Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs – Page 43 – The NHBS Conservation Hub

Conservation Land Management: Summer 2021

Conservation Land Management (CLM) magazine is designed for those involved in managing land for conservation, and is an invaluable source of information on good conservation management practice. Here, Assistant Editor Catherine Mitson provides a summary of the range of articles featured in the new Summer issue.

Monitoring and surveying techniques in conservation and ecology are constantly changing and improving. The use of thermal imaging is one example of a non-invasive method that is becoming a popular choice for those involved in wildlife surveys. Dan Brown, ecologist and founder of Wild Discovery, provides an overview of thermal imaging and the potential for its wider application in species monitoring, surveying and ecological consultancy, while still keeping some of its limitations in mind.

Citizen science also plays an important role in species surveys, and Claire Boothby, Training and Surveys Officer for the Bats in Churches project, describes an opportunity for the public to get involved in bat surveys. Bats can often be found roosting in churches, but due to the open roof structure of many of these buildings, the architecture and items housed inside are susceptible to damage from bat droppings and urine, to the despair of church users. The Bats in Churches project is trialling mitigation measures to enable both humans and bats to use churches harmoniously. This article showcases some churches where these mitigation measures have been implemented successfully and describes how the public can take part in the Bats in Churches Study to improve our current knowledge of how bats use churches.

Also in this issue, James Adler and Steve Proud describe the Pirbright Red Deer Project. The Pirbright Range Danger Area (RDA) in Surrey is one of the most extensive and least disturbed tracts of heathland in southern Britain but as this is an active firing range, traditional means of heathland management are not practical. Instead, red deer have been used for conservation grazing to keep vegetation in check, to the benefit of the rarities found at Pirbright. This article discusses the importance of Pirbright and the development, rationale, and results to date of the Red Deer Project.

Jos Milner takes us north to the Cairngorms National Park where the Our Water Environment project, delivered by the Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership, has set out to restore and enhance the river Avon catchment. Here the river bank has suffered from bank erosion and sedimentation as a result of overgrazing and loss of riparian tree cover. This article explains how green engineering techniques, which use natural materials such as logs or coir matting as a form of bank protection, have been implemented on the River Avon, and how these could provide an opportunity for landscape-scale river restoration.

The final article in the Summer issue looks at how one farmer changed the way he farms to benefit wildlife. Martin Lines is a third-generation farmer and contractor, and with the advice provided by Farm Wildlife, he no longer uses insecticides on his land and has instead shifted to an Integrated Pest Management approach. Kathryn Smith and Martin Lines discuss what this has meant for practical farming operations, and the impact this has had on both crop yields and wildlife.

In this and every issue you can expect to see Briefing, keeping you up to date on the latest training courses, events and publications, and On the ground which provides helpful tips or updates on products relevant to land management.

Other features that regularly appear in CLM include Viewpoint, a similar length to our main articles, but here authors can voice their own views on various conservation issues, and Review, which can include letters from readers or updates from our authors.

CLM is published four times a year in March, June, September and December, and is available by subscription only, delivered straight to your door. Subscriptions start from £22 per year. Previous back issues are also available to purchase individually (subject to availability).

If you are involved in a conservation project and think your experiences could be useful to other practitioners, we would love to hear from you. If you are interested in writing for CLM feel free to contact us – we will be happy to discuss your ideas with you.

Mammal Society: Q&A with Stephanie Wray

The Mammal Society is a charity dedicated to the research and conservation of Britain’s mammals. By surveying, monitoring, researching, and sharing information about the state of mammals, it contributes to conservation efforts to help maintain these species.

We recently spoke to Stephanie Wray, the new Chair of Mammal Society, who kindly took the time to answer some questions about her background, her ambitions for the charity, and some ways in which you can get involved and support mammal conservation.

1. First, could you tell us a little bit about the Mammal Society and the important work that it does?

The Mammal Society is a charity which works towards the conservation of British mammals based on sound science. We were started in the 1950s and have always had both a strong academic member base of the ecologists and natural scientists who study our wild mammals, but also a fantastic body of amateur naturalists who are fascinated by mammals and willing to give up their free time to learn more about them and help their conservation in practical ways. Over time our membership has grown to include, for example, ecological consultants who work with protected species, protecting them from development, and many others who just love mammals. Increasingly we are benefiting from support from members of the public who, while they may not be able to devote time to practical projects themselves, care deeply about the British countryside and our iconic mammal species and want to help us to help them. At the moment we are developing exciting projects looking at the conservation of mountain hares, our amazing native hare which turns white in the winter and which may be threatened by climate change, and the harvest mouse, a species of traditional farmland as small as a two-pence piece and increasingly threatened by the way we manage our countryside.

Mountain Hare, Cairngorms by Sorcha Lewis (Mammal Photographer of the Year 2020)

2. From your PhD on brown hares in the 1990’s and a post-doc on Livingstone’s bat on the Comores, to your role as past president of the CIEEM and, most recently, your position as director of Biocensus and founder of specialist consultancy Nature Positive, you’ve had an incredibly fascinating and influential career so far. What attracted you to the position of Chair of the Mammal Society?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Mammal Society, since my first Mammal Society conference in 1989. It’s where, a couple of years later, I presented my first scientific talk on the results of my PhD research and where I met many other mammal enthusiasts who have remained lifelong friends. Many of the Society’s members, professional and volunteer, have helped me with my research over the years, turning up in fair weather or foul to help me catch and radio-collar mammals to learn more about their habits, collect samples of dropping and other ‘glamorous’ tasks. So I want to be able to give something back, to make sure that the Society continues to grow and acts as an effective, science-backed voice for the conservation of wildlife in the UK. Our members have a huge amount of knowledge and experience and I want to make sure that we can leverage that to have our voices heard and deliver the right outcomes for conservation.

3. Unusually for an ecologist, you also have a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Do you think that marketing, economics, and the social sciences in general have an important role to play in ecology and conservation?

