Latest news with #NorfolkWildlifeTrust
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rose grower wins 30th gold at Chelsea Flower Show
A specialist rose grower has been awarded its 30th gold medal by the RHS Chelsea Flower Show despite facing a difficult year affected by the winter. Peter Beales Roses, based in Attleborough, Norfolk, has been showcasing at the flower show since the 1970s, where it has received numerous medals for its rose displays. Judges said its display this year captivated a harmonious blend of artistry, scent and environmental awareness. Ian Limmer, head rosarian, said: "To win our 30th Chelsea gold, and receive the highest possible marks by the judges is a huge honour for our whole team." The display, which the team sought advice for from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, was themed around wildlife and sustainability to demonstrate how roses can form the backbone of an ecologically rich garden. It featured two 20ft (six metre) Silver Common Birch trees to showcase how roses are able to scale the tree and become a habitat for birds. The nursery housed about 3,000 plants that were specifically grown for the prestigious show, which included 1,500 roses. Speaking prior to their win, Mr Limmer said the weather meant it had been a "difficult year" for the plants. "I don't think we've had hardly any rain... we put in our root stocks at the nursery and we've not had any rain to settle them in. "We've also had some intense summer. An early summer, with the heat and the light. It has made it a little more difficult to bring all these roses for Chelsea Flower Show. "The poor plants don't know what to think," he said. The show was also an opportunity for the nursery to introduce a new rose named Ashton Wold, created to honour the Ashton Wold Estate in Northamptonshire. Peter Beales Roses first attended the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the 1970s where it won its first medal, a Bronze Flora, in 1973. Since then it has won many gold medals from 1989 to 2025. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Royals and Beckham attend Chelsea Flower Show Rose specialists win 29th Chelsea Flower Show gold Award-winning rose firm under new ownership Peter Beales RHS Chelsea Flower Show
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
The ancient Foxley Wood reserve in North Norfolk is to expand
A conservation charity has acquired 100 acres of ancient woodland to expand an existing nature Norfolk Wildlife Trust said that the new land would increase the size of its reserve at Foxley Wood, in North Norfolk, by more than a of the woodland are known to have been there for 6,000 years, and it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its value for Collin, an area manager for the trust, said they intended to use the expanded area to create a "mosaic of habitats". The Wildlife Trust said that the purchase of the land next to their existing reserve was made possible by several said that the most significant of these had come from legacies left to the trust by Graham Churchyard and Adrian Gunson, Adrian's widow, is a "wildlife guardian" for the said she was "very happy to release Adrian's legacy to help with this purchase", because they had "always loved Norfolk, and its rich and varied wildlife". Foxley Wood is Norfolk's largest area of ancient well as using the expanded area to increase visitor access, the trust said it also hoped to create new habitats for rare plant Collin, from the trust, explained that the wildlife they hoped the resulting plants would encourage included "butterflies such as purple emperor and silver washed fritillary and birds including tree creepers and nuthatches"."We will create new and eco-friendly ways for people to enjoy some of Norfolk's most special wild places," he said.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scrambled eggs are back on the menu for Norfolk Wildlife Trust
The gluing of rare 'scrambled egg' lichen to the ground is my kind of conservation, says Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves officer Robert Morgan Lichen is a topic that's not usually covered in the news. So, for those unversed in the subject, lichen are those weird crusty growths on churchyard headstones, old trees, roof tiles or, in the case of mine, the bodywork of a dilapidated car. Lichens have fascinating biology and are important indicators of environmental health, particularly airborne pollution, so much so, the vulnerability of some species has driven them to national extinction. Scrambled egg lichen, Fulgensia fulgens (Image: However, a recent collaborative project has seen the introduction of one of these 'lost' species to Norfolk. To find out more (as BBC 'Countryfile' presenters say) I travelled to Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Weeting Heath to meet the reserve's warden, James Symonds. After following James across the Hockwold Road, and then a vault over a low stile, I found myself in a large field of close-cropped vegetation, sandy soil, and in places, bare stony ground. Most people driving past wouldn't pay it much attention – just an ordinary field. But it's far from that! Jon Cripps CWT collecting scambled egg lichen (Image: Plantlife) This patch of impoverished looking terrain stands as a relic of a unique and strange landscape. But it's a postage