There has been a change to the programme for our April meeting which will now hear from local resident, Nick Radford.

Nick, whose home is in Sutton Mandeville, has more than a decade’s experience working on conservation in Africa, where he spends a large portion of every year. For his employer, the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, he is the Markets & Conservation Finance Lead for Central Africa & the Gulf of Guinea. His work involves finding ways to deploy private sector investment that can simultaneously mobilise capital and deliver nature-positive outcomes.

In his talk, titled ‘Conservation at a Crossroads: The Future of the Congo Basin in One of the World’s Most Overlooked Regions’ Nick will explain what he does, and reflect on how conservation in Central Africa is changing, and on the growing role of investment, markets, and private sector partnerships in supporting conservation. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in the region, he will discuss how sustainable finance, tourism, and responsible supply chains are helping to fund conservation, while pressures on forests and wildlife continue to grow.

As always, doors and bar will be open from 7pm, free for members and people under 21 years of age and £4 for guests. ​We look forward to seeing you then.

Our first speaker of the new year was Jonny Cooper, from the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, who gave us a presentation on the topic “Lapwing & Friends: Understanding and Conserving our Farmland Birds”.

The presentation covered WWT’s support of the Lapwing (or Peewit) under Project Peewit, and local conservation efforts for other farmland birds specifically the Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Kestrel and Barn Owl.

Farmland birds are defined as species that fit in the following groups:

• any species dependent on the complex bird landscape that makes up a farmland  habitat
• species that are red listed, such as Corn Bunting and Turtle Dove
  
• where there is a local priority, for example Tree Bunting in Cranbourne
• farmland health indicator species, as defined in the national dataset of 19 species.
  

Nationally, since 1970, farmland bird species have suffered a 60% decline, with “specialist” species (that is, those most closely tied to a dependency on agricultural landscapes) suffering the most, while “generalists” (those species able to adapt to a variety of conditions) have fared better while facing challenges of their own, such as the Greenfinch that has succumbed to disease.

The WWT’s strategy to support farmland birds begins with finding out what is going on, and understanding what is required to improve matters. The issues include the consequences of farming changes to which birds cannot adapt, unsatisfactory management of hedgerows, negative impacts of development, and post-Brexit uncertainty over farming policies, funding and clear guidance.

Project Peewit was started in 2024 to investigate the cause of the sharp decline in Lapwings, and began by collecting data to help target conservation efforts. Three key issues were identified as predation, food availability, and decreased breeding density.

Locally, long established farmers and landowners have reported Lapwings being commonplace on their land in the 1970s, but the decline has been noticeable, and the absence of the species from the farms is something that they lament. Indeed, some farmers expressed the pride they had felt in their land being associated with the Lapwing, and consequently have been very supportive of the project, with practical initiatives such as scheduling the timing of grass cutting to leave breeding pairs of this ground nesting bird undisturbed. With Lapwing chicks able to walk around from day one, they are vulnerable to predation by Red Kite, among others. The Lapwings are very protective of their chicks, and breeding in groups helps with defence. Lapwing can live 10-15 years, and will return to their nests year on year.

Other farmland birds face their own problems. Tree Sparrows, differing from Lapwing in being short-lived but breeding in high numbers, have declined by 95% nationally, with food shortage and lack of suitable nesting sites being key. Conservation initiatives include nest box provision and connecting existing colonies.

Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer have suffered significant national decline, but are doing well in Wiltshire with support from farm clusters.

Kestrel and Barn Owls have suffered from a lack of small mammal prey and suitable nesting sites. Nest boxes have been provided and work done to ensure networks of rough ground within the farmed landscape.

In conclusion, Wiltshire maintains a special place for farmland birds against a gloomier national backdrop, and while the outlook for Lapwing is bleak, conservation successes on sites in neighbouring counties suggest that continuing efforts engaging with farming groups and working with landowners gives some hope for the future.

John Procter

Put this date in the diary and we'll send more information nearer the time. Meanwhile you can find out more about the film here

A full Victoria Hall heard a talk entitled “What’s in the Nadder”, where speakers from the Wessex Rivers Trust and the Nadder Valley Farmer Group presented the results of recent testing for phosphates, nitrates and bacteria. In addition, silt traps were used to check for the impact of soil runoff, which can smother in-river vegetation. All this focused on the Nadder, between Semley and Dinton, and included its tributaries.

