****Please note that due to Covid-19, you will need to book a place to attend this task through Eventbright here and numbers will be restricted to a total of 35.
It is also advised to bring your own tools, work gloves and a mug for refreshments****
Please note this event is one week later than originally advertised
Task The old stone walls of L’Etacquerel Fort provide excellent places for wall lizards to live, they also provide great habitat for ivy! The ivy is now taking over and we need to remove some of it to ensure the lizard habitat is not lost.
Please meet at the car park at 10am to allow us to walk over to the site and start work for 10.30am. We will finish for 1pm. If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Jersey Conservation Volunteers email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site L’Etacquel Fort, Trinity. Jersey phone directory Map 5 EE7, Google maps here
Parking Parking at the L’Etacquel Fort car park – a 10 minute walk from the site
Tools needed Due to Covid restrictions we are discouraging the sharing of tools and ensuring that any borrowed tools are disinfected before and after the event. With this in mind, if you have your own secateurs or cutting implements and gardening gloves, please bring them along.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather and bear in mind the North Coast of Jersey can be pretty bleak! Sturdy boots are recommended.
Children All are welcome, young or old although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are directly supervised by a parent or guardian.
Refreshments Kim will be setting up her pop up café to treat you all when work finishes at about 12.30. Please bring your own mug to save us using disposables!
Following the news of the UK’s disappearing biodiversity, a new report from the EU does not give great grounds for hope. Europe’s nature is disappearing under unsustainable farming and expanding towns.
The State of Nature report gathers the information reported by Member States under the Birds and Habitats Directives. It showcases analyses and insights based on this information and describes the state of nature in the EU between 2013 and 2018. This includes the EU population status of birds and the conservation status of habitats and non-bird species, and the very serious pressures and threats all face. It also highlights the successes and shortcomings of current measures being undertaken in nature conservation, and the urgent need for restoration to improve specific species and habitats. The report also looks at the contribution of the Natura 2000 network to protecting and conserving habitats and species, and evaluates the EU’s progress towards Target 1 and Target 3 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.
State of Nature in the EU – overall highlights
Overall the statistics in the State of Nature report tell a sorry tale. It shows that with regard to birds, four in ten bird species in Europe have a poor or bad status, with almost a third of all bird species experiencing continuous declines over the last 12 years.
At the top of the list of the pressures and threats responsible for this sad state of biodiversity in the EU are unsustainable agriculture and forestry practices, urbanisation and pollution. Each of these threaten species and habitats, and when combined can cause even greater damage. Looking at birds in particular, unsustainable agriculture tops the bill, closely followed by urbanisation and then unsustainable forestry practices. Many EU protected species and habitats, such as the saker falcon, the Danube salmon, grasslands and dunes, face an uncertain future unless more is urgently done to reverse the situation.
On top of this, environmental laws and policies such as the EU Nature Directives, are often not well implemented in certain Member States. The fact that eight in ten habitats and over six in ten non-bird species which are protected under Annex I of the Habitats Directive as well as four out of ten bird species in the EU have a poor or bad EU status means that not enough is being done to ensure their protection and conservation and it is high time for everyone to up their nature conservation game if we are to survive.
Reasons to worry – genuine and non-genuine changes, top pressures and threats causing declines in birds
Regarding birds, initially the situation could be seen as more positive than for other species groups or for habitats, but these groups are not comparable as only species and habitats protected on Annex 1 of the Habitats Directive were assessed compared to all birds species. Around half of the bird species in the EU having a good EU status, however, this proportion is actually slightly smaller than that from the last reporting period (State of Nature in the EU 2007-2012). Reflecting this, the proportion of bird species in poor and bad status has slightly increased in the last six years, now reaching 40%; and although some of this change is due in part to a mix of changes in data quality and survey and analysis methods, genuine species deterioration is also a key factor.
Examples from case studies
Not all the news is bad however. Conservation efforts all over the world have shown that species can bounce back from the brink and conservation in the EU is no exception. Thanks to huge policy and on-the-ground conservation effort including LIFE projects, the elaboration of international Species Action Plans, international Memoranda of Understanding on specific species under the Bonn Convention for Migratory Species, and protection under the Natura 2000 Network, species like the aquatic warbler that almost entirely disappeared from the EU as fens and mires were drained, ploughed over and lost to agriculture, have seen population improvement since 2011. The red kite has made a spectacular comeback after suffering huge declines in the past due to persecution, pesticides and changes in agricultural practices. Although still small, thanks to supplementary feeding and specific captive breeding and reintroduction schemes, the population of bearded vultures is also on the increase in the EU.
These examples show however that a huge amount of resources need to be invested to improve these species’ plight. Nature restoration will always be more demanding and expensive than maintaining nature in a good state, and it is therefore doubly important, not just on an ecological level but economically, to make the most of the healthy patches of nature we have left and make sure we do not lose or degrade them further.