stamp compared to the vast steppe-like wilderness that was once the Norfolk and Suffolk Brecklands. Originally covering 370 square miles, the Brecklands, up until the turn of the 20th century, was characterised by huge tracts of open ground. The word 'breck' was used to describe the 'broken' land of heath, scattered scrub and sparse grassland. The light sandy soil would often result in sandstorms, with even dune systems forming. Some species of lichen will grow in odd places, even on old cars (Image: The Brecklands were cleared of trees as far back as Neolithic times and were continually farmed until the soil was exhausted. Rabbit warrening and sheep farming became the only viable agriculture, and this developed and maintained the landscape over the following centuries. It supported a range of unusual wildlife too, with some species thriving in this Mediterranean-style habitat, but nowhere else in the UK. The last hundred years has seen the Brecks all but disappear under intensive forestry, with the rest giving way to modern fertilized and irrigated agriculture. NWT owns and manages some of the remnants of this landscape, and James works hard at Weeting Heath to maintain his patch. He explained that 'mild winters, wetter summers and the human-induced increase in atmospheric nitrogen means grass grows quicker and thicker, and this crowds-out specialised habitat specific species, particularly some of the Breck lichens that need bare or thinly vegetated ground'. The collapse of the Breckland rabbit population, due to disease, has exacerbated the problem further. To address this, James rotavates the topsoil on selected plots, this is supported by grazing ponies and sheep to keep the vegetation short over the remaining areas. Many rare plant and invertebrate species benefit, and most notable to birdwatchers, the stone curlew does very well here. James led me to a piece of undulating ground that comprised of a sequence of ridges and furrows. It looked like a huge square of corrugated sheeting buried just beneath the sandy soil. Known as the 'washboard' it was created nearly twenty years ago as a refuge for several rare lichen species. Since the 1970s three species of Breckland lichen have become locally extinct, with two of these disappearing from the UK entirely. The Scaly Brecks Lichen continues to be recorded across southern Europe, but the Starry Brecks Lichen is now eye-wateringly rare, with it being known from only a handful of sites in Norway. The Scrambled Egg Lichen, also lost from the Brecks, is still found in reasonable numbers, on a coastal dune system in Cornwall. For this reason, the species was selected as the best candidate for a translocation project to Weeting Heath's 'washboard'. In recent times many species have been given catchy monikers – an attempt to make them more familiar, rather than carrying the obscurity of a long unpronounceable scientific name. Unsurprisingly, this lichen, as its common name suggests, is creamy-yellow in colour and crumbly in appearance. Led by the conservation organisation Plantlife, with funding from Natural England, the project forms part of a wider scheme to increase the biodiversity of the Brecks. James travelled to Cornwall and met with Plantlife's senior lichen specialist Dave Lamacraft, and Jon Cripps from Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the Ranger for the donor site, Penhale Dunes. The team carefully removed small patches of the lichen – about the size of a 20p piece. Once back at Weeting, 160 were transplanted onto the washboard. Taking advice from previous successful transplants, half the lichens were stuck down with book binding glue! The rest were set in wet soil. Walking with our heads down and eyes firmly on the ground, James showed me the marked ranks of his new wards. He explained that 'although the scrambled egg lichen is a striking species and nice to have back, it is an important part of the biological soil crust community and helps stabilize a fragile ecosystem'. James smiled and continued: 'in addition we unintentionally brought along a globally rare tiny parasitic fungus that the lichen hosts, so we effectively got two rarities for the price of one.' Lichen growing on an old gravestone (Image: Despite having over 1,800 species in the UK, lichen, not surprisingly, are often overlooked. It's probably true to say that even some natural historians give them little regard, me included. But James's enthusiasm has sparked a new interest, it was a real joy and inspiration to talk to such a knowledgeable and dedicated naturalist. But they are fascinating, in fact lichen are not a single organism, but a stable symbiotic association (a mutually beneficial relationship) between a fungus and algae, or sometimes cyanobacteria; occasionally it can be both. Although James considers it less symbiotic and more slavery, 'the algae is trapped in the fungus cells for the purpose of photosynthesis, and to provide the fungus with sugars, but with, it seems, nothing in return'. Lichen were one of the first multi-cellular lifeforms on dry land, and their ability to absorb nutrients from the air, break down rock and entrap the earliest forms of cyanobacteria, led to the formation of the first soil on earth. This allowed the evolution of complex terrestrial plants and, eventually, us too. It seems to me, we owe them!