Well, you have done your research – I do indeed! We hear a lot about the bad things that businesses do, but the economic reach, innovation and entrepreneurship of industry can also act as a huge power for good. Businesses are starting to realise that their entire operations depend on biodiversity and that working to protect the natural world is not just a philanthropic exercise, it’s sound business sense. Sometimes how a business affects the environment is very obvious (they may use a lot of water or harvest a wild species) but in many cases it is hidden deep in their supply chains. Let’s say that you are a manufacturer of oat milk. You will have a great narrative around the climate impacts of your product compared to dairy milk, soy and almonds – but what about the biodiversity impacts? If the oats you buy are grown at a factory scale, removing hedges and ploughing up to the field boundaries, with the addition of lots of artificial fertilisers or pesticides, then you will have undone all those climate benefits through your impacts on nature – and the decline in the harvest mouse population would be an indicator of that. Now that is not just a concern to the Mammal Society – it’s a risk to your business in terms of future costs (as the environment becomes more degraded then we lose soil fertility and pollinator species, and yields will fall) in terms of your reputation (we’re drinking oat milk in the first place because we care about the environment) and in terms of your ability to attract investment (the institutional lenders don’t want to be on the wrong side of the next ‘palm oil’ issue). Under that kind of pressure, businesses can be incredibly flexible and develop new approaches, like regenerative farming, which can represent a win-win – a premium product for them, a healthier environment for everyone.

4. Taking on the role of Chair of a charity during a global pandemic must be an exciting yet challenging prospect. What are your hopes and ambitions for the charity over the next few years?

It is certainly an exciting time to take on a new role. Particularly during our first ‘lock down’ in Britain last year I think we all really appreciated our limited time outdoors and took time to enjoy those short nature ‘snacks’. For some that meant spotting wild goats or deer in the car-free streets, for others it may have been a grey squirrel or urban fox in the garden. My hope is that as we recover from the pandemic we don’t lose sight of that link to nature, and that as society moves forward it will be with increased understanding of and respect for the way the natural environment supports and underpins everything we do. My ambition for the next phase of the Mammal Society’s life is to really raise our profile to that of a household name alongside larger charities such as RSPB and WWF. I want to make sure that we develop our communications strategy, and through our website, publications and social media engagement, reach a wider audience and raise the profile of British mammals and their conservation in line with our charitable objectives. I want us to continue delivering the highest quality of scientific research and to proactively engage with government and the media on mammal conservation and management issues to contribute to the delivery of evidence-based policy.

Female Muntjac by Keith Elcombe (Mammal Photographer of the Year 2021)

5. As stated on your website: Britain is now recognised as one of the most nature-deprived countries in the world. Are you broadly optimistic about the future of mammals in the UK?

I think we have to be; the only viable option for human society is to live in harmony with nature. This year is a hugely important one for nature with the COP15 meeting in China in October on the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and the related COP26 meeting on climate change in Glasgow in November. These will be decisive in setting out international approaches to protected areas and sustainable use of the commodities we harvest from nature. Here in the UK, we have clear commitments arising from our exit from the EU, in the government’s 25 year environment plan, and through measures such as mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain in the forthcoming Environment Bill. All the pieces are there, we just need to commit to putting them together into a coherent protection framework. One quarter of British mammals are currently at risk, but it isn’t too late to bend the curve on extinctions and watch our biodiversity flourish again.

6. Finally, for any of our readers who are wanting to get involved with mammal conservation in the UK, what are the most important things that they can be doing right now?

Firstly (obviously!) have a look at the Mammal Society’s website (https://www.mammal.org.uk/support-us/) and you will find all sorts of things you can do to help from sending us records of mammals you have seen to organising a bake sale (hedgehog cupcakes, anyone?). In your day to day life, here are a few things you might try to help mammals.

Garden with nature in mind. If you have a garden, try to leave a wild corner with food for wildlife particularly in the autumn and winter. An open compost heap if you have space is helpful to invertebrates, reptiles and small mammals (but don’t add any cooked food!) If you have a pond, make sure the sides are not too steep or add a ramp to make sure thirsty creatures don’t fall in and drown. Consider leaving food out for hedgehogs (cat food, never milk) or badgers (they aren’t too fussy!) if you are lucky enough to have them. Leave small gaps under fences to make sure hedgehogs and other small mammals can move around. If you don’t have a garden, a window-box or a pot of herbs on the doorstep can provide a source of food for pollinators and contribute to biodiversity.
One of the biggest threats to nature is how we manage the countryside and as consumers we can all send a message about what we want agri-business to do. Choose products wisely – is there embedded destruction of the countryside in that breakfast cereal? Write to the supermarket or the manufacturer and ask them how they manage their impacts on biodiversity – both directly and through the ingredients they buy in.
Write to your local MP and ask them what they will be doing to make sure that even removed from the EU’s strong environmental legislation, Britain will be a leader in environmental protection. The Wildlife and Countryside Act, which is the key piece of legislation for protecting mammal species such as bats, otters and dormice, is under review this year. Ask your MP to vote to retain and add to the strict protection we have for some mammal species and to prevent it being watered down.
And most importantly – just go out there and watch mammals. I may be biased, but for me there is nothing better than being out in the countryside early on a spring morning watching the hares chasing around and knocking seven bells out of each other. You might like to stay up late watching badgers or bats, or enjoy the crazy antics of a squirrel on a bird feeder. It’s important that we engage with nature and encourage our children to do the same. If we don’t see and understand wildlife, we won’t fight for it. And, trust me, we need to fight for it.

You can find out more about Mammal Society from their website and by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

No Mow May 2021

Plantlife’s “No Mow May” campaign asked gardeners around the UK to lock up their lawnmower and let the wild flowers in their lawn bloom. This simple change in mowing has been shown to bring huge benefits, providing a feast of nectar for our hungry pollinators.

At the end of May, Plantlife opened its “Every Flower Counts” survey, a fun and easy way to discover how many bees the UK’s lawns can feed. People from all around the country took part, recording the different flowers which had bloomed on their lawn. These results will then be compiled to produce the National Nectar Score.

Here at NHBS we were delighted to take part in No Mow May, with a number of our staff members saying “no” to the mow in order to help our bees, butterflies, and wildlife!