Nevertheless, we are overall losing species on a large scale and fast. Birds of prey for example, such as harriers and falcons, are seeing their numbers decline, with half of the harrier species present in the EU and six out of ten falcon species having decreasing population trends.
Seabirds are also suffering from an increasing number of pressures and threats. Although some seabirds have improved in status, most are not only pressured by invasive species and bycatch, but also by disturbance from recreational activities and marine harvesting of fish and shellfish, the latter which also impacts them by decreasing the overall availability of food, and all of which have led to many seabirds species having a poor or bad EU status.
This is why we need to take immediate action to tackle the most widespread and concerning threats to biodiversity. On top of these widespread threats, more species-specific or upcoming threats like those specific to marine species, or those related to climate change can quickly tip the scales and add to the myriad of other widespread threats already present. Governments need to take action immediately and efficiently if we do not want to see the trends we are seeing now precipitate our European species and ecosystems to the point of no return.
The State of Nature in EU and the EU biodiversity Strategies
It is clear from the new State of Nature report that the aims of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 have not been achieved, with only the non-bird species group almost meeting the set target whilst the habitats and birds targets are still well behind.
The new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Farm to Fork Strategy, both of which are core elements of the European Green Deal set new ambitious targets for the coming decades and bring hope in the form of new goals and targets. The biodiversity strategy in particular, with its new aims to strengthen and enlarge the existing network of protected areas, and restore and maintain healthy ecosystems, will help ensure that bird and non-bird species alike will continue to have a sustainable home in the EU.
Download the complete report State of nature in the EU: Results from reporting under the nature directives 2013-2018here
Covid-19 Lockdown meant many people became more aware of their local natural surroundings. They want everyone to celebrate the love for nature and birds across the world in their own local areas or “patch”.
Part of the weekend event will include eBird’s October Big Day when it is aimed to create a world record for the largest number of birds seen by the greatest number of people on this peak migration weekend.
It is hoped that at least 25,000 participants will go out birdwatching on Saturday 17 October 2020 and report what they see using eBird. The goal is to record more than 6,000 bird species!
How do I take part?
Global Birding are working in association with eBird, which is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA.
On Saturday 17 October 2020, go out birdwatching and enjoy what you see – with family, friends, groups or just take time out on your own (register here).
Enter what you see and/or here on eBird
Watch the sightings roll in on eBird’s Global Bird Weekend October Big Day page
Keep posting your photos and videos during the day on our social media pages #globalbirdweekend #globalbirding
On Sunday 18 October 2020, add your own photos, videos, field sketches and messages to share your experiences with the global audience. Keep up to date on Global Birding’s social media pages over the weekend and beyond #globalbirdweekend #globalbirding,
This year, Global Birding is supporting BirdLife International’s vital conservation project to stop the illegal trade in birds. Did you know there are now more birds in cages in Java than in the country’s natural habitat?
****Please note that due to Covid-19, you will need to book a place to attend this task through Eventbrite (here) and numbers will be restricted to a total of 35.
It is also advised that you bring your own tools, work gloves and a mug for refreshments****
Task Following on from last February’s task of tree planting at Mourier Valley, we’re asking the JCV to assist again this year, by helping us cut and clear the bracken covered valley edges ahead of this season’s tree planting. We will also be piling the bracken litter to be used as mulch when the trees are planted
Please meet at the car park at 10am to allow us to walk over to the site and start work for 10.30am. We will finish for 1pm.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Jersey Conservation Volunteers email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Meet at Sorel Point top public car park (Jersey phone directory Map 3, R2) and Google maps here
Parking Sorel Point top public car park
Tools needed Due to Covid restrictions we are discouraging the sharing of tools and ensuring that any borrowed tools are disinfected before and after the event. With this in mind, if you have your own sickles, rakes, forks or gardening gloves, please bring them along.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather and bear in mind how exposed the site is on the North Coast. Sturdy boots are recommended as we will be working on some sloped gradients.
Children All are welcome, young or old although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are directly supervised by a parent or guardian.
Refreshments Kim will be setting up her pop up café to treat you all when work finishes at about 12.30.
Due to travel restrictions to Guernsey, this year’s IIEM will be held via Zoom.
It is a special year as 2020 marks; the 20th Anniversary of the IIEMs, the end of the UN’s Decade of Biodiversity and the beginning of the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We do hope you can join us to help celebrate these landmarks.
The meeting will be held over two days: Thursday 17th 09:40-14:30 and Friday 18th September from 10:00-14:30.
There will be series of short talks in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon.
For full details, timetables, and to register for the event, please visit the Eventbrite links below:
In order to attend the meeting you are required to register to both days using the above links. Please note – you are still required to register through Eventbrite even if you have already emailed to request a place at the IIEM.
