10

Anniversary Protecting Wildlife for the Future

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

with each other with a shared understanding of involving people. It’s an excellent combination of aims. If I could say one thing to the half million Wildlife Trust members, it would be thank you. Their efforts, whether active or contributing through membership, are incalculable. The Trusts’ contribution to the long-term protection of the natural environment across the UK is phenomenal. Often it’s the local groups who can spot so much better what needs to be done. We are always delighted to receive applications.

Introduction

Carole Souter, Director Heritage Lottery Fund Contents

Barn owl (Laurie Campbell)

ow it is 10 years since the advent of the National Lottery and 10 years since a quiet revolution began to take place on many of the UK’s most treasured wildlife sites. Since the first grant was made in 1995 for the purchase of Jones’ Mill in Wiltshire the Heritage Lottery Fund has committed £72 million through no less than 317 separate grant awards to projects managed by the 47 individual Wildlife Trusts. A programme of capital works on 1250 nature reserves in the UK has seen the infrastructure put in place to ensure the sustainable management of these sites into the

N

future. Ancient woodlands are being coppiced again after years of neglect, historic grasslands are being grazed appropriately and wetlands have been restored by cutting back encroaching scrub and establishing traditional reed cutting and grazing patterns. The investment in access, education and community projects has been no less spectacular. Across the UK thousands of volunteers have given up tens of thousands of hours of their valuable time to the cause; young children have seen shimmering damselflies and basking sand lizards for the first time; and many community groups have

Jenny Barnes

with people to protect biodiversity. The other is the Natural Connections project in Birmingham which provides environmental education and experiences for children. Children are going to be the adults in charge of the environment in the future. Working with them is so crucial. The ability to access the natural environment, to watch wildlife, to enjoy open space and greenery, contributes so much to people’s lives. And it’s not just the countryside that’s important. A lot of projects take place in urban areas, and a lot of people take huge pleasure simply watching birds in the garden, for example. We know The Wildlife Trusts’ history and commitment, their track record goes back far beyond the time when HLF began. We can deal

Colin Speedie

Ever since the Heritage Lottery Fund made its first grant awards, conservation of the natural heritage has been one of its top priorities. We are delighted to have been able to develop such a strong partnership with The Wildlife Trusts over the past 10 years and proud of what we have achieved together. The focus of The Wildlife Trusts on conservation, education and access, and the ability to deliver everywhere in the UK, makes them an ideal partner for the Heritage Lottery Fund. I’ve just been to see Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s reserve, Misson Carr. It was wonderful, with an extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna. We saw roe deer and fawn, red-legged

partridge and the longhorn cattle which graze the scrub. That really showed the need to spend money on capital items such as fencing. The other great thing to see was the dedication of the volunteers on the site. My favourite project is invariably the last one I’ve been to see; every one has some uniqueness that makes it stand out. But a couple of Wildlife Trusts projects are typical of the work HLF is trying to support. First is Durham’s water vole recovery plan. It’s really tackling a big problem – a 90 per cent decline in the last 10 years – and a lot of the water voles that are left are in an urban area. So finding out where they are, and working with local landowners is a perfect example of meeting all our criteria, working

Priestcliffe Lees (Mark Hamblin/Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)

Foreword

The involvement of sea-going volunteers and support of HLF is crucial for the success of The Wildlife Trusts’ Basking Shark project

helped plan a future for wildlife in their area. At the UK level, support for the ‘Unlocking the Potential’ project is enabling The Wildlife Trusts to develop ways of engaging new audiences and to develop standards of support for volunteers. Research by volunteers at sea on the basking shark is also being supported. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, hope for the future of wildlife on so many sites and in so many communities across the UK has been restored. The volunteers and members of The Wildlife Trusts who have given so many years service have been able to realise some of their long-held dreams. Whether on a small urban woodland in Sheffield, or the largest coastal realignment project in Europe at Abbott’s Hall Farm in Essex, local people have participated in the transformation. We hope the partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund and The Wildlife Trusts described in this document will be as enduring as the benefits already achieved for both the wildlife and people of the UK.

Introduction

1

East of England

2

South East and London

4

South West

6

West Midlands

8

East Midlands

10

North

12

Wales

14

Scotland and Northern Ireland

16

Summary of Funding

18

Heritage Lottery Fund

1

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

East of England Across the Eastern region, Broads and wetlands are being restored to full health, new reserves acquired and new saltmarshes being created in ground-breaking schemes

East of England highlights

Essex Wildlife Trust is now sustainable in the management of its woodland reserves with the assistance of HLF. A capital works grant has allowed the Trust to employ contractors to carry out vital coppicing and pollarding works at many reserves. A mobile firewood processor has also improved production. Much of the timber is now being sold as firewood, charcoal, woodchips and other products through the Trust’s visitor centres or direct to the public. Timber removed at Shutheath Wood was used in the restoration of the bridge at the Trust’s Colne Point reserve.

Heritage Lottery Fund

Coastal realignment scheme Essex Wildlife Trust has completed the largest coastal realignment scheme in Europe in a highly successful demonstration of how sustainable coastal defences can recreate coastal marshes for the benefit of both people and wildlife. In a partnership involving the Environment Agency, English Nature and WWF-UK, £764,000 from HLF funded the purchase of Abbott’s Hall Farm on the Blackwater Estuary in 2000. The 3.5 km long sea wall at the site was in need of extensive repair, so the solution was to breach it in five places and allow the sea to flood more than 81 ha of farmland behind. This process has created saltmarsh as a natural sea defence and provided a long-term sustainable approach to flood defence. The conservation gains are massive too. The flooded land is already well on the way to reverting to saltmarsh. Around 60 per cent of the Essex total has been lost in the last 30 years, but the work at

Dingle Marshes secured A ‘vital link’ has been secured in a chain of key nature reserves on the Suffolk coast thanks to a unique partnership between conservation bodies and vital HLF funding. Suffolk Wildlife Trust and the RSPB will jointly manage 286 ha of Dingle Marshes that was acquired with the help of a £559,000 HLF grant. Without this support, the land

could have been bought by an unsympathetic private landowner. Dingle Marshes was the last piece of land in a 10 mile stretch of coast between Southwold and Leiston that was not under conservation management. It lies within the Minsmere-Walberswick SSSI and Special Protection Area (SPA) and the Suffolk Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), is designated a RAMSAR site and parts of it have candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) status. The acquisition and subsequent restoration work will help fulfil strategic habitat and species objectives at regional, national and European levels with saline lagoon, coastal marsh and reedbed supporting key BAP species such as otter, water vole, bittern, marsh harrier, little tern, avocet and the starlet sea anemone.

