Conservationists are urging ministers to grasp the opportunity tomorrow (October 12) to clear up one of the most controversial aspects of the planning reform debate.

The Government has faced a public backlash against its proposed reforms of the planning system. Although they claim the changes will maintain sustainable development as the purpose of the planning system, the way this is defined is inadequate.

An amendment tabled by Liberal Democrat and Labour peers calls for a clear definition of sustainable development to be enshrined in law. This will be debated in the House of Lords tomorrow (Wednesday) and, if accepted, would result in an addition to the Localism Bill.

Martin Harper, RSPB Conservation Director, said: “The Government talks about sustainable development – but do they really know what it is?

“In a recent interview David Cameron struggled with the question, and the version included in the proposed planning reforms differs from what many consider to be the essence of sustainable development.

“This may seem like semantics but in fact it is a vital guiding principle governing how we treat our natural environment. This amendment is an opportunity for the Government to show that it has listened to the public, and that it understands how important it is to protect our wildlife from damaging development.

“Sustainable development means growth within environmental limits. It is not a brake on economic recovery, it is a guiding light to a prosperous future. And unless it is laid out in law in black and white then our countryside’s defence against planning blight will be weakened and we, alongside many others, will continue to oppose the upcoming reforms.”

Monday is the deadline for responses to the public consultation on the NPPF and concerned members of the public are being urged to make their voices heard on the issue.

Mr Harper added: “The Government clearly did not expect the level of public concern that has been displayed in recent weeks over their proposed planning reforms.

“Anyone who hasn’t expressed their views on this issue has less than a week to do so. Thousands of RSPB supporters have already responded to the official consultation via our website and the more people who make their views known, the more pressure we can put on the Government to rethink their plans.”

Anyone wanting to add their name to the campaign can do so at www.rspb.org.uk/saveyourlandscapes

The Forestry Commission has announced that the rare Barbastelle bat has established a maternity colony in Lincolnshire woodland – a first for the county and one of the very few such sites identified in Britain.

The bat is generally regarded as a southern English species, but research has revealed that it is not only present, but breeding in the 900-acre Chambers Farm Wood, near Wragby.

The discovery was made by Dave Hughes, Lincoln University postgraduate research student and Principal Ecologist at Lincoln-based Ecological Consultancy, ESL.  He has fitted tiny radio transmitters to bats in the Forestry Commission beauty spot, part of the Bardney Limewoods National Nature Reserve, and used harmless nets to catch the mammal.  Both pregnant Barbastelles and most tellingly recently born juveniles have been recorded and further detective work led to the discovery of the maternity colony under the bark of a rotting tree.

Wally Grice, from the Forestry Commission, said: “This is really great news and shows that sensitive management of woodlands pays dividends for wildlife.  It means that we now have nine bat species in Chambers, making it a real hotspot for the endangered creature.”

Dave Hughes added: “We have caught 37 individuals so far, which is a good sized colony.  I’ve also found Barbastelles in other woods nearby, but only in Chambers do we have a maternity colony. The habitat here is just right, being in part an old oak wood with plenty of insects to feed on and dead wood to provide roosting sites. Barbastelles are becoming increasingly rare so finding a maternity colony is cheering news.”

Bats suffered a dramatic decline in the 20th century and are on the European Protected Species list together with otters and the dormouse.  The UK population of Barbastelles is estimated at just 5,000 individuals and because of its rarity it has its own species action plan.

The bat’s strange name is derived from the Latin for ‘star beard’ and refers to the delicate beard of frosted white hairs radiating from its lower lip.  It has a squat face giving it a `pug-like’ appearance.

The discovery of a maternity colony is of national significance.

The initial discovery that Barbastelles were living in Chambers was made using an electronic detector which captured the unique frequency of its echo location system.  That led to the Forestry Commission, Lincolnshire Bat Group and Vincent Wildlife Trust installing 100 special boxes in the woods.

An environmental project led by the Forestry Commission and Butterfly Conservation in the Wyre Forest has been hugely successful in boosting the numbers of rare butterflies living in the West Midlands.

Back to Orange, a three-year project, largely funded by SITA Trust, which aimed to conserve the fritillary butterflies of the Wyre Forest, has seen substantial increases in the numbers of many species and a doubling of the wood white butterflies.

Not only have the numbers of pearl-bordered fritillaries increased but they have also established new colonies. Another rare species, the wood white, has spread to new areas of the Forest.

And there is also good evidence that small pearl-bordered fritillary, dingy skipper and drab looper have moved into project work areas.

