| Having trouble reading this newsletter? Click here to see it in your browser. You are receiving this newsletter because you are registered with, or associated to, WMBP. Click here to unsubscribe. |
 |
 |
Welcome to the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership Newsletter. In this message:
|
|
|
Spotlight on . . . Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group 
Helping farmers apply for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) forms an important part of the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group’s (FWAG) work. In the past year FWAG has completed 92 HLS applications for farmers in the West Midlands - covering just over 12,500 hectares, these schemes have delivered a wide range of benefits to Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species. Across the region 69 schemes have created summer and winter food and nesting habitat for specific BAP species of farmland birds, and 41 ponds have been created or restored to benefit great crested newts. Further schemes have restored broadleaved woodland on ancient woodland sites to benefit dormice, wetland has been created for waders and wildfowl, species rich grassland has been restored and managed including acid grassland, and moorland and blanket bog have been restored. The next deadline is fast approaching for applications to the SITA Trust's
£8 million Enriching Nature Programme - 10am on 15th February 2010. Enriching Nature supports projects with a focus on a species or habitat that has been identified as a priority by the UK Biodiversity Action Planning Process. Applicants may request up to £120,000 for an individual project, and the SITA Trust welcomes applications from not-for-profit organisations. For more information visit www.sitatrust.org.uk/nature-funding or call Kate Collis 01454 262910 (West & East Midlands Regional Fund Manager) to discuss in detail. Spotlight on . . . Warwickshire LBAP 
The actions in the Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) are delivered by a wide range of organisations, large and small, all working hard to secure the future for biodiversity in the sub-region. A new voluntary organisation can now be added to that list - the Warwickshire Dormouse Conservation Group, which has been created to support the objectives of the Common Dormouse Action Plan . The Group will assist with monitoring known populations, carrying out woodland surveys and providing advice on site management. The first field meeting of the Group took place in January, when a team of volunteers cleared scrub and repositioned nest boxes in woodland that was a reception site for 25 dormice released by the Peoples' Trust for Endangered Species in June 2009. Email LBAP@warwickshire.gov.uk for more information on this, or any other aspect of the LBAP's work. The WMBP will be holding it's AGM prior to the next Steering Group Meeting on the 22nd April. The WMBP is curretly reviewing it's Terms of Reference and the way it operates to ensure that the partnership is well placed to deliver the Regional Delivery Plan in accordance with the New England Biodiversity Framework as outlined within the document 'Securing Biodiversity' The West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership (WMBP) is continuing to explore options for submitting a funding application to the European LIFE+ grant scheme. Consultants are now busy working with partners to identify the best landscape scale project in the region to develop ready for submitting an application this September. Natural investment in the Sandwell Valley 
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' (RSPB) has been awarded £120,000 from the Natural Assets grant programme for major improvements at the Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve. The wildlife garden will receive a facelift with a new pond, paths, flower borders and seating areas, and the funds will pay for a new volunteers’ workshop, a storage facility and a cycle shelter to be built next to the visitor centre. The funding also will enable Groundwork West Midlands to employ a team of Land Apprentices to build an extension to the car park and widen paths around the nature reserve, which will make them accessible for wheelchairs and buggies. Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust has provided further funding for the workshop and much needed storage facilities, and Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) towards the wildlife garden. Free places are now available for moth identification courses, run by Dave Grundy of the Garden Moth Scheme at venues across the West Midlands. These events are sponsored by OPAL West Midlands , Butterfly Conservation West Midlands and the Field Studies Council. Do not worry if you have no prior identification experience, beginners are welcome and encouraged. You should get in quickly if you want to attend because the courses are expected to fill very quickly. Please contact Dave Grundy to reserve your place on these courses, email dgcountryside@btinternet.com or telephone 0121 446 5446. Wildlife & Countryside Act amendments Defra has added an additional 63 invasive non-native species to Schedule 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), including 2 species of mammal, 14 birds, 8 invertebrates, 35 plants and 2 algae. The changes will take effect from 6th April 2010, click here for more information. Natural England has produced a DVD that gives a short summary of the benefits and success of the Walking for Health programme. Click here to watch the DVD. |
|
|
 |
|