Wetland birds such as avocet (above), bittern, marsh harrier and little tern will benefit from HLF funding

Old Sulehay Reserve

Suffolk reserves benefit

Eighty per cent of limestone grasslands have been lost across Britain in the last 60 years, but The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough has been able to redress this by restoring this threatened habitat in Rockingham Forest. The HLF funded acquisition of important areas of Ancient Boulder Clay Woodland of SSSI status, and a disused quarry of flower-rich limestone grassland has enabled the Trust to create one of its largest reserves in Northamptonshire: 84.9 ha now known as Old Sulehay nature reserve (above). Twelve hectares of arable fields are being restored to limestone grassland and there are opportunities to link up to other key wildlife sites in the future. Local communities have played a key role. Much of the necessary match funding came from local people and businesses and volunteers have been involved in management work parties, biodiversity recording groups and wardening. There is even a website dedicated to the reserve www.sulehaynaturereserve.co.uk

A series of fields bought with HLF funding by Suffolk Wildlife Trust around Redgrave and Lopham Fen will safeguard the future of this important reserve – an award-winning showcase for wetland restoration across Europe. The fields would have been used for pig and poultry farming, which could have damaged the water quality on the reserve. Now they help to protect the hydrology that is the key to the health of the reserve. They also provide grazing and holding facilities for the Konik ponies (below) that play a vital role in maintaining the delicate vegetation structure of the reserve. A further 24 Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserves, entered into a five-year HLF funded reserve restoration and enhancement project, are now in their most favourable condition since acquisition. Most are attracting more visitors. At Bull’s Wood, oxlips are flowering in profusion in areas now protected from deer, and snake’s head fritillary are increasing in numbers at Fox Fritillary Meadow.

ls

Mark Hamblin

Eight other Broadland reserves – all Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – have benefited from the ‘Securing the Future’ programme, made possible by a £2.3 million capital works grant. Vital machinery has been purchased and innovative techniques applied to help safeguard the future of this unique area by restoring the characteristic habitats of open water, reedbed, fen, grazing marsh and wet alder woodland, as well as upgrading nature trails and visitor centres. Scrub removal has restored open fen, helping rare wildlife, including the swallowtail butterfly (above) and fen orchid. The Trust has also been able to bring more land under its protection, including the 300 ha of Upton Broad and Marshes reserve.

Hickling Broad

Clare Gray

N

Working woodlands

2

orfolk Wildlife Trust has completed a restoration project at its Broadland reserves on a scale that reserves manager, Andy Miller, acknowledges would not have been possible without major HLF funding. Vast improvements have been made to hundreds of hectares of reedbed, also supported by funding from Defra, English Nature and the EU. As a direct consequence, bittern numbers are increasing in the Upper Thurne. The Broads are one of the most popular tourist destinations and improving visitor facilities was a key part of works at Hickling Broad. The Trust’s boat-based nature trail has become a popular attraction and a new tree hide offers panoramic views over the entire reserve.

Abbott’s Hall will help meet targets for saltmarsh creation under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). The remaining farmland will be managed as a working, environmentally-friendly farm through the introduction of BAP habitats such as cereal field margins that will benefit farmland birds. The Trust has also opened Abbott’s Hall Farm to the public and set up access and visitor facilities.

East of England highlights

Richard Reve

New funds for Broads

The sluice at Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust’s Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve was repaired using HLF and Environment Agency grants. The sluice (below) allows water levels in the old watercress beds to be more easily managed for the benefit of waders and other birds including the little egret. The third adult little egret to be ringed in England was ringed here in 2003.

Mark Hamblin

Lemsford Springs

Redgrave and Lopham Fen (Matthew Roberts)

Andrew Excell

Heritage Lottery Fund

3

South East and London highlights

A

Left: Ancient trees at Ebernoe (Matthew Roberts) Below: Crane Park Island

Mark Hamblin

Across the South East, ancient woodlands have been saved, chalk grassland restored, invasive plants defeated, and an impressive new visitor centre opened in London

4

Heritage Lottery Fund

Green oasis for London An HLF grant has enabled London Wildlife Trust to turn its vision for a high quality visitor and education centre at its Crane Park Island reserve into a reality. The reserve is an oasis of green in the midst of a suburban sprawl and for many families represents their only real contact with the natural world. Every year, schoolchildren from all over London come and enjoy the extraordinary diversity of wildlife found in the River Crane. From the shell of the tower have emerged two classrooms, office space, a viewing gallery and a permanent exhibition about the history of the site – once part of the old Hounslow Gunpowder Mills. The centrepiece is a huge interactive map of the River Crane Valley. Crane Park Island Project Manager, Alexandra Robb said, ‘The Trust now has a centre to be extremely proud of and one that will serve the local community and beyond for many years to come.’

Alien invasion Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is celebrating the success of a ground-breaking project into the control of an invasive alien weed that threatens water bodies and wetland wildlife throughout Britain. Crassula helmsii – also known as Australian swamp stonecrop – smothers all but the most hardy of marginal vegetation and de-oxygenates water bodies. Seventy-six ponds in the New Forest cSAC have been invaded. A combination of herbicide treatment and shade control funded by HLF at the Trust’s Holmsley reserve on the south-east edge of the New Forest removed 100 per cent of the weed. Follow up monitoring revealed no major regrowth, marking a giant leap in the control of this aggressive species.

Boost for chalk grasslands

SSSIs benefit from funding

Kent Wildlife Trust has achieved spectacular results at its Lydden Temple Ewell reserve thanks to HLF funding. A more effective grazing regime and the restoration of areas damaged by agriculture have resulted in the spread of characteristic chalk grassland flora and fauna. The nationally-rare early spider orchid and autumn lady’s tresses have recolonised several areas and the reserve now boasts among the largest UK colonies of silver-spotted skipper and chalkhill blue butterfly as well as nationally-important populations of marbled white, adonis blue and brown argus. Large numbers of wartbiter crickets have also been found. Highlights from the capital works programme include Park Gate Down being designated a SAC by English Nature in 2003, lizard orchids colonising Sandwich and Pegwell Bays and the successful re-introduction of the adonis blue and reappearance of green-winged orchids at Queendown Warren. A staggering 7,000 volunteer days were contributed as match funding.

Two of London Wildlife Trust’s most important reserves – both SSSIs – have also benefited from an HLFfunded capital works programme. Salt Box Hill is being restored to high quality chalk grassland with man orchids and white helleborines, dark green fritillary, marbled white and grizzled skipper. The restoration has been greatly appreciated by local people who regularly use the site. Healthy populations of water voles were found in surveys that took place at Fray’s Farm Meadows. Some grazing has taken place and careful ditch clearance has encouraged more voles to move back into the cleared ditches.

Without HLF funding many of our beautiful wildflowers would be lost. Orchids of all kinds, such as burnt orchid (right), have been protected by schemes across the South East

Fundraising to match HLF HLF grants have helped many Trusts to think on a bigger scale than ever before. Almost £1 million enabled BBOWT to realise an ambitious plan to purchase 202 ha of flood meadow and ancient grazing land at Chimney Farm on the Thames near Bampton – an area as big as all the land it owns in Berkshire! The Trust gained the interest and support of local people with a mammoth fundraising effort that provided £250,000 for match funding and work on the reserve.

