RSPB : Solutions for Wildlife
ALEX KIRBY
Solutions for wildlife in a warming world
Climate change might bring a few new birds to our gardens, but it could also lead to some big changes in the existing habitats of birds in our countryside and on our coasts, and in the potential distributions of birds. The RSPB, with the help of its supporters, is working to make our changing landscape more hospitable for birds and other wildlife. Our innovative projects to create new habitat show just how we’ll do it.
Habitat creation to help wildlife adapt to climate change
The RSPB is carrying out large habitat creation projects in places that until recently have been almost devoid of wildlife. The following are just some of the bold initiatives that are creating new ‘stepping stones’ in the landscape to help wildlife move and adapt to climate change.
Saltmarsh
Sea level rise, especially along the east coast of the UK, is increasingly ‘squeezing’ the available saltmarsh habitat on the coast. The worst affected coastal areas of south-east England, for example, have lost one quarter of their saltmarsh in the past 25 years. The RSPB is involved in four projects to create intertidal habitat to help offset losses resulting from sea-level rise. These include use of ‘regulated tidal exchange’, where we have installed a tidegate to regulate the movement of seawater in and out of an intertidal area (at Goosemoor in Devon), and managed re-alignment projects, where sections of the seawall have been removed to let seawater naturally inundate the land (at Freiston Shore, Lincolnshire; Havergate Island, Suffolk; and Nigg Bay, Highland). We have seen a rapid transformation of once bare fields into rich intertidal habitats that are heavily used by birds. We are monitoring the results carefully, for lessons we can apply to future schemes in other areas.
A story from the managed realignment scheme at Nigg Bay, Highland By Steph Elliott, Site Manager, RSPB Central Highland Reserves
I am the Site Manager for the Central Highland group of nature reserves in the Highlands of Scotland, where I’ve been working for the last six years. The assistant warden and I manage seven nature reserves, so we look after a broad range of habitats and wildlife.
Several of the reserves are on the Moray Firth and are internationally important for wintering waterbirds. These birds come here for their winter ‘holidays’ from their breeding grounds in the frozen North – Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Siberia. It’s the mud that attracts them – teeming full of lugworms, marine snails and eelgrass – I like to think of it as a ‘big bird restaurant’. As the tide comes in and covers the mud, these birds need somewhere safe to roost and the saltmarshes around the Moray Firth are ideal. But climate change threatens these valuable areas. As sea levels rise, the areas of mudflat for feeding and saltmarsh for roosting will decline, and increased storminess will further erode these fragile habitats. And that’s on top of the areas that have already been reclaimed to gain extra land.
That’s why we’ve already taken steps to provide new coastal habitat for wintering birds in the Moray Firth, to make up for past and future losses. In 2003 we breached part of a sea wall on our nature reserve at Nigg Bay, allowing the sea water to flood the field behind. Five years on it is really gratifying to see how nature has responded. As well as 11 species of saltmarsh plants, we now have 11 species of wader (including redshanks, knots, and bar-tailed godwits) and 10 species of wildfowl (including teal, wigeon, gadwall and eider ducks) regularly using the newly created habitat for feeding and roosting. Sometimes we see up to 2,000 birds, just as we had hoped.
With sea levels predicted to rise by 23cm by 2050 in this part of Scotland, it is good to know that we can do something to replace lost habitat, and that the birds and other wildlife will follow!
Reedbeds
Sea level rise and winter storms on the coast threaten to inundate freshwater reedbeds and make conditions unsuitable for bitterns, bearded tits and other specialist reedbed species. At Lakenheath, Suffolk, we have spent ten years creating a fantastic mix of reed bed and grazing marsh where once there were only carrot fields. The reserve is now a haven for marsh harriers, bearded tits, reed and sedge warblers and, most importantly, is inland, safe from inundation by sea water. It provides a sanctuary for species that will probably lose coastal reedbed habitat to rising sea levels and coastal storms, and it is the perfect place for breeding bitterns.
Wet meadows
Important freshwater habitats will come under threat from longer, drier summers, especially in southern Britain. If we can expand areas of wetland, it makes it less likely that they will dry out altogether under hot conditions – they will be more resilient to change. During the past decade at Otmoor nature reserve near Beckley, Oxfordshire, we transformed 1,000 acres of farmland into one of the most important wetlands in England. The RSPB has recreated traditional grazing marsh that is now home to around 90 pairs of breeding waders, including lapwing, redshank, curlew and snipe. The habitat creation work continues apace at Otmoor: this year alone the RSPB will create more than 200 shallow pools and a large lagoon with 30 islands; more wetland birds, dragonflies and water voles are expected to move in.
Saltmarsh and mudflats
On the heels of these ‘straw into gold’ stories comes the most ambitious of our habitat creation efforts yet, in Essex: the aspiration to create more than 760 acres of coastal saltmarsh, mudflats and lagoons on Wallasea Island. Where now there is a dull, flat arable farm – drained and conventionally farmed – we are exploring ways to inundate the land and create a paradise for wildlife (and for people who love wildlife), especially breeding waders. If our plans succeed, we would not only provide a home for our British breeding birds, such as our signature avocet, but we would also create a welcome mat for European birds, including species that will move northwards in a warming climate.
Heathland
At the RSPB’s Lodge reserve in Bedfordshire, we are planting heather to restore the heathland that was lost to commercial forestry in the past century. When our ambitious work of removing non-native conifers and planting and managing seedlings is complete – over one square kilometre – we will have created the largest area of heathland in Bedfordshire and a welcome patch for Dartford warblers and other heathland-specialist species—birds, insects, mammals, reptiles and amphibians--that may move northwards .Without this restoration – and other schemes needed like it—Dartford warblers will not have enough places to nest, in an English countryside which is now so heavily modified by farming, industry and housing development. The RSPB is creating more breeding places for these delightful birds, and more ‘stepping stones’ of heathland to help them move across the landscape as our climate becomes more suitable for them.
Events to bring you up close and personal with the RSPB’s habitat creation work:
The Lodge nature reserve, Sandy, Bedfordshire
Family Fun Day for the climate, Saturday 23rd FebruaryEnjoy a walk and interpretive materials at this family-friendly reserve. Learn all about how we're restoring the native heathland, to bring back Dartford warblers, nightjars and other fantastic wildlife and make a space for them as the climate gets warmer.
For location and contact details and how to get there by public transport, visit
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/thelodge/index.asp
Lakenheath Fen nature reserve, Suffolk
Meet the RSPB Days, Sunday 24th February, Saturday 1st March and Sunday 2nd March
Choose from a number of guided walks on offer throughout the day at this, our ten-year-old nature reserve, where we've created inland reedbeds where once there were carrot fields. The reedbeds at Lakenheath provide habitat for wildlife like marsh harriers, bearded tits and bitterns - and are increasingly important as coastal reedbeds are inundated by rising sea levels and winter storms.
For location and contact details and how to get there by public transport, visit
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/l/lakenheathfen/index.asp
Leighton Moss nature reserve, Lancashire
Dates:
Saturday 23 February
Sunday 24 February
Saturday 1 March
Sunday 2 March
Learn about saving wildlife and saving energy
Come along to Leighton Moss and learn about ways to save energy and help wildlife. You can join in a range of planned family activities, follow the energy trail or enjoy a local cake in the tearoom. You can also purchase local gifts in the shop. We've teamed up with the Arnside/Silverdale AONB Sustainability Fund to offer free energy-saving lightbulbs to visitors.
For location and contact details and how to get there on public transport, please visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/l/leightonmoss/index.asp