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RAUK - Archived Forum - Bringing wildlife back to farmland

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Bringing wildlife back to farmland:

Author	Message
Mervyn Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 41 View other posts by Mervyn	Posted: 30 Apr 2003 Please find below a link to the Farmed Enviroment Company. Not strictly Reptile and Amphibian but in my view good news regarding conservation in the UK. It is a three-year research and knowledge transfer initiative, which looks at effective techniques to manage farmland in order to improve biodiversity whilst maintaining farm profitability. I believe that compared to todays normal crop fields there were: - 13 times more butterflies - 38 times more birds - 3134 bumblebees recorded on habitat plots; only 1 bumblebee recorded on the crop plot In total approximately 60,000 invertebrates per hectare were recorded. This shows the speed of response when farmers reintroduce the appropriate wildlife habitats on to their farmland. http://f-e-c.co.uk/index.htm Mervyn J. COTTENDEN, CPA

AndyB Member Joined: 24 Sep 2003 No. of posts: 2 View other posts by AndyB	Posted: 24 Sep 2003 We have recently purchased a piece of land (16 acres) the greater part of which we are allowing to go wild. It slopes gently to the SSE and is 300m above sea level in southern Deryshire. Notable spieces so far - Badgers, Hares, Toads and Skylarks. What other spieces of reptiles and Amphibians could we expect and how can we enhance the habitat/s for them? tia Andy Just found this site http://www.fwag.org.uk/ for the 'Farming Wildlife Advisory Group' has info for amphibians and reptiles as well as birds, mammals and insects Web site for the 'Pond Conservation Trust' http://www.pondstrust.org.uk/AndyB37889.686400463

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 24 Sep 2003 Hi Andy, A lot will depend on soil composition etc. and what is already found in the area. (i.e. is there good adjoining reptile habitat/likely-hood they are already present) It's something I've given a fair bit of thought to as my partner Mervyn and I plan to do similar in the near future, it really seems a great way to go forward in conservation with so much habitat loss due to farming practice/development. I would start by searching for existing reptile records in the area, to find out what is likely to turn-up and which species would have been likely in the area historically. First step would be to contact your local area reptile recorder, Cumbria Tony and Heather Marshall, Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group, Hillcrest, Lyth, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 8DJ, 015395 68304, heatherandtony@care4free.net they may also to be able to advise on management and give a few clues as to what works with habitat enhancement in your location. My next step would be to survey the site, looking to see if reptiles already exist and isolate the best areas of existing habitat for special attention. (There are threads on here about survey techniques such as "tinning") Let us know how things go, I would be fascinated to hear how the site develops and which species of wildlife start to use the habitat. administrator37888.5639814815 Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 24 Sep 2003 PS. Andy, can you check that you submitted the correct email address when you joined (click on edit profile near the top of the page), I've had a couple of redirects due to delivery failure. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

- Bringing wildlife back to farmland

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