Species recovery. What's that all about then?
Matt Phelps
Species Recovery Officer
Species Recovery is quite a broad term which, rather like the word rewilding, can mean different things to different people. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a species is fully recovered if it is present in all parts of its range (even those that are no longer occupied but were occupied prior to major human impacts/disruption) and is performing all its ecological functions across that range.
In simple terms, it essentially involves identifying which species have been lost or are on the brink of being lost from a given region and putting in place the appropriate management to restore populations to healthy and sustainable levels, be it sensitive habitat improvement work or total reintroduction through captive breeding or translocation if necessary.
What does this mean in a Sussex context where there are potentially hundreds of species which fit into the category of lost or in steep decline? How does one decide which are the most in need of saving or recovery? Ornithologists will of course be keen to focus on birds, lepidopterists will fly the flag for butterflies and moths, and so on.
A better way to approach this rather challenging dilemma, perhaps, is to look at how we might help to drive the restoration of natural processes on a landscape scale rather than singling out individual species in need help. Are there overlaps between species X and species Y, in terms of what they are lacking in terms of habitat and/or food sources? Could it be that the return of a species Z may unlock the conditions required for both species X and Y to flourish? A good example for a ‘species Z’ would be Eurasian Beaver. Beavers are what is known as a keystone species, meaning they positively impact and reinvigorate landscapes simply through their natural behaviour; the landscapes in question being wetlands when it comes to Beavers. In turn, these restored wetland habitats then become much richer for a host of other native plants and animals, including fish, birds and insects. Put simply, restoring Beavers to depleted wetland environments can produce knock-on benefits to a host of other species which otherwise may have required specific management techniques to recover their own populations.
There are species interactions which we understand, like the larvae of various blue butterfly species being offered protection in ant nests owing to the butterfly larva’s sweet secretions. This relationship, from the butterfly’s point of view, is known as ‘myrmecophily’ or ant love. Then there are trophic relationships we have only more recently begun to appreciate, such as the rootling effects of pigs inadvertently producing feeding opportunities for Turtle Doves via the propagation of arable weeds. There are likely many, many more such species interactions, driven by complex natural processes which we still need to realise and research, which will further inform how we restore fully functioning ecosystems on a broader scale.
The end goal is more wildlife flourishing in healthier and more joined-up landscapes, with a host of reinvigorated natural processes driving the recovery of lost or declining native species. A key part of my role at Sussex Wildlife Trust is to determine which natural processes, whereabouts and which species could be the drivers for change.
Comments
Do you think Sussex Wildlife Trust can provide help buying farms and corridors of wildlife important to nature recovery? You help so many of us fighting planning applications for nature, but we need help to buy these places for nature
21 Mar 2024 05:02:00
Sussex Wildlife Trust:
The charities commission does not allow charities to hold large sums of money in reserve (the types of sums needed to acquire multiple pieces of land, particularly if they have buildings). Nor does it allow us to offer sums of money over the market price in order to be able to outbid others to acquire land. This and the expenses associated with owning and managing land, make it difficult / complex for charities to acquire large tracts of land. Having said that, our strategy commits to acquiring pieces of land adjacent to our existing nature reserves where possible, or where they are clearly providing (or could provide) high level benefits to nature. For example, we have just bought land adjacent to Ebernoe common.
In conjunction with other charities (such as the National Trust and RSPB), nationally we are already owners of a reasonably large proportion of UK land which is under environmental stewardship.
On the land that we do not own or manage, we provide advice on thousands of ha across Sussex every year, encouraging nature friendly farming, rewilding, climate adaptation of land and the restoration of natural processes. It is up to individual landowners how much of this advice they take up, but many of them go above and beyond our recommendations.
There are other organisations such as Forests without Frontiers, who are looking at options for supporting communities to buy land for wildlife / climate resilience – but again they are a CIO with limited funding and have no capacity to own or manage land themselves. Organisations such as Rewilding Britain are supporting landowners nationwide to rewild, and to connect their sites across the national landscape.
We all work together across multiple organisations, so in combination we have a high impact (though perhaps not as high as we’d like yet).
Unfortunately there is not a one size fits all solution to buying up corridors of land. England currently doesn’t have legislation like Scotland which supports the community buy out of land which provides benefits to local communities / environment. And the large majority of land in the UK is owned privately and unlikely to be sold.
Our projects like Wilder Horsham District and Wilder Ouse, are specifically set up therefore to work closely with all kinds of landowners (public, private, community, church, etc). to encourage them to positively contribute to creating functional corridors of habitat for wildlife and natural capital benefit.