Andy McWilliam, a former Wildlife Crime Officer with Merseyside Police and now a National Wildlife Crime Unit Investigator, has won the Clark R. Bavin Award. The announcement was made this month at the 15th meeting of the CITES Conference in Doha, Qatar. For several years, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), a non-governmental organisation based in the United States of America, has presented awards to people who have engaged in law enforcement actions to protect species of wildlife listed in the Appendices of the Convention. These awards are given in cooperation with the Species Survival Network, an international coalition of over 80 non-governmental organisations, including AWI. The awards, named after a former chief of the law enforcement division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have traditionally been presented by the Secretary-General of CITES. Apart from his CITES work, Andy has worked tirelessly over the years to bring to justice people who have persecuted and abused birds and animals in the UK and this award is very richly deserved.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Butterfly man wins Dragonfly Award
After two decades of dedicated voluntary nature conservation work, Paul Loughnane, Secretary of Wirral Countryside Volunteers and Secretary of New Ferry Butterfly Park, has scooped the prodigious Unilever Dragonfly Award and a £1,000 prize in recognition for his environmental efforts at sites around the Wirral Peninsula.
Paul has been honorary secretary of Wirral Countryside Volunteers for 16 years and has organised a varied programme of events throughout the Wirral and beyond. Paul has had a sustained relationship with the Mersey Basin Campaign gaining 23 grants and awards in the last 15 years. The Wirral Countryside Volunteers have been involved in pond restoration at Thornton Common a Site of Biological Importance which has benefited wildlife including longhorn beetles and thick-legged flower beetles and has been naturally colonised by Great Crested Newts. At Thornton Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest which lies along Clatter Brook, Paul and the volunteers have developed a six year hazel coppice rotation supplying hedging stakes for hedgerow restoration projects throughout the Wirral. Here bluebells and primroses flourish under this coppice regime. Paul has organised a woodland craft display at Eastham Country Park’s annual Woodland craft for more than a decade. Here the Mersey Basin Campaign have sponsored many interesting and hard to come-by woodland craft tools. The volunteers also work on the most westerly point on the Mersey Basin catchment area, at Gilroy Nature Park, West Kirby, near the source of the river Birket.
The Wirral Countryside Volunteers are currently based at New Ferry Butterfly Park. Here Paul has organised hedge-laying training days, scything parties to mow the meadows, and he hosts an annual celebratory BBQ in August. Paul enthused “We have been mowing grasslands and raking up the cuttings for over a decade now. It is a long haul; we are seeing the fruits of our labour as there are an increase in the number of cowslips in the spring and common sorrel, betony, meadow buttercup and red clover in the summer.” Paul, receiving the award at the park, reflected that “Here, at the park, is an area of land previously used for antisocial behaviour which has now turned into a community asset. This microcosm, admirably reflects the aims of the Mersey Basin Campaign which has helped to turn the Mersey from something neglected into an asset. In our own small way we have an impact and reflect the aspirations of the Mersey Basin Campaign.”
The Unilever Dragonfly Awards are run by the Mersey Basin Campaign and recognise volunteers from across the Mersey and Ribble river catchment areas whose dedication has made a real impact on environmental improvement projects. This is the last of the Unilever Dragonfly Awards, as the successful 25 year old Mersey Basin Campaign draws to a close next month.
Paul has been honorary secretary of Wirral Countryside Volunteers for 16 years and has organised a varied programme of events throughout the Wirral and beyond. Paul has had a sustained relationship with the Mersey Basin Campaign gaining 23 grants and awards in the last 15 years. The Wirral Countryside Volunteers have been involved in pond restoration at Thornton Common a Site of Biological Importance which has benefited wildlife including longhorn beetles and thick-legged flower beetles and has been naturally colonised by Great Crested Newts. At Thornton Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest which lies along Clatter Brook, Paul and the volunteers have developed a six year hazel coppice rotation supplying hedging stakes for hedgerow restoration projects throughout the Wirral. Here bluebells and primroses flourish under this coppice regime. Paul has organised a woodland craft display at Eastham Country Park’s annual Woodland craft for more than a decade. Here the Mersey Basin Campaign have sponsored many interesting and hard to come-by woodland craft tools. The volunteers also work on the most westerly point on the Mersey Basin catchment area, at Gilroy Nature Park, West Kirby, near the source of the river Birket.
The Wirral Countryside Volunteers are currently based at New Ferry Butterfly Park. Here Paul has organised hedge-laying training days, scything parties to mow the meadows, and he hosts an annual celebratory BBQ in August. Paul enthused “We have been mowing grasslands and raking up the cuttings for over a decade now. It is a long haul; we are seeing the fruits of our labour as there are an increase in the number of cowslips in the spring and common sorrel, betony, meadow buttercup and red clover in the summer.” Paul, receiving the award at the park, reflected that “Here, at the park, is an area of land previously used for antisocial behaviour which has now turned into a community asset. This microcosm, admirably reflects the aims of the Mersey Basin Campaign which has helped to turn the Mersey from something neglected into an asset. In our own small way we have an impact and reflect the aspirations of the Mersey Basin Campaign.”
