v THE HERALD - Your Community Magazine v 3rd October 2024 • The HERALD • Page 57 ANIMAL MAGIC Thank You from Barry’s Farm A big thank you to everyone that has put a donation in the tin for Barry’s Farm, an amazing £145 was transferred to the Mole Valley account at the beginning of September, which will go towards the food and upkeep of the animals. anks to the volunteers at the farm and the generosity of the local community the animals have recently had some new equipment. Mike Jewell created a new duck house for their resident ducks to help encourage them to lay their eggs in one place and make them easier to nd! Donkeys Harry and Jacob have had a special tunnel built for them, thanks to donations of metal framing and tarpaulin along with strings of donated ball pit balls for them to walk through to help build their con dence and awareness as well as stimulating their senses. If you would like to make a cash donation to Barry’s Farm please pop into e Herald o ce. Alternatively you can make a donation online via: www.gofundme.com/f/ barry-the-farmer-frost-lane RSPB LAUNCHES MAJOR NEW WETLAND RESTORATION PROGRAMME e RSPB has launched a major coastal and wetland restoration programme across Southeast England. Over the next 18 months, work is taking place at a range of sites from the Solent to the Norfolk Broads, to enhance habitat at landscapescale for threatened species including Lapwing, Redshank, Bittern, and Water Vole. The programme is funded by the Species Survival Fund, a partnership between Defra and National Lottery Heritage Fund to support projects which create and restore habitats to help reverse the decline of species. This is part of the Government’s legally binding commitment to halt the decline in species abundance in England by 2030. ‘Species Coastal and Wetlands’ will restore and create 246ha of grazing marsh, 7,500m2 of saline lagoons, 4ha of reedbeds, and 0.5ha of vegetated islands. Other capital works will include the creation of seasonal pools for waders, tunnels and barriers to manage water, nesting ra s for breeding terns, and the restoration of rare, vegetated shingle. e result will be that these habitats are ‘more, bigger, better, joined’, in line with the Lawton Principles. e programme will run until February 2026. With threatened wetland species like Lapwing and Redshank continuing to decline and now absent from many former breeding areas in Southeast England, landscape-scale restoration is an urgent conservation priority. Water Voles have also declined by as much as 90% across Britain. is is in part because the UK has lost 90% of its wetlands in the past 100 years. Today covering just 3% of the country, freshwater and wetland habitats are still home to 10% of all UK species. By restoring these habitats along England’s Southeastern coastline, the programme will not only bene t UK wildlife, but the millions of migratory birds which traverse the East Atlantic Flyway every year. Much of the work will take place at RSPB reserves, but the programme will also work with private landowners to enhance habitat and safeguard low-lying landscapes against droughts and rising sea levels. is will be achieved through a range of actions, including the installation of solar pumps to better manage groundwater. Mike Shurmer, Head of Species for England at RSPB, said, “Habitat loss and degradation is one of the leading causes of the UK’s steep decline in biodiversity, with many threatened species restricted to small, disconnected areas of habitat. The Species and Coastal Wetlands programme is a major effort to restore, enlarge, and reconnect crucial habitats in landscapes including the Greater Thames, Suffolk Coast and Norfolk Broads. This work will help to relieve the pressure on some of the UK’s most threatened species, and to better protect the habitats upon which they depend. With nature in crisis, it is vital that we act quickly and at a landscape-scale to conserve and restore our precious wetland habitats which support one in ten UK species”. Beyond direct interventions in the landscape, the programme will seek to engage communities in some of the most deprived wards in Southeast England, working with 40 young people who are not in education, employment or training, creating two apprenticeships, and o ering four Get Started in Conservation programmes in partnership with The Prince’s Trust.
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