News Archive
Use the calendar links to the right to find articles published in that month.
Welcome a WIMBY to your patch
Now you have the opportunity to create a little piece of wetland in your own back yard, support local aquatic wildlife, help out with a survey and even enter a competition for doing so.
All of this is courtesy of the recently launched “Wetlands in my backyard” campaign.
Wetland habitat, and the wildlife that depends on it for survival, is under pressure and has been shrinking for decades.
So, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust wants to replace at least some of these historic losses by encouraging householders to create a wetland patch, bog garden or pond, in their own gardens.
All you need to know about how to build and plant your pond, help out with their wetland survey, and enter their competition is available online.
Against the flow – nationwide survey of non-native invasive aquatic plants
The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Wessex Chalk Streams Project has been taking a lead in recording the presence of non-native invasive plants identified as a significant threat to the characteristic species and habitats of the River Avon. The three most serious invasive plants species in the River Avon catchment have been targeted - Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam but with scope for targeting key aquatics such as Parrot’s Feather and Floating Pennywort.
Now Plantlife has launched a nationwide public participation survey on non-native invasive aquatic plants. That aims both to gather useful data about the extent of the continuing sale of such plants in garden centres and pet shops and their distribution in the wild, as well as to raise public awareness of the problems associated with non-native invasive aquatic plants.
Bustard Breeding Breakthrough
For the first time in nearly 180 years Great Bustards are breeding again in Wiltshire. Three chicks were spotted only last week accompanying their respective two mothers. This is the first really positive sign that the reintroduction programme, started over 10 years ago, is at last bearing fruit.
These large impressive birds were brought to extinction in the mid 19th century due to loss of suitable habitat, hunting and egg collection.
A painstaking project to reintroduce them to Salisbury Plain, using imported Russian bustards, now appears to be successful. These are very early days, as the long lived birds are slow to mature, but this event now proves that a breeding British population is a viable prospect.
