Thank you


Foulshaw Moss and the osprey webcam


We’re delighted to be able to get the webcam on the osprey nest at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve back up and running this year. You can watch it via our website: www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/ osprey-cam. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to help with the costs of running the camera and keeping this nature reserve in great condition.


Crucial time for the world’s insects


You may have seen recent news headlines about the decline of our insect population. A recent study identified that more than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles.


As Francisco Sánchez-Bayo, author of the report, told the Guardian about the decline, “It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less, in 50 years only half leſt and in 100 years you will have none.” He goes on to say, “Our work reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world’s insect species over the next few decades.”


 In 2018 there were 239,466 visits to the osprey webcam


Here in Cumbria, species-rich grasslands are crucial to the survival of pollinators. But since the 1930s, this habitat has declined by 97%. Only through direct action such as ‘Get Cumbria Buzzing’ (see previous page) and our Meadow Life work will we help to reverse this trend and reduce further loss.


These projects will involve landowners, land managers and local communities to restore and create new areas of good- quality habitat in the heart of where people live and work. Through training and surveying, people will have a beter understanding of wildflowers and how to look aſter them for our pollinators.


The leter enclosed with this magazine tells you more about our aspirations. Please will you help by making a donation to create diverse and species-rich areas where our insects can thrive? You can also read more and donate on our website www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/ appeals/pollinators


A big thank you to the members who donated over £20,000 of match funding for our projects receiving Landfill Community Fund grants. We are delighted that all of the projects that have been offered funding can now go ahead. This means that work can begin on a new boardwalk at Drumburgh Moss Nature Reserve to open up new areas of this very special wetland, and new areas of heathland will be created at Eycot Hill Nature Reserve that will allow an array of invertebrates, small mammals and birds to thrive.


Donations now worth 10 times more


 Boardwalk will be installed at Drumburgh Moss to enable people to access more of the moss. Photo: John Morrison


30 Cumbrian Wildlife | May 2019


The community garden at Gosling Sike is developing well, and with this generous support the creation of a plant nursery is now possible. The wild flowers grown here will not only bring joy to those working in the gardens but will supply our planting schemes all over the county.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44