Welcome to the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership Newsletter.

In this message:

	New Chair for Biodiversity Partnership
	Spotlight on . . . British Waterways
	Spotlight on . . . Herefordshire Biodiversity Partnership
	Traditional orchards
	Cuckoo numbers decline
	Trees and climate change
	English Woodland Grant Scheme update
	National Wildlife Survey 2009

New Chair for Biodiversity Partnership

Mike Kinghan stepped down as Chair of the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership in April, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike for all his hard work over the past two years.  Colin Raven, Director of Worcestershire Wildlife Trust  has agreed to be our new Chair.  Speaking about his aims for the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership, Colin says, "I would like to see the Biodiversity Partnership drive the delivery of landscape-scale conservation across the region and take a strong lead in promoting the social and economic benefits, building upon the work the Partnership has already completed through the Landscapes for Living project".  Colin has worked for the Wildlife Trusts since 1983, and his favourite nature reserve is The Knapp and Papermill Reserve in the Leigh Brook Valley, Worcestershire.

Spotlight on . . . British Waterways

Each month we will be highlighting the work of several members of the West Midlands Biodiversity Partnership, starting this month with British Waterways and Herefordshire Biodiversity Partnership. 

British Waterways cares for 2,200 miles of the country's canals and rivers.  Three years ago British Waterways secured £651,983 from the Grantscape Biodiversity Challenge Fund for the Wolverhampton & Staffordshire Canal Corridor Biodiversity Challenge.  Working with Groundwork Black Country on a 39km section of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, the project delivered biodiversity enhancements and training in conservation work.  The many biodiversity achievements of the project include the installation of 2km of water vole habitat, ten otter holts, kingfisher tunnels, new bat roosts, ten reed-beds and two new orchards. 

Spotlight on . . . Herefordshire Biodiversity Partnership

The Herefordshire Biodiversity Partnership brings together more than fifty organisations, led by a coordinator at Herefordshire Council , and is responsible for delivering the Herefordshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP). To date the Partnership has successfully enabled several key biodiversity projects across the county, including surveys for great crested newts, lesser horseshoe bats, water voles, orchards and veteran trees. Over the coming year, work will begin on creating a funding strategy for the Partnership, with the aim of providing a framework for funding the delivery of conservation projects to enable implementation of the Herefordshire LBAP.

Traditional orchards

The National Trust is joint lead with Natural England  on the Traditional Orchard Habitat Action Plan, and a new project – Conserving and Restoring Traditional Orchards in England – has recently been launched. Funded with £268,000 from Natural England’s Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund and £268,000 match-funding from The National Trust, work will be carried out over the next two years at National Trust sites to halt the loss of traditional orchards by improving the condition of existing orchards and helping to create new ones. Work will also be carried out with partners including Common Ground , the Wildlife Trusts, and local orchard groups to support community events and organise training workshops on the practicalities of managing an orchard.

Cuckoo numbers decline

According to a new review of the conservation status of birds in the UK (Birds of Conservation Concern 3 ), over the past three years fewer and fewer cuckoos have returned from Africa to breed here. The cuckoo, one of the most eagerly awaited heralds of summer, has now for the first time joined the group of species of highest conservation concern – the red list. Along with the cuckoo, the revised red list now includes familiar countryside birds such as the lapwing and yellow wagtail, joining the turtle dove, grey partridge, house sparrow and starling. Alarmingly, red-listed species now account for more than one-in-five (21%) of all the UK’s bird species. The figure was just 16% when the last assessment was undertaken in 2002.

Trees and climate change

The Forestry Commission has produced a pack to provide information on issues relating to trees and climate change. The pack presents the Forestry Commission’s key messages on climate change, and draws together the information available from the Forestry Commission, Forestry Research and other relevant organisations, to explain in one document the role of trees, woods and forests in tackling climate change.

English Woodland Grant Scheme update

The English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) is the Forestry Commission’s suite of grants designed to develop the coordinated delivery of public benefits from England’s woodlands. EWGS is supported via the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The Woodland Creation Grant (WCG) is now open for applications for both the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 claim years. The Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG) has funds available for 2010-2011, the final year of the Wyre WIG. The WIG Bio 50 still has a significant amount of funding for biodiversity improvements to woodlands throughout the West Midlands. The WIG for Woodland Birds is also now open for applications.

National Wildlife Survey 2009

British Waterways is asking the public to take part in its annual wildlife survey by recording the wildlife they spot on the country’s canals, rivers and reservoirs. This year, the survey has an additional focus on the bumblebee, an endangered native species, with support from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.