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Endangered stone-curlews brought 'back from the brink' in Breckland
Farmers have helped bring endangered stone-curlews "back from the brink" in East Anglia, with breeding pairs doubling in the last four decades, said conservationists. The RSPB is celebrating the 40th anniversary of a project to reverse the decline of this rare and threatened bird, by working in tandem with farmers and landowners. Once found widely throughout England, stone-curlew numbers declined through the 19th and early 20th century as their heathland nesting habitats were lost - and by 1985 there were fewer than 100 breeding pairs nationwide. This prompted the launch of the RSPB Eastern England Stone-curlew Project, targeting the species' strongholds in the Brecks, as well as other parts of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The project has worked closely with farmers and landowners to recreate hundreds of hectares of grass heathland, and protect nests on arable land from destruction during farming operations, supported by a team of RSPB volunteers. The RSPB is currently working with 57 landowners in East Anglia to monitor and protect about 230 stone-curlew nests per year. Farmers are also encouraged to create specially-managed plots of bare ground within arable land for stone-curlew breeding, to keep eggs and chicks safe from agricultural activities. As a result, the number of breeding pairs has increased to an estimated 226 in the east of England in 2024. An adult stone-curlew away from its nest on a plot managed specially for it (Image: Andy Hay ( RSPB conservation officer Tim Cowan said: "The willingness of farmers and landowners to work with the project and our dedicated volunteers by creating and protecting stone-curlew breeding sites over the past four decades, has been remarkable. "Simply put, this work couldn't have been done without them and our fellow partner organisations. The success of the stone-curlew project is proof that by working together we can make space for nature, if we really want to. "We look forward to continued work towards establishing a sustainable population of stone-curlew in the Brecks." Stone-curlews prefer to nest on open, bare or sparsely vegetated ground with light, stony soils - and they are very sensitive to disturbance. In the east of England their preferred nesting habitat is semi-natural, heavily-grazed grass heathland, much of which had previously been lost to development or conversion to forestry or arable farmland, while remaining areas deteriorated due to lack of grazing by livestock and rabbits - forcing more stone-curlews to nest on arable land. The RSPB says, in 2023, 46pc of all confirmed stone-curlew breeding attempts monitored by this project were on grass heathland and specially-created nesting plots - many funded through government agri-environment schemes. The project is part of a wider collaboration in the east of England including RSPB, Natural England, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, and the Ministry of Defence. Stone-curlew adults changing over sitting duties at their nest on a plot managed specially for them (Image: Andy Hay (
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Snails not blocking growth, says wildlife boss
Nature should not be seen as a "blocker" of economic growth, despite a group of endangered snails pausing progress on a major road scheme, a wildlife trust boss has said. The presence of Little Whirlpool Ramshorn snails in ditches surrounding the A47 Acle Straight near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, is contributing to delays in upgrading the single-carriageway road. Eliot Lyne, chief executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: "I find it a bit of a stretch that we're saying one of the reasons why we don't have great economic growth is there's a snail that's holding up the A47 dualling." National Highways said it took its responsibility to the environment "very seriously" and would continue to assess where improvements could be made. The rare snails, which measure just 0.2 in (5mm) across, are known to exist in only three locations across the United Kingdom, and are legally protected. Studies have been ongoing for almost a decade into whether the snails would survive being relocated. In a speech on Wednesday, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, outlined how the government intended to achieve economic growth. "So we are reducing the environmental requirements placed on developers when they pay into the nature restoration fund that we have created so they can focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about bats and newts," she said. But Mr Lyne said nature was what made Norfolk a "special place". He said: "Nature is not a blocker of economic growth; nature is an enhancer of economic growth... we should be thinking of nature as an investment, not a blocker." Norfolk County Council recently withdrew its planning application for the Norwich Western Link, which would connect the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) to the A47, due to rules protecting Barbastelle bats that live on the proposed route. Graham Plant, Conservative councillor and cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said the wait for Acle Straight improvements was "not good enough". He said: "Humans are animals, too, and they don't deserve to die because of the state of the roads that were built 100 years ago. "It seems they are putting unreasonable objects in the way of safety and people's lives... this is a main link through Norfolk from the coast to the Midlands and it's archaic and we need to make it safer and better. and the only way to do that is dual it." A National Highways spokesperson said: "Preserving this endangered species, which is only found in three locations across the country, is just one among a number of factors surrounding any possible upgrade of the A47 Acle Straight. "Our commitment to improving the A47 in terms of safety and reducing congestion can be seen with major construction currently under way on two large-scale projects to dual different sections of the road." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Wildlife charities welcome road plan withdrawal Plea as bat rules may screech road plan to a stop Environmentalist to keep fighting despite criticism Residents welcome new limit at notorious road National Highways Norfolk County Council Norfolk Wildlife Trust