You can find out how we got on below:

Outside the NHBS building

The grass outside the NHBS building was left unmown during May, allowing lots of daises, dandelions and speedwell to bloom. This created a beneficial space for a variety of insects and pollinators.

Nigel

Nigel turned his lawn into a wild haven, allowing an abundance of dandelions and forget-me-nots to blossom.

Nigel also contacted the local council, persuading them to set aside an unmown patch of grass at a local cemetery – an area usually mown twice a month from March to November. The photo below shows the contrast between the the unmown area and the area which continues to be mown and strimmed. As shown below, leaving an unmown patch has allowed a number of daises and dandelions to sprout up.

Oli

Oli’s garden remains wild year-round, attracting a variety of plants and wildlife. Most recently, his garden saw the arrival of this rather impressive-looking slow worm!

Natt

Natt’s lawn was left unmown during May, with the long grass helping to provide habitat for a variety of different insects.

Elle

Elle’s garden saw the blooming of these stunning buttercups, ideal for pollinators and other wildlife.

Marie

Marie’s lawn was also left to grow during May, allowing lots of lovely daises to sprout up.

Angeline

Angeline’s dog Freya enjoyed exploring a field of buttercups which had been left untouched during May.

Have you taken part in No Mow May and are keen to learn more about some of your local flora? You can find our ‘Guide to UK Wild Flower Identification’ here.

Author Interview with Sarah Gibson: Swifts and Us

Whirling swifts overhead are evocative of early summer, and their arrival to the UK brings joy to many. In Swifts and Us, Sarah Gibson explores what is currently known about swifts and their ancestry, while also addressing some of the contributing factors to their huge decline over the last few decades. She meets key experts and researchers as well as many determined individuals, all advocating for change to ensure the swifts’ survival.

Sarah Gibson is Press Officer for Shropshire Wildlife Trust, as well as Editor of the members’ magazine. She also regularly writes nature columns for her local magazines and newspapers. Sarah has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions below.

Firstly, could you tell us about where the motivation for your book came from?

I’d become passionate about swifts since moving into a town from the country. Then I had a long period of illness and would be exhausted after the briefest of conversations and couldn’t even walk up my street – I was so slow I would be overtaken by very old people on Zimmer frames. It seemed as though I’d hit 97 five decades prematurely.

Then I got better and decided it was time to do something new with my life – alongside my now part-time job at Shropshire Wildlife Trust. I knew I could string words together, so decided to research and write a book about swifts to try and inspire others to love and take action for them too.

During your research, did you discover anything especially interesting that you were previously unaware of about swifts?

That hummingbirds are the swift’s closest relatives! Fossil evidence from 52 million years ago found in Wyoming, USA, revealed a bird that is the forerunner of both. The characteristic common feature is a super-strong, stout humerus bone, that would enable the swift to endure and flourish in perpetual flight and the hummingbird to flap its wings 50 times per second as it hovers over flowers collecting nectar. Their shared ancestry seems less surprising when you think about the intense aerial demands of both birds.

Your book features exceptional and inspirational people that have fought to ensure nest spots are protected and accessible for returning swifts. Do you have any particular highlights or success stories that you’d like to talk about here?

The Crescent Art Centre in Belfast is a cross-community cultural hub, bringing people together from all backgrounds. It also has a thriving colony of swifts and when major renovation work began 12 years ago, the architects and builders worked with a local swift champion to ensure that access to the original nesting holes was retained and additional holes provided by integrating nest bricks into the walls. This is a great example of how renovation doesn’t have to lead to ruin for swifts. It can be achieved, if thoughtfully carried out. This swift colony is now a living emblem of the arts centre and its aspirations – uniting people across boundaries.

What role can citizen science play in surveying and monitoring swifts?

Local surveys to identify swift breeding sites are very valuable. Knowledge of swift colonies can at times make it possible to work with building owners when renovation works are planned, so that nesting holes can be retained. When the data is fed through to local biological records centres, the presence of swifts in particular areas will be flagged up to planners who will sometimes, but not always make it a condition for development that nest bricks should be integrated into buildings.

The RSPB’s SwiftMapper is a useful tool and you can find out about surveying with local swift groups from Action for Swifts or Swift Conservation.

Habitat destruction, climate change and a stark reduction in their food supply are just a few factors contributing to the decline of swifts over the past 20 years – the odds appear completely stacked against them. Post-research for your book, do you feel any optimism for the future of these incredible birds?

Contemplating the global crisis in nature can lead to despair. Our inability to prevent the destruction of wild habitats and the wild creatures that depend on it strikes deep into our souls, but worrying about the future cripples our ability to act, so I try to live in the present. It is what we do now that will shape the future and we need all of our energy to bring better times.

Climate change is inextricably linked to the degradation of nature. At last, there seems to be a glimmer of awakening at a political level to the fact that nurturing nature is essential for all our sakes. The campaign for 30% of land and sea to be protected by 2030 across the world brings hope but it needs a radical reset of values to be achieved. All of us though, can do something to help bring it to reality.

Do you have any current projects or plans for further books that you’d like to tell us about?

I’ve just been down to my local cemetery where there’s a project to turn the unmarked graves area into a wildflower meadow. The yellow rattle seed we sowed last August is coming up, along with cowslips and violets. It will be a living memorial for those buried beneath and will attract bees and other pollinators. I’m also keeping an eye on the eaves of a medieval building managed by the town council. Restoration work on the timbers last autumn included six bespoke swift nest boxes – fingers crossed!

There will be another book but I haven’t written it yet. It will explore the connectedness of people with nature but I can’t reveal more just now.

Swifts and Us
By: Sarah Gibson
Hardback | Published May 2021 | £16.99

We have a very limited number of bookplates signed by Sarah, available while stocks last.

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication.

Author Interview with David Stroud: International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective

To the casual observer, global summits and the resolutions they produce can seem frustratingly ineffective – repeating cycles of targets set, missed and reset, with no obvious progress. Yet despite the apparent inertia, when used to good effect these processes can be powerful tools for positive change. International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective provides a unique insight into the inner mechanisms of international treaties – their history, development, successes and failures – from those who have spent their lives working with them.

