25-3-10 ECOS 31 (1) Cover:NO311-13-7-06ECOS Cover 6/5/10 16:58 Page 2 www.banc.org.uk Spring 2010 issue 31(1) Editorial 1. A no-regrets response to our mixed up nature. Geoffrey Wain Feature articles Spring 2010 issue 31(1) 2. Eco-xenophobia - responding to our natural aliens. www.banc.org.uk Ian Rotherham 11. As British as curry? Hot and bothered over parakeets. Mathew Frith 16. Ducking and diving – mixing science and values in ruddy duck control. Peter Shirley 22. Exotic springtails in the UK – their occurrence and diversity. Paul Ardron 28. UK invasive fungi– Benign additions to our fungal flora. Peter Shaw 31. Scottish alpine and woodland birds – their fortunes in an uncertain climate. Adam Watson 39. The changing nature of climate. Simon Ayres 45. Copenhagen, nature conservation and a few REDD herrings. Kate Rawles 50. Where now in climate and nature conservation? Richard Smithers & Mike Townsend 55. Britain’s arctic wildlife – how we coped in Winter 2010. Andrew Harby 59. The Dower+100 Report - National Parks 1945-2045. Adrian Phillips 66. The conservation sector in the recession - Double-dip or quits? Jonathan Somper Book Reviews • The Naturalized Animals of Britain and Ireland • Nature’s Powers and Spells • Wild Justice • Celebrity and the Environment • Mahatmagandhi and the Environment • A Wilder Vein • What is Land For? • Conservation Psychology • The Real Global Warming Disaster • Air Con • The Hockey Stick Illusion • A Brush with Nature ©2010 British Association of Nature Conservationists Perfectly natural aliens? ISSN 0143-9073 Graphic Design and Artwork by Featherstone Design Cheltenham. Recession tips for the conservation sector Printed by Severnprint Ltd, Gloucester ‘No regrets’ solutions for an uncertain climate 25-3-10 ECOS 31 (1) Cover:NO311-13-7-06ECOS Cover 6/5/10 16:58 Page 4 ECOS www.banc.org.uk BACK COPIES OF ECOS [email protected] The following back copies are available A REVIEW OF for purchase. Costs range from £8.30 (inc CONSERVATION Managing Editor: p&p) for issues from the current and previous Rick Minter year’s volume, to £5.30 for older issues. www.banc.org.uk ECOS is the quarterly journal Up to date prices and order forms for of the British Association of Tel: 01452-739142 back copies are available at e-mail: [email protected] BANC inspires innovation Nature Conservationists www.banc.org.uk. Assistant Editor: in conservation. I 30 (3/4) Ecological skills; Getting started Martin Spray in conservation Hillside, Aston Bridge Road, Pludds, Ruardean, Glos. GL17 9TZ I 30 (2) Nature at our service? President: John Bowers Tel: 01594-861404 I 30 (1) 30 years back – and forward Vice-Presidents: Marion Shoard Acknowledgements I 30 (1) 30 years back – and forward Adrian Phillips This issue was edited by Rick Minter and Martin Spray. I 29 (3/4) New nature – old creatures Chair: Adrian Koster The opinions expressed in ECOS are not necessarily those of BANC Secretary: Council or of the Editors I 29 (2) Nature’s tonic Ruth Boogert ECOS may not be reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, I 29 (1) Walking the talk in conservation Treasurer: Derek Bensley in whole or in part, in English or other languages, without the prior I 28 (3/4) Climate Change adaptation – written consent of the publisher, BANC. helping nature cope Other Members of Council: I 28(2) Nature’s Id Emily Adams Subscriptions/BANC membership I 28(1) Loving Nature? Subscriptions for ECOS are £25 for individuals and £80 for Mathew Frith the corporate institutional rate. See inside back cover for I 27(3/4) Accepting the wild? Rose Goodwin further details. Current and previous articles and whole I 27(2) Shores and seas – the push Andrew Harby editions can be purchased on line at www.banc.org.uk for protection Gavin Saunders I 27(1) Species reintroductions I 26(3/4) Aliens in control Nicola Walker I 26(2) Carbon, conservation and renewables Subscriptions/BANC membership I 26(1) The extinction of outdoor experience Subscriptions for ECOS are £25.00 for I 25(3/4) Wilder landscapes, wilder lives? I 25(2) Superquarry finale & last chance individuals and £80 for for the countryside corporate/institutional rate. I 25(1) Wild boar and wild land I 24(3/4) Extinction of Experience President: Chair: I 24(2) Urban greening Subscriptions should be sent to: John Bowers Adrian Koster I 24(1) Nature conservation – Who cares? Hallam Environmental Consultants Ltd Vice-Presidents: Secretary: I Marion Shoard Ruth Boogert 23(3/4) Citizen Science Venture House, 105 Arundel Street I 23(2) Reintroductions and aliens Adrian Phillips Treasurer: Sheffield, 1 2NT Tel: 0114 272 4227 Derek Bensley I 23(1) Land reform I 22(3/4) Nature in the neighbourhood [email protected] BANC is a non profit making company limited by guarantee, registered in England No. 2136042. Registered