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New nature reserve to return rainforests to Yorkshire Dales

New nature reserve to return rainforests to Yorkshire Dales

BBC News2 days ago

A new temperate rainforest in the Yorkshire Dales could prove to be a "vital oasis" for wildlife, people behind the scheme said.Trees would be planted on a 16-hectare (40 acre) site at Park Gill near Kettlewell, to encourage the growth of mosses and create a carpet of ferns and flowers, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) said.Temperate rainforests used to grow along the damper western parts of the British Isles, but were largely destroyed over hundreds of years by grazing and conversion to other uses, the trust said.Jono Leadley, north regional manager at YWT, said the new reserve would "give us a great opportunity to restore and expand this fantastic habitat".
Temperate rainforest - also known as Atlantic woodland or Celtic rainforest - is the name given to rainforests which have high rainfall and humidity and a low annual variation in temperature.A wide range of trees grow in them, including sessile oak, birch, rowan, holly, alder, willow and hazel. The YWT said they can provide a home to red squirrels and pine martens, as well as threatened birds like wood warblers, redstarts and pied flycatchers.Mr Leadley said: "Woodland is at a premium in this part of the Dales, and species such as black grouse which cling on in the area will also benefit from more berry-bearing bushes such as hawthorn in the landscape."This new reserve promises to be a vital oasis for wildlife in the Dales, and we cannot wait to see what wildlife it attracts as a result."We hope this beautiful site will be a haven for wildlife and a beautiful place for people to enjoy."
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WW2 whaleback boat saved from river ahead of restoration
WW2 whaleback boat saved from river ahead of restoration

BBC News

time19 minutes ago

  • BBC News

WW2 whaleback boat saved from river ahead of restoration

A group of volunteers hope to restore a World War Two rescue boat that has been partly submerged for "close to 20 years".Whaleback S32s were used by the RAF to rescue thousands of servicemen who ended up in the sea.A group called Whaleback for the World believes the 63ft-boat pulled from a river near Horning, Norfolk, and towed to safety is the only known version in the world suitable for volunteers are now trying to raise £20,000 to lift the boat out of the water to a dry place, before deciding if she should be restored as a static vessel on land, which would cost "hundreds of thousands" of pounds, or whether to make her sea-going which they say would cost millions. Whalebacks, so-called due to their graceful whale-like lines embedded in their teak decks, were capable of up to 35 knots, or played a vital role in the war, rescuing pilots and crews forced to make emergency landings in the sea. The whaleback in question was purchased for a nominal fee two years ago, having been in private ownership, and is now moored temporarily on Salhouse Broad. Volunteer Colin Yorke, who lives in Swaffham, has a personal interest in helping with the restoration, as his father was a whaleback coxswain."He served saving lives in very arduous conditions at times," Mr Yorke said."Those boats were very rough on the crews, they pounded, punished the lads."They were never meant to be lived aboard but the crews did have to live aboard."They had very tiny kitchens and they were wet, very wet." Before she could be towed, volunteers spent several months plugging her holes and pumping her out. Nick Schiller, chairman of East Anglian Divers, said carrying out dives to make the repairs had been "quite a challenge", with visibility of wood had to be driven into about 20 holes of various sizes to plug them up."I think I did five dives in the end, going round the outside, literally finger-tip checking, finding all the holes," Mr Schiller boat was then wrapped in a plastic lining and towed to her temporary home. "It is a bit mad but it was a great project, and now she's up," said Mr said the next step was to get her out of the water and into a dry dock for further examination and preservation."At the moment she's sweating, and that won't do the timbers any good," he volunteers are now trying to raise £20,000 to lift the boat out of the water to a dry place, before deciding on the next steps. Volunteer Tim Shreeve, who lives in Horning, has helped out for the past six months in getting the boat ready to be moved."I'm excited, it's an amazing piece of history, a huge technology for the time, the way she was built," he said."Hopefully something that people can look at, and think about the people that actually sailed her and who were rescued by her." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Villagers furious after church banned from ringing 'nuisance' 177-year-old bells following complaints from neighbour
Villagers furious after church banned from ringing 'nuisance' 177-year-old bells following complaints from neighbour

