Worcestershire wildlife: rivers of life

By Worcestershire Life on January 23rd 2012

Picture the quintessential rural Worcestershire town and you’ll probably conjure up images of black and white timber cottages, red brick houses and narrow lanes. Somewhere in there will be an old bridge over a babbling brook or the riverside pub garden. Extend this to the wider countryside and you might include farms, winding lanes, ditches, hedgerows and fields leading from hills to floodplain meadows. There will probably be a river, stream or other watercourse.

From the mighty River Severn to countless miles of streams, drains and agricultural ditches, water is a major feature of our landscape. The reliance of all living things on water was demonstrated last year when the long dry summer led to low rates of plant growth within normally rich pastures.  Some rivers and streams dried out completely while low water levels in others damaged local fish stocks. With expanding populations our need for water and land has put pressure on these natural resources.

2011 highlighted the importance of building resilience into our landscape for wildlife. Climatic predictions suggest that weather patterns are likely to become more erratic and extreme. We’re already seeing some impacts of climatic change – an earlier onset of spring, for example. Last year, a warm Easter resulted in earlier than normal harvests of apples and other fruits. With opportunities that these changes may bring come threats such as new gaps appearing in the supply of natural food.

The picture of our landscape conjured up earlier is the result of hundreds of years of interaction between people and the land. Its constant evolution is nothing new and Worcestershire’s wildlife has, and does, adapt to change. However, adding climatic variation to a period when our working and living environment has become more insecure through political and economic uncertainty means that today’s wildlife faces bigger threats than ever before.

The ability of Worcestershire’s wildlife to adapt to these threats is unknown. Added to this mix is the problem that many areas of important habitats are currently isolated from one another. Watercourses and hedgerows are essential highways and corridors that provide food and shelter as well as allowing movement of wildlife through the landscape. Increased development has meant that watercourses have been piped, culverted, diverted, canalised and filled in. A small culvert to us can be a massive hurdle to a fish trying to get upstream or a water vole trying to establish a new colony.

The nature reserves that we own and manage are vital for wildlife but if they stand alone as isolated pockets of habitat, species cannot move elsewhere when conditions become less than ideal. Equally, successful populations are unable to expand and colonise areas outside of our reserves. We’re working to connect these and other areas of good habitat through restoring and creating connecting habitats.

We’ve focused recent efforts on the River Avon – the 20-hectare Gwen Finch Wetland Reserve near Birlingham, Pershore, owned by the Wildlife Trust and built in 2001 is at the centre of this. This was created through a legacy from Gwen Finch, primarily as a habitat for encouraging otters. It includes a series of scrapes and reedbeds in place of what was previously semi-improved grass with little wildlife value. It now hosts a whole range of wildlife including otters, reed warblers and rare club-tailed dragonflies. Stewardship funding from Natural England has been key in creating, restoring and maintaining further habitat along the Avon, culminating recently in the creation of the John Bennett Wetland immediately upstream of our own reserve. This 24-hectare wetland was created through a Higher Level Stewardship scheme and the landowner’s desire to help extend wetland habitat along the Avon.

While we continue to look for opportunities and advise landowners along the Avon we’re also continuing a similar thread of work on the Bow Brook, a tributary of the Avon. An opportunity to create and protect habitats has arisen through the EU legislation, the Water Framework Directive. We are planning several new schemes and looking for opportunities to work with other landowners in the area. Please get in touch or let others on the Bow Brook know if you are interested in finding out more.

We couldn’t manage our nature reserves without your help. If you’re interested in becoming a member or volunteering, please visit our website www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk

Keep up to date www.facebook.com/worcestershirewildlifetrustVisit our reserves www.flickr.com/worcestershirewildlifetrustFollow
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