****Please note that due to Covid-19 restrictions you will need to book a place to attend this task through Eventbright (here) and numbers will be restricted to a total of 20.
You will also be required to bring your own tools, work gloves and a mug for refreshments****
Task.Pollinator patch creation We are delighted to welcome you back to the first task of the autumn! We have been asked by some of the residents at First Tower to help prepare and sow some pollinator patches where currently there is just mown grass. We will mark out and prepare a seed bed by hand and finally sow with wild flower seed.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Jersey Conservation Volunteers email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Please meet at the entrance to First Tower Carpark, La Route es Nouaux, St Helier: Jersey phone directory map reference 14 V16 and Google maps here
Parking Close by
Tools needed We are following Government guidelines regarding Covid-19 so please bring your own gardening gloves, spades, forks and rakes to avoid sharing tools. As ever please dress for the weather.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather, coats, sturdy boots/wellies and waterproofs may well be needed!
Children All are welcome, young or old although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age directly supervised by a parent or guardian. And everyone must book through Eventbright!
Refreshments We will meet at 10.30 and aim to finish at 12.30 for a cuppa (please bring your own mug) and piece of Kim’s Kake (missed you Kim!).
If you head to the north-west of the Island today, and you stop by Grève de Lecq, you might want to pop in to Colleens Cafe, where a familiar face is waiting to greet you. Not a human face mind you, but that of one of our local puffins in fact.
The puffin in question is one of Jersey’s breeding birds, a population of only four pairs, and its photo, featured in a new information board, was taken by a local photographer just around the corner from the cafe. The board, produced by Birds On The Edge as a part of our seabird conservation campaign, is really the brainchild of puffin enthusiast and owner of Colleens Cafe, Emma Machon. When we heard that Emma was thinking of having a board about puffins at the cafe, we approached her to offer our input, which she graciously accepted (to our delight!).
The board provides global and local insights about puffins and other seabirds breeding in the area, with information on their ecology, populations and present threats, as well as measures to stop their declines (you can look at the sign here). We have used photos taken locally in most cases, so you’re looking at our actual birds from Jersey, and in the settings and behaviours we are most likely to observe: flying, standing on the rocks or bobbing on the water. In Jersey we are not likely to see puffins perched on the rocks or walking about on the slopes and burrows, like we might in the large colonies of the north. The slopes in Jersey are too accessible to potential predators, such as rats and ferrets, so our puffins only breed in rock crevices on the cliffs, below the slopes.
On the board you will also find a small map of the Seabird Protection Zone, which is the area to avoid between March and July in order to keep puffins and other endangered birds safe from disturbance; and the Seabird Trail (coming soon!), which is the route to follow in order to observe the puffins in a safe and unobtrusive way.
Map showing Seabird Protection Zone (red) and Seabird Trail (green line)
At the other end of the trail you will find another copy of the board, just outside Plémont Cafe. As it happened, only a few weeks ago we were approached by the cafe’s owner Paul McDermott , who was wondering if we had any nice puffin pictures or posters that he could put up, and as you can guess, now there are two boards, one at either end of the forthcoming Seabird Trail.
So here’s a little plan for you: pick a sunny day, grab your binoculars and head to Plémont. Have a nice breakfast at the cafe, whilst admiring the beach from the bar. Take a quick look at the seabird board (it’s behind you…!). Once you’ve brushed up on identifying puffins and other birds, find your way up to the top car park and start on the Seabird Trail, following the public footpath to Grève. Keep your eyes on the sea below for puffins, razorbills, gulls and fulmars, and see how many you can identify of each. Once you arrive at Grève de Lecq, you deserve a good lunch, so treat yourself at Colleens, where you can check on their seabird board how many birds you got right. After enjoying the food and the views, and maybe even the beach too, make your way back to Plémont, noticing the other side of the cliffs and the changing views, and don’t forget to keep scanning the water with your binoculars, as seals or dolphins are a common sight in this area too.
Now that you’ve made it back to Plémont, having learnt about our seabirds and tested your skills, you deserve an ice cream, slice of cake or a cool drink. What better way to celebrate some time well spent with our beautiful seabirds.
Thanks go to: Emma from Colleens Café for her initial idea, and for allowing the Birds On The Edge takeover of the seabird board; Paul from Plémont Cafe for jumping on the board bandwagon; graphic artists at Durrell (Will and Rich) for their inspired design; and the photographers Romano da Costa and Mick Dryden for letting us use their beautiful photos.
The dates have been set for the 2020 training sessions and survey period!
The Jersey Bat Survey 2020 (JBats) is a pilot study for an island-wide citizen science scheme. Each volunteer will get a detector to record bat echolocation calls throughout the survey period. Using the latest automated call recognition systems, data is extracted from these recordings which provides information towards the long-term monitoring of bats in Jersey. This scheme is still in a pilot phase as we develop the scheme and links with the British Bat survey.
