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Industrial Otters - An update on the Durham Biodiversity Partnership Otter project - August 2010
It seems that some north-east otters really don’t mind where they hang out. A recent survey along the River Team as part of the SITA Trust funded Otter project discovered an otter spraint right in the centre of the Team Valley Trading Estate. The Trading Estate is home to approximately 1400 companies and over 25,000 people travel there each day, but there is certainly at least one otter that is not deterred by this. The Durham Biodiversity Partnership Otter Project plans to do some habitat improvements through Team Valley and hopefully this will boost the otter population there. So if you are passing through keep an eye out, because you never know, you might spot an otter! |
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Otter holts successfully installed! - August 2010
Now that the SITA trust funded Otter Project is underway, a number of Otter holts (dens) have now been sucessfully installed in South Tyneside and Sunderland with the help of volunteers. We are hoping that these holts will be used by Otters for nesting and breeding in the not too distant future. As well as installing Otter holts, Karen Devenney (the Otter project officer) has been out and about carrying out surveys to see if she can find any signs of Otter in our area. So far she has found a few Otter spraint on rocks along the River Don and hopes to find more as a sign that Otters are coming back to our Rivers.
The project aims to address some of the current threats faced by these mammals, including habitat loss, disturbance of breeding sites, death by road traffic accident and the lack of suitable safe refuges. The project will be developed by Project Officer Karen Devenney, who was previously Water Vole Officer at Durham Wildlife Trust.
For more information click HERE. |
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The North East Signs Up to stop Balloon Releases - August 2009
Durham Biodiversity Partnership and the Marine Conservation Society are working with a number of landowners in the North East to bring an end to balloon releases in the region.
Balloon releases are often used as a method of fund raising for charities, schools and local groups and it is acknowledged that they can play an important part in raising money for these bodies. However there is a widespread environmental impact of balloon releases. The Marine Conservation Society encourages the use of balloons for fun and publicity without their being released, through their 'Don't Let Go!' campaign.
Click HERE for the full story. |
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Durham Biodiversity Partnership - 10 Year Anniversary Awards - August 2009
Seventeen awards recognising achievements for biodiversity were presented by Durham Biodiversity Partnership at a special ceremony held at Saltwell Park , Gateshead on Friday 21 August. The '10 Year Anniversary Awards' were given out as part of a day of celebrations to honour a decade of action for wildlife. The awards highlighted just some of the many projects and achievements that have taken place over the last decade and were presented by Dr Phil Gates, Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University.
Click HERE for the full story. |
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Nature Festival Celebrates 10 Years of Action for Wildlife - August 2009
A special partnership set up to protect and encourage a wealth of wildlife across Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland celebrated 10 years of successful action at a free Nature Festival last Friday (August 21) at Saltwell Park, Gateshead.
Durham Biodiversity Partnership has spent a decade protecting and promoting local wildlife through the implementation of biodiversity action plans. The first plan was published in January 1999 with a revised plan launched in July 2007. There are now 49 action plans conserving 98 priority habitat and species.
The event featured a host of attractions, with lots of entertainment for children including face painting, willow weaving, making insect homes and bird seed cakes, wireworks activities and birds of prey. One of the highlights of the festival was the creation of a giant puppet representing Mother Nature.
Click HERE for the full story. |
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Nature Festival helps Durham Biodiversity Partnership celebrate 10 years of action for biodiversity - August 2009
Durham Biodiversity Action Plan (DBAP) is celebrating a very special birthday this year, with 2009 marking 10 years since the launch of the first set of action plans. The DBAP is a series of work-plans which set out actions for species and habitats in Darlington, Durham , Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland that are considered to be under threat locally, nationally or internationally.
To celebrate the achievements of the last 10 years, a celebration event will be held at Saltwell Park on Friday 21 st August. There will be a whole host of fun, wildlife themed activities, tips on how you can help wildlife at home and information on how you can get involved in wildlife conservation. There will also be the chance to meet Mother Nature, help decorate her dress and join her procession around Saltwell Park . For further event details contact Helen Ryde on 0191 5843112.
Click HERE to download a poster. |
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Heritage Lottery Fund to safeguard the future
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Durham 's Veteran Trees - May 2009
A two-year project which aims to conserve the heritage of veteran trees in the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan area has today secured £44,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Durham Veteran Trees Project will secure the long term future of some of the oldest and most valued features of our landscapes, by encouraging local communities to record trees and participate in their conservation.
This grant will allow Durham Biodiversity Partnership to record the existence of ancient, veteran and significant trees, organise recording and training events, work with schools to develop educational resource packs, encourage landowners to recognise their veteran trees and manage them in a positive way and set up a Durham Veteran Tree Group for local volunteers. A publication detailing notable trees in the area will also be produced, highlighting a series of self-guided walks to selected trees in the area that people can visit.