The Environment Agency (EA) monitors water bodies to assign an ecological status based on biological, chemical, physical and hydrological criteria. In 2022, the Upper Nadder was rated as Moderate; while the Headwaters (up to Ludwell through the Donheads) were Poor. More recently, budgetary constraints have curtailed the amount of monitoring. So, the results of the work done by the Trust and Farmer Group allowed a reality check on the current situation.

Broadly, the results showed that the situation was little changed, but the good news is that there are improvement plans. Septic tanks are a feature of rural areas, treating sewage from one or more properties and then releasing it. But these discharges can sometimes be nutrient rich and pollute the river. Wiltshire Council is funding the replacement of old septic tanks under a project named “Revamp your Tank” to reduce that source of pollution. Farms are now inspected to ensure that farmers are complying with the regulations and given guidance on how to undertake improvements and best practice to minimise runoff into rivers.

But, as well as the contaminants mentioned above, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and other inputs get into our rivers. Sewage treatment works are designed to remove solids and return treated water to the river, but cannot deal with chemicals. Obviously, there is little we can do to prevent medications passing through our systems and into our wastewater. But it would help if we all thought carefully about what we put down our toilets, sinks and drains. For toilets, we should stick to no more than the three Ps (Pee, Poo, Paper). We have all heard about fatbergs created by cooking fats building up with solid objects (from cotton buds to nappies). The recent story about the woman fined for putting coffee down a storm drain is a prime example of thoughtlessness. Yes, it was only a small amount but if everyone did it…. All of us use water and all of us create wastewater, which eventually gets into the Nadder, so we all have a part to play.

​Andrew Graham

October's was talk was given by Connor Goddard, Freshwater Delivery Manager at the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust (WWT). The WWT’s Water team comprises 10 staff members, who coordinate projects in Wiltshire with volunteers and other organisations.

Connor came to talk specifically about the Wylye Valley Landscape Recovery Project. This is a long term project which has four aims; to improve the river Wylye’s climate resilience to extremes of flow and temperature, restore habitats, restore species abundance and reduce the pollution load. Connor gave an outline of the project, which was in the 2nd tranche of competitive Defra tenders, with a two year scoping phase, followed by a ten year implementation stage. Wylye Valley Farmer Cluster members are involved, pledging land along a 20 km stretch of river to be involved in several different regenerative actions.

Connor outlined how the river will be re-connected with its floodplain. Where the banks have been raised to stop water overtopping them in times of high flow, water will once again flow into the meadows presenting flooding further downstream. In places, the river has been straightened or diverted, so where possible, meanders will be reinstated. In several places, the river will be allowed to regain its old path at the bottom of the valley, rather than perched on the side of it.
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Finally, Connor showed us slides of other works the water team do, such as pegging woody material into the river in strategic places, to narrow the bed, and as a consequence to increase the flow to enable the water to scour the river gravels clean, for spawning Salmon.

Shortly after the talk, it was announced that WWT’s Water team had won the prestigious Sanctuary Environment Enhancement Award for the West Chisenbury river restoration and wetland creation from the Ministry of Defence. Follow this link to see Alice Eley and Connor Goddard receiving the award from Senior Ecologist Jenny Bennett.

Peter Shallcross

The topic this month is Pine Martens in the New Forest and will be presented by Marcus Ward, manager of the Guided Tours side of Wild New Forest,  a not-for-profit Community Interest Company which was established in 2016. They "support the conservation of threatened and poorly understood species in the New Forest by conducting surveys and research, sharing the data generated with key stake holders in the New Forest." They also run a Wildlife Explorers group for young nature enthusiasts. 

​If you scroll down on the Guided Tours website you can see Marcus on BBC Countryfile. 

The talk will take place in Victoria Hall on Thursday November 13th at 7.30pm. The bar opens at 7pm.

No need to book. As usual, free for members and £2 for visitors.

About 20 members were met by Jonathan Thompson and Matt Somerville and ushered into the classroom, where Jon gave us a brief overview of the nature reserve.

