Bringing back our missing species

Beavers are native to the UK and once played an important part in our landscape.

Beavers are often referred to as ‘ecosystem engineers’. The loss of this charismatic species has led to loss of the mosaic of lakes, meres, mires, tarns and boggy places that they built so brilliantly.

They make changes to their habitats, such as digging canal systems, damming water courses, and coppicing tree and shrub species, which create diverse wetlands. In turn, these wetlands can bring enormous benefits to other species, such as otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, invertebrates (especially dragonflies) and breeding fish.

On the Island, we are looking to reintroduce the cirl bunting. The cirl bunting is a small finch-like bird which is a close relative of the yellowhammer.

Cirl buntings were once widespread and common across much of southern England but, in recent years, they have become rare and only found in south Devon, mostly confined to coastal farmland between Plymouth and Exeter.

A previous English Nature/RSPB Feasibility Study confirmed that the Island is the most promising area for reintroduction away from Devon. Effort will be required to work with farmers to ensure that suitable wintering habitat – the main limiting factor – can be sustained for the long term. The RSPB has demonstrated that nature reserves can play a major role in sustaining a healthy cirl bunting population in south Cornwall and Devon, so the Trust might explore creating farmland bird reserves.

Pushed to the brink by hunting, habitat destruction and pesticides, otters almost disappeared from rivers and waterways in England and were virtually extinct in the south east by the end of the 1970s. But after huge efforts to improve conditions for otters in our local wetlands, these elusive animals have recolonised most river catchments in Hampshire, with records of successful breeding.

By working closely with landowners and river managers, offering advice and delivering river restoration work, we were able to create space for otters on a landscape scale.

The marsh fritillary was once widespread across Britain. However the species suffered from years of habitat loss and degradation and the last marsh fritillary butterfly disappeared from north Hampshire's meadows in 1996.

In an effort to revive these butterflies, a two year captive breeding and release programme was launched in September 2016. The project began with the careful collection of 300 marsh fritillary caterpillars, under licence from Natural England, from several strong colonies in Dartmoor, Devon. They were later transferred to experienced local breeders who nurtured the caterpillars as they grew, pupated and emerged as butterflies and laid eggs. The end of April saw the successful release of a generation of marsh fritillary larvae onto a Trust-managed meadow complex in north Hampshire. The butterflies now fly and breed in the meadow - the first time the species has been seen in the wild in north Hampshire for two decades.

Water voles were prolific in Hampshire until the arrival of American mink in the 1950s. Predation by these infamous weasels, combined with habitat loss, resulted in water voles becoming Britain's fastest declining wild mammal, and they have disappeared from many parts of the country where they were once common.

The Water Vole River Meon Reintroduction Project sought to restore some balance along our local waterways.

Led by the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) and the Meon Valley Partnership, with support from the Wildlife Trust - the project saw 2,548 water voles released within the Meon Valley over a large stretch of land in which two of our nature reserves sit: St Clair’s Meadow near Soberton, and Upper Titchfield Haven near Fareham. These charismatic rodents are doing very well in their new home, and their numbers continue to rise.

White-clawed crayfish is the only crayfish species native to the UK, and was once widespread throughout the majority of Hampshire’s rivers. However, this species has suffered a dramatic decline across England since the 1970’s, primarily due to the introduction of the invasive non-native signal crayfish and the resulting outbreaks of the pathogen Aphanomyces astaci, also known as ‘crayfish plague’, carried by signal crayfish and other crayfish species from North America.

The Trusts Southern Chalkstream Invertebrates project was concerned that only two populations of this species remained in Hampshire. With funding from the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Vitacress Conservation Trust, we have worked with Bristol Zoological Society to establish a captive brood stock, extended the distribution of one of the existing populations, released captive-hatched crayfish into a new site in central Hampshire, and supported the statutory bodies in protecting this species from damaging practices.