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Spring tide
The spring tide this week saw the water covering the marsh at Parkgate and reaching the wall. The Dee Estuary website contains information about dates of future high tides, as well as all the species of birds that were seen this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of seeing so many birds on the move. If anyone has any photos or details of sightings they would like to share, please email us and we will add them to the blog.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Seashore search
Sixteen people joined Kathryn Turner on the beach at Thurstaston. Half an hour of searching revealed 23 species, ranging from hydroids to seaweeds. These will all be entered into a database of species found on the coasts around the Irish Sea.
Here are some photos of the afternoon...
Here are some photos of the afternoon...
If you want to get involved in recording beach finds, you can contact Kathryn by email.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...
Kathryn Turner will be giving a talk about the Irish Sea this Friday (the 12th) at Heswall Hall. There are more details on our website. If you would like to meet Kathryn before the talk, she will be at Thurstaston Visitor Centre at 2pm and will then lead a walk along the beach. This is an opportunity to spend some time exploring a local beach with an expert on hand.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Butterfly Park case in court
Last month Wirral Council agreed to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order on New Ferry Butterfly Park so that it can continue to be run as a nature reserve. After this the current owners threatened to damage the site. So, on Monday, Cheshire Wildlife Trust took the case to court and were granted a legal injunction to prevent any damage. The land owners have now agreed not to enter the park without the permission of the Wildlife Trust.
After the hearing at Birkenhead County Court, Janel Fone, chief executive of CWT, said: “What is important is to secure the long term future of the Butterfly Park, and I think today has helped us ensure the short term future – which gives us space to work towards the longer term.
“We really did not want it to come to this. We have been trying to have discussions with Brock and get an undertaking from them and to work with them on the future of the park. It’s a shame it has come to this.”
New Ferry councillor Steve Niblock, who has been supporting the campaign to save the park, said he was pleased with the outcome of the court hearing. He said: “This is a short term step towards a fuller court hearing in some weeks time.” He added CWT had offered to buy the park site from Brock and had they accepted “their generous offer” the court action could have been avoided.
After the hearing at Birkenhead County Court, Janel Fone, chief executive of CWT, said: “What is important is to secure the long term future of the Butterfly Park, and I think today has helped us ensure the short term future – which gives us space to work towards the longer term.
“We really did not want it to come to this. We have been trying to have discussions with Brock and get an undertaking from them and to work with them on the future of the park. It’s a shame it has come to this.”
New Ferry councillor Steve Niblock, who has been supporting the campaign to save the park, said he was pleased with the outcome of the court hearing. He said: “This is a short term step towards a fuller court hearing in some weeks time.” He added CWT had offered to buy the park site from Brock and had they accepted “their generous offer” the court action could have been avoided.
Brock again refused to comment. Although any activity by the company (or associate companies, D. Morgan plc and Frithmere Ltd) on the reserve would now be a criminal offence we ask anyone who spots anything suspicious to report it to one of the following groups:
- New Ferry Butterfly Park Committee: Paul Loughnane 645 8937 or Hilary Ash 327 5923
- Cheshire Wildlife Trust: 01948 820728
- Police Wildlife Crime officer, DC Kenneth Dummigan: 777 5447 or police HQ 709 6010.
- British Transport Police (for trouble at the height barrier on the access road): 0800 405040.
- In emergency, if there is evidence a crime is in progress: ring 999.
Thank you for your support.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Black Poplar Planting
Irby Primary School pupils are doing their bit to help Britain's rarest tree, the native black poplar. Last week they planted 13 young trees in their school grounds, with help from Wirral Tree Wardens. The young trees have been raised from Wirral and Cheshire stock by members of the Cheshire Black Poplar Biodiversity Action Group.
Mrs Joan Sheery, from Irby Primary School, said: "We are pleased to plant these trees in our grounds, where they have room to grow to maturity. As well as helping local wildlife, they will in future provide much-needed shade for pupils and staff when out of doors."
Native Black Poplar has become rare because its natural habitat, unaltered river flood plains, is now in short supply in Britain. Wirral has about 70 trees, but most are elderly, so it is important to plant new stock to replace them. All those found so far in Wirral Borough are male, though female hybrids do occur.
Wirral's Black Poplars grow mostly in gardens, but one is very visible along the Upton Bypass, on the Cricket Club fence just behind their nets. This is quite a short tree compared to many Cheshire specimens, but shows the gnarled bark, red catkins in April, and habit of growing slanting.
More information on black poplar in Cheshire can be found on the Cheshire Biodiversity Partnership website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