Phil Rudlin, Forestry Commission wildlife ranger who worked on the Back to Orange project – said: “The results of this project are fantastic. Butterflies are in decline in many places and we are very lucky to have a good population of such rare butterflies here in the Wyre Forest.

“Projects like this, which give them a boost, can only be good for the future of these insects.”

Work has been carried out to remove conifer trees in order to create corridors for the butterflies to spread from isolated areas of habitat to other favourable areas within the forest.

More than 30 volunteers helped to record the numbers of butterflies within the forest during 2010, which, because of the more favourable weather conditions, has been a great year for spotting butterflies.

The England Biodiversity Group has recommended that central Durham should be one of the country’s first Integrated Biodiversity Delivery Areas, where priority will be given to conserving wildlife and creating new habitats.

The free event will celebrate successful examples of landscape scale initiatives in the county, such as the Heritage Coast.

It will also explore the priorities for the new project and how it can contribute to making the hills and valleys of central Durham even more wildlife friendly.

“The aim is to encourage community engagement and partnership working to protect and enhance native wildlife and encourage the formation of habitat corridors and networks,” said Cllr Neil Foster, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for regeneration and economic development.

A conference will be held on October 21 that will include a series of presentations on landscape scale initiatives and biodiversity issues together with a bus tour to various wildlife sites in the proposed area.

As part of the event, schools will visit Burnhill Nature Site conservation project, a partnership between landowner Russell Bell, Tow Law Millennium Primary and Blessed John Duckett RC Primary schools, Natural England, the county council’s countryside rangers, Butterfly Conservation, and Durham Wildlife Trust

The project aims to diversify farmland and create a conservation area to protect small pearl bordered fritillary butterfly and provide an educational scheme for schools and community groups.

It is an example of the kind of scheme the new national project aims to promote.

The exhibition and conference are organised in partnership with Durham Wildlife Trust and Europe Direct NE with funding from the European Commission.

Anyone wanting to book a place at the conference on October 21 should contact Helen Bonner on 0191 383 3361 or email helen.bonner@durham.gov.uk by October 8.

Limited places are available especially for the bus tour and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

The Forestry Commission has carried out the first ever full survey of the Red Squirrels Reserve at Whinlatter Forest, Dodd Wood, Wythop and Setmurthy near Keswick as part of efforts to help conservation.

Numbers of red squirrels were counted using 75 traps located within the reserve.

A total of 416 red squirrels were recorded–during a 12-week period between May and August, although individual squirrels could have been caught more than once.

The figures provide a starting reference for future surveys in subsequent years and help provide an indication of population trends. This in turn will help wildlife rangers to manage the reserve more effectively to help the red squirrels continue to survive in Cumbria.

Matthew Easton, Forestry Commission wildlife ranger, said: “This exercise will help to show us whether our current methods of forest management are sufficient to help this highly popular indigenous species survive.”

Forest management techniques currently used to help the red squirrels survive include maintaining a level of mature conifers within Whinlatter Forest and the neighbouring woodland. This is because there is evidence that reds fare better against competition from the larger grey squirrels in a coniferous environment, compared with broadleaf trees.

Graeme Prest, the Forestry Manager in the North West, says: “Cumbria’s publicly owned forests are home to a wide range of wildlife and the Forestry Commission places a high priority on improving the biodiversity of these important habitats.  Red squirrels are one of the most popular residents of our forests in Cumbria and this study will help in the work we are doing to try to protect them.”

Any grey squirrels that were found were found in the traps were removed from the area.  One result from this year’s trapping that is cause for hope is that the numbers of grey squirrels that were caught in the reserve this year are lower than last. This is an indication that there are fewer grey squirrels moving into the reserve.

Grey squirrels, which were introduced into the UK from North America, are a threat to red squirrels because they compete more effectively for food and they are also carriers of the deadly Squirrel Pox. Grey squirrels are resistant to Squirrel Pox, but they can pass it on to reds, which are not resistant.

The results of one of the biggest ever surveys of the UK’s butterfly population have been announced.

It reveals the top ten most common species are the Small White, Large White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Peacock, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell (right) and the Ringlet.

The exercise was designed to give scientists an indication of the state of the nation’s butterfly population, particularly in gardens and urban areas.
There was an impressive number of sightings of the Small Tortoiseshell which has been ravaged in recent years. Numbers have declined by 82 per cent in south-east England with the arrival of a parasitic fly called Sturmia bella.

