iNEWS reports thousands of parasite wasps are set to be released in England in an effort to kill an in invasive pest attacking sweet chestnut trees. The Government has granted approval for Torymus sinensis, a type of parasite wasp, to be introduced in order to attack the invasive Oriental Chestnut Gall Wasp.
Concern has been mounting about the fate of England’s sweet chestnut trees after the Oriental Chestnut Gall Wasp was first spotted in Kent in 2015. The wasp’s larvae causes abnormal growths – known as ‘galls’ – on the leaves of sweet chestnut trees. Large infestations can weaken the host tree, making it more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
BBC News reports data has confirmed what many suspected: nature and green spaces have been a big comfort during lockdown. More than 40% of people say nature, wildlife and visiting local green spaces have been even more important to their wellbeing since the coronavirus restrictions began.
The percentages have remained stable throughout the pandemic, according to the government’s advisor for the natural environment, Natural England. And the trend could persist.
The Guardian reports the scale of water companies illegally discharging sewage is 10 times greater than the Environment Agency (EA) estimates, MPs have been told.
Peter Hammond, former professor of computational biology at University College London, now retired, said his analysis of sewage treatment works found in 2020 alone 160 breaches of permits granted by the watchdog to allow sewage discharges. The EA has only prosecuted 174 cases of illegal discharges in the last 10 years, he said on Wednesday.
The BBC reports water companies have been illegally dumping untreated sewage into rivers in England and Wales, an investigation by BBC Panorama has found. Data analysed by the programme showed some companies have regularly breached the conditions in their permits.
Treatment works are only allowed to put sewage into waterways after wet weather and when they are close to capacity. The water industry says it will invest more than a billion pounds over five years to reduce discharges into rivers. Treatment works are allowed to release sewage into rivers and streams after extreme weather, such as torrential rain, and when they are operating close to full capacity.
The BBC reports the RSPB has called for the felling of trees in the path of the HS2 rail link to be investigated. The bird charity criticised government and HS2 as ecologists launched a legal challenge against licences issued to permit the felling of trees in Jones’ Hill Wood in Buckinghamshire.
It said the felling risked “undermining every environmental commitment” the government had made about HS2. HS2 said it took its “environmental responsibilities seriously”. The legal action is being brought by a member of Earth Protectors.
The BBC reports a pair of beavers have been reintroduced to Dorset as part of a nationwide trial.
The Dorset Wildlife Trust is monitoring a male and a female beaver in the west of the county. They are being observed by wildlife experts in a large freshwater habitat, with footage captured on night cameras. The species went extinct in the UK 400 years ago, during the 16th Century.
The Independent reports researchers for Natural England carried out a comprehensive survey of the role different types of natural habits in Britain play in capturing carbon from the atmosphere, looking at forests, grasslands, heathlands, salt marshes and seagrass meadows and how much they store in their soils, sediment and vegetation.
They found that undisturbed woodlands and peat bogs had the highest rates of carbon sequestration, with a hectare of ancient woodland capable of storing the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide each year that would be emitted from 13 plane journeys between London and Rome. A 10-metre deep fenland peat bog can store eight times as much carbon as the equivalent area of tropical rainforest.
At one time swifts
were a common sight in our summer skies, performing their aerial acrobatics,
wheeling and screaming their high-pitched calls after their marathon journeys from
Africa. Sadly, these sights and sounds
are less common nowadays since the number of these iconic birds arriving on our
shores is unfortunately declining.
One reason for their decline is the limited availability
of suitable UK nesting places. Swift
conservation organisations (swift-conservation.org)are ‘doing
their bit’ to counteract the problem. Could Normandy help? FNW believed that it
could!
In 2018, the
Head of the ‘Swift Conservation organisation’, Edward Mayer, had
given a talk to FNW members in
which he explained that Normandy should provide a good environment for swifts, and he
recommended the Village Hall as an ideal building on which to site some nest
boxes. We learnt that the nearby bird
reserve at Tices’ Meadow had erected a swift nesting tower. Could Normandy do something similar? FNW decided to take up the challenge; we
would set out to attract swifts into the local area by providing, not
a tower, but nest boxes on the Village Hall.
Getting the project of the ground….
FNW committee members discussed the idea with members of the Management
Committee of Normandy Village Hall who were very supportive and helpful. We all agreed to place four swift nest boxes unobtrusively under the eaves of the Village Hall.
The site selected was on the
end of the building nearest to the car park. We had to make sure there were no
means of access for rats or squirrels; that the entrances were sheltered from
wind and rain; and that the boxes were clear of obstructions to allow the birds
to fly straight into the entrance holes. Swifts are tidy birds and the adults eat their chicks’ droppings so the
set-up would be as maintenance free as possible.
Enticing the birds to their new homes….
Having bought some suitable nest boxes we had to think about
how to attract some occupants. We knew
swifts had been seen flying around the area but we needed to attract them to
these new ‘Des Reses’. A recommended way
of doing this is to play them swift calls, so we also mounted a small specialised ‘swift call’ mp3 player near
the nest boxes.
Breeding birds arrive from Africa in early May returning to
the nest sites they had used in previous years, hopefully in the local Normandy
area. Two-year-old birds return to the
UK from mid-May onwards looking for a nest site, and to mate and start nest
building, although they will not actually breed until the following year. It is these birds that we hope to
attract. One-year old birds arrive in
July and do not stay long, but they are looking for swift colonies to join so
we could attract these as well. With these dates in mind, calls are played
from mid-May and continuing until the third week in July.
Let’s all keep our
fingers crossed and hope for success!
It could take several years to entice the swifts to
nest – this is year 2 of the project – but we know swifts have been spotted in
the parish so we can hope that it is a lot sooner. House sparrows might build in the nest boxes
to begin with, but these little birds are also declining so that would be
good! We would just need to clean the
boxes out afterwards.
From May onwards keep looking skywards and if you see swifts in the area please let us know. If you see them exploring the nest boxes then that would be even better!
BBC News reports leading garden retailers are still failing to stop the sale of peat in compost despite pressure from the government and campaigners. The Wildlife Trusts said only one of 20 retailers contacted said it would eliminate peat from its shelves this year.
The restoration of peatlands is a key part of the government’s strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change. Highly absorbent, it also helps with flood prevention.
However, one peat producer told the BBC that since lockdown there had been a surge in interest in gardening. Demand for peat was “unprecedented” and there was currently no viable alternative.
