It's been a busy year for Somerset Wildlife Trust, and we've achieved so much — but before we go on to celebrate some of these successes, we wanted to say thank you. The work we do simply wouldn't be possible without our incredible members, volunteers, and supporters. It is thanks to people like you that we are able to continue standing up for nature in Somerset — so thank you.
We are currently facing a climate and nature emergency, and our work has never been more important than it is today. There is so much we still want to accomplish for Somerset's wildlife and wild places, but there also many things we have already achieved, including these top 10 highlights from 2023!
1. Mendip ‘super’ NNR Declared
In November, the Mendip ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR) was officially declared, making Somerset the first county in the UK to have two ‘super’ National Nature Reserves! Connecting over 1,400 hectares of land and 29 nature-rich wild areas, this interconnected site now stretches from woodlands in Wells to the southern Mendip slopes and Brean Down in the Severn Estuary. The aim behind it is to make this landscape a bigger, better, and more joined-up place for wildlife to thrive, something which we know needs to happen to protect Somerset’s incredible and diverse species. We were thrilled that fourteen of our very own nature reserves could become part of this new site, including Draycott Sleights and our Cheddar Complex. Read more...
2. First Ever Somerset State of Nature Report Published
Earlier this month, we were delighted to share the launch of our first ever Somerset State of Nature report! The first of its kind for Somerset and leading on from the national State of Nature report published earlier this year, this report is a comprehensive overview of the county's landscapes, and highlights trends in the abundance and distribution of species and quality of habitats.
The report uses the latest and best available data from biological monitoring and recording schemes, and provides a benchmark for how wildlife is faring in Somerset. Read more...
3. Introducing Westhay South & Green Down Gallop
During 2023, new strategic land purchases were made which increased the size of two of our most well-loved nature reserves.
The purchase of 35.48 acres of maize fields to the south of Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve was completed with the help of a number of grants and significant donations by philanthropists. This additional area of land will become known as Westhay South, and it offers the opportunity to improve habitat adjacent to Westhay Moor, buffering the reserve, allowing movement of species and providing additional habitat for wintering bird communities. We plan to rewet the degraded peat, giving huge opportunities for protection of the remaining peat resource and reducing emissions of C02, as well as possibly even creating a new fen/bog habitat.
The purchase of the gallop at Green Down Nature Reserve was funded by one kind donor and completed our long-time aspiration of purchasing an area of land that had previously split the site into two sections. Reconnecting the reserve will mean the removal of fences and scrub, as well as eventually restoring the artificial surface into species rich grassland. This will provide additional pollen and nectar sources for invertebrates and hopefully foodplants for the caterpillars of important butterfly populations on site, including the large blue, and will enable less mobile species to move across the site as a whole.
4. Innovative Peat Restoration Work
We are currently in the process of carrying out an exciting project at Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve to help restore the peat on site. This work aims to slow the flow of the water within the peat to help seal up sub-surface fissures and cracks and keep that precious carbon locked away.
Peatlands are an amazing part of our landscape, not only for the rare species they support, but for the ecosystem services they provide like storing carbon, filtering drinking water, and mitigating flood waters. Unfortunately, 80% of the UK’s peatlands are now degraded, emitting carbon, and threatening the species they support (like the round-leaved sundew and micro-plume moth!). This exciting restoration work will be taking place over the next two years and will help us protect and restore the peat on Westhay. Read more...
5. New Human-Wildlife Coexistence Officer
We recently appointed a brand new Human-Wildlife Coexistence Officer — an exciting role that will engage with communities on a range of species-related work, specifically on the return of species to the county such as the pine marten and beaver.
This position was funded by an ambitious public appeal we held back in April — we successfully raised £63,000 in a single week thanks to generous donations from our incredible supporters across Somerset. The role has since been filled by Alicia Hallatt, who joined the Trust in December. Alicia’s initial work will focus around partners and communities in the Avon and Frome catchment, as well as developing the Somerset Beaver Strategy, and supporting the Two Moors Pine Marten Project over on Exmoor.
6. Digital Interpretation on Flagship Nature Reserves
Towards the start of the year, we were able to install new digital visitor interpretation technology at our two flagship reserves on the Avalon Marshes — Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve and Catcott Nature Reserve. This has included new interpretation signs featuring QR codes that allow you to access special interactive content right from your smartphone. This includes a range of content for all levels of knowledge, including spotter guides, interactive trails, and live webcams that show off less accessible parts of the reserve and wildlife that won’t always be in view from our bird hides!
To make this possible, we needed to address power and internet connectivity issues on our reserves, making use of special solar-powered hardware from InfoPoint to allow visitors to access this information without any downloads, logins, or mobile data. This was an exciting milestone for our team, and we hope this will help encourage more people to explore and connect with nature. Read more...
7. One Million Wilder Sensing Audio Records
We have now collected one million species records at our Honeygar site! In November 2022, we installed four Song Meter Micro sensors from Wildlife Acoustics at Honeygar, from which high-quality data is processed by Wilder Sensing, helping us to monitor the variety of bird species visiting the area. This works using special AI software, which analyses audio, along with other data sources, to recognise different sounds and provide insight into local species trends.
In just over 12 months, an incredible one million records have been collected and processed, and we’ve been able to identify some of our visitors to Honeygar, which has included the Eurasian wren, tawny owl, and spotted flycatcher!
8. 10th Anniversary of Sea Watch
We’ve been working with the Sea Watch Foundation through their local co-ordinator, Vanessa Lloyd, since 2018. Since then, we’ve worked with over 120 local volunteers and citizen scientists to carry out monthly Sea Watch surveys all along the Somerset and North Somerset Coast. Vanessa has been surveying our coast for even longer and celebrated her 10th year of data collecting in 2023!
The number of annual group surveys along the Somerset coast has more than tripled over those 10 years to 40, and the number of survey locations has increased, from 4 in 2014 to 14 surveyed in 2023.
Although not every survey results in sightings, many of them have. At Hurlstone Point in 2022, for example, there were 40 sightings of harbour porpoises and a total of 67 individual animals counted, including 33 sightings of grey seals. All this data is helping us and our friends at the Sea Watch Foundation develop a much clearer picture of these important species.
9. First ‘Wilder’ Event a Success
On Saturday 14 October, we held our first in-person community forum. Eight locally-led groups gave quick-fire talks about their projects, before we moved into an open-space session and lunch, followed by afternoon workshops. We are so grateful to everyone who came along and offered inspiring talks, displays, and activities. This event was supported by a grant from the NHLF Nextdoor Nature project and generous donations from attendees.
Working for nature can be challenging, so sometimes it’s important to come together to share ideas, celebrate successes, learn, connect, and encourage each other. We are pleased to announce that Wilder 2024 has now been officially confirmed, and it will be taking place at Edgar Hall, Somerton, Saturday 12th October 2024 – save the date!
10. Becoming a Disability Confident Employer
As part of our Equality, diversity and inclusion culture across the Trust, in April, we applied for and were successful in becoming a Disability Confident employer. This was achieved by committing to: being inclusive and accessible recruitment, communicating vacancies, offering an interview to disabled people, providing reasonable adjustments and supporting existing employees. This enabled us to review our recruitment processes to attract people with the valuable skills and qualities that we need as an organisation to increase both our diversity and talent pool. We have also done further work to support our existing employees, including the implementation of an Accessibility passport, which enables individuals to review and discuss their support needs and access to work requirements.
