The Village Voice Oct Nov 2018

WILDLIFE MATTERS ……... to all of us
‘LANDSCAPE SCALE CONSERVATION’
Ecologists, conservationists and our larger
wildlife bodies are regularly talking about how
best we can look after British wildlife. The term
‘landscape-scale conservation’ has been coined
and seems to be on everyone’s lips.
Comparatively small, often isolated, nature
reserves dotted around Britain’s coast or inland
are no longer suitable alone for the future
needs of our diminishing wildlife. Or, so we are
told and with many animals rapidly declining,
larger steps need to be taken.
So, how real is the threat of losing species in our
countryside and cities? On the face of what I
see locally, not much. That is however, until you
look at the wider picture. Species that have
been here for hundreds of years are in decline.
Farmland is under intense pressure to produce
more food, often it appears, for unrealistic
returns.
Naturalist and broadcaster Stephen Moss says
in his book ,‘Wild Kingdom’ about the farmed
countryside, ‘Apart from the gently waving
heads of corn in the summer’s breeze, there is
an eerie silence. Nothing moves. The flutter of
butterflies, their colours catching the eye as they
reflect the sunshine; the buzz of bumblebees as
they flit from flower to flower; even the
wildflowers themselves – are all absent’.
Stephen continues, ‘We only need to find out
what we have lost since the end of the Second
World War to realise just how much has
vanished during the last 70 years – the span of a
human lifetime – we have lost 99 per cent of our
hay meadows, 96 per cent of our chalk and
limestone grasslands, half a million farm ponds
and 300,000 miles of hedgerows – enough to
stretch from the earth to way beyond the
moon’.
The Wildlife Trusts have put in place a ‘Nature
Recovery Network’, which includes trying to
bring nature into the places where we work and
live and to encourage farmers to make room for
colourful wildflower strips running alongside
hedgerows. They contend that children seem to
understand that the natural world is the
foundation of our wellbeing. The Trust’s 4 stage
plan is to: 1) Protect the wildest places, 2) Make
connections through (‘stepping-stones’ and
‘wildlife corridors’) between these larger places,
3) Provide a bigger overall area for wildlife and
4) Find space for wildlife in the wider landscape.
Wildlife Potential:
• 250,000 miles of roadside verges for
wildlife.
• c.430,000 hectares of gardens to help
important pollinators such as
bumblebees.
• Public open spaces of which two-thirds
is short mown grass, whereas,
wildflower meadows support eight
times more wildlife .
• 70% of UK land is farmland where
creating habitat for wildlife is vital.
So, what can we do to help? There is no real
opportunity to help in this new ‘landscape scale’
vision, but what every one of us can do is
manage our gardens a little better for ‘wildlife’,
or maybe, help your local conservation
volunteers undertake work in nearby public
open spaces and nature reserves.
The rewards for health and well-being and
just doing your bit for nature, is
immeasurable. ‘Every one of us can do a
little, but together we can do a lot’.
Further information from:
Keith Metcalf – MCV Conservation Officer
(01590) 645825 or (07771) 918449 or email
keithmetcalf@btinternet.com
www.milfordcv.org
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