HLF funds transformation A capital works grant has enabled Surrey Wildlife Trust to transform 10 of its nature reserves. An area 10 times the size of the old Wembley Stadium football pitch has been coppiced at four of its woodland reserves, 850 m of hedging planted, 200 dormice boxes erected and a large area of heathland restored at Bagmoor Common. Trust volunteers are now equipped with invaluable new skills including NPTC chainsaw qualifications, NPTC brushcutter training and a basic pesticide course. The newlytrained workforce were able to put their skills to good use during the 1,500 volunteer days of work contributed during the programme.

Sussex reserves extended Sussex Wildlife Trust doubled the size of Ebernoe Common National Nature Reserve (NNR) and is expanding woodland pasture there with its acquisition of adjacent arable land in 2001. The Trust now employs a conservation grazier and for the first time in 40 years cattle are again grazing the site – one of the most significant roost sites for barbestelle and Bechstein’s bats in Britain. A large grant also enabled the Trust to acquire redundant farmland adjacent to Malling Down, part of Lewes Downs SSSI and restore significant areas of chalk grassland renowned for autumn gentian, round-headed rampion and the thousands of orchids that are found there.

Access for all at Warburg nature reserve Visitors will benefit greatly from improved facilities and information at Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s (BBOWT) flagship Warburg nature reserve (below). The reserve is set in a steep-sided valley and was previously very difficult to access, but HLF support has changed all that. A new ‘wildlife

walk’, colourful new interpretation boards, new steps at steep slopes and a huge, clear map at the reserve entrance are just some of the improvements for visitors. The 110 ha woodland and chalk grassland reserve is home to narrow-lipped, violet, and broadleaved helleborines and silverwashed fritillary.

[email protected]

South East and London

massive donation of £1.48 million from HLF enabled Kent Wildlife Trust to complete the purchase of 607 ha of woodland in the Blean Woods complex, safeguarding 20 per cent of one of the most important ancient woodlands in England. Many sections of the woods – home to the largest UK colony of heath fritillaries and important populations of dormice and nightingales – are already under the management of conservation bodies such as The Woodland Trust and English Nature. The purchase goes a long way towards protecting the remainder of the woods.

Albert Roberts

Woods saved

There is now excellent disabled access too. The visitor centre is fully accessible to wheelchair users and the new bird hide has proved to be immensely popular, giving visitors close-up views of scarce birds such as redpolls and crossbills. Visitor numbers are steadily increasing and many have given positive feedback.

Eye-catching interpretation Twenty-one of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s highest profile reserves now boast eyecatching interpretation boards. HLF funding enabled the Trust to enlist the help of award-winning wildlife artist Greg Poole. Computergenerated artwork and design enables the boards to be easily updated in the future – an idea that has attracted attention from several other Trusts.

Matthew Roberts

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

Heritage Lottery Fund

5

South West highlights

Wildlife-friendly farming

South West Wildlife Trusts in the South West are showing that farming and wildlife can be compatible in several ambitious projects, while heathland is being restored in Dorset and the Isles of Scilly

South West highlights

HLF farming initiatives

F

The restoration of four underground quarries on the Isle of Purbeck is great news for bats. Eleven species, including the rare greater horseshoe bat (above) will benefit from the long term security of their hibernation sites. 6

Heritage Lottery Fund

Creating a regional centre

David Ireland

The 68 ha of Clattinger Farm – purchased in 1996 with HLF funding – is considered the finest remaining example of enclosed lowland grassland in the UK. It is an SSSI, and part of a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It is a precious remnant of a nearvanished type of grassland: the hay meadow. Its richness as a wildlife habitat is a tribute to the previous owners, who farmed it traditionally, without artificial fertilisers. Several species of orchid, snake’s head fritillary and the nationally rare downy-fruited sedge, are amongst its treasures. The 242 ha of Blakehill Farm – a former airfield 10 miles away – was the single largest lowland grassland reserve purchase in England, when it was acquired in 2000 and also met 45 per cent of the Government’s 10 year target for restoring hay meadows in one go.

unding from HLF has been instrumental in allowing several Trusts to start their own wildlife-friendly farming initiatives that will act as showcases for the future. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust will restore wildlife-rich grasslands and meadows buzzing with insects and blooming with displays of wildflowers by managing Blakehill and Clattinger Farms as sustainable grassland systems.

Steve Day

Helman Tor became Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s largest land holding as a result of the HLF assisted purchase of additional land around the site. Most of the heathland, acid grassland, woodland, scrub and open water at the site is designated a SSSI and parts are a SAC with silver-studded blue butterfly, royal fern, sundews and 13 species of dragonfly. Breathtaking views for the visitor are another feature of the reserve. From the top of the Tor, it is possible to see the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the English Channel to the south. Priddicombe Down was a classic example of overgrazed moorland before the Trust was able to purchase its 91 ha in 2001 with HLF funding. Grazing pressure has now been reduced and new visitor access allows people to enjoy the stunning landscape, also a significant part of Bodmin Moor SSSI with several important archaeological features.

Bat Conservation Society

Helman Tor extended

Greater knapweed (Steve Day/Wiltshire Wildlife Trust)

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust now has its own showcase for low-input, sustainable farming. Thanks to the HLF, English Heritage and longstanding corporate supporter Grundon Waste Management, the Trust purchased the 66 ha Greystones Farm near Bourton-onthe-Water. It now owns the entire farm, which includes Salmonsbury Meadows, bought in 1998, a SSSI neutral grassland – the most threatened habitat in the UK – and home to water voles, orchids and barn owls. The site also contains a large Iron Age settlement. The Trust is working alongside local farmers to promote sustainable agriculture by managing the land primarily with grazing cattle, using low-input farming methods. Community involvement is key, with two buildings earmarked to provide facilities for local schools and groups.

Access to culm grassland At Dunsdon reserve, Devon Wildlife Trust is working with landowners to demonstrate best practice for the wildlife-friendly management of culm grassland, a rare type of marshy pasture found only in Devon and Cornwall in England. The reserve was acquired in 2001 with the help of funding from HLF and English Nature. Dunsdon is one of the finest remaining examples of culm grassland and is part the culm grassland candidate SAC. The site is home to 26 species of butterfly, including marsh fritillary and wood white and 189 species of flowering plant, moss and liverwort. The Trust hopes the project will show landowners that culm grassland is not only important for wildlife but can also be an economic asset as consumers are prepared to pay more for beef raised on carefully managed sites. Public access to the site is now being developed.

