Reptiles and water voles
by Ian Bushell
Another Wednesday morning work party; another good day and a good turn-out of Friends.
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More about Invasive Species Week
Invasive non-native species are one of the top five causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Here in the UK they harm the environment, threaten some of our rarest species and cost our economy over £1.8 billion a year.
Read on to find out how you can helpIt’s Invasive Species Week
Human activity has introduced more 3,000 non-native plant and animal species into Britain from all over the world. Most do no harm but some do irreparable damage to their new habitat and its native biodiversity.
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with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Sign Up with the Wildlife Trusts to do at least one wild thing every day throughout the whole month of June.
Things to do
Let’s focus on the environment this summer; let’s learn a little, make a contribution of some kind. Here are some ideas.
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Pesticides and soil biodiversity
A meta-analysis of nearly 400 research studies has shown that pesticides are damaging the soil’s vitally important ecosystems. Researchers have warned that we must be more careful about considering the organisms that live in the soil when we assess the environmental impact of pesticides. A UN report published in December 2020 found that, without urgent action to halt degradation, the future of our soils looks bleak: it takes thousands of years for new soils to form.
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Double flowers
If you are planting your flower beds and hanging baskets this weekend, keep our dwindling population of pollinators in mind and please don’t plant double flowers.
Continue readingDisease Resistant Elms
by Ian Bushell
In 2017 a White-letter Hairstreak butterfly was recorded in the park. These beautiful butterflies are the emblem of Wiltshire Butterfly Conservation group. They feed on English or Wych Elms, which unfortunately over the past few years have been ravaged by Dutch Elm disease, leaving dead gaunt trees within some hedge lines.
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Already, there are butterfly sightings from the park.
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COULD FOOD FORESTS BE THE FUTURE FOR ORCHARDS?
You will know that the Park has an orchard that was planted a few years ago. Some of you might have helped to plant it. It was created as a Community Garden and to maintain expertise we keep in contact with the Orchard Project, a national organisation for such orchard managers. This article is from their latest newsletter, which I feel will interest many park users.
Continue readingHappy Birthday Pat
This is Pat, our champion litter picker; yesterday was her 91st birthday.
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Today we are publishing the introduction and section 1 of our objection to planning application 20/00379/OUT to build 180 houses in the meadows at Southwick Court, between Trowbridge and Southwick Village. It is both a summary of the park’s biodiversity and a reminder that we need to protect our green spaces and wildlife whenever and however we can.
Continue readingEcosystem restoration
UN Launches The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
January marked the beginning of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The science says that these next ten years are humanity’s last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change, to prevent the destruction of the complex ecosystems we all depend on.
Continue reading “Ecosystem restoration”Endangered flight corridor
Of the 18 species of bats native to Britain, 13 have been identified in Southwick Country Park, in Southwick Court, and in the green fields between Trowbridge and Southwick. The thirteen includes the rare and endangered lesser horseshoe bat, a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and the internationally protected Bechstein’s bat, one of the rarest mammals in the UK.
Read on to see how proposed development will harm the bats’ habitatSouthwick Court development
Planning application 20/00379/OUT
Planning application 20/00379/OUT for site H2.6 at Southwick Court has been resubmitted. There will be a further period of public consultation and comments are invited until Sunday 14th March 2021.
Continue reading “Southwick Court development”Local Plan Review
Wiltshire Council has initiated an eight week period of public consultation to inform the preparation of the Wiltshire Local Plan Review; the consultation began on Wednesday 13 January and will end on Tuesday 9 March 2021.
Continue reading “Local Plan Review”Environment Bill delayed
Three days ago, the government delayed the Environment Bill for the third time. Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said:
Time and time again the government tells us that ‘urgent action’ is needed to restore nature, that it will ‘build back greener’ and that we can’t afford to ‘dither and delay’. What then is it playing at by delaying the most important piece of environmental legislation for decades?
We don’t need to look any further than this week’s New Scientist to see the urgent need for legislation to protect our environment and the many lifeforms we share it with.
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Southwick Country Park is officially a Local Nature Reserve.
Neonicotinoids
The Government has decided to allow the emergency use of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam on sugar beet in England in 2021, despite objections from conservationists. The decision, in response to pressure from England’s farmers, will permit the treatment of sugar beet seed to combat beet yellows virus, which is spread by multiple species of aphids.
Continue reading “Neonicotinoids”Carbon dioxide landmark.
The Met Office has forecast that during 2021, atmospheric carbon dioxide will reach levels 50% higher than before the industrial revolution.
Continue reading “Carbon dioxide landmark.”On the ninth day
We can’t find nine ladies dancing. Come spring, we will have daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze, as per Wordsworth, but feel that the link is tenuous; we will also have ladies’ smocks flowering in the meadows but we used them up yesterday by calling them eight milkmaids.
Continue reading “On the ninth day”PROJECTS PROGRAMME
Background
by Ian Bushell
The following programme of actions was taken as an outcome of the review of the park on 27th January 2013 by the Wiltshire Countryside Team and Friends of Southwick Country Park. It is intended that this is a living document: a record of previous projects, tasks undertaken, an update of works carried out during 2020, and a review of the park in general.
Continue reading “PROJECTS PROGRAMME”Real or fake?
A lot of people buy artificial Christmas trees in the belief that it benefits the environment, but environmentalists and energy analysts disagree. We need only look at a single element of the hundreds of thousands of artificial trees that will be put up and decorated this Christmas: they are all made of plastic.
Continue reading “Real or fake?”Anthropocene
Here’s a terrifying fact culled from Scientific American this week: human-made stuff now outweighs all the Earth’s biomass. This is a new and significant milestone in humanity’s dominance of the planet.
Continue reading “Anthropocene”Planning application 20/09659/FUL
Newland Homes have applied to build 50 houses on WHSAP site H2.5 at Upper Studley.
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Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 