All of the authors involved in this book bring a huge wealth of expertise from their past and current positions within both statutory and non-government nature conservation organisations and academia. One of the authors, David Stroud, kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions.

International treaties are directly responsible for some of the greatest environmental success stories in modern history. But despite their importance, their role in nature conservation is not one many of us are familiar with. How important do you think it is that the mechanisms of these treaties are more widely understood?

It’s hugely important. Not only do these treaties establish some of the most important conservation objectives, but they provide a means of learning from other experience. Typically, international treaties set a broad goal – such as ‘the wise use of wetlands’ in the case of the Ramsar Convention – but are much less prescriptive as to exactly how this will be delivered nationally. Accordingly, there is much to learn from the broad diversity of other national conservation experience in implementing treaty obligations. Such comparative experiences make these treaties fascinating and their study valuable.

They also provide important drivers of national conservation policy. Thus, for example, it was the obligation under the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement to phase out the use of lead gunshot in wetlands by 2000 that created the policy incentive resulting in legislation across the UK to that effect from 1999.

There has been a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the departure of the UK from the European Union, and what this means for conservation. In terms of environmental protection and influence during the development of international treaties, what are the implications of leaving the EU?

Lots of issues here! As we explain, there are also serious risks to standards of environmental protection, especially the removal of strong compliance mechanisms that hold government to the environmental obligations it has assumed, and for which proposed domestic replacements look far from sufficient and have yet to be introduced. That said, some aspects of EU policy, most notably the Common Agricultural Policy, have driven significant harm to nature and to natural systems, and here the promise (as yet unrealised) of a new domestic approach which confines the payment of public money to the delivery of public goods, could mark a significant improvement in the state of nature in the farmed environment.

But there is also a risk that there may be an appetite to replace well-established processes and priorities, developed in partnership with EU states, with unique UK approaches, without reference to their efficacy. Whilst there is always room for improvement, including of existing EU processes, it is important that any such improvements build on existing systems and lessons learnt, and avoid causing delays and disruption that would take time we do not have, given the urgency of the environmental challenges we face.

Many aspects of environmental protection are inherently international in nature, with neither species, habitats nor many of the factors which drive their decline respecting national boundaries. As such there is a clear and ongoing imperative for international cooperation and alignment. The UK, outside of the EU, could take this opportunity to drive up ambition, but risks having less influence on environmental policy development, and becoming increasingly remote from wider thinking and ideas both within the EU and beyond, unless UK governments take pro-active steps to rebuild lines of communication and forums for engagement.

Chapter 8 ‘The impact of UK actions on an international scale’ goes into detail about the UK’s contributions to nature conservation beyond its borders, whether these be, for example, monetary, scientific research, or the role of UK non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In your opinion, do you think the UK is doing enough?

The UK is doing a lot, but by no means enough. Formal financial inputs to international treaties (which we estimate as £2,001,000 in 2019/20) are frankly trivial compared to either the size of the UK government budget in the same year (£842,000,000,000) or indeed the immensity of the issues to be addressed. Whilst both climate change and biodiversity loss have been recognised as ‘crises’ or ‘emergencies’, yet to date, it is hard to see responses from the UK, let alone the wider international community reflecting this, or being much more than complacent ‘business as usual’. And these will have no realistic chance of success.

Following on from the previous question, this book highlights the role and importance of NGOs (and a number of the authors themselves have been or are currently involved with NGOs). Do you think NGOs should have more involvement in environmental policy, both within the UK and on a global scale?

NGOs have a critical role to play in international conservation, both representing ‘civil society’ and also – in many cases – holding considerable technical expertise and knowledge, essential to the effective conservation delivery. Yet the dynamic of relations with governments is interesting! NGOs are not uninterested parties being driven by their own organisational priorities, responsive to their memberships, and typically having developed country perspectives. Their interests can sometimes be limited to a single species (witness the many NGOs concerned with charismatic megafauna such as lions and elephants). In contrast, and especially in democracies, governments have wider responsibilities such as the need to maintain economies, create infrastructure, or alleviate poverty.

The role of NGOs in pushing governments to deliver strong outcomes for the environment is critical and they have a key role, working with government, in practical implementation ‘on the ground’. In the UK, there are typically good relationships between government and NGOs, yet we outline considerable scope for improvement. However, within the UK governments, there can be an attitude that sees environmental NGOs as the problem rather than an essential part of the solution. Which is unnecessary and regrettable.

This book delves into the history of international instruments (such as Agreements, Conventions and legislation), and it is pointed out that fewer new treaties have been made since the early 2000s. Why do you think this is the case?

There are probably two issues at work here. An international landscape of ever proliferating treaties may not be particularly efficient means of engaging the attention of governments. Indeed, one would hope that at some point we see treaties retired following fulfilment of their objectives. Unfortunately, the state of the world is such that we seem far from this eventuality.

It is possible that we already have treaties covering all the relevant issues. However, whilst the ‘big stuff’ (climate change, migratory species, wetlands, trading endangered species) is indeed covered, there are certainly other ‘gaps’ – for example effective regulatory systems for sustainable harvesting of marine resources (to replace the very many completely ineffective fisheries treaties).

Additionally there seems to be an ever-growing culture of legal risk aversion within governments. This, and a retreat to more nationalistic political outlooks in many countries, is not supportive of new treaty-building.

In November, the UK will host the next UN climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow. What do you envisage, or hope, will be the outcome of the conference?

Hoping and envisaging are two very different things! I’ll stick to hoping for now…

It’s human nature to defer difficult decisions: why do today what one can put off till tomorrow? This is especially the case for governments faced with decisions that have difficult political consequences. Essentially the challenge at COP 26 will be to deliver on the aspiration agreed in Paris to hold the global temperature increase to less than 1.5 oC above pre-industrial levels. Unlike the quota-based approach of the earlier Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement aims to build to necessary levels of global emissions reductions from bottom-up – through collective ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDC). After years of deferral of the difficult issue of how to do this, now is finally the time to deliver. Already, there is much diplomatic peer pressure – led especially by UK and USA – to encourage ambitious NDCs. But whether we get to levels that will deliver the Paris Agreement objective remains to be seen. It’s critical that we do as time is running out!

