National Tree Week – What a lot of Trees!  Enthusiastic response from the local community

On 24^th, 25^th and 26^th November 300 children from six local schools, with the help of the Parks Ranger Service, & over 75 local residents & volunteers took part in a Guinness World Record Attempt for tree planting over a three day period.

All over the country people pledged to plant nearly 140,000 trees. Locally, the Leisure Services Department encouraged the local community to help plant mixed native trees & shrub whips in St. Laurence Park, a new park being developed between the A127 & Eastwoodbury Lane.

     2,800 native tree and shrubs planted 

Altogether over 2,800 mixed native young trees and shrubs were planted during these three days!  A major contribution to the total of 9,500 native tree and shrub whips being planted on this site. A major contribution to the total of 9,500 native tree and shrub whips being planted on this site.

The Black Poplar  Regional and local action to preserve this rare native tree

Many people think that some of the trees in the  background of John Constable’s famous painting “The Haywain” are native Black Poplar (Populus nigra subspecies betulifolia).

Certainly this beautiful and distinctive tree with heavily burred trunk, massive arching limbs and down-swept branches with turned-up ends would have existed in the Stour Valley at the time of Constable’s work.

The timber of this tree was commonly utilised for floorboards and structural timbers in homes & barns where its large dimensions and resistance to combustion were prized attributes. This together with its rapid growth ensured it was widely planted by farmers.

Today, however, this tree has become so rare that there are believed to be only about 8,000 individual trees nationally. Of these, approximately 150 are found scattered in Essex and 480 in Suffolk. Female trees are especially rare with less than 1,000 recorded in Britain.

Reasons for its decline can be summarised as:

The loss of the floodplain woodlands that were once its natural habitat,

The inability to regenerate itself without human help,

The absence of new planting since the introduction of more vigorous timber commercial hybrids.

This reduction in its number and distribution has resulted in the native Black Poplar being an Essex Biodiversity Action Plan species.

In 1998, the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley Countryside Project team, led by Peter Ennis, began to create a suitable site to contain a collection of cuttings from the surviving native black poplar trees in Suffolk and Essex at Daws Hall Nature Reserve in Suffolk.

This clone bank currently holds cuttings from 135 different parent trees. The cuttings are divided into 40 females and 95 males and of these 19 are from Essex. However, only one Essex tree is female.

In Southend 13 native Black Poplars have been identified. Of these, 2 are female and 11 male. The female trees are particularly valuable for their potential production of new trees naturally from seed.

Early in 2001 cuttings from the two female trees in Southend will be given to the Daws Hall clone bank to enlarge their collection. A similar programme of establishing cuttings from local specimens, for a collection that could be used as stock plants, will begin at the Councils Central Nursery at Wakering.

For information about the Suffolk project contact Peter Ennis at the address below. For details of the Southend collection contact Paul Terry at the 4^th Floor, Civic Centre.

Contact:  Peter Ennis, Assistant Project Officer, Dedham Vale & Stour Valley Countryside Project, c/o Clare Castle Country Park, Malting Lane, Clare, Suffolk CO10 8NJ   Tel/Fax: 01787 278676. Article by P. Terry  

What is Biodiversity? Everybody talks about it but what is it!

The word biodiversity is short for biological diversity. Biodiversity means the whole variety of life on Earth, not just all species of plants & animals, but also their genetic variation, and the ecosystems of which they are a part.

Ecosystems, habitats and species that constitute biodiversity also support systems that sustain human existence, for example, our oxygen, water, food, clothing, health and relaxation. The value of biodiversity also extends to the spiritual benefits gained from contact with nature and to the economic potential of new food or medicine sources. Biodiversity can give distinctive character to an area like chalk downland, estuary, woodland or even mountains. In towns & cities, oases of wildlife habitat make an important contribution to the quality of life.

However, the world is losing biodiversity at an increasing rate as a result of human activity.

In the UK we have lost over 100 species this century, with many more species & habitats in danger of disappearing, especially at the local level.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 the UK Government signed The Convention on Biological Diversity. This agreement recognised human activities are changing & destroying habitats and natural ecosystems. Signatories also recognised action must be taken to halt this global loss of animal & plant species and genetic resources and that each country had a responsibility to conserve and enhance biodiversity within its own jurisdiction.

The UK has produced national action plans for over 400 species and 40 habitats. However, the government has accepted that for action plans to be successful they must be supported and delivered at a local level. Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAP’s) are seen as a means of implementing national plans.