For more information click HERE |
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Brown Hare Survey - March 2009
During 2002-2004 an initial Brown Hare Survey was carried out across the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan area. Five years on we want to establish how the local brown hare population has changed since this time. This evidence base will be used to target project work to help conserve and boost brown hare numbers in the area.
We are asking you to tell us where and when you see a brown hare across Darlington, County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland during 2009. This will help us to compile a profile of this species and enable us to enhance the region's biodiversity and safeguard the environment for the future.
Please complete the survey form to tell us where you have seen a brown hare.
To take part in the Survey and for more information click HERE |
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DBDS One Year On - February 2009
Durham Biodiversity Data Service (DBDS) was launched in February 2008. The first year has been a tremendous success, with a lot of hard work by Officers of Durham Biodiversity Partnership, Durham Wildlife Trust and our team of biodiversity volunteers who have put in an average of 20 volunteer days per month to help manage and digitise datasets.
We conducted over 160 data searches for the private sector and established GIS services for several of our Local Authority Partners. New data providers have entered into data sharing agreements and DBDS has provided digitised, mapped and verified datasets in return.
Historic datasets such as Tom Dunn's lifetime of work as a moth recorder are in the process of being digitised by our team. Bat roost records have been digitised and analysis is underway to show how bat distribution is affected by habitats such a woodland and water. We have provided datasets to Natural England for their habitat audit and for the proposed Limestone Landscapes intiative.
Priority BAP habitat mapping has been a focus of our work, and young graduate volunteers have gained valuable experience using our Geographical Information System in the process, providing them with an additional skill to help launch their careers in Conservation.
The service has raised extra income for the Partnership to use for new survey work. Funding will go towards extending the Ancient Woodland Inventory in 2009.
DBDS staff would like to thank everyone involved in establishing the service for contributing to such as successful first year. |
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New Forestry Grant Schemes in the North East - January 2009
Three new regionally focussed Woodland Improvement Grants are available in the North East. These are designed to reverse woodland bird decline, encourage communities to become involved with woodlands and assist with the management of Ancient Woodlands.
Ancient Woodland Management
The North East of England has approximately 6,000 ha of Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and 4,000 ha of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS), the majority of which lack formal management regimes.
Woodland that is managed tends to have higher biodiversity interest than woodland that is not managed. Research has demonstrated that higher levels of biodiversity benefits are realised when management is targeted at larger woodlands or where there is a higher density of woodland.
This grant is targeted at those ASNW in unfavourable condition to bring them into favourable condition. At present this grant is not available for PAWS sites; further work is being developed with the Woodland Trust for these sites.
Reversing Woodland Bird Decline
This has been launched by the Forestry Commission in partnership with the RSPB. Landowners and managers are being encouraged to improve woodland habitat for 14 vulnerable species, including Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher and Marsh Tit.
The UK 's woodland bird population has fallen by 20 per cent in the last 25 years and it is thought that much of the decline is due to changes in the structure of our woodlands, such as the age and diversity of tree species, and long-term undermanagement.
To try to reserve this decline, the grants available can fund activities such as preserving dead trees, coppicing, controlling grazing levels and creating glades and scrubby areas favoured by many species.
To be eligible for a grant a woodland must be within a target area for the chosen species see: www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/projects/targeting
Community Involvement
Spending time in woodlands can have a very positive health benefits including on people's physical, mental and social well being.
Woodland creation and/or management can be a focal point for community activity, building greater community cohesion and can provide opportunities for the acquisition of new skills and personal development.
This grant will provide the support required to encourage more communities to become actively involved with woodland creation or management and offer existing groups further assistance.
This grant will contribute to the costs of work associated with community use or involvement within woodlands or on sites where new woodlands are being created.
For further information on any of these grants or to apply for a grant visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/northeastengland
Grant applications must be received by 28 February 2009 for payment in the next financial year. |
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A Search for Starlings - December 2008
Durham Biodiversity Partnership is currently carrying out a winter starling survey and needs your help to gather as much information as possible on where these birds are found.
The public is being asked to report all sightings of groups of ten or more starlings roosting and flocking . Please keep a look out in the winter sky for large groups of starlings.
The postcard and web-based survey aims to gather as much information as possible about the numbers and locations of groups of starlings. The information you send will allow us to start to develop a plan to help conserve the starling across Durham.
Postcard survey forms are available from Durham Wildlife Trust Visitor Centres, and local libraries, see our surveys page to fill in an on-line record.
To take part in the Survey and for more information click HERE
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New Forestry Grant Scheme for Woodland Birds - November 2008
A new grant scheme has been launched by the Forestry Commission in partnership with the RSPB in bid to help declining woodland bird species in the North East of England.