The big butterfly count results indicate strong signs of recovery. The Small Tortoiseshell was the ninth most common butterfly seen across the UK and did even better in garden habitats.

The Gatekeeper’s results also pleased conservationists. The Gatekeeper has suffered a run of extremely bad years but ranked as number three in the top ten list during the count. It was seen in greatest numbers in fields and other rural habitats, but this orange butterfly was also found thriving in major cities such as London and Manchester.

Although no day-flying moths made it into the top 10, the most common moth reported during big butterfly count was the Six-spot Burnet, followed by the Silver Y (left) and then, some way behind, the Humming-bird Hawk-moth.

The full results of the count can be viewed online at www.bigbutterflycount.org.

Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation’s Surveys Manager said: “A big thank you to all who have made the big butterfly count the biggest ever weekly count of butterflies anywhere in the world! It’s been a fantastic start and the big butterfly count will continue in 2011. With the public’s help, we’ll be able to compare how butterflies and moths have fared. We hope people from all over the UK will help us take the pulse of nature in years to come”.

Despite the pleasing results for some species, scientists at the charity Butterfly Conservation, who are analysing this year’s data, warn that most butterflies continue to face serious long-term decline.

Butterflies and moths are important as indicators, alerting us to underlying problems with the environment. If butterfly numbers are falling, inevitably other wildlife is also in decline.

The main factors causing the long-term decline of many butterfly species include the loss of crucial habitats such as flower-rich grassland and the intensification of farming methods. A lack of management is also causing problems in habitats such as woodlands. Butterfly Conservation is working with landowners and other conservation organisations to help reverse declines as a matter of great urgency.

The first baby beavers to be born in the wild for about 400 years have been spotted in Scotland, it has been announced.

About the size of a large guinea pig, beaver kits weigh about one pound at birth and are born with a full coat of fur, their eyes open and the ability to swim.

Older kits within the family may help care for and defend the younger ones but when they reach about two years old, they will leave the group in search of their own territory.

The Scottish Beaver Trial, which reintroduced the animals, aims to provide information which could determine whether or not beavers are reintroduced into the wild across Scotland.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Beaver field officer, Christian Robstad, said: “Seeing the newborn beaver kits was really amazing – this is a huge achievement for the project and for conservation in the UK.

“It’s often difficult to tell if wild beavers are pregnant especially as they are elusive and largely nocturnal animals, but with our adult female beavers at two sites known to be in peak condition, there was a real possibility that kits could follow. Increasingly in the last few weeks, staff and volunteers have seen more evidence that there were young around and tracking activities were stepped up.

“After weeks of patient observation, we were finally rewarded with not just one kit being spotted but a second kit from a different family group as well. The first emerged as part of a ‘family outing’ with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection.

“It kept close to the edge of the loch and called out to its family for reassurance while it began to learn to forage for food,” he said.

The young birds, named Aqua, Splash and Spray, and only the second osprey family raised in North East England since records began 200 years ago, have all successfully flown in Kielder Water and the forest park.

Over the past week rangers have been monitoring CCTV coverage beamed live to Kielder Castle Visitor Centre as the chicks exercised their wings and leapt into the air, getting ready for take off. Two of the birds left the nest for the first time some days ago, but the third – the smallest of the brood and possibly a male – proved reluctant to leave and has only fleged in the past couple of days.

Kevin Hudson, Northumbrian Water leisure manager said: “The ospreys’ diet exists almost exclusively of fish. Kielder Water is well stocked with rainbow trout – a favourite dish for these raptors. Visitors to the Park now have a rare opportunity to watch the family of birds hunting as the parents will be showing the three chicks how it’s done. The best place to catch sight of these sensational creatures is from the aptly named ‘Osprey’ Ferry, which sails daily throughout the summer.”

The adult male will teach his offspring to fish – and it really is a crash course. By the end of August they will start a hazardous 5000-mile migration to sub-Saharan Africa when they must fend for themselves or perish.

Martin Davison, Forestry Commission ornithologist, explained: “The  chicks need to put on extra body fat to tackle the long flight. Ospreys  are  expert  hunters and will often hover over water to spot fish close to the surface. After fixing on their prey, they take the plunge with legs extended forward and wings swept back to keep them dry, before lifting away with a fish held in powerful talons.  It’s amazing how quickly young birds learn, but it is a matter of survival.”

Northumbrian  Water’s  ’Osprey’  Ferry departs from Leaplish Waterside Park and Tower Knowe Visitor Centre. Booking  is  advisable on 01434 251 000 or by enquiring on site.

