New Report Helps Ballard Water Meadow
Last week a group of more than fifty wildlife charities and research bodies presented an annual State of Nature report, setting out how the environment, flora and fauna of the UK is surviving. The results show how important areas like Ballard Water Meadow and the adjoining Woar Copse are to the community.
The report examined around eight thousand species and discovered that a staggering 56% have declined over the last fifty years and 15% are in danger of total extinction.
Among the specific reasons for a decline of species was urbanisation where development has meant a loss of green space (including parkland, gardens and allotments) and removal of wildlife habitats. Given recent proposals for development in New Milton, this seems particularly relevant here. Also noted as a cause of reduced flora and fauna was a decrease in traditional forest management practices, such as coppicing, and this means a reduction of open woodland areas (where flowers and wildlife thrive) and less variation in tree ages.
However, the report does show some optimism in the increase of conservation management, employing traditional methods, just as the Friends of Ballard Water Meadow use in New Milton. This is particularly important in England, as the report tells us that coppiced woodland reduced in area by 90% in the first seventy years of the last century.
In woodland specifically, since 1970 53% of woodland species have reduced in number, although 47% are fairing better. Sadly, 11% of woodland species could be extinct before too long. Britain is unfortunately one of the least wooded regions in Europe. Many of our favourite species rely on open woodland and access to sunlight while others love standing and dead wood. The practice of coppicing is particularly mentioned as a positive method to improve a diversity of species.
The situation in wetland and urban areas is very similar. 13% of wetland species are threatened with extinction and 7% could suffer the same fate in urban areas.
The report specifically praises wet grassland restoration as a driver for better conservation. In several areas of the UK new wetland areas are a very positive development, the trend primarily driven by flooded redundant quarries, but clearly Ballard water meadow has a role to play here. This is particularly true, when you realise that 97% of lowland meadows were destroyed between 1930 and 1984.
Reading such a report makes one understand just how important is the work of groups like the Friends of Ballard Water Meadow. Please, if you have an interest in conserving nature in New Milton, why not join us?
As the State of Nature report says “We have a moral obligation to save nature and this is a view shared by the millions of supporters of conservation organisations across the UK.” It also says, “we all need to step up, for the good of wildlife, and also to protect the environment we rely on for healthy and happy lives.”