We are planning an iRecord training day on Salisbury Plain, so bring your phones and identification skills for a walk and a lesson in how to record species seen on iRecord.
Spaces are limited and will be done on a ‘first come’ basis.
If you would like to attend please email Tilly via PlanB@sustainablewarminster.co.uk
If you would like to attend please email Tilly via PlanB@sustainablewarminster.co.uk
Public event: Imber Bus Day. Sustainable Warminster will be at Imber Village again this year.
IMBER VILLAGE. – Opened up to the public by the Ministry of Defence and is served by bus.
If you see swifts, you can record the observation:
in the national RSPB swift mapper.org.uk
or locally with our form swift reporter. or even both.
Warminster Plan Bee Community Project brings people, places and biodiversity together and is the brainchild of Sustainable Warminster working in partnership with the MOD and other major landowners and organisations. The aim is to enhance the land around the town of Warminster to support and reverse the decline of our native bees and other important pollinators, by adopting the mantra taken from the Lawton Principles of ‘Making Space for Nature: A review of England’s Wildlife Sites and Ecological Network’, bigger, better, and more joined up.
This means: • Protecting what we have while improving its quality with better management; • Increasing the size of wildlife sites; • Enhancing connection by creating new wildlife corridors or stepping stones; • Creating new sites; • Reducing pressure on wildlife by improving the wider environment including buffering wildlife sites.
The recently formed Warminster Garrison Environmental Committee, has been working with its Industry Partners and Sustainable Warminster to help meet its and the MODs wider responsibilities to Sustainability and in particular Biodiversity, with its Green Space Enhancements across the Warminster Garrison footprint in support of Warminster Plan Bee (WPB).
Pollination Street – A Giving Back (Social Values) Initiative
WPB and its latest Pollination Street initiative is aligned with the aspirations set out in the UK’s Greening Government Commitments and the Ministry of Defence Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach. The Strategy includes targets to create 30,000m2 of pollinator friendly habitat by 2025, 75,000m2 by 2030 and a goal to reach 100,000m2 by 2040. This supports the MOD strategic approach by helping to implement the Nurturing Nature Programme.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) introduced the DIOGivingBack campaign in January 2024. Leveraging the principles outlined in the Government Social Value Model, the DIOGivingBack campaign aims to create substantial and measurable social value through targeted actions and strategic partnerships. In particular, the initiative has established a cohesive partnership with the Social Value Leads from Amey, VIVO and Pinnacle to deliver joint social value impact. Standing shoulder to shoulder, contributing to the well-being of service families, communities and the environment.
Pollination Street combines these initiatives and provides a unique delivery mechanism to achieve tangible results for all concerned.
We are passing on this message from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
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Chalk streams are rare and irreplaceable habitats that are home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife, including kingfisher, water vole, otter, grayling, and brown trout.
Unfortunately, our chalk streams are under threat from development, pollution, and climate change. A number of Trust’s including the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust are calling for the government to take action to protect these vital ecosystems.
We are asking the government to:
Together, we can make a difference and protect our chalk streams for future generations.
Sincerely,
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
You are invited to a Toad Tea Party
Toadally delicious cakes, and activities for children. Free Entry.
Asian Hornets are a major risk to honey bees, and are now at large in England. They have been sighted in Kent, Devon and Dorset.
Report any sightings of this species:
online at: www.nonnativespecies.org
with the free iPhone and Android recording app: Asian Hornet Watch
Now that autumn is well and truly here, hedgehogs will be considering their winter hibernation arrangements. It may be a few weeks yet before they settle down, so you can help them out during October and early November by putting down some hedgehog food – hedgehog biscuits, or meaty cat or dog food, either tinned or kibble. Because they don’t eat a lot once they start hibernating, they need to weigh at least 500g (and preferably more) before they settle in, otherwise they don’t have the fat reserves to see them through cold frosty nights. If you see little hedgehogs out during October or later, you can pick them up with gardening gloves and weigh them on the kitchen scales. If they are less than 500 g do phone a hedgehog rescue (listed below) for further advice.
For their winter accommodation, hedgehogs will be looking for somewhere snug and dry. Their favourite hibernation places are in piles of twigs and leaves under hedges, and in hedgehog houses, where they will drag leaves in to keep them comfy. So, if you are clearing up your garden, do sweep leaves and twigs into a heap in a corner, or under a hedge, or near the entrance to your hedgehog house, and then leave it undisturbed for the winter. The leaves are also an over-wintering place for insect larvae, so the hedgehogs will have a built-in larder.
If you have a wood pile that you intend burning on bonfire night, please dismantle it the day before and check underneath – hedgehogs third favourite hibernation place is woodpiles, especially if they contain lots of twigs at the bottom, and whilst they like to be warm, a bonfire is a bit too warm for them! Unfortunately, when they get confused or frightened, they just roll up into a ball – which won’t protect them from the flames.
It’s not to late to make and mark hedgehog highways in and out of your garden – if the winter is mild, hedgehogs sometimes wake up out of hibernation, get a drink and a snack and then move on to another winter hidey-hole – we’re not sure why they do this but it may be to confuse predators or to find somewhere warmer and drier. So there’s still time to check with a neighbour that their garden is also hedgehog friendly, open up a gap in the fence or wall, and make sure the hole stays clear by marking it with one of our hedgehog highway signs. Do get in touch if you would like one.
If you are ever worried about the health or welfare of a hedgehog, please call the British Hedgehog Preservation Society on 01584 890801 and they will be able to give you advice, and put you in touch with a local rescue centre if necessary.