But even if those pledges are made, it will be essential for UK to work with, and support developing countries in particular, in their transition to zero carbon futures – given all the societal issues and political stresses that will arise.

International treaties are sometimes criticised for being ineffective, and this book describes some of their flaws. How valuable have treaties been in nature conservation?

Well, for those involved in any human endeavour, it’s always easy to see how things could be improved, or work better, and international treaties are no different. But despite imperfections, these treaties are critically important in shaping how we do conservation – in particular in establishing collective long-term objectives – goals that stretch beyond the short-termism of national politics.

Yet whilst the legal treaties specify those things that need to be done to deliver their objectives, as important in the long-term is the community of practitioners that gather around a treaty, regularly meeting and working together in order to drive forward its implementation. This includes counter-part government officials in the signatory governments, relevant NGOs, interested academics, and representatives of different but related treaties. All bring something to the table, and it is through their collective support for, say wetland conservation in the case of the Ramsar Convention, that is so important.

This is the first title from NHBS’s new publishing imprint, Biodiversity Press.

International Treaties in Nature Conservation:
A UK Perspective
By: David A Stroud et al.
Paperback | May 2021 | £19.99

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication.

Author Interview with James Lowen: Much Ado About Mothing

James Lowen is an award-winning writer whose work is regularly featured in The Telegraph, BBC Wildlife and Nature’s Home, among other publications. He is also an editor, lecturer, consultant and keen photographer.

From hiking up mountains, to checking his garden moth-trap with his daughter, Much Ado About Mothing is a wonderfully written, engaging account of James’ travels in search of Britain’s rarest and most remarkable moths. James has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions about his latest book below.

Could you tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to write Much Ado About Mothing?

I’m a Norfolk-based naturalist and author who has written 12 books, all broadly sitting in the nexus of wildlife, travel and conservation. Two of those books: A Summer of British Wildlife and 52 European Wildlife Weekends, won Travel Guidebook of the Year awards, which was most pleasing and inspired me to both attempt some longer-form writing (Much Ado About Mothing is fundamentally a travel narrative – an exploration of Britain) and take on a more ‘challenging’ topic. And what could be more challenging than championing the very animals (moths) that the general public purports to hate?

I could readily understand where so many people were coming from in harbouring disdain for moths. For decades, I was also virulently anti-moth, (pre)judging them as uninteresting and usually irritating little brown jobs that remained invisible yet destroyed my suits. However, when a friend showed me a Poplar Hawk-moth, I remember the date precisely: 7 July 2012, my world changed forever. Wrapped in silver and grizzled with iron filings, this sweetly furry being opened my eyes, brought me to my senses and revolutionised the way that I engage with nature. Over time, I came to appreciate that moths provided a huge variety of incredibly rich tales about ecology and evolution, camouflage and conservation. The more I learned, the more I felt that moths were unduly maligned. So I set out to champion these underdogs through telling their stories in this new book, aiming to challenge people’s preconceptions, correct common misunderstandings and reboot our collective attitudes.

I really enjoyed reading about you and your daughter’s shared excitement when visiting your moth-trap. How do you think we can best encourage environmental awareness in young people on a broader scale?

First up, my daughter and I came to believe that moths provided surprisingly good ambassadors for natural beauty. This is by dint of their unexpected accessibility (there are probably hundreds of species living covertly around your garden), their unanticipated beauty (many moths ‘out-colour’ our butterflies!) and their welcome placidity (unlike most flighty insects, moths typically sit peaceably, thereby allowing prolonged perusal). To a certain extent, I think the same virtues, when converted into principles, apply to encouraging environmental awareness in youngsters, because there’s no substitute for first-hand experience. Let’s increasingly make wildlife accessible through urban nature reserves: Carlton Marshes on the outskirts of Lowestoft is a good recent example. Let’s showcase the beauty of animals and plants, running events that draw people’s attention to experiences that they would likely otherwise miss. And let’s put particular effort into helping people see non-skittish creatures: a close-up encounter with a ladybird is more likely to achieve a lasting impression than a distant view of a flying bird.

Your book is filled with extraordinary and surprising facts about moths. Do you have any particular facts or discoveries that you’d like to share with us here?

Gosh, there are so many amazing factual nuggets that it’s hard to pick just a few. For a start, I love moths’ tales of mimicry (clearwings disguise themselves as wasps), camouflage (some moths conceal themselves as desiccated leaves, twigs and even bird poo) and migratory prowess (tiny, fragile creatures flying a thousand-plus miles). There’s wackiness too: china-mark moths, whose caterpillars live underwater; Sandhill Rustic, whose adults can swim underwater; Scarce Silver-lines, which sings from oak trees; various moths that are engaged in an evolutionary arms race with bats; Indian Meal Moth and Wax Moth, whose caterpillars can digest polyethylene and polypropylene (perhaps conceivably hinting at a solution to the global plastics problem?); and even one New World moth whose cells have proved critical for producing the Novavax COVID vaccine.

In terms of personal discoveries, dedicating a year to moths provided a rich vein of opportunities to try and push the boundaries of knowledge, particularly where this helped conservation organisations. Two finds particularly stand out. Helping out on a Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust survey, we came across the first adult female Marsh Moth seen in Britain since 1948; in the intervening seventy years, only males of this quixotic species had been seen! Then, within a mile of my Norwich home, I contrived to track down a new site for one of our most threatened and poorly understood moths, Marsh Carpet. As far as I am aware, the three we caught were the only adults seen anywhere in Britain that year and more than anyone had caught in a single night for years. Even better, this set in train a relationship between Butterfly Conservation and the land manager (Environment Agency), which should help protect the moth here. Both discoveries speak volumes about both how much we have to learn about these wonderful animals and how readily even inexperienced and distinctly amateur moth-ers can make tangible contributions to conservation.

Which aspect of documenting the moths did you find the most challenging?