Daily Mail​

time32 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Villagers furious after church banned from ringing 'nuisance' 177-year-old bells following complaints from neighbour

A village church has been deemed a 'nuisance' and forced to silence its chiming clock after being slapped with a council order - following 'a ridiculous villager complaint'. St Michael's in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, was stunned to receive an abatement notice about its beloved clock bells. The church was ordered to silence the chiming between 11pm and 7am after being notified of a complaint from a disgruntled resident of the proud village. Traditionally the clock - a staple in the village for up to 177 years - has rung out the full Westminster chimes, with four quarter bells that chime every 15 minutes and a bell that strikes on the hour. A £2,500 device would be needed to limit the bells to only chiming at night - so in order to comply with the Calderdale Council order, the bells have temporarily fallen silent for the first time in more than a century. Now devastated residents of the village - birthplace of poet Ted Hughes - have slammed the decision and set up an online petition to reinstate the bells, claiming they're 'the soundtrack of our community's daily life'. Roy Wrathall, who's been a church warden at St Michael's for nine years, said the church was there 'for everybody' so they would comply with the notice. 'We don't have the facilities to silence overnight,' he said. An online petition calling for the church bells to be allowed to peal again has attracted 1,296 signatures 'There's very much two sides to it. 'There's "I'm awake in the night, there goes the clock, that reassures me" and "I can't get to sleep because I keep hearing that clock every 15 minutes". 'It's not an easy one to resolve. 'Wearing the church hat - we're there for everybody, so we'll do what the law says we have to do and do our best to try and please as many people as we can. 'The only way we can comply between 11pm and 7am is to stop the chimes. 'The clock's still going but the chimes have stopped.' The eerie silence has been a particular blow as many locals associated the return of the chimes with the village recovering from devastating floods which also inundated the church in 2015. 'There was several feet of water in there - right by the river and houses around the same,' Mr Wrathall said. 'There was no electricity, no street lights and there was no clock going in the church so there were no chimes, it was silent. 'One of the things that was a sign of recovery to a lot of people was when the clock started chiming again, things were getting back to what they viewed as the norm. 'There are people who still find the clock during the night reassuring, but equally there's someone down in the village who it doesn't work like that for.' Furious locals have set up a petition to reinstate the bells, which has racked up 1,296 signatures. The petition reads: 'Growing up in the heart of Mytholmroyd, the sound of St Michael's church bells ringing through the village has been a cherished part of my life. 'These bells have chimed since 1848, long before any of us were here - a symbol of continuity and community for over a century. 'My family's roots run deep in this village, and for us, as for numerous other residents, the chimes are more than bells - they are the soundtrack of our community's daily life. 'We propose that Calderdale council reconsider their decision and engage with the community to find a solution that satisfies both the individual who raised the complaint and the majority of village residents. 'Solutions such as soundproofing options for the complainant's residence. 'Preserving these bells means preserving our history and community. St Michael's Church says it has been left with no choice but to silence the chimes 'completely' following 'a complaint from a neighbour' 'Their sound is a legacy we must protect for future generations. 'Support our campaign to keep the bells of St Michael's ringing in Mytholmroyd.' One supporter wrote: 'Born and bred in Mytholmroyd, still my home in my heart. 'The bells of Saint Michael's need to be heard, not silenced.' Another commented: 'Growing up in the 'Royd those bells were my clarion call to get home for dinner. 'With the bells silenced I worry about the poor children who may starve for lack of eating dinner. 'I feel that 177 years of the bells ringing being silenced by one objector is ridiculous.' Calderdale Council says it has received 'several complaints from local residents about the noise of the church clock chime overnight, and the substantial impact it was having on their quality of life'. 'We investigated the complaints in line with our legal duty, and this involved identifying whether the noise was causing a substantial or unreasonable impact on the quality of life of those who had complained,' said Danielle Durrans, cabinet member for public services and communities. 'The noise from churches and other similar establishments is something that many councils across the country have had to investigate. 'We understand how much local people value heritage and the tradition of the church clock. 'However, the evidence from our investigation showed that the regularity and volume of the bell chiming, at the time of night when people are sleeping, was causing a substantial impact, so we had no option but to determine a statutory nuisance and serve an abatement notice requiring the chimes not to operate between 11pm and 7am. 'We have received no appeals against the abatement notice, and the decision to stop the chiming during the day as well as night-time was taken by the town council and Erringdon Benefice.'