Avon Wildlife Trust at last has the funds to create a regional centre for sustainability and biodiversity at Folly Farm. When it acquired the traditionally-managed farm in 1987, the Trust had the aim of fully restoring the historic buildings and landscape, and enhancing its natural heritage – 101 ha of wildlife-rich land, including a 40 ha SSSI. In 2002 the Trust secured Stage 1 funding from the HLF to develop its plans. That has included preparing detailed designs and costings for the building restoration and conversion, producing extensive architectural conservation plans, ecological surveys and landscape plans, and obtaining planning consent. Finally in June 2004 the Trust has been awarded a massive Stage 2 grant of £2,567,000 by the HLF to

Filling the gaps

make its plans a reality. Work will get underway in mid 2005, and by the start of 2007 there will be a unique residential centre set in a beautiful nature reserve that will be of regional and even national importance in enabling people to learn about sustainability and biodiversity.

HLF enabled Somerset Wildlife Trust to achieve its ambition of ‘filling the gaps’ between existing wildlife sites by funding the purchase of seven areas of land in the Mendip Hills. The large concentration of species-rich wildlife sites in this AONB makes this an important area to protect. The Trust is concentrating on joining up large areas of land for nature conservation because small isolated sites are more at risk of losing species – such as cheddar pink and peregrine that are characteristic of the area.

Cornish community involved Local people are playing a major role in the development of a nature reserve in Cornwall. As Churchtown Farm lies close to a large population in Saltash, Cornwall Wildlife Trust decided that the most effective management of the reserve would be through a community partnership. Through the ‘Friends of Churchtown Community Farm Nature Reserve’, local people are involved in the development of the reserve – a mosaic of hay meadows, woodland, wetland, mudflats and rocky shoreline. They contribute to every aspect of reserve management including practical tasks, wildlife monitoring and wardening. A website has also been developed. HLF funding has enabled the employment of a project officer, the purchase of equipment, interpretative materials, an education pack and publicity material, capital works and the development of a management plan. The Trust has entered the site into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for further funding. Project officer, Sean O’Hea, reports that the idea has been a great success. ‘The large number of people that have become involved and the ideas that they are formulating show that local people really care about their nature reserve. We can build on this together to achieve great things at this fantastic site’.

Saving Dorset’s heaths An HLF funded capital works programme has enabled Dorset Wildlife Trust to finally realise many of its desired habitat management programmes. An important outcome is the reintroduction of grazing to many of the Trust’s heathland sites for the first time in 50 years. This will reduce the amount of intensive human management needed and help preserve the unique character of Dorset’s famous heaths. Sites such as Higher Hyde Heath and Tadnoll are home to significant populations of smooth snakes, sand lizards, nightjars and Dartford warblers and are some of the most important heathland sites in England.

’Tomorrow’s Heathland Heritage’ supported The heath-clad headlands of the Isles of Scilly have been targeted by the 10-year ‘Tomorrow’s Heathland Heritage’ project that will restore and recreate 40,000 ha of lowland heath around the UK. The project is led by English Nature and generously supported by £13 million of HLF funding and 150 partner organisations. The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust will help bring 592 ha of the island’s maritime heath back into sustainable management through linking heathland back to the farming community and re-establishing grazing. Raising awareness of this important habitat – home to rare species including golden hair lichen, red-barred ant and dwarf pansy – is another key element of the scheme.

HLF conserves 1000 species At 283 ha, Lower Woods is the largest nature reserve in Avon and home to more than 1,000 wildlife species. For historical reasons it is owned by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust but is managed jointly by this Trust and the Avon Wildlife Trust. It has been the beneficiary of a threephase HLF funded project that will bring it back to favourable conservation status. The Trusts have now fenced the reserve to exclude cattle that were entering the wood from nearby common land. The second phase was a five-year programme of habitat management with extensive coppicing and ride clearance to benefit nightingales and ancient woodland flora, overseen by a full-time project manager. The current stage of the project will see the Trusts developing markets for produce such as pea and bean sticks, firewood and charcoal and looking for commercial outlets.

Coombe Hill Canal Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has restored long-lost wildlife interest to wet grassland around Coombe Hill Canal SSSI. The Trust bought 53 ha in 2000 with HLF funding and restored it ‘in rapid time’ according to director of conservation Colin Studholme. Now waders such as redshank and curlew have returned, brown hare and harvest mice are back as well as a large skylark population. The Trust is now considering establishing a green tourism initiative as well as marketing beef from the grazing cattle. Two hides and a boardwalk will allow the public to see the results of the Trust’s work. Already plans to expand the reserve have resulted in the purchase of a further 29 ha in 2004. Mark Hamblin

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

Heritage Lottery Fund

7

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

West Midlands Innovative exhibition centres and new facilities on many reserves are encouraging new audiences to experience Wildlife Trust reserves in the West Midlands. While tourists in Herefordshire enjoyed the Trust’s weekend breaks

West Midlands highlights

Wetland restoration funded HLF funding has enabled Worcestershire Wildlife Trust to embark on its most ambitious wetland project ever. The Trust is restoring 120 ha of land purchased at Hill Court Farm on Longdon Marsh to its former glory by using expertise gained on its smaller wetland sites. The project is part of a larger initiative to encourage landowners towards wetland restoration on their land. It contributes significantly to the county Biodiversity Action Plan targets for several key habitats. Veteran trees will be conserved and a new generation planted. The Trust has also been able to realise a long-held ambition to create

an education centre at Lower Smite Farm. That will give it the opportunity to inspire and involve an ever-growing number of people in farming for the benefit of wildlife. With the help of almost £1 million from HLF, the Trust is restoring the farm buildings in a way that conserves their traditional and architectural interest. They will become classrooms, a laboratory, a meeting and training room for volunteers, and a venue for Trust activities and events, which the local community can also use. A farm trail is planned for the future which will also provide visitors with information on the history and wildlife of the site.

River wildlife safari in Herefordshire

8

Heritage Lottery Fund

Money for Doxey Marshes

famed for its giant, ancient trees and the Trust has found five of the 10 fattest rowans in Britain and the biggest birch, holly and crab apple trees in Shropshire – all within 100 m of each other! The Trust has also been waking up the world to the fascinating geology of Shropshire in an HLF funded project that aims to bring this often specialist subject to as wide an audience as possible. The ‘Shaping of Shropshire’ – a joint venture between Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Shropshire Geological Society – has proved to be very popular, with project officer, Liz Etheridge, reporting a ‘phenomenal response’ to a series of events. A wide audience now has access to Shropshire’s amazing geological history thanks to the scheme’s website www.shropshirerocks.org

Wildlife in the city

Ben Osborne

A

the map and assisted the local economy. The Trust plans to continue the popular schemes for the foreseeable future.

