Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Annual Report 2014-15 www.hiwwt.org.uk Protecting wildlife, inspiring people Patron: To be appointed. President: To be appointed. Vice-Presidents: Michael Baron Lord Montagu of Beaulieu Roger Harrison Victoria Harrison MVO Harvey Jones Earl of Selborne GBE FRS DL FIBiol Contents From the Chairman 3 Summary of the Year 4 Highlights of the Year 6 Our Year in Numbers 16 Our Strategy 18 Looking Ahead 20 Structure, Governance and Management 22 Financial Review 2014-15 26 Independent Auditor’s Report 32 Financial Statements 36 Charity Information 59 Cover photo: Treecreeper © Andy Britland Designed by: www.pelicangraphics.org.uk Bluebell watch © Tom Marshall 2 From the Chairman Last year was one of mixed fortunes for the Trust. We delivered some wonderful projects and there are good news stories throughout this report; however the funding environment made it a tough year fi nancially. We suffered from cuts in public funding and a reduction in grant income. This led to a defi cit meaning we had to dip into our fi nancial reserves to fi ll the funding gap. As a consequence we have begun implementing a number of changes to allow us to adapt and cope in a reduced funding environment, scaling back our costs where possible, and investing where we need to build our capacity and resilience. The good news is that support from members grew slightly and we have started to build John Collman © HIWWT John alternative sources of income. The Trust is still in good shape, and we have an ambitious list of what yet needs to be done for the wildlife in the two counties. As we move forward and evolve to meet the more challenging demands of funding our work, I recognise and appreciate that our reliance on our supporters’ generosity is ever greater. Thank you for your continued support. Without our generous supporters I also want to take this opportunity to thank staff and volunteers and volunteers we who turn our vision into reality. Working and volunteering for a could do nothing. Thank charity is much more than a 9 to 5 commitment – it’s a passion you for everything you that involves hundreds of people going out of their way to help the do for the Trust and wildlife that they love. The achievements set out in this report have only been possible because of the dedication and professionalism enabling our many of staff and volunteers and the generosity of our supporters. These achievements. successes are shared by us all and I hope that together we will continue to build upon these in the coming year. We know that we have more to do as wildlife remains under threat, but we are still confi dent in our vision for Living Landscapes and Living Seas. However, we shall continue to be successful only if we can convince others of our vision – potential partners, local authorities, politicians, benefactors and funders – that what we do is vital to the long-term health of our physical and spiritual environment. We are ready for the ongoing challenge. John Collman Chairman 3 Summary of the Year From the Whilst 2014-15 was a tough year fi nancially, preparing the annual report has given me the opportunity to refl ect on the progress that we have Chief Executive made this year. The Trust continued to achieve much for both wildlife and people in the two counties and a selection of our successes are detailed in this report. Of course, this is just a small part of the work that we do across the two counties to safeguard our local wildlife. One of our key priorities at the Trust is to ensure that our nature reserves are in the best possible condition for wildlife. I am delighted that many of our nature reserves boasted record numbers of wildlife as a result of restoration and ongoing habitat management – for example 10,000 southern marsh orchids at Southmoor nature reserve in Havant and 16 pairs of lapwing breeding at Farlington Marshes nature reserve Hilary Mould-Ryan near Portsmouth. We also discovered new breeding sites for species © such as woodlark, willow tit and water vole as a result of conservation projects we have been involved in. Deborah Tann Deborah Tann Working to improve wildlife habitats on our own land is vitally important, but our nature reserves cover only a tiny proportion of the land surface and so our work with private landowners is essential to achieve our Living Landscapes vision. I am proud of how effective our work with others is and the impact that this has on the wider landscape. For example, in the Itchen Valley we undertook major habitat restoration Recent studies work on private land upstream of Winnall Moors nature reserve, such as the 2013 improving habitat connectivity through the valley and restoring a more State of Nature report natural fl oodplain with charismatic wetland species. In total last year we found that over 60% provided advice on 322 privately owned sites covering 4,600 hectares. of species studied Working with other organisations who share our vision is crucial to the have declined over the long term success of our work. One of the highlights this year was past 50 years. This is taking on the lead role for the Catchment Partnerships for the Loddon a powerful reminder and the Test and Itchen rivers, securing new funds for a variety of that we must all do projects to improve water quality and wetland habitats. more to reverse this trend. It was an important year for our marine conservation work. We led a high profi le public campaign for Marine Conservation Zones, providing evidence and data and responding to the government consultation. Deborah Tann Whilst we were disappointed that three of the recommended sites were removed from the process, we were pleased that three other sites remain with the potential to be designated in the near future. Evidence shows that children are more disconnected from nature than ever before, and yet there are clear benefi ts from outdoor learning, as seen in the feedback from our Forest School programme. Our Make a Wild Change campaign provided a platform to increase awareness about the important education and engagement work we deliver across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We are making good progress and this is only possible thanks to our staff, volunteers and generous supporters. Thank you. Deborah Tann, Chief Executive Brown Hare © Tony Matthews Tony Hare © Brown 4 In the face of climate change and other pressures, seeking to achieve “better, bigger and more joined up” areas for nature is the only way we will safeguard wildlife in the long run. 5 Highlights of the Year Restoration at Sandown Meadows Sandown Meadows Kingfi sher Juvenile © Chuck Ecclestone Sandown Meadows on the Isle of Wight has Tree management has opened up the river and benefi ted from extensive conservation work this reduced shade, benefi ting a variety of species - a year to transform the reserve into a wetland haven major highlight was seeing kingfi sher on the open with grassland, ditches and pools that provide river. It is hoped this will also support the water shelter and food for wildlife all year round. vole population on site. Supported by funding from Biffa Award, work We’ve completed fencing to create a riverside begun in Autumn 2014. Scrub was cleared to walk away from the grazing cattle, along with new restore the pond to its former glory and by spring interpretation boards making this an attractive area the site was attracting teal and shoveler ducks, as for both people and wildlife. well as little egret, grey heron and other wetland birds. 6 Thanks to the remarkable generosity of the Boswell Martin’s Wood - our family, we were able to add Martin’s Wood to our newest nature reserve network of nature reserves on the Isle of Wight. The wood was gifted to the Trust in February by Norah Boswell on behalf of the family and in memory of her late husband, Martin. Just 15 years ago it was a fi eld of sweetcorn, sitting between the ancient woodlands of Lynch Copse at Newchurch and Hill Heath. However Martin Boswell was inspired to connect these two woods by planting some 8,500 trees. Now named Martin’s Wood, the area is home to some 112 species of bees and wasps. This represents a third of all species identifi ed on the Island to date, including four species never recorded there before. As well as being a haven for pollinators, we’re looking forward to protecting Martin’s work to reconnect habitats long into the future. Offi cial handover ceremony - Norah Boswell and Debbie Tann (CEO HIWWT) open new reserve © HIWWT Restoring the fen grasslands to their former glory Securing the future of the not only benefi ts wildlife, but helps the river and Itchen Valley fl oodplain to function more naturally. Species such as water avens, ragged robin and meadowsweet have One of our key Living Landscape areas, the Itchen reappeared and we have seen increasing numbers of Valley, continues to face immense challenges. waterfowl like wigeon, mallard and gadwall. Historic activities like irrigation and dredging for both fl ood defence and agricultural intensifi cation have resulted in large scale modifi cation of the river channel and disconnection from the fl oodplain. The Trust is involved in managing over 20 sites in the valley. Our aim has been to improve the landscape for wildlife by introducing grazing and rotational management of scrub and trees in order to reverse many decades of abandonment.