Kielder Osprey Watch 2010 is organised by the Kielder Partnership, the RSPB and  Northumberland Wildlife Trust. The partners are working hard to ensure that  the ospreys are here to stay by maintaining a high quality habitat in Kielder  Water & Forest Park and safeguarding and monitoring the nest site. To find out more go to www.visitkielder.com

Ospreys were once distributed widely, but persecution resulted in the species becoming extinct in England as a breeding bird in 1840 and in Scotland in 1916. Some birds re-colonised Scotland in the 1950s and by 2001 there were nearly 160 breeding pairs (today about 200). The same year saw the first successful osprey nests in England for 160 years by re-colonising birds in the Lake District and re-introduced ones at Rutland Water in the East Midlands.  Kielder is only the place in England where the bird has returned to breed naturally.

The Coalition Government’s White Paper on the Natural Environment provides a real opportunity to lay the foundations of nature conservation for the 21st century, according to The Wildlife Trusts.

The conservation organisation’s comments come ahead of a public consultation and set out its recovery plans for the UK’s wildlife and fragmented habitats on land and at sea.

The Wildlife Trusts believe the time is now for the Government to establish a vision for the restoration of the natural environment which will help society achieve its ambitions for nature.
With scant existing legislation to encourage the restoration of the natural environment or the creation of new habitats on a significant scale, The Wildlife Trusts are looking for the Government to deliver real improvements.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “This White Paper is potentially as meaningful as the build-up to the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. Back then we were reconstructing a nation and, although money was very short, nature was seen as a key part of our future.”

In the 1940s, The Wildlife Trusts’ founders successfully pressed for laws to protect some of the most special habitats on land but these were emergency measures. They were refuges from which it was always hoped nature would re-emerge. Outside the nature reserves on land habitats were lost on an unprecedented scale. Since then more than 95% of wildflower meadows have disappeared and 90% of heathland too.

Every Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future of their area through their Living Landscapes and Living Seas initiatives.

“Nature is not a luxury. With the UK facing unprecedented economic uncertainty and pressures for energy generation, food production and housing, there is a risk we overlook the very basis of our economy and our society; the natural environment upon which this all depends,” added Stephanie.

Most of us can picture a hedgehog, blue tit or grasshopper, but what does one sound like?

Members of the Wildlife Watch, the Wildlife Trusts’ network of groups for children, are now able to find out thanks to some new state of the art field recording equipment.

The Wildlife Sound Recording Society (WSRS) has generously provided The Wildlife Trusts with a wildlife sound recording kit worth more than £1,000. Now, the 300 Wildlife Watch groups across the UK can borrow the equipment and use it to tune in to the sounds of their local wildlife, hopefully learning much more about it in the process.

Adam Cormack, communications manager for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We are very grateful to the Wildlife Sound Recording Society for generously providing this equipment. We hope it will encourage our young members to discover the sounds of nature on their doorstep and we are looking forward to hearing the results. We hope this new initiative will help children to tune in, turn on and press record!

“The sounds of nature are all around us but are often over-looked or easily missed. We hope this toolkit will show our young members that recording wildlife doesn’t need to be difficult, or perfect either. Recording the sounds of nature can be great fun but capturing the sounds that humans make such as noise from cars or aeroplanes is also part of the fun of field recording.

Recording and listening to them can tell us a lot about the impact we have on our environment.”
WSRS is all about encouraging participation in the collection of weird and wonderful wildlife sounds, and is at the cutting edge of developing recording skills and techniques.

Chair Roger Boughton, said: “We, at the Wildlife Sound Recording Society, are excited at the prospect of giving the opportunity for the junior members of The Wildlife Trusts to get closer to the sounds of nature. From the quietest click of a cricket or the chilling shriek of a barn owl, to the magnificent roar of a red deer, these breathtaking wild sounds can make your hair stand on end.

“We look forward to hearing how Watch groups get on, how they capture the sounds, and what they record.”

Those who are curious to hear the roars, croaks and coos of our wild creatures might want to get outside and listen. Here are five top wild sounds to tune into this summer:

- Screaming swifts – look out for the forked tails of these small birds wheeling overhead
- Grasshoppers and crickets – their chirrup can be heard in gardens and fields
- Popping gorse seeds – listen out for the brown pods bursting open with a snap
- Buzzing bees – busy collecting nectar from all the flowers in bloom

Wildlife sounds the WSRS has captured are also available to download as ringtones on the Wildlife Watch website: www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/Downloads.