Landowners and managers are being encourages to improve woodland habitat for 14 vulnerable species, including Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher and Marsh Tit, with financial support being offered through the Forestry Commission's English Woodland Grant Scheme.
The UK 's woodland bird population has fallen by 20 per cent in the last 25 years and it is thought that much of the decline is due to changes in the structure of our woodlands, such as the age and diversity of tree species, and long-term undermanagement.
To try to reserve this decline, the grants available can fund activities such as preserving dead trees, coppicing, controlling grazing levels and creating glades and scrubby areas favoured by many species.
Grant applications must be received by 28 February 2009 for payment in the next financial year. To be eligible for a grant a woodland must be within a target area for the chosen species see: www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/projects/targeting/
For further information or to apply for a grant visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/northeastengland
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MAGical Meadows Fen and Woodland Reports - May 2008
In August 2007 ecological surveys of two DBAP priority habitats - lowland fen and woodland - commenced. This work was carried out on behalf of Durham Biodiversity Partnership by Clare O'Reilly of Ptyxis Ecology and ecologist John Durkin. Almost one hundred lowland fen sites and over ninety limestone woodland sites were surveyed and over 500 samples of vegetation were analysed.
Condition assessments for each of the fen and woodland sites were carried out during the survey period. The results of these assessments showed that 68% of the lowland fen sites surveyed across the DMLNA are in unfavourable condition, partially destroyed or destroyed. The majority of this decline is due to the improper management of these highly important DBAP priority habitat sites.
FULL STORY
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Durham Biodiversity Data Service Launched - February 2008
A new biodiversity data service has been launched for the Durham area. Covering the local authority areas of Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham , the Durham Biodiversity Data Service (DBDS) provides high quality, verified and current species and habitat data to ecological professionals.
Data is sourced from many different organisations and individuals with whom DBDS holds data sharing agreements, and from internally commissioned survey work and verified public survey data from work undertaken by the Durham Biodiversity Partnership. The aim of the service is to better protect biodiversity through the sharing of high quality biodiversity data, and on the basis of the principles established by the National Biodiversity Network (NBN). FULL STORY
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Rare bugs on our soft cliffs? - September 2007
A survey of the invertebrate life on some of our coastal cliffs has been taking place this summer. Because eroding soft cliffs are unstable they often have just the right amount of bare ground and a diversity of flowering plants to support a variety of insects and other invertebrates, but the cliffs from the Tyne estuary to the Durham coast have never been systematically surveyed before.
Bare ground offers nesting sites for burrowing bees and wasps, hunting grounds for visual predators such as ground beetles, warm basking areas allowing warmth-loving creatures to remain active in cooler conditions and germination sites for wildlflowers. Where cliffs are colonised by wildflowers, nectar and pollen sources are provided for bees and other insects. FULL STORY
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River Derwent Grass Snakes - September 2007
A new project funded by SITA's Enriching Nature fund and Northumbrian Water Ltd aims to improve habitat along the river Derwent for grass snakes. New wetland scrapes will provide feeding grounds and log pile hibernacula will provide places to overwinter.
Volunteers from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers have helped Dewentside Council to create 5 hibernacula and Gateshead Council will be building several more alongside some new large ponds which will provide good amphibian hunting ground for the snakes. The Forestry Commission and Friends of Chopwell Woods will also be managing riverside land on the edge of Chopwell Wood to provide compost piles which are crucial for egg-laying success, as well as building their own hibernacula.
Survey work and a public information leaflet will also form part of the project.
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New Action Plan - July 2007
July 2007 saw the launch of the revised Durham Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Local BAPs like this one set the agenda for wildlife conservation across the country and are a local framework for action for all organisations and individuals.
The Durham BAP attempts to set out the priorities for biodiversity conservation as clearly as we can for as wide an audience as possible. New government guidance (NERC 2006) gives a responsibility to all public bodies, including local authorities, utility companies and so on, to take biodiversity into account in their decision making, and so local BAPs, which define priority habitats, species and local objectives for action, are increasingly important documents. FULL STORY
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String of Pearls - May 2007
The small pearl-bordered fritillary was once widespread on the upland fringes in Durham . In recent decades we have watched as one by one its former strongholds have disappeared to drainage, ploughing, afforestation, and lack of management. Formerly recorded from fourteen 10km squares in the County, the 'small pearl', as it is known in butterfly circles, is now restricted to a small network of four sites all within about a kilometre of each other.