JBatS 2020 survey period: 1st -31st July
JBatS Training: Tuesday 23rd June 7pm
This year training will take place in your own home via Zoom !!
We will be providing some background to the project and an update on the progress we’ve made so far. We’ll also let you know how you can be involved with the 2020 fieldwork should you be interested. Even if you participated in the 2019 JBats surveys, we encourage you to join the training session.
This year we can’t get together for a more traditional training event and practical field session but there will be a chance for volunteers to familiarise themselves with the equipment when they collect their kit pack. We will be arranging kit collections that meet Covid-19 guidance and physical distancing measures. So if you can’t make the training session online but would still like to get involved please do let us know.
In 2020, the survey period is the month of July. We are asking volunteers to deploy an audiomoth detector at three different locations during the survey period. Deploying the detectors is quick and easy to do, and provides a great chance to explore the island!
This year we are collaborating with the Bat Conservation Trust’s BBats project. The BCT BBats project will process a sample of the data we record this season to test a new system of providing feedback to volunteers.
If you are interested please contact WildAboutJersey on wildaboutjersey@gov.je You will receive a follow up email with more details of the event.
Please join the Jersey Bat Group for the second Great Garden Bat Watch!
This event combines the joy of (hopefully!) watching bats with citizen science-based research that can help us better understand bats across Jersey.
The Group are particularly keen to receive sightings of bats from St Helier and other urban areas around the Island to help with their research into Jersey’s urban bat populations.
We are asking if you could look for bats on the 6th and 7th June, but please do feel free to use the form (below) to submit your bat sightings throughout the summer.
However: if you are submitting sightings on dates other than 6th and 7th June then, to get the right timings, please go to sunset times here and ensure that you are outside looking for bats at least 15 minutes before sunset. That way you will ensure you spot the first bats…though it may mean you wait up to 30 minutes before seeing your first one.
The Great Garden Bat Watch
We are asking you to go into your garden, or to an open space near your house or really anywhere in the Island to look for bats.
We ask that you do this whilst maintaining social distancing and by following any other requirements of the Government of Jersey’s safe exit framework.
Main event: Saturday 6th or Sunday 7th June (or both!)
Where: Any outside space (garden, park, lane, beach)
What time: From 20:55 until 22.00
You do not need a bat detector as we are not asking you to identify bat species, all you need to note down is:
The time you saw the first bat
The direction the bat flew from
Details of the recorder, date and location
Great Garden Bat Watch data entry form
We are working in conjunction with the Jersey Biodiversity Centre who have designed a bespoke data entry form for you to enter your sightings – through the form here.
If you manage to take any photos or videos of bats in flight during the Great Garden Bat Watch then please post them in the comments box for this event on the Jersey Bat Group Facebook page or email them to the Jersey Bat Group
We look forward to receiving news of your local bats!
For any further details about the bat watch or to submit your data by email then please email the Jersey Bat Group
The theme for this year’s meeting will be Review & Restore
Day 1: The UN Decade of Biodiversity is coming to an end in 2020 and Day 1 of the meeting will look back at the projects that have taken place over the last decade. This is an opportunity for speakers to review what has been learnt about our islands biodiversity and assess the progress made in the last 10 years. The afternoon of Day 1 will include a choice of three workshops; two around the Lihou Ramsar site looking at either the intertidal zone or the nearby species-rich grasslands, and the third will be in St Peter Port looking at urban biodiversity. There will be an informal dinner in the evening for those who wish to attend.
Day 2: 2020 is also the start of the UN’s Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and Day 2 will be themed around planning for the future. We would like to hear from speakers advising ways to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems within our islands.
We will also be holding a public talk on the evening of Wednesday 17th, the speaker for which will be announced at a later date.
Cost: At this stage we are looking to cover the cost of IIEM2020 with sponsorship. However, we may need to make a small charge per ticket to cover the costs of food & refreshments. This would be no more than £40 per ticket including Thursday evening meal (£30 meeting only).
Please note– we are continuing with plans to stage the event but we will monitor the advice regarding COVID-19. Cancellation is regarded as a last resort and we are looking into options for remote conferencing should the situation require it.
To book your place, please email IIEM2020@gov.gg specifying:
how many tickets you will need
what days you will be attending
if you would like to attend the evening meal on Thursday please also advise of any dietary requirements
If you would like to present at the meeting, please reply to this email by 30th April with a brief outline of your proposed talk. Talks will either be 10 or 20 minutes so please include your preference.
Accommodation
Finding accommodation is the responsibility of attendees; however, rooms have been set aside at the following hotels (room availability and costs may change). To book a room please contact the hotel directly and quote IIEM 2020.