In a year-long quest to see rare and remarkable moths across the whole of Britain, failure constantly whispers its name. It only takes one thing to go wrong, from bad weather, early flight season or late emergence to inept choice of survey sites and elusive species, for the entire pursuit to fail. With relatively inflexible dates to boot, we really were reliant on everything going right on every trip, which is a high-risk strategy when, for example, driving eleven hours to Scotland’s Ardnamurchan Peninsula to look for a particular sun-loving, day-flying moth. I guess the other thing to emphasise is that whereas moth-trapping in your garden makes for gloriously lazy wildlife-watching, simply flick the switch and let the insects come to you, surveying moths in remote places is contrastingly hard work. After a long drive, often on the back of little sleep, you need to lug heavy generators and a fleet of moth traps up steep slopes or across difficult terrain. And then you need to stay alert all night to make sure you don’t miss anything. I didn’t get much sleep that year…

You mention in your book that climate change is fluctuating in its effect on moths, with some species thriving in the warmer temperatures, while others are under much more pressure. Having finished your book, do you feel hopeful for the future of lepidoptera?

Yes and no. Britain’s moth ‘balance sheet’ is pretty complicated, as a recent report by Butterfly Conservation shows. Since 1900, we’ve gained nearly 140 new colonists, but perhaps fifty species have gone extinct. Others seem likely to follow: roughly one in eight of our larger moths are nationally threatened or near threatened. Four times as many species are enduring long-term declines as long-term increases and that includes previously very common and widespread ‘generalist’ moths such as Garden Tiger and Garden Dart. Most worryingly of all, one-third fewer moths are flying today than fifty years ago.

On balance, that’s a gloomy picture. But there’s hope too. Among several environmental organisations, Butterfly Conservation is doing ever more to save moths, from an initiative to connect populations of Barberry Carpet to intrepid endeavours to safeguard the UK’s only site for New Forest Burnet. This is underpinned by surging engagement with moths among folk interested in nature. During the first COVID lockdown, retailers sold out of moth traps such was the demand for the kit. In 2020, nearly 75% more people submitted records of moths to Devon’s county recorder than the previous year. There’s definitely a growing wave on enthusiasm and passion for moths, and that’s got to be a very good thing.

Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

Much Ado About Mothing is a book about people as well as place and moths. One of the things I learned during my travels is that many people are deterred from entering the world of moths by the difficulty of identifying them, ‘all the moths look the same’ was a regular refrain. Some brilliant field guides to moths exist, but there seemed to be a demand to complement them with a book that helped newcomers to the hobby easily put a name to our commoner species. The result is my next book, Britain’s Moths: A Gateway Guide, which came out in September 2021. It aims to be a ‘gateway’ to both the enchanting world of moths and to those more detailed field guides. I hope it inspires more and more people to discover these amazing animals – and then fall for them, just as I have done.

Much Ado About Mothing
By: James Lowen
Paperback

NHBS In the Field – Motic SMZ-140

There is something wonderful about microscopy – the examination of tiny insects and fungal spores feels like peering into another world that we seldom have the privilege to observe. For some naturalists, a stereo microscope might seem like an unnecessary extravagance but for many who work with tiny subjects like invertebrates, lichenous fruiting bodies or bryophyte spores they can shed a light on fascinating diagnostic features that a hand lens simply doesn’t have the power to show.

We have recently added the Motic SMZ-140 and -161 series to NHBS’s range of stereo microscopes. Known for their good quality, robust entry-level optics as well as their laboratory standard equipment, Motic Europe has an excellent reputation among industry professionals and hobbyists alike. As such, we were excited to have a look at their mid-range LED model, the SMZ-140-LED. Designed to be as flexible as possible, this series has the advantage of a very wide 10x-40x magnification range, rather than the 20x-40x that most stereomicroscopes offer in this price range, as well as reflected and transmitted LED illumination and fully modular design for further customisation.

How We Tested

The SMZ-140 was tested thoroughly with a variety of different subjects. Specimens used originated from an invertebrate monitoring program close to our South Devon office, along with a variety of botanical subjects selected to test the microscope’s use in different disciplines. The image clarity and brightness across its zoom range were noted, as well as our impressions of the mechanical systems such as zoom, movement focus. The different accessories such as stage plates and options like lighting methods were also used to get as complete a picture of the systems’ utility across as complete a range of applications as possible.

What We Found

First Impressions

The first thing that is apparent about the SMZ-140 is the compact design and packaging. The box that it is supplied in manages to be easily a quarter the size of other models of a similar price and specification, and noticeably lighter too, without sacrificing any protection. This is because the microscope itself is remarkably compact, the base built to centre the weight on a smaller footprint than any other I have seen. This makes a real difference when workspace is limited, or if there is a chance that the microscope might need to be moved to different venues. It is supplied with the head detached from the body but setting it up is a simple and intuitive process that takes no more than a few minutes. Comprehensive instructions are also supplied.

The look of the SMZ-140 is simple but professional. The positioning of the zoom and focusing wheels is intuitive, and both move smoothly without resistance or kick back. The supplied stage plates, one reversible black/white plate for use with the reflected illumination system and one translucent plate to complement the transmitted illumination option, are also robust and resistant to scratching. One slight drawback is the lack of any lens caps, but good-quality dust cover is supplied to protect the workings from any ingress.

The working distance, that is the distance between the head and the staging platform, is 80mm, which allows for easy manipulation of the subject, including dissection where appropriate. The pinions should be sufficient to hold most subjects in place and have an impressive range of movement for use with larger samples.

Eyepieces and Illumination

The eyepieces are comfortable to use, padded with rubber and with an adjustable interpupillary distance. Each one has a +/- 5 diopter adjustment, allowing for easy adjustment to the user’s eyes. The whole head piece can be moved from side to side at the user’s convenience. The zoom wheel moves easily and is mounted on the head, while the larger focusing wheel is placed on the pillar to minimize confusion between the two while the user is looking through the eyepieces.

The standard 10x eyepieces that come supplied with this model can be swapped out for 15x, 20x, or 30x options, and the 1-4x objective lens can be removed and replaced with lower magnification options such as 0.5 times as desired.

