Essex Wildlife Trust - Petition Fish
Essex Wildlife Trust is actively campaigning for many important conservation issues.
Local Wildlife Site Campaign
Our future economic prosperity and social fabric is reliant on a healthy natural environment. But wildlife and wild places are in decline. It is vital that we take action to halt this decline and secure nature’s recovery, not only for its own sake but for what it does for us.
Local Wildlife Sites are an essential part of this equation. They have a key role to play in rebuilding nature and providing more natural areas which are bigger, better and more joined up. With significant local, regional and national wildlife value, they collectively create a web of stepping stones and corridors for wildlife; they buffer and knit the gaps between other conservation sites and natural spaces; and they provide the essential foundations for achieving a Living Landscape. They also add value to local communities and contribute to quality of life, health, wellbeing and education.
BUT Local Wildlife Sites are not well understood or recognised and they are under huge and increasing pressures.
Therefore developing three strands of work to help:
- Raise the profile, importance and benefits of Local Wildlife Sites to wildlife and people
- Improve the protection of Local Wildlife Sites through sensitive management and greater recognition in policy and decision making
- Secure better resources and support for landowner advice and Local Wildlife Site identification, management, enhancement and monitoring
Ash dieback disease and wider tree pest and disease issues
The detection of ash die back in the UK last year has raised the profile of tree diseases and the threat posed to our natural environment. The number of new tree pests and diseases has increases rapidly over the last few years. Some of the diseases have arrived as a consequence of increased trade in plants. This raises the question whether our biosecurity measures are strong enough. The situation also enforces our Living landscapes vision for an ecologically diverse and resilient landscape. Essex Wildlife Trust has a Position Statement on ash die back.
Badgers and bovine TB
The Wildlife Trusts’ involvement in the issue of bovine TB (bTB) over many years has led to the Trusts concluding that a badger cull will not effectively tackle bTB. The Food and Environment Research Agency has stated that every badger vaccinated reduces the likelihood of badger to badger, cattle to badger and badger to cattle transmission of bTB. The Trusts see the vaccination of badgers as an important tool in the toolkit to tackle the disease. The Trusts are currently working on a framework for the deployment of the badger BCG vaccine.