planning team took up these issues and together with Maggie Keegan (a member of SWT HQ staff) met with FCS Perth and Argyll local officers. As a result, we are now routinely consulted at the screening stage when consideration is given to whether a forestry application requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

In November 2015, Marilyn Scott of our Planning Team discovered that a workshop was due to take place in Perth as part of an FCS Review of their own Consultation Process. Liz Albert contacted FCS to ask if she could be invited and this was agreed. Subsequently, helpful recommendations were put forward by the Review Coordinator and if implemented, these should improve both their IT systems and the standing of non-statutory consultees like ourselves. Liz also applied to become a member of the P&A FCS Forestry forum but unfortunately was not selected. A forestry industry contact made at the workshop instigated a guided tour of Norbord’s Fibreboard Plant at Cowie. We hope that a similar group tour of Falkirk Sawmill will take place in late autumn 2016 and possibly a further forestry event in 2017.

5. Our Local Reserves

Rory Sandison is the Reserves Manager with responsibility for these sites ( rsandison@swt.org.uk )

Alloa Inch: This 100 acre island reserve in the river Forth provides a roost for thousands of migrating pink foot geese. The island is part of the Firth of Forth SSSI and a team from Scottish Natural Heritage has been carrying out its periodic site condition monitoring. This seems to show the salt marsh vegetation which covers the island floor is changing but the cause is still under discussion

.

Cambus Pools: Mixed teams of SWT staff and volunteers have been involved in a lot of conservation work on this site to prepare it for the construction of new access tracks from Cambus village. This is being undertaken by Central Scotland Green Network to allow vehicles to access the reserve and bring in sheep and cattle to graze the meadows. It will also spare us from the muddy trek along the banks of the Devon. Our attempts to increase the wildflowers on the track verges for butterflies, bees etc has borne some fruit and we counted nearly 500 spotted orchids and 100 devils bit scabious flowers last summer, two of our target species.

6. Web Site http://www.swtstirling.org.uk/

Gabi Rice-Grunert has put a lot of time and effort into a new Group Web Site and Melissa Shaw has set up and managed a group Facebook page.

7. The Committee Thanks are due for the enormous amount of work done by the committee:

Chairman, Alloa Inch Reserve Convenor Roy Sexton Vice Chairman, Cambus Pools Reserve Convenor Roger Gooch Treasurer and Committee Meetings Chairperson, Planning Scrutineer Liz Albert Membership Secretary Jan Harbidge Moth Group Organiser Tony Rogers IT Advisor and Mammal Group Convenor Gabi Rice-Grunert General Secretary, LNCS Organiser Sue Sexton Minutes Secretary Helen McLaren Facebook Organiser Melissa Shaw Contact: sextonsp@aol.cm