The illumination is bright and can be adjusted at will, allowing for the user to adjust it if they find themselves dazzled or if working with a reflective subject such as a beetle that risks being washed out by a powerful light source. The transmitted and reflected options are activated via separate switches, meaning that both could be used simultaneously if so desired.

The LED bulbs on this model are of use to many researchers as they provide heat-free illumination and will therefore not damage live specimens or dry out those that are at risk of desiccation, such as insects or lichen.

Magnification and Image Quality

In contrast to the standard 20x-40x zoom of most stereomicroscopes in this price range, the SMZ-140 has a range of 10x-40x. As previously stated, this can be increased up to 120x with 30x eyepieces, but for the vast majority of applications the standard range should be perfectly adequate.

The low minimum zoom makes the microscope very useful for larger specimens or jobs that require a wider field of view such as mounting medium sized insects. Motic’s lenses provide a clear, crisp, and bright image even up to the maximum magnification of 40x. The user might struggle with the diagnostic features of very tiny subjects, i.e. those below 1mm, but for the price range the image of the SMZ-140 is among the best I have seen. The keystone effect is noticeable with this model, as it is in most Greenough system stereo microscopes, but is barely perceptible next to the natural variation in focus of three-dimensional samples.

The 20x and 30x click stop feature of the zoom wheel is very useful when working at higher zoom levels, as it allows the user to standardize the magnification at which specimens are examined and makes accurate record keeping easy. The magnification is also indicated on the wheel for visual reference.

Our Opinion

With the SMZ-140-LED, Motic establish themselves as manufacturers of excellent, affordably priced stereo microscopes ideal for almost any use that a naturalist could desire. Among a crowded market of models with very similar specifications, it distinguishes itself through its compact, lightweight design, robust build, and wide zoom range. It is easy to use and provides consistently excellent results, and the modularity of its design along with a good range of accessories allows for simple adaptation to a wide array of jobs.

While some microscopists might prefer to look at more expensive models with wider lens apertures for an even brighter image (such as the SMZ-160 series), or even high-end models that utilize the advanced common mains objective optical system, among models in its price range the 140 certainly stands out. It’s clear that it is designed with flexibility in mind, and as such it is an ideal choice for anyone looking to dive a little deeper into the wonderful world of the tiny.

The SMZ-140-LED can be found here. Our full range of stereo microscopes can be found here. For further information why not check out Insect Microscopy by Andrew Chick.

If you have any questions about our range or would like some advice on the right product for you then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.

Seabirds, and a Short History of Illustrated Bird Guides

Seabirds by Peter Harrison, Martin Perrow and Hans Larsson represents the latest in a long history of exquisitely illustrated bird identification guides. An update of the original 1983 publication of Harrison’s, it covers all 437 known species of seabird, from seaducks and grebes to cormorants and pelicans. The publication of this beautiful and comprehensive book has prompted us to take a look at some of the history surrounding illustrated bird guides over the past century.

Title page of the History of the Birds of Europe

At the end of the 19th century, there existed only a few professional bird illustrators. These were usually employed by wealthy patrons, drawing and painting species as requested for private collections and portfolios, with subjects chosen to reflect their patron’s specific ornithological interests. By the turn of the 20th century there were a small number of illustrated bird guides available commercially, such as H.E. Dresser’s A History of the Birds of Europe, published in nine parts between 1871 and 1896. However, these were extremely expensive to purchase due to high production times and costs.

One of the first widely available bird books, The Observer’s Book of British Birds, was published in 1937. Illustrated by Archibald Thorburn, who was eager to embrace the new age of print, the book included plates that showed species in a natural setting and was incredibly popular with a post-war audience. This was closely followed by The Handbook of British Birds by H.F. & G. Witherby (1938-1941) which consisted of five volumes illustrated in colour. These were later combined into a single volume: The Popular Handbook of Birds (1962). At this time, most illustrations were based on museum specimens, as fieldwork was limited by poor optics and the cost of travel, and very few photographs of live specimens were available. Because of this, images, although technically accurate, often missed details of ‘jizz’ and other useful field characteristics as well as seasonal differences in plumage.

Tunnicliffe’s ‘What To Look For In…’ series was popular with both adults and children during the post-war years.

The years and decades following the second world war saw a growing interest in birds in Britain, helped considerably by the RSPB which encouraged the creation of bird art and viewed it as a useful tool for inspiring public interest. At this time, Charles Tunnicliffe’s two albums: Bird Portraits and Wild Birds of Britain, alongside his four What To Look For In Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter books were incredibly popular with both children and adults. Unusually for the time, Tunnicliffe only worked from real-life specimens which gave his illustrations a rare lifelike vibrancy. (Tunnicliffe is also well known for his illustrations of country life and the original wood engravings included in Tarka the Otter).

The late 1940s and 50s saw the publication of the first ‘modern’ field guides, in which much more attention was paid to identifying characteristsics, behavioural details and notes on confusion species. Of these, the Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds, illustrated by Richard Richardson and the Collins Field Guide, illustrated by American artist Roger Tory Peterson, were by far the most popular. While the Pocket Guide grouped birds by size and similarity, with no regard for taxonomic relatedness, Peterson’s book arranged birds taxonomically, a difference that split readers in their preference for each style.

Volume VIII of the ambition Birds of the Western Palearctic

The 1960s saw a huge ecological awakening in Britain, and an increased interest in the natural world. Popular bird art at this time also experienced a boom with the arrival on the scene of talented artists such as Basil Ede and Robert Gilmore, the latter of who was instrumental in forming the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) in 1964. The decades following were a wonderful period for illustrated bird guides and a number of key publishers now found that it was financially viable to produce these in much higher numbers and successfully market them to the general public. Notable publications from the 1970s include the Hamlyn Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, The Collins Pocket Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe and the extremely ambitious Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, The Birds of the Western Palearctic.