After buying the 30 acres of newly-planted deciduous plantation, Jon has been working hard to increase the diversity of habitats with small-scale re-wilding. Jonathan explained that, at Underhill, this means mimicking the effects of the large native animals currently missing from the local environment, such as wild boar, beaver and wild cattle. For example, ring barking trees to create dead-wood habitats and opening the woodland, to let light penetrate the forest floor.

We then split into two groups; one led by Matt and the other by Jonathan, before a half-time change over. Matt started by showing us the inner workings of a natural beehive, teaching us about Propolis, which is like a bee glue, with amazing qualities, which bees use to fill holes with and prevent pests taking over. Matt makes something like a hundred natural hives each year, in two styles: Rocket and Log types. We walked onto the reserve to look at several of the log hives, one of which was humming with bees. Wild honeybees have recently been classified as endangered, and it was terrific to have a deep dive into their life and ecology by a real expert.

Jonathan took his group to see newly dug ponds and scrapes which had just started re-filling with water after the summer’s drought. Holding water year-round, whatever the rainfall is, the lake has a large population of amphibians and lots of other wildlife, Jonathan has even seen otters. Near the lake is an example of ‘conservation hedge-laying’, a really thick, wide and tall hedge, where each stem has been cut half-way through at the base and pushed over to forty-five degrees. One of Jonathan’s students has surveyed the invertebrate community in this one hedge and has written a paper on it. Also, a book has been written about it, by a local author!
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Finally, Jonathan took us down to a small stream where the students of the John Muir award scheme made dams, to simulate the activities of beavers. These dams hold up the water, creating pools, which clean the sediment and enable a new community of wildlife to exist.

​Peter Shallcross

Connor Goddard, Head of Freshwater from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, will be talking to us about restoring rivers on Thursday October 9th at 7.30pm in the Victoria Hall, Tisbury.

About 7 years ago, part of the River Nadder near Salisbury was restored by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. This link will take you to a brief video explaining what they were doing then.

Improvement Works On The River Nadder In Salisbury
Come along and find out what has been happening since! The bar opens at 7pm.

No need to book. As usual, free for members and £2 for visitors.

​How is The Nadder doing? This is a question I ask frequently, as I am sure you do too. Often, after heavy rain the river is full to overflowing, its water is brown and muddy. For months during this summer, it has been clear but with reduced flow. Are local sewage works discharging polluted water into it?

The Environmental Agency (EA) reduced their testing some time ago, so it's difficult to get a clear idea. The quality of river waters are measured in different ways, taking account of biological factors (such as invertebrates and fish), chemical (harmful to humans) and hydromorphological elements (such as flow and depth and habitat quality). Ours, overall, is categorised as moderate to poor.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust recently won some funding to train volunteers so they can go in pairs each month to count water invertebrates of the eight main groups of pollution-sensitive invertebrates (or Riverflies); such as Caddis flies, Stoneflies, Blue-winged Olives, Shrimps and Mayflies. If the numbers drop suddenly from the baseline then a pollution event may have happened and the EA is notified.

In fact, so far this monitoring is showing that numbers are quite good. This is reflected in the abundance of life we can see above the water. Salmon are present and spawn lower downstream from Tisbury. The fishing clubs, instead of releasing farmed Rainbow Trout, are concentrating instead on enhancing the habitat on their stretches of river to encourage wild native Brown Trout to breed.

All this is encouraging, but what about the muddy water? Where is it coming from?   What’s in it? Who to blame?

Farmers and some farming practices are certainly at fault, so the local farmer’s group The Nadder Valley Farmers Group (of which I am Chair) decided to set up a water quality testing programme. We obtained a year's worth of funding from a grant from Farming In the Protected Landscapes grant scheme and set out to sample our river at 20 sites, weekly, for 52 weeks. The Wessex River Trust provided the expertise all the way through from its inception and Tracy Adams, our conservation advisor, tested each week for Phosphates and Nitrates, and less often as well for E. coli and sediment.

Well, we have completed the year, and would like to present to you the results on October 23rd in Tisbury, at 7pm in the Victoria Hall. Booking is essential. Please see Focus magazine p32 or contact us for details.
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Peter Shallcross