charity No. 327595. ECOS & BANC - keep in touch on the web Subscription form available at BANC’s web site offers a chance to… www.banc.org.uk • Follow up the debate in ECOS between issues ECOS is printed by Severnprint using Cocoon Silk 300gsm cover and Cocoon • Link to current news in conservation as it Subs taken out on or after 1 October uncoated 100gsm text paper. Both papers have a 100% recycled content and are breaks remain valid until 31 December in the FSC certified. The electricity used during printing is generated from renewable sources. The magazine is printed under the SylvaPack environmental print route using no •Learn about new initiatives and campaigns following year. alcohol and processless plates and a donation is made to Tree Aid to support tree planting in sub-Saharan Africa. www.banc.org.uk NO426-25/3/10 ECOS 31(1) inside pages print version 29/4/10 07:54 Page 1 ECOS 31(1) 2010 Editorial A no-regrets response to our mixed up nature Welcome to a new look ECOS. We hope it meets your expectations for keeping the brand but feeling more reader-friendly. In particular we have tried to tackle people’s main grumble about pages being too dense, so we hope the new product appears less crowded. Please let us have feedback of any sort. Other steps we’ve taken include articles and full editions available for purchase on line, and these will be available in colour throughout. Finally, the BANC website is now ready for blog debates pursuing some of the talking points from each edition. First topics on which we invite your views flow from this issue, and include those of climate change and of alien species, both of which are humdingers affecting so much of our present conservation activity. We will also be taking views on ‘getting started’ in conservation, which is on the minds of many of our readers. The past months’ frenzy of debate on climate change has been game-changing, as hitherto ‘settled science’ is now portrayed as anything but. Blogs and newspapers have gone to town on the subject, with many journalists now looking for conflict in the science rather than more stories of melting glaciers and the plight of polar bears. “I am more convinced than ever about the need for a new language of climate change, based not on scientific certainty but on uncertainty, risk and values.” Says BBC’s environment correspondent Roger Harrabin. Amidst such uncertainty we should be driven by no-regrets policies, taking actions that are relevant to the needs of wildlife and the resilience we need in our ecosystems and landscapes, whatever the volatility of the climate. Installing wind turbines en mass, linked to new high voltage lines across wild land, and policies for exotic tree species designed for warmer scenarios, are topical examples of policies which tick boxes for government, but they have potential to be ‘big regrets’ and ‘big mistake’ policies for the environment and the economy. Several of our authors, including Mike Townsend, Richard Smithers, and Adrian Phillips suggest more subtle and genuine no-regrets proposals in this issue. Turning to alien species, Ian Rotherham starts us off with an overview from last year’s BANC-sponsored conference. He asks us to confront our cultural preferences which in turn influence our prejudices across different misfit species. Our wildlife and ecology is more dynamic and varied than we care to admit – creatures like big cats and eagle owls are intriguing additions to our UK wildlife, which we will debate in future editions, but the likes of springtails and fungi are also crucial to the way nature ebbs and flows, as we see in this issue. Geoffrey Wain 1 NO426-25/3/10 ECOS 31(1) inside pages print version 29/4/10 07:54 Page 2 ECOS 31(1) 2010 Eco-xenophobia - responding to our natural aliens Wildlife groups need to separate science from subjectivity in their thinking behind control of alien species – too often controls on aliens are based on preferences for the ‘nature we like’ rather than identifying what species, alien or native, are creating genuine harmful impacts. This article reviews key examples and debates, including those which emerged at the 2009 BANC sponsored conference on alien species at Sheffield Hallam University. IAN ROTHERHAM Problem species and their impacts The National Trust estimates the cost of current controls of invasive exotic plants at around £2.7bn per year.1,2 The RSPB states that “Invasives are a significant threat to a large proportion of the world's biodiversity”.3 In response to this threat, the main government department, Defra, has announced a new campaign - Be Plantwise. This is the first part of a two-pronged attack on alien invaders and it aims to raise gardeners’ awareness of problem species and the consequences of deliberate or accidental release.