North Devon's nature feels benefit from Biffa Award

Some of North Devon's most stunning and wildlife-rich nature reserves have benefitted from £500,000 of Biffa Award funding as a Flagship project - money made available through the Landfill Communities Fund.

The support has allowed the charity Devon Wildlife Trust to make vital improvements at 11 of its nature reserves in North Devon. Sites at Meresfelle, Volehouse Moor, Mambury Moor, Stowford Moor, Veilstone Moor, Stapleton Mire, Ash Moor, Dunsdon, Vealand, Meeth Quarry and Ashmoor have all seen work undertaken to make positive changes for local wildlife.

Among the highlights Biffa Award has helped The Trust to restore and recreate nearly 50 hectares of 'species rich' grassland - an important home to wildflowers including orchids, ragged robin and birdsfoot trefoil. 250 further hectares of existing grassland is now in better long-term management. Five kilometres of traditional Devon hedgebanks have also been rebuilt, restored and replanted with trees including hawthorn, blackthorn, ash and oak. Wildflower seeds have been harvested from 50 hectares of existing Culm grassland to be spread on sites elsewhere. The project also saw 300 metres of the historic Bude Canal restored and re-watered at The Trust's Dunsdon National Nature Reserve, near Holsworthy. The canal is now home to frogs and dragonflies.

Devon Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve Officer Steve Threlkeld has worked on the project for the past three years. Steve said: "Funding from Biffa Award has made a crucial difference. For some time we've had a long list of improvements that we wanted to make to our North Devon nature reserves but without help we would have struggled to undertake them. Now it's very rewarding to see the positive changes that the work has made for local wildlife. To see wildflowers growing where they were once lacking, to see dragonflies flying over a new stretch of canal that you have created and to see a new Devon hedgebank planted up and growing, is very satisfying."

Local people have benefitted from the funding too. Much of the work carried out has been done by Devon Wildlife Trust staff in conjunction with local contractors, bringing money and work to the rural economy. Local volunteers have also played a key role, while The Trust has also organised a series of 16 public events showcasing the work done, its techniques and the benefits it can bring.

Matt Boydell, Devon Wildlife Trust's Land Manager said: "Our work under the Biffa Award is now in its final phase but its legacy will last. It's helped us improve our North Devon nature reserves and we believe it's been an example of positive land management for wildlife. We've learned a lot of lessons which will shape how landscapes are managed in the future."

Gillian French, Head of Grants, Biffa Award said: "We're really proud to have been a part of this incredible habitat restoration project across Devon. Over the past three years we have enjoyed our visits to Devon Wildlife Trust's Meeth Quarry nature reserve, and others to see how Landfill Communities funding has helped restore this unique landscape. "

Harvesting wildflower seed at Vealand nature reserve near Holsworthy

Clearing the bed of the historic Bude Canal at Dunsdon National Nature Reserve with the re-watered canal after work was completed 

Photos copyright Devon Wildlife Trust (All Rights Reserved)  

Charity and Kew Gardens combine to preserve Devon's trees

Devon Wildlife Trust has spent this autumn conducting a very different kind of harvest. 

The charity has been collecting seed from Devon's ash, hawthorn, blackthorn, holly and other trees at some of its 49 nature reserves as part of a national project to aimed at protecting the UK's woodlands. Devon Wildlife Trust is a partner in the UK National Tree Seed Project, which has been set up by Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, and made possible with funding generated by players of the People's Postcode Lottery.

Tree seeds collected as part of the project will be safely banked in the underground vaults of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank - forming the UK's first national collection of tree seeds. These will then play a vital role in conservation work to protect UK trees and woodlands, including against pests and diseases such as ash dieback. The collections, and associated data, will be available to researchers working on solutions to tackle the many threats facing our woodlands.

Speaking during National Tree Week (28th November - 6th December) and taking a break from collecting ash seeds, known as keys, from its Sourton Quarry nature reserve, near Okehampton, Devon Wildlife Trust's Andrew Warren said:

"We're proud to be contributing to a project which is protecting the genetic diversity of Devon's trees. Many people will be familiar with the threats that face our trees and woodland landscapes, for example, sudden oak death and ash dieback have both hit the headlines in recent years. Our work collecting the seeds of these and other Devon tree varieties is a step towards creating a kind of safety deposit for the future."

Clare Trivedi, UK National Tree Seed Project Co-ordinator, said:

"Almost all of the nation's favourite trees species - from oak to ash to beech - are affected by a variety of pests and diseases. We are thrilled that Devon Wildlife Trust is working with the UK National Tree Seed Project. This project is really important for the future of our trees, wildlife and landscape - but we cannot do it all by ourselves. Contributions from partners such as Devon Wildlife Trust are absolutely vital to help us ensure all areas across the UK are covered."

The UK National Tree Seed Project was launched in May 2013 and has a list of priority native trees and shrubs targeted for collection. This priority list gave ranking to individual species according to their conservation ratings, prevalence in the landscape and vulnerability to pests and diseases. Species on the list include ash, Scots pine, common alder, common beech, silver birch and yew. 

Devon Wildlife Trust's Andrew Warren said: 

"The seeds we are gathering today are just one of several collections that we've undertaken this autumn. Because Devon Wildlife Trust's nature reserves include many of the county's most treasured landscapes we're ensuring that we are getting seeds which come from each of Devon's corners - north, south, east and west. The collected seeds will act as a living legacy, recording the genetic make-up of our local trees in the early twenty-first century." 

 'Close up of holy berries - one of the species of tree seed that Devon Wildlife Trust has been collecting for Kew Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank'  Photo copyright DWT (All rights reserved)

For more on Devon Wildlife Trust's work visit www.devonwildlifetrust.org

Howard Marks - In Conversation with "Mr. Nice" at the Factory, Barnstaple 13th December

Just over a year ago Howard Marks was diagnosed with Cancer of the Bowel which had spread to two other organs, he was given 10 months to live. Here we are 3 months after his predicted passing and after nearly 30 sessions of Chemotherapy combined with Cannabis Oil Treatment, which is more and more being used seriously for the treatment of cancer and other illness and everything from apricot seeds to moths. Howard has just released his latest book ‘Mr Smiley: My Last Pill and Testament’ which went into the Book Charts at Number 7.

Interviewed by Dub Pistols Barry Ashworth, expect stories from his incredible life as a drug smuggler, hunted man, inmate at a high security prison, to becoming a celebrity, a national treasure with a film made about his life.

Born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Howard