Latest news with #INCC
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Experts issue dire warning after 1,200% surge in destructive wildfires: 'I don't know how they are going to cope'
Spring wildfires in Wales are posing serious threats to vulnerable species, according to the BBC. Grassfires in South Wales are up by 1,200% compared to the same time last year — 110 square miles of land across the U.K. has already suffered wildfires. A lengthy dry spell, high heat, and leftover fuel from last year have created ideal conditions for fire outbreaks. Hen harriers, water voles, golden plovers, and bluebells are just some of the species put at risk due to this extreme habitat loss. Endangered barn owls are particularly challenged by reduced prey opportunities. "A few weeks ago they had all of this area to find food for their chicks and suddenly they don't have that any more," said Rob Parry from the nonprofit Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), per the BBC. "I don't know how they are going to cope. A wildfire just makes that habitat disappear overnight." Wildfires have destroyed habitat for many species, putting them at risk. This includes the western gray squirrel, the southern steelhead trout, and the northern hairy-nosed wombat. While biodiversity damage is front of mind, the wildfires also release phosphates that wash into waterways and diminish local water quality. The INCC has called for increased controlled burn oversight, especially for farmers. Farmers are also becoming a part of the solution by restoring peat bogs, which prevent fires and sequester carbon. The real tragedy of the issue is that many wildfires are started deliberately. This has spurred renewed education campaigns at Welsh schools by local firefighters. "We see the death of local wildlife, we see the destruction of their habitat," said firefighter Mark Bowditch, per the BBC. "We accept that some fires can be accidental, but deliberate fire setting is a crime and that's the message we'd like to get out." Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Why do these water voles have glittery poo?
Conservation experts in Wales have learned that if you want to find out more about an animal's daily habits, you don't have to set up expensive trackers or high-tech camera equipment to follow them. You just have to put edible glitter in their is all part of a new effort to save water voles from extinction by tracking their movements in the wild. Many years ago, water voles used to be commonly found in lots of areas across Wales, but the small, brown rodents are now a very rare sight. So with the help of vets, the team from the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC) are taking an unusual course of action. The INCC hopes that by offering a group of captive-bred water voles pieces of apple with edible glitter on them, the sparkle should come out in their poo. If it works, they will then continue the experiment in the wild, making it easier to track the water voles' whereabouts and other habits. They are even planning to track different families of voles, simply by using different colours of glitter for each group. The plan is to see how far the water voles travel, and then make changes to their habitats in order to help them survive and breed. Based on the animals' movements, conservationists can remove certain invasive trees that have a negative impact on water vole's habitats, block off unsafe routes for them and help the species disperse through the landscape. Rob Parry, chief executive of INCC, said his team had made sure they checked with vets to ensure the edible and biodegradable glitter - the type used to decorate cakes - would not be harmful to the semi-aquatic creatures."It's something that we've done in nature conservation before for other species, for badgers in particular where we use pellets to put in with peanuts, which badgers love," said Mr Parry."So we've taken that idea and scaled it down to water vole size, which means using glitter."Water voles are often mistaken for brown rats and are becoming increasingly rare in the wild due to their wetland habitats being drained and predators, like the invasive American mink, hunting them.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
UK's rarest wildlife being 'pushed to extinction' by grass fires
Some of the UK's rarest wildlife is being "torched alive" and pushed closer to extinction after weeks of intense grass fires, conservationists have warned. They include endangered birds like hen harriers and water voles, which are now the UK's fastest declining mammal. The National Trust said it believed ongoing wildfires at Abergwesyn common in Powys had destroyed "the last remaining" local breeding habitat for golden plovers - considered one of the most beautiful birds of the British uplands. So far this year 110 sq miles (284 sq km) of land has been burnt by wildfires around the UK - an area larger than Birmingham. Wildfire home scare has owners fearing about future Some wildlife may not return after recurring fires Aerial images show land devastated by wildfire Figures obtained by the BBC show that in Wales, fire crews have battled almost 1,400 wildfires already this year, leading fire services to urge people to "act responsibly" and report any suspicious behaviour to the police. The National Trust said 2025 was "turning out to be the worst year ever for these human-caused fires across the country". "We're extremely worried, this is looking like it's going to be the worst year for seeing our wildlife going up in flames," said Ben MacCarthy, the charity's head of nature conservation. A record dry spell and unusually high temperatures in March are believed to have contributed to the fires. A low number of blazes in 2024 also left more vegetation to fuel them. Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, said an "irreplaceable" area of temperate Atlantic rainforest had been affected at Allt Boeth near Aberystwyth, with damage to protected bluebells too. Also known as Celtic rainforest, the habitat harbours scarce plants, lichens and fungi, and is considered more threatened than tropical rainforest. In England, the National Trust said several thousand newly planted trees at Marsden Moor, in West Yorkshire, had gone up in flames. While on the Morne Mountains, in Northern Ireland, invertebrates and ground dwelling animals like reptiles were "simply being torched alive". "That then cascades through the food web because without the invertebrates you don't get the birds who are reliant on them for food," Mr MacCarthy said. He said government funding to help farmers and land managers restore peat bogs in the uplands, to prevent fires while also soaking in planet-warming carbon and providing habitat, was essential. Conservation charities including The Wildlife Trusts and the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC) also voiced fears for the future of the water vole, which is already under serious threat from habitat loss and predation by American minks. Small animals like water voles and shrews, which live in burrows, can survive fast-moving fires but their habitats and the food they rely on are destroyed. Water voles are "the fastest-declining