However, the 'small pearl' has recently been the focus of concerted effort by the Durham Biodiversity Partnership with help from the County Durham Environment Trust, and the work appears to be yielding some promising results. FULL STORY
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Double Award Winning MAGical Meadows - July 2006
The recent success of Durham Wildlife Trust's MAGical Meadows project at the national Flora locale Go Native! Planting for Biodiversity Awards, was recognised at a celebration on Monday 17 July at 4:30pm at the Botanic Gardens in Durham .
The project saw off stiff competition from four other grassland projects and three Northern England projects to be the winner in the 'Grassland' and ' Northern England ' categories. David Bellamy joined representatives from the project's partners to present the awards. FULL STORY
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A new hedgerow survey for Durham - July 2006.
The success of the Durham Hedgerow Partnership over the last few years in distributing its hedgerow grant, has meant that new hedgerows are popping up all over the place, and some old hedgerows are receiving traditional care and attention courtesy of our craftsmen hedgelayers. New agri-environment schemes administered by DEFRA should have the same effect.
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Watch out for Riverside Wildlife - March 2006
Wildlife organisations in the Durham are recruiting anglers to help them with wildlife surveys. The Durham Biodiversity Partnership, whose members include the Durham Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency, run a survey every year where the public helps them to build up a picture of the distribution of one or more species.
Last year the Durham public responded with records for adders, slow worms and grass snakes. This year the survey is being targeted at river users, particularly anglers, and the species being looked for are the grass snake and the kingfisher.
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Motorway MAGic! - November 2005
The MAGical Meadows Project has been working in partnership with the Highways Agency and their Agents A-one to help preserve one of the UK 's rarest grassland. Works by the Highways Agency to widen the A1(M) in 2004, between junction 60 and 61, exposed cuttings through the rock Magnesian Limestone.
Now in 2005 the Highways Agency are sowing the exposed Magnesian Limestone rock with seed collected locally from Thrislington Plantation National Nature Reserve (NNR) - the regions best example of magnesian limestone grassland owned and managed by quarrying company Lafarge Aggregates Limited, in partnership with English Nature .
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Waxcap grasslands - Biodiversity underground! - October 2005
The Durham Biodiversity Partnership is turning its attention this autumn to a forgotten and overlooked aspect of biodiversity - fungi-rich grasslands.
Most of us with an interest in wildlife spend our time either looking up at birds and flying insects or down at the plants and crawling animals. How many of us have stopped to consider that some of the biggest organisms and the greatest diversity of species may be right beneath our feet - underground.
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MAGical Meadows Success - July 2005
A project to restore some of our most distinctive and wildlife-rich countryside in the east of Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland has scored a notable success with a £320,000 grant from the ALSF Partnership Grants Scheme through Defra's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (see Notes for Editors below).
Partners in the MAGical Meadows projects are putting on a series of 'MAGical Events' during July to celebrate their success and to explain the project more fully to the public.
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Glow Worm Survey - June 2005
Get your thermos and head torches ready - nocturnal volunteers required for a glow worm hunt.
If you can spare a few late evenings in June and are willing to be trained in glow worm identification, then the Durham Biodiversity Partnership needs you to take part in the Durham glow worm 2005.
The glow worm is a Durham Biodiversity Action Plan (DBAP) species and is thought to be in serious decline in Durham and Tyne & Wear. The last widespread survey in 2003 turned up no records at all, although there have been some recent sightings from Castle Eden Denemouth and Thrislington National Nature Reserve (NNR).
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Snakes Alive! - June 2005
The public is being asked to report all sightings of Snakes and Slow-worms to the Durham Biodiversity Partnership during the summer months in a bid to ensure the conservation of these reclusive creatures.
The postcard and web-based survey aims to gather as much information as possible about grass snakes, adders and slow-worms, as part of the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan, which safeguards our most threatened wildlife.
Grass snakes and adders are the only two native snakes found locally. Although slow-worms look like snakes they are actually legless lizards.
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Beach Clean-up Challenge - March 2005
Over a mile of the Durham coastline is to be spring-cleaned thanks to volunteers from Northumbrian Water who are the first company to take up the Durham Business Biodiversity Challenge.
Last month the Durham Biodiversity Partnership posted a number of challenges on their website to encourage employee volunteers to come out and help with practical tasks for wildlife in the region.
North East Cares, a Business in the Community employee volunteering programme, has helped recruit companies to this cause and Northumbrian Water were the first to respond.
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The Business Biodiversity Challenge - November 2004
The Durham Biodiversity Partnership is challenging businesses in the region to take action to help wildlife.
A series of challenges have been designed by organisations such as the Durham Wildlife Trust, Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside Councils to help meet targets in the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan as well as providing opportunities for businesses and public bodies to design team building exercises around a real-life challenge.
Each challenge is posted by one of the organisations in the Durham Biodiversity Partnership who are working together to protect the most vulnerable wildlife in the region.
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