Chris Harris

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Brandon Marsh Nature Centre is now established as a ‘brown sign’ visitor attraction on the basis of its 50,000 visitors each year. HLF provided three-quarters of initial funding for the education and visitor centre which provides a gateway to the Trust’s Brandon Marsh reserve – an 81 ha SSSI on the banks of the Avon near Coventry. The buildings are based around a refurbished 19th century barn and now boast a wildlife gift shop, ‘Eco Zone’ display, the Lafarge Education Centre and meeting room. There is a programme of events for all ages. More than 7,000 children visit on national curriculum related activities, selling out the school programme every summer.

n innovative green tourism scheme has been a big hit for Herefordshire Nature Trust. ‘Wildlife Weekend Breaks’ have attracted participants from all over the UK to take part in weekends ranging from badger watching and cycle safaris to canoeing and organic lifestyle courses. The weekends have a grading system for ‘strenuousness’ and provide meals using organic, locally-produced ingredients. The HLF funded scheme compliments the Trusts’ ‘Growing Green Tourism Award Scheme’, which encourages local bed-and-breakfasts to adopt environmentally friendly practices. These green tourism initiatives now provide the ultimate ‘green’ holiday, enabling holiday makers to have minimal impact on the environment and encourages them to continue in the same vein when they go home. The schemes have also helped put Herefordshire on

The Stiperstones National Nature Reserve is going ‘back to purple’ thanks to a project of the same name made possible by HLF funding and a partnership between English Nature, Forest Enterprise and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The restoration forms part of the national initiative ‘Tomorrow's Heathland Heritage’. Heather and cranberry are now returning to the site thanks to the felling of conifer plantations, but also through the hundreds of schoolchildren and families who have taken part in special heather planting sessions. The project aims to re-establish a continuous area of moorland, 10 km long. As part of the project’s aim of protecting wider habitats, the Trust has also purchased Brook Vessons reserve on Stiperstones. The site is

Chris Harris

Mark Hamblin

Green tourism success

Back to purple

West Midlands highlights

Forty thousand inner city children per year – many of whom have never visited a nature reserve before – have discovered the delights of the natural world thanks to Birmingham and the Black Country Wildlife Trust’s three-year Natural Connections Project. Trust director Neil Wyatt reports that the projects, that aim to show them what is on their doorstep by using local wildlife sites, such as the Trust’s Birmingham Ecopark reserve for environmental education, were ‘always oversubscribed due to a huge demand’. Teacher training as part of the scheme will allow schools to continue their own programme of environmental education when the three-year project ends.

The restoration of Stiperstones (left) is part of the ‘Tomorrow’s Heathland Heritage’ initiative and is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund has helped Staffordshire Wildlife Trust transform Doxey Marshes in the heart of Stafford into a 121 ha reserve of immense value for wetland wildlife, a top bird watching site and a place that the local community can enjoy. Land purchases have extended the reserve significantly over the years, and a capital works programme has paid for wader scrapes, a viewing platform that allows visitors to watch nesting lapwing and skylark without disturbing them, fencing for livestock, willow pollarding and ditch clearance. A volunteer bird watching group, set up with the help of HLF, provides training and mentors for beginners. The information it gathers has enabled the Trust to produce a bird and wildlife annual report since 2001. The Doxey Marshes Natural Connections Project is increasing community involvement and awareness of the site with work parties and the provision of more facilities for visitors of all abilities.

Mark Hamblin

Wildlife on the map

Cycling in Herefordshire (Matthew Roberts)

9

East Midlands highlights

Getting closer to nature

East Midlands

Lottery funds school work

Matthew Roberts

In the East Midlands, The Wildlife Trusts are helping many schoolchildren get closer to nature, while in Nottinghamshire the Trust was able to fulfil a long-held ambition and buy a crucial new reserve

incolnshire Wildlife Trust’s Education and Community Action Project has been so popular that project officer, Mary Porter reports that the Trust is struggling to keep up with demand from local schools. It can be difficult and costly for schools to get out to reserves, especially small rural schools situated in large counties such as Lincolnshire, but the HLF funded scheme is able to offer free transport to and from sites – a significant factor in the success of a project that has doubled the number of school visits to some reserves since 1999. The Trust accommodates 7,000 day visits by school pupils on its sites every year, plus 2,000 nights at the residential centre at Gibraltar Point for older age groups, from university students to people in their 80s.

L

HLF funds ‘flying flock’ Derbyshire Wildlife Trust also now boasts its own grazing animals in the form of a ‘flying flock’ of sheep made possible by HLF funding the purchase of a trailer to transport them between the Trust’s reserves. The sheep eat coarse vegetation and allow fine grasses and wildflowers to flourish on smaller grassland reserves. The purchase of a specialist mower has also enabled the Trust to replicate traditional hay management and make its own hay for the flock. There has been great public interest in the flying flock through a ‘Sponsor a Sheep’ scheme.

Wildlife sculpture, St Lawrence’s School (Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust)

Charnwood grazing regime

10

Heritage Lottery Fund

Simon Bentley, director of Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, acknowledges that HLF funding was ‘instrumental’ in allowing the Trust to establish a much-needed grazing regime in its Charnwood Forest reserves. The Trust now has 20 Shetland and 10 longhorn cattle after HLF paid for cattle and over-wintering facilities and has set up an agreement with a tenant farmer at Charnwood Lodge NNR.

Major purchase for Notts Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has realised a 30-year ambition to acquire Misson Carr, thanks to HLF providing a major grant to purchase this former military training area. The site had been designated a SSSI on the basis of its extraordinary wildlife interest. Misson Carr is one of the most important sites for moths in the UK, with nationally notable species such as the red-tipped clearwing and dentated pug. The variety of habitats is impressive too, with wet woodlands, old grazing pasture and the largest remaining fragment of fenland in the county. A rich diversity of wildlife can be found there, including

great crested newts, harvest mice and water voles: all listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Wildlife has been able to thrive as a direct result of the site’s past military use that restricted public access. The reserve was opened as part of the Trust’s 40th anniversary celebrations in September 2003.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has been involving children in practical tasks such as hedge making, path creation, willow coppicing and scrub clearing at Trust reserves through its Making Natural Connections project. There has also been a campaign to highlight the problem of dog fouling, and school ponds have been modelled on those found at Trust reserves. The Trust has brought SATS to life with walks on local reserves, allowing children to search for living examples of subjects they have studied. The scheme has also benefited GCSE and A level students by providing opportunities for fieldwork.

Natural Connections HLF funded ‘Natural Connections’ education projects have also been highly successful in the East Midlands Region. Funding has proved crucial to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust in delivering its ambitious programme of community outreach and educational activities. As a result of funding for a Natural Connections Education Officer working across the north of the county, the Trust has established ongoing links with more than a dozen schools. This has resulted in more than 1,000 visits to Trust reserves by pupils from local schools, the production of a range of new educational materials and the provision of environmental education training. The Trust has also delivered a number of community focused events on its nature reserves, enhancing their role as green spaces and outdoor learning areas.

