EPISODE 6: Luke, Farm Wilder

In Episode 6 of Nature Natters we meet Luke one of the directors Farm Wilder (farmwilder.org), a community interest company and a non profit organisation that works to make farming more sustainable and better for wildlife.Luke talks about how livestock farming can be a tool for nature conservation as well as food production and gives advice for both farmers and consumers in choosing sustainable farming practices. Farm Wilder meat comes from slow growing native breeds fed on Devon grass. They focus on management that support two particular species; Marsh Fritillary butterflies (once widespread in Britain but now reduced to a few last strongholds in the West, including Dartmoor) and Cuckoos (also in decline).

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EPISODE 7: Bev, North Devon Dynamic Dunescapes

Beautiful Braunton Burrows is home to the second largest sand dune system in the UK and, as it’s an internationally important site for wildlife and sand dune habitats, the area is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and part of the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Since the 1950s, the landscape here has become increasingly vegetated. Fast and widespread growth of shrubs and plants which stabilise the sand mean that lots of early successional dune stages – young, mobile dunes which have lots of bare sand – have been lost. As a result, many of the threatened species that live in these dunes have been rapidly declining – some have even become extinct from the area.

The project in Devon will help rejuvenate sand dune systems at Braunton Burrows and Woolacombe. Work in Devon is led by Plantlife and National Trust, working closely with Christie Estates.

The work here will create new areas of bare sand. This willFim give these threatened bare sand-loving wildlife, like sand lizards and a huge variety of plants, places where they can thrive again. This will also mean more sand is available to move through the area and build up dune ridges. As we remove scrub to allow some of these dunes the freedom to shift again, we’ll also be removing invasive plant species such as Japanese rose and sea buckthorn; these plants, which don’t usually grow at this site, can grow very quickly and outcompete native species which have always been a part of this landscape. We’ll also restore the dune slacks. By removing some of the fast-growing willow species, we can improve the slack pools which are essential for many of the dunes’ important amphibian species.

Find out more and make your volunteering Pledge for Nature at https://dynamicdunescapes.co.uk/project/devon/

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EPISODE 8: Exmoor National Park with Jackie Kiberd and the ENNIS PROJECT volunteers

The Exmoor Non-Native Invasive Species Project (ENNIS) is helping to control the spread of invasive non-native species on Exmoor through trialling innovative approaches and working with local communities and volunteers to tackle species such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, montbretia, skunk cabbage and signal crayfish. In this episode we join Nicky Green and volunteers on the River Barle where there are carrying out signal crayfish monitoring and control. Nicky Green, from Nicky Green Associates has been working alongside Exmoor National Park as part of her PhD studies for over 5 years, exploring a methodology for dealing with the invasive American Signal Crayfish.

Invasive american signal crayfish are a major threat to river biodiversity, salmon populations and cause bank erosion, collapse and sediment pollution as well as contributing to the spread of invasive Montbretia.

To find out more about the ENNIS project and how to get involved in volunteering with Exmoor National Park click here.

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EPISODE 9: The Weare Giffard community orchard

'In today's society it's good to have places where you can stop and stare and not rush around' Keith Hughes, instigator or reinstating a long forgotten orchard in the village of Weare Giffard (between Bideford and Torrington). Kieth shows us around the site and gives some great advice for communities looking to create their own community orchard.

Read the Weare Giffard blog post for more background information here. For more information on community orchards here.

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EPISODE 10: Hedge Management and special species with Rob Wolton

CLICK HERE TO WATCH EPISODES 1-5

Please feel free to share these conversations with your community groups, friends and family!

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