mammal ever" according to Rob Parry of the INCC. "Their last foothold [in Wales] is in the uplands so when those sites are burned it is awful for that particular population, but from a UK point of view we are one step closer to the extinction of an entire species," he said. The INCC is also monitoring five breeding pairs of barn owls in the Amman Valley in south Wales, where wildfires have destroyed huge areas of habitat. "A few weeks ago they had all of this area to find food for their chicks and suddenly they don't have that any more," said Mr Parry. "I don't know how they are going to cope. A wildfire just makes that habitat disappear overnight." Other rare birds are also affected, including hen harriers, which have been subject to recent conservation efforts to increase their numbers in the Welsh uplands, and skylarks, which have declined in huge numbers since the 1970s. "We're worried enough as it is about wildlife," said Mr Parry. "We're one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and wildfires every spring at the worst possible time is a burden that wildlife and the environment just can't cope with." The INCC has called for closer oversight of controlled burns by farmers and better monitoring of the impact of wildfires on the environment. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said wildfires were a "massive issue", particularly in south Wales, where Welsh government figures showed more than half of wildfires in Wales took place last year. Becky Davies, a senior officer at NRW, said: "In the last three days we've had over 75 fires in the south Wales valleys alone. "We have a lot of hillsides that are linear, the valley side has a lot of bracken, a lot of heathland, grassland and coal spoil and that is the sort of hillside that goes up in flames." The environmental impact of wildfires can also be felt more widely. When it rains after a fire, the newly bare soil and the phosphates that were trapped inside it can wash off into streams and rivers, affecting water quality. Numbers of wildfires vary year-on-year depending on when spells of dry weather happen. But figures obtained by the BBC show that in south Wales, grassfires have increased by 1,200% from the same time period last year. In north Wales, crews have attended 170 fires this year, and Mid Wales Fire and Rescue said it had tackled 772 blazes. Wildfires are also up in England and Northern Ireland compared to last year, while the fire service in Scotland has issued an extreme wildfire alert covering the whole country. Statistics show the majority of wildfires are started by people, including accidental fires from disposable BBQs or controlled burns that get out of hand. In south Wales, firefighters are going to primary schools to teach children from a young age about the devastating impact. At Pontnewydd Primary School in Cwmbran, staff from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Gwent Police brought along animals like snakes, hedgehogs and foxes for children to meet. Station manager Mark Bowditch said his crews saw the damage to wildlife from wildfires first-hand. "We see the death of local wildlife, we see the destruction of their habitat," he said. "We accept that some fires can be accidental, but deliberate fire setting is a crime and that's the message we'd like to get out." Additional reporting by Dylan Greene. Huge Welsh wildfires filmed from the air Hikers 'devastated' over Mourne Mountains wildfires Crews 'on their knees' as fire rages for third day
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hopes for water voles as new colonies discovered
New colonies of the UK's fastest declining mammal species have been discovered in the uplands of south Wales. Usually found across riverbanks in Wales, water voles have now taken up habitat in the valleys, which could help prevent their local extinction. Robert Parry, chief executive of the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), described the discovery as "huge". Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, he said: "We didn't know they were up there, they're on the verge of extinction, we've been looking for them for decades." Water voles brought back to the Lake District New hope for rare rodent after forest find Rare butterfly species reintroduced to Wales Discovered in the upland landscape of the Rhondda and Afan valleys in south Wales, upland habitats are now one of the most significant places in Wales for the small mammal, according to INCC. The project, led by the INCC and funded by the Pen y Cymoedd Community Fund, surveyed numerous ditches, marshes, and peat bogs of the uplands from May 2024 and have so far found 20 new water vole colonies. Also known as the water rat, the semi-aquatic rodents were once a common sight in Wales, but have declined due to habitat loss and predation by the non-native American mink. The mink could wipe out entire colonies within a few days - but they tend to avoid upland areas, providing safer habitats for water voles. Conservationists say numbers of water voles have declined by 90% in the past 30 years. INCC's conservation officer, Eliza Chapman, said she hoped the work would prevent local extinction of water voles as they expand their range across the uplands. More than 40 water vole colonies have now been recorded in the past few years, according to INCC, and they play a vital role in maintaining the balance and health of upland ecosystems.
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Science
- BBC News
New colonies of threatened water voles found in south Wales
New colonies of the UK's fastest declining mammal species have been discovered in the uplands of south Wales. Usually found across riverbanks in Wales, water voles have now taken up habitat in the valleys, which could help prevent their local extinction. Robert Parry, chief executive of the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), described the discovery as "huge". Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, he said: "We didn't know they were up there, they're on the verge of extinction, we've been looking for them for decades." Discovered in the upland landscape of the Rhondda and Afan valleys in south Wales, upland habitats are now one of the most significant places in Wales for the small mammal, according to project, led by the INCC and funded by the Pen y Cymoedd Community Fund, surveyed numerous ditches, marshes, and peat bogs of the uplands from May 2024 and have so far found 20 new water vole colonies. Also known as the water rat, the semi-aquatic rodents were once a common sight in Wales, but have declined due to habitat loss and predation by the non-native American mink. The mink could wipe out entire colonies within a few days - but they tend to avoid upland areas, providing safer habitats for water say numbers of water voles have declined by 90% in the past 30 years. INCC's conservation officer, Eliza Chapman, said she hoped the work would prevent local extinction of water voles as they expand their range across the uplands. More than 40 water vole colonies have now been recorded in the past few years, according to INCC, and they play a vital role in maintaining the balance and health of upland ecosystems.