A Vole lot of Trouble Water Voles suffer dramatic decline

The Water Vole is Britains largest vole. It is “rat-sized” being between 140-220mm in length. The tail is between 95-140mm long. Its preferred habitat is vegetated banks of slow flowing rivers, ditches, dykes & lakes. A Water Voles diet consists of various grasses and waterside vegetation.

A recent report from the Vincent Wildlife Trust has highlighted the continued rapid decline of the Water Vole. Two national surveys in 1989-90 & 1996-98 have shown that this decline has developed into a serious population ‘crash’. For example, in 1989-90 the Anglian region (of which Essex is a part) had Water Voles occupying 72% of the sites inspected. By 1996-98 only 29% of sites were occupied.

Nationally this decline equates to around 89% of occupied sites being lost this century. Not only have sites been lost but also where Water Voles are still found their numbers have dwindled. The population loss has been most severe in the north and south-west of England. It is thought that the Anglian region now holds one-fifth (20%) of Britains and over one third (36%) of England’s remaining Voles.

The Water Vole is often confused with the brown rat. However, there are distinct differences. The ears of the Vole are hardly visible, unlike the rats, which stand out. The tail of the Vole is furry whilst that of the rat is naked. The muzzle of the Vole is blunt, not pointed like the rat, and its fur is more reddish. The Water Vole is also wary of people & often only noticed by the large “plop” after they dive when disturbed.

Any sightings or records of Water Voles in Southend are welcomed. Please pass them to Paul Terry on the 4^th Floor, Civic Centre or to the Regional Biological Records Centre at Southend Central Museum.  Article by P. Terry

New Reptile and Amphibian Group  

A new group, the South East Essex Amphibian and Reptile Group (SEEARG), is being formed. The group’s aims include recording & promoting native amphibians and reptiles, encouraging & initiating conservation projects and providing advice & stimulating interest through education and volunteer projects.

Anyone interested in joining the group or finding out more are invited to attend the group’s first meeting at 8.00pm on the 24^th January 2001 at the Civic Suite, Rayleigh Council Offices.  Contact: Jon Cranfield (SEEARG Recorder), 47 Wedgwood Way, Ashingdon, Essex SS4 3AS.  Tel: (01702) 540600  E-mail:    Article by P. Terry

A sea horse in the Thames!

The Thames estuary in November is the last place you expect to find sea horses, usually thought of as denizens of tropical seas. In fact, they are extremely rare in our area; there are few records from the 19^th century, and even fewer from the 20^th century. The last one recorded was in 1976, a tiny specimen measuring only 1.3in long. Then on 22^nd November this year, a young sea horse measuring about 2in was found by David Knap of the Sealife Centre. It had been trawled from the Gilman Channel in the outer estuary during a herring survey. Now it will amaze visitors to Southend’s Sealife Centre.

Changes at the Old Ranges

New perimeter fence installed around Nature Reserve

Walkers in Gunners Park, Shoebury, may have noticed that a new metal fence has been put around part of the Nature Reserve. The area enclosed is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of the rarity of this type of ancient coastal sand dune grassland habitat in Essex, and the interesting plants and animals that live there. The Nature Reserve was established in 1987 when Southend Council leased the land from the MoD and asked the Essex Wildlife Trust to manage the Reserve. The new owners, Gladedale Homes, are enthusiastic about continuing to protect the wildlife in the area.

Interesting flowers, for example, Meadow Saxifrage, Suffocated Clover and Yellow Horned Poppy, lichens (one found only on this site in Essex) and a variety of uncommon insects, spiders and other invertebrates, some rare, thrive in the SSSI. Grazing by rabbits is a practical way of keeping grassland areas suitable for rare plants. Migrating birds, such as Wheatear, Winchat, Redstart and Ring Ouzel regularly visit this coastal site in spring and autumn to feed and rest. Occasional rarities such as Woodchat Shrike have been found. Also Skylarks, a species that have declined rapidly in the countryside.

Cory Environmental Trust in Southend, a local Environmental Trust funding environmental projects in Southend, provided the majority of the cost of the fencing.

Members of the public interested in natural history, small escorted school parties or interested groups can visit the reserve by arrangement with the Voluntary Warden John Keeliher on (01702) 295259. Contacts: (1). Essex Wildlife Trust, Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve, Fingringhoe, Colchester, Essex CO5 7DN. E-mail: Web: www.essexwt.org.uk (2). Mr. G. Garner, Secretary, Cory Environmental Trust, 32 Claybrick Avenue, Hockley, Essex SS5 4PS. E-mail: Article by I. Cotgrove (Southend & Rochford Group of Essex Wildlife Trust) adapted by P. Terry

Friends of Belfairs Wood and 
Nature Reserve

December 2000