The 1980s were notable for the arrival of the first modern family monographs, beginning with Seabirds in 1983, beautifully illustrated by Peter Harrison. Unlike general field guides, these focused exclusively on a single family of birds, and were incredibly popular. Seabirds was closely followed by Shorebirds, illustrated by Peter Hayman, and Wildfowl, illustrated by Hilary Burn. However, the most ambitious and well-known example of this format is the Handbook of the Birds of the World which stands at 16 volumes, published by Lynx over a period of 20 years.

Still, expectations continued to rise and the quest for the perfect field guide continued, until the Collins Bird Guide finally appeared in 1999. Renowned globally for the quality of the artwork – which is considered to be exceptional, both aesthetically and as an identification aid – this book has remained the stalwart companion for huge numbers of birders over the past two decades. The third edition, due to be published this year, features expanded text and additional colour illustrations.

More recently, a number of ambitious, large-format illustrated bird guides have been published. All the Birds of the World, published by Lynx in 2020, features more than 20,800 illustrations, covering 11,524 species. Collins Birds of the World, published a year later in 2021, is the complete collection of the Collins Field Guides’ incredibly detailed, accurate and beautiful bird paintings, brought together in one comprehensive volume. The all-encompassing guide featured 10,711 species, including 301 full-colour plates.

Seabirds is a wonderful continuation of the rich history of illustrated bird guides and is a shining example of a book which is both invaluable as an identification guide, and treasured as a work of art.

SM4/SM4BAT SD Card Compatibility Fix

This is a Technical Support Bulletin from Wildlife Acoustics regarding problems that can occur when using the SM4 family of recorders with certain SD cards.

Overview

A number of customers have recently reported deployment problems when using SanDisk Extreme and SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC flash cards with their Song Meter SM4 family recorders. The issue can affect all Song Meter SM4 family products including the SM4, SM4TS, SM4BAT-FS, SM4M, and SM4MU (but excluding SM4BAT-ZC).

The failure generally manifests with schedules that make continuous back-to-back one-hour recordings and can result in recordings being lost. Corrupted .WAV recordings with a 256KB length and/or many .sm4dump files on the card are both indications. The issue only rarely affects schedules with short duty cycle recordings such as 10 minutes on the hour, or on triggered recordings on the SM4BAT-FS.

Note: Many of the above symptoms are normal at the end of a deployment as batteries fail. What is unique to this issue is it can occur while the batteries are fresh.

Solution

Wildlife Acoustics have released firmware version 2.3.3 that corrects this problem and may improve interoperability with other flash cards as well. We strongly advise customers to update to this latest version as soon as possible whether you are seeing issues or not. The firmware is available on the Wildlife Acoustics website after you log in to your account here: https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/account/downloads/sm4.

Firmware version 2.3.3 also fixes an unrelated issue, introduced with firmware 2.3.1, which could result in corrupted cards that are formatted in exFAT and have the “dirty bit” set (this indicates an issue with unmounting the card previously).

Note: If you experience card corruption, Wildlife Acoustics have tools that can possibly recover recordings off the card. Contact their support team using the details below for more information.

Contact Wildlife Acoustics

Please contact support2021@wildlifeacoustics.com if you have any questions or concerns.

The New Environmental Land Management scheme

The UK’s departure from the EU offers a number of opportunities for the environment, and in particular for the future of farming in the UK. And so, agricultural policy is undergoing a reform and a new payment scheme, Environmental Land Management (ELM), has been introduced in England. In the latest issue of Conservation Land Management (CLM) Alice Groom, RSPB’s senior policy officer, provides an up to date overview of what we know about ELM so far and the proposed timeline of the seven-year agricultural transition period, and, importantly, highlights the pitfalls and challenges that need to be addressed in order for ELM to be a success. Here you can read a summary of the article.

What is ELM?

Agricultural policy in the UK has previously meant that farmers and landowners receive payments based on the size of farmed land. While agri-environmental schemes have existed, these alone have not been enough to meet their environmental objectives. And so, following the UK’s departure from the EU, the government has introduced the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELM) in England.

This new payment scheme instead pays farmers for delivering public goods – these are ecosystem services that will benefit us all, such as natural flood management and habitat restoration. Defra has said that ELM is a means to meet six of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan goals, including clean air and water, climate change mitigation, and protection from environmental hazards.

Three-component design

ELM will have three components, and although this design has received support, the finer details are currently lacking. The first, Sustainable Farming Incentive, is envisaged to be the most popular and will provide payments based on environmentally sustainable farming and land management, such as tree and woodland management, integrated pest management and promoting wildlife and biodiversity.

The Local Nature Recovery component is more focused on local-scale nature recovery with the aim to encourage farmers to create and enhance semi-natural habitats, and to use farming methods that keep chemical inputs low. Activities that are likely to receive funding under this component include natural flood management, habitat restoration and species management.

The third component, Landscape Recovery, could provide a means to achieve landscape-scale recovery using wilder approaches to farming. If successful, large expanses of habitat, such as woodland and wetlands, could be restored and large-scale activities such as peatland restoration will help contribute to net-zero emissions targets. Collaboration between landowners is key, and it is still unclear if this component can be achieved across smaller land holdings, or if this is limited to large estates.

Agricultural transition

‘The Agricultural Transition’ is a seven-year transition period in which the previous area-based subsidies will be phased out, and the first ELM National Pilot will begin. The transition begins this year, and the current intention is that ELM will be rolled out in 2024.

Although ELM has great potential to support farmers in a shift towards nature-friendly farming and land management, there is still much that remains a mystery. For instance, Defra is yet to provide information on future regulatory standards, details on how payments will operate, the application process, or what the overall annual budget for ELM will be.

The full version of this article can be found in the Spring 2021 issue, and here Alice Groom takes a closer look at each component to discuss its potential in delivering their environmental goals. Other articles featured in this issue include:

Introducing… Beaver Trust
Using location-based evidence to prioritise catchment-wide land management
St George’s flower bank Local Nature Reserve: thirty years of road verge management by a local community
Wet farming in the Great Fen

CLM is published four times a year in March, June, September and December, and is available by subscription only, delivered straight to your door. Subscriptions start from £22 per year. Back issues are also available to purchase individually (subject to availability).