Otters posing for selfies in Japanese cafes may be linked to illegal trade, experts warn
Otters posing for selfies in Japanese cafes may be linked to illegal trade, experts warn

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Otters posing for selfies in Japanese cafes may be linked to illegal trade, experts warn

Posing for selfies on the laps of excited visitors, the otters of Tokyo's animal cafes have learned to play their part in their online stardom. In thousands of social media videos, the aquatic mammals wriggle through the outstretched hands of adoring customers who reward their attention with food. But the booming demand has raised major concerns among conservationists, with a study published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice linking the small-clawed otters in animal cafes in Japanese cities with wild populations in poaching hotspots in Thailand. Researchers compared the DNA profiles of 81 otters from zoos and animal cafes or seized by customs with genetic data from wild populations in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. They found the overwhelming majority of captive otters matched with two poaching hotspots in southern Thailand, on the Gulf of Thailand coastline and near the border with Malaysia. The Asian small-clawed otter, classified as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN red list, is the otter species of choice and has become a popular pet, even though its commercial trade was banned internationally in 2019. 'In recent decades, the otter has become very popular in Japan because of the cafes. I feel anxiety about the situation because the otters are decreasing in their own territories. We wanted to see where they were coming from,' said Mayako Fujihara, associate professor at the Wildlife Research Centre of Kyoto University and study co-author. 'We cannot confirm that the otters came through the illegal trade but we have shown that their DNA is the same as those from areas in Thailand that are illegal trade hotspots. 'Many cafe owners do not understand the situation. Some believe they are helping otter conservation by breeding them and showing them to people.' While not definitive proof, researchers from Japan, Thailand and France said their findings were strongly suggestive of links to the wild trade. Some of the otters found in Japan's pet cafes could also have been bred in captivity from animals captured and imported before the 2019 ban. 'Before the study, we had this strong feeling that most of them were smuggled,' said Dr Marie Sigaud, from the National History Museum in France. 'These otters are in Appendix 1 in Cites [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora], the most highly protected category, like elephant ivory. Our big question to answer was where they are coming from. The results strongly suggest that at least some of those otters are coming directly from the illegal trade.' In the wild, the otters have a key role in maintaining freshwater and mangrove swamps in Asia, hunting creatures such as crabs and molluscs. They form monogamous pairs for life and are known for their dextrous, highly sensitive claws for digging. Conservationists worry that the pet trade will see their role in ecosystems disappear – exacerbating the impact of habitat loss and pollution. Despite recent efforts, smuggling of the otters remains rampant, with the animals prized for their cuteness. The scale of the trade in small-clawed otters was first unveiled in 2018 in a joint study by the IUCN otter specialist group and Traffic, an NGO specialising in the global trade in wild animals and plants. It found more than 500 adverts for the creatures between January and April 2017, with a huge demand for young otters less than a year old. It is believed to have grown since then. 'You cannot have an otter as a pet in most European countries but it is a very popular pet in Asia and Japan. There are popular YouTube channels from people that have otters as pets and there are lots of follows. It's a cute species, even though it's very hard to look after,' Sigaud said. Kanitha Krishnasamy, Traffic's director in south-east Asia, was sceptical that an industry breeding the animals in captivity would help wild populations. 'Otters have long been sought after for illegal trade,' she said. 'There are many longstanding examples that highlight the pitfalls and complications in regulating and controlling breeding for trade, with links to laundering of illegally caught wild specimens into the legal trade chain. Any move to introduce commercial captive breeding is extremely risky.' The researchers also urged people to think twice before visiting the cafes or having the animals as pets, as they can sometimes become aggressive. In social media posts, they often show signs of stress and are regularly grossly overweight, sometimes vomiting up food or gnawing away at their own tails. Fujihara said: 'I don't think it is a good idea for people to go to the cafes. Most of the people go because they love animals. But people should understand that the businesses may be involved in the illegal trade.'. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage

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