HLF drives five-year investment programme Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s fiveyear capital works programme on 59 of its reserves has been a resounding success. Bitterns have returned to breed at Far Ings and Huttoft Bank Pit thanks to reedbed improvements. Many other kinds of wildlife have benefited from the investment, including the rare hazel pot beetle which was the subject of a species recovery programme. HLF support has encouraged the Trust to expand its work and to increase its membership – which has more than doubled to over 20,000 during the period of the project. The Trust is now the largest membership organisation in the county and has more reliable income to sustain many staff posts created through the programme.

Geoff Trinder

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

Heritage Lottery Fund

11

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

North The biggest Wildlife Trust reserve in England, and the very first Wildlife Trust reserves in Sheffield are just a few achievements in Northern England made possible by HLF

Volunteers at Carbrook Ravine, Sheffield (Matthew Roberts)

North highlights

Funding for an 18-month Biodiversity for Youth Programme enabled Cheshire Wildlife Trust to organise a series of conservation activities for 13–20 year olds, involving schools, colleges, universities and youth organisations. They focused on Cheshire’s living heritage and current BAP species and habitats that are either under threat or facing extinction. The Trust now plans to continue the project’s success with a second Biodiversity for Youth initiative.

Cuerden Valley Park An HLF grant in excess of £900,000 has funded a major restoration project at Cuerden Valley Park – jointly managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside and Cuerden Valley Park Trust. The funding has paid for the restoration of the historic parkland, including pinetum, American Gardens, walled orchard, ice house, lake desilting, new visitor facilities and interpretation. Visitors can enjoy the innovative, environmentallysustainable building that will act as a headquarters and visitor centre for both organisations. ‘The Barn’ was constructed using recyclable materials and maximises energy efficiency.

12

Heritage Lottery Fund

Water vole rescue plan ritain’s most endangered mammal – the water vole – is the subject of the first HLF funded project for a single species. Durham Wildlife Trust’s Strategic Water Vole Recovery project aims to reverse the dramatic decline of this once common animal which now faces the real risk of extinction in the UK. The Trust will work with project partners such as the Environment Agency and landowners to provide better linkage between current water vole sites, more appropriate habitat management and to create new wetland features so that vole populations are able to expand. Other wildlife will benefit from the improvements. Project officer, Jim Cokill, has been delighted by a great response, with companies and organisations, local authorities and the public volunteering their time.

B

First reserves for Sheffield Sheffield Wildlife Trust now has its very first nature reserves. The Trust worked with Sheffield City Council to identify nine seriously neglected sites, varying in size from 0.8 ha to 180 ha. They were all in poor condition, but had great potential for both recreational development and nature conservation, and also covered local BAP habitats. In 2001, the Trust received a £1million lottery grant for the project, and plans were drawn up with English Nature, the Peak Park, Sheffield City Council and local communities for the reserves. Each site now has its own advisory group made up of representatives from the local community. Forty-nine people have also signed up to a community ranger scheme, giving them the opportunity to act as the eyes and ears of the reserves.

Bog sites restored An HLF funded ‘Linking Mosses’ project has helped the Cumbria Wildlife Trust acquire and restore several important bog sites. The funding enabled the Trust to employ specialist contractors to tackle the big scale projects. Foulshaw, Burns Beck, Meathop and Bellart How Mosses have all been purchased and

Askham Bog

from a desire to address access issues as a result of the new Disability Discrimination Act. Three new hides meet disability access standards and access is much improved for wheelchair users to the reserve.

Cumbria community action improved with the help of HLF. The restoration of these bogs will take up to 100 years, but sphagnum mosses, bog rosemary, sundews, bog bush cricket and large heath butterfly are already benefiting from higher water levels, and the removal of vast areas of rhododendron and pine. The nightjar is also beginning to colonise the sites.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Community Action for Wildlife project is enabling local people to care for areas of their local environment that don’t enjoy statutory protection. Three volunteer networks focus on surveying and conserving three habitats included in the Cumbria BAP: marine, freshwater and roadside verges. Volunteers attend training courses, carry out surveys and help the Trust with promotional and publicity work. They also work with many other groups learning about all aspects of conservation work. Co-ordinator Izzy Thorne has been ‘staggered’ by the enthusiasm, energy and ideas from the Trust’s growing army of volunteers.

HLF funds access for all The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside has improved access and facilities at two more of its sites, with the assistance of HLF funding. The grounds of the Trust’s environmental education centre at Penwortham are very damp and inaccessible. Now, thanks to an ‘access all wet areas’ project, a 100 m semi-circular boardwalk is now in place, passing through lovely areas of willow and meadowsweet. It is equipped with handrails, a pond-dipping platform and special interactive signs for blind and partially sighted visitors. At the Trust’s Mere Sands Wood reserve, an ‘Access for All’ programme arose

Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Biodiversity for Youth

North highlights

HLF support for reserves Northumberland Wildlife Trust is now the proud owner of the largest Wildlife Trust reserve in England in the form of Whitelee Moor – one of Britain’s most important upland reserves. A large part of its 1,508 ha habitat is rare blanket bog habitat and it is a candidate SAC, a National Nature Reserve (declared in 2001) and a SSSI. HLF contributed 75 per cent of the funding for the purchase of the site in 1999, plus a management plan and woodland creation work.

The Trust can now also realise the huge conservation and amenity potential of its recently acquired East Chevington Reserve, set in the popular Druridge Bay area. A £20,000 HLF grant has enabled the Trust to commission a 10-year plan for the site that will encourage people from local communities to use this valuable resource. A wide variety of species will benefit from habitat improvement to the 185 ha of lakes, reedbeds, grassland, scrub, woodland and farmland of the site. It will link with several important wildlife sites in the Druridge Bay area to create a large conservation area.

East Chevington Reserve commissioned a 10-year management plan for wildlife and people

An HLF funded capital works project enabled Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to remove a large amount of scrub from Askham Bog – its oldest reserve – and recreate a mixture of fen and raised bog communities. The funding also enabled the Trust to commission a two-year study on the hydrology of the reserve. The Trust has also been able to restore wildlife habitat in the ‘arable desert’ of the Holderness area of East Yorkshire. Arable fields will become species-rich grassland, and a network of hedgerows created at Hodgson’s Fields, near Skeffling.

Tees Valley wildlife Six reserves of the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust have been improved through its capital works programme. The discovery of the grayling butterfly, and the first ever breeding kingfishers at Maze Park – once an industrial site – were some of the highlights. Saltburn Gill – a mature oak and ash woodland – was previously impassable during wet weather. Now, new paths, boardwalks and steps allow visitors to enjoy the reserve in all weathers, while protecting the valley from erosion from visitors’ boots. Simple measures often make a big difference. An interpretation board at Cattersty Gill now encourages walkers on the Cleveland Way to stop and enjoy this secluded valley perched high on the cliffs above Skinningrove. Heritage Lottery Fund

13

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

Wales Impressive volunteer effort on reserves from Radnorshire to West Wales, is bringing them into top condition for wildlife, while Gwent Wildlife Trust is helping orchids bloom again on three farms

Wales highlights

W

Great news for fritillaries

Explosive history

Laurie Campbell

R James

A network of ditches installed by the previous owner of Brecknock Wildlife Trust’s Vicarage Meadows made the site extremely hazardous to livestock. The lack of grazing enabled purple moor grass to swamp much of the area. Thanks to HLF funding, the Trust has been able to fence off the ditches and start grazing with Exmoor ponies, encouraging wildflowers such as devil’s bit scabious to thrive – great news for the reserve’s population of small pearl-bordered fritillaries.

Heritage Lottery Fund

seeds to regenerate has seen common spotted and green-winged orchids colonising the fields that had previously been ravaged by modern agricultural methods. ‘There are now so many that you are always in danger of stepping on them, but there are so many that it doesn’t matter’, reports Julian. The Trust is employing a farm manager at Springdale and is using cattle to graze the fields.

ith the help of HLF, Gwent Wildlife Trust has acquired three farms between Usk and Monmouth that have been preserved in their original state for centuries and still boast wildflower-rich meadows. The 12 ha at Pentwyn Farm, 49 ha at Springdale Farm and 7 ha at Newgrove Meadows all lie within seven miles of each other and, under the management of the Trust, provide hope for the future of wildlife-friendly farming in Wales. Newgrove is, in the opinion of Trust director Julian Branscombe, ‘One of the most photogenic reserves in Britain and contains two of the best fields in Wales for wildflowers’. A return to traditional methods such as grazing, haycutting, not using fertiliser and pesticides, and putting cattle on the meadows in winter to poach the soil and allow

North Wales Wildlife Trust has transformed an industrial wasteground – an important site for the manufacture of explosives for more than 150 years – into a haven for wildlife. The Trust has been turning the Cooke’s Explosives Works at Penrhyndeudraeth into a place for wildlife and people since 1998, when it was sold to the Trust for £1 by ICI. Gwaith Powdwr’s historical interest, biodiversity and cultural and community links make it an ideal environmental education resource. To help develop the wildlife interest, 20,000 heather plants grown on site have been planted back on the bare rubble. This Left: A greater butterfly orchid on Gwent farm

Volunteers transform reserves

project, funded by the Countryside Council for Wales, EU Life Nature Fund and HLF enabled the Trust to successfully test a unique new method for restoring heathland that could be used in future initiatives. The 24.5 ha of heath, scrub and woodland provide a good habitat for birds such as nightjar, pied flycatcher, wood warbler, redstart and tree pipit, bats and insects. The remaining buildings and tunnel are important for barn owl and bats such as the rare lesser horseshoe bat. Part of the site is now open to the public all year round.

Surveying the wildlife found on reserves is an important part of Trust work. HLF funding gave Radnorshire Wildlife Trust its first ever opportunity to undertake a biological evaluation of 10 of its nature reserves. Professional surveyors spent lengthy periods on site, revealing some amazing findings. Up to seven species of lichen were discovered, including a new species found at Gilfach reserve. Many new Welsh records and red data book species were also discovered. The data was then mapped using the Countryside Management Scheme and GIS. Five-year management plans were drawn up as a result of the findings and volunteers then stepped in to carry out the necessary work. The Trust’s volunteers provide a shining

Major work on reserves

example of the commitment and effort that make them so important. They provided £80,000 worth of match funding through 1,860 volunteering days. The volunteers ranged in age from 20 to 70-plus, and included retired dentists, teachers, salespeople and miners in the regular turn out of 1215 people. As HLF project officer James Blair points out, this is an impressive turn out from one of the smallest and least populated counties in Britain. Thanks to the dedicated band, all reserves are now being fenced with 5,300 m of stockproof fencing to prevent uncontrolled grazing that has damaged many reserves in the past, 450 m of boardwalk laid, 500 m of hedges laid and more than 800 new hedges planted and gapped up.

Help for Montgomeryshire

James Blair

Another HLF funded success has been Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s wetland restoration of Cors Dyfi Bog. Bounded on two sides by the Dyfi Valley SSSI and SAC and adjacent to the Trust’s Morfa Dyfi reserve, the site was a prime candidate for habitat restoration and £50,000 enabled work to get underway. Water levels on the bog are now controlled and, in just five years, the ditches are filling with reedmace, yellow iris and phragmites. Heather and bog myrtle are growing throughout the site, nightjars now nest there, and signs of otters have been found.

English Nature

Funding for farms

Nesting nightjars

14

Wales highlights

Pentwyn Farm (Matthew Roberts)

A dedicated team of volunteers laying boardwalks on a Radnorshire reserve

Conflicts of interest, lack of resources and practical barriers have previously inhibited the conservation management needed at Llanymynech Rocks reserve on the English/Welsh border. Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust has now overcome these problems to take forward a limestone grassland recovery project at the reserve. Large areas of encroaching scrub have now been removed. The site, jointly managed with Shropshire Wildlife Trust, is of high conservation value and has limestone grassland communities including bare rock or quarry spoils with a distinctive flora including autumn lady’s tresses, fairy-flax and rock rose and English whitebeam. The newly created habitat yielded 200 greater butterfly orchids and the declining pearl-bordered fritillary will also benefit as its violet foodplant is now abundant. HLF also paid for professional monitoring of the butterflies.

The Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales has big plans for the award-winning Welsh Wildlife Centre at its Teifi Marshes reserve thanks to HLF. Local children are helping design a wildlife-themed playground for the site, which attracts up to 15,000 people each year, and the education programme is being expanded. The Trust has also seen a huge increase in volunteer activity, thanks to project officers supported by HLF. In the first six months of 2004, 127 volunteers put in the equivalent of 423 working days on the Trust’s reserves. In the east of the Trust’s area an award from HLF has enabled 200 ha of woodland to be managed for wildlife, and 25 ha of grassland to be returned to conservation management. It has improved or created around 150 km of footpaths through reserves; laid hedgerows and restored historic stone walling on the Gower Peninsula. Much of this work involved volunteers. Recently, the Trust’s spectacular Skomer Island has been awarded a grant of £1.675m to improve the visitor experience. Renovation work will be carried out on the farmhouse and outbuildings to provide better accommodation for staff, volunteers and visitors. More information on the island’s heritage will also be provided. The project is also supported by the Countryside Council for Wales and the Tubney Charitable Trust, and will provide a focal project for all the Wildlife Trusts in Wales.

Heritage Lottery Fund

15

Scotland highlights Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK

Handa Island

Big boost for Scotland

Scotland and Northern Ireland

n award of £3.69 million – the largest award from the Heritage Lottery Fund to a Wildlife Trust – has enabled the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) to target an impressive 92 of its 125 reserves in a Reserves Enhancement Project. A huge spread of reserves and habitats from Orkney to the Scottish borders, and west coast islands to the Aberdeenshire coast, will all benefit from the scheme. The massive injection of cash has enabled the Trust to think big. It plans to erect 72 km of fencing, upgrade 24 km of paths and install 148 new reserve signs and interpretation panels. £100,000 worth of equipment has been

A

From islands to uplands, Scottish Wildlife Trust is breathing new life into 92 of its reserves thanks to massive support from HLF, while an important site was saved from afforestation in Northern Ireland

purchased, ranging from power scythes and concrete mixers to moth traps – all essential items in reserve management. SWT’s three visitor centres at Montrose Basin, Falls of Clyde and Loch of the Lowes have been targeted for improvements. At Loch of the Lowes, famous for its nesting ospreys, visitors can now enjoy CCTV coverage of the nest, giving unrivalled views of these spectacular birds, while a webcam beams live footage from the nest around the globe via the SWT website. CCTV has also provided extra protection to peregrines at the Falls of Clyde reserve during the perilous egg-laying season.

A new hide at Loch of the Lowes, built in the style of an ancient ’crannog’

Dramatic methods were called for to improve access for visitors on Handa Island, managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The pier has been repaired at Tarbet and the footpath upgraded around the island. Handa lies three miles off the north-west coast and is usually accessible only by boat, so equipment and supplies were flown in by helicopter (left). The island’s dramatic sandstone cliffs are home to thousands of seabirds including guillemots, razorbills, great skuas, as well as puffins, kittiwakes and arctic skuas.

New regimes for uplands Upland reserves present difficult management problems for conservation bodies. The Reserves Project has given SWT the opportunity to revise its current methods and look at opportunities for the instigation of new grazing regimes, the management of different animals and the development of new agrienvironment enterprises and ‘whole-farm’ businesses. HLF has enabled the Trust to acquire new skills and equipment to build or restore stock-handling facilities, dip units, access tracks, dykes and many fences on its largest, farmed and crofted, upland wildlife reserves.

Osprey (Laurie Campbell)

Important Belfast wildlife site saved from afforestation

16

Heritage Lottery Fund

An amazing series of events saved Slievenacloy – 125 ha of unimproved grassland, heathland, fen, bog, species-rich grassland and streams set in the Belfast Hills – from disappearing under commercial conifer plantations and ultimately led to Ulster Wildlife Trust securing the future of this important site. A picture of a butterfly orchid growing at Slievenacloy drawn by a local Belfast artist was the catalyst. It was put up for sale and the purchaser, by an amazing twist of fate, happened to work for the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS). As the site was about to be planted up by The Forestry Service, he remembered the painting. The rest is history. The EHS designated Slievenacloy an ASSI in 1993, mainly on the basis of its seven species of orchid and the variety and abundance of waxcap fungi that makes it one of the top sites in Ireland. Eventually the Trust was approached by the

EHS, and HLF and EHS grants allowed it to buy Slievenacloy from the Forest Service in 2000. The Trust is undertaking a threeyear plan to develop the site for biodiversity by employing a project officer to introduce an appropriate grazing regime as well as fencing and hedges to enclose the animals. It is hoped that the marsh fritillary and barn owl will return.

There has been considerable interest from Belfast people in the new developments and a key aim of the project is to keep them informed through new interpretation. Visitors, including wheelchair users, will also have access to the viewpoint at the top of the hill that provides spectacular views over a large part of Northern Ireland.

Rucksacks for reserves The Scottish Wildlife Trust has established an innovative Reserves Rucksacks project to help visitors get the most out of visiting their reserves. Visitors are able to borrow, free of charge, rucksacks containing useful items such as identification books, bug boxes, notebooks, reserves information and binoculars. They are available at a number of reserves including Handa Island, the Isle of Eigg, Falls of Clyde and Montrose Basin.

HLF helps Eigg reserve In partnership with the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, SWT aims to increase the amount of woodland on the island by almost 40 per cent. A series of projects will help sustain the island’s natural habitats and the ‘green tourism’ that is crucial to its economy.

Flying flock The SWT has also been able to purchase a ‘flying flock’ of Shetland sheep, which will graze a number of reserves in Fife and eventually go Scotlandwide. A conservation shepherd has been employed to look after them and monitor their effects on the reserves, supported by a team of dedicated volunteers.

Marsh fritillaries, waxcap fungi and barn owls will be protected for future generations at Slievenacloy Heritage Lottery Fund

17

Other funders The projects described in this document could not have been achieved without the valuable support of the organisations listed below, all of whom provided essential match funding. A special thanks must also go to the thousands of volunteers who have given so many hours of their valuable time and to the members of the public who through their membership and donations have given so generously to The Wildlife Trusts over the past 10 years.

Heritage Lottery Fund around the UK The commitment of more than a million hours of work by volunteers on projects run by The Wildlife Trusts for more than 10 years is testament to the enthusiasm that people have for the natural heritage.

£460,000

£3,972,560

With the benefit of the investment of £72 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Wildlife Trusts are better placed than ever to offer high quality experiences of the natural world to people of all ages across the UK.

£9,707,828

£5,446,407

£15,779,109 £8,070,972 Key: South East & London South West

Bernard Sunley Charitable Trust

East of England

Biffa Waste Services Countryside Council for Wales

East Midlands West Midlands

£9,086,453

North

Carillion Plc Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Wales Scotland & Northern Ireland

£2,715,643

UK Office

£16,815,388

Dulverton Foundation English Nature Environment Agency

£72,064,360

Total Match Funding (£)

£18,185,264

Total Match Funding (volunteer time, £)

£12,467,084

Forest Enterprise

Total value of investment

£102,716,708

Garfield Weston Foundation

Total number of volunteers

15,065

Greencard Charitable Trust

Total volunteer hours

1,103,175

Number of land acquisitions

183

Number of biodiversity projects

49

Esmée Fairburn Charitable Trust EU Life Nature

Hanson Environment Fund National Express Group National Grid Transco Onyx Environmental Trust Scottish Natural Heritage Sita Environmental Trust Shanks First Fund Tubney Charitable Trust Volvo Cars UK Ltd Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd (WREN) Waterways Trust WWF

The Wildlife Trusts The Kiln, Waterside Mather Road, Newark Nottinghamshire NG24 1WT Tel: 01636 677711 Fax: 01636 670001 Written by Mark Ward Designed by FDA 01484 861611 RSWT reg charity no 207238 © RSWT 2004

Number of capital works on nature reserves projects

43

Number of access, education, and community projects

42

Number of educational events

4,200

Number attending educational events

91,514

Number of practical tasks

2,528

Number attending practical tasks

41,526

Number of qualifications gained

2,772

Number of permanent jobs created

92

Cover photo: Devil’s Chair, Stiperstones National Nature Reserve (Ben Osborne)

Total HLF Grant awarded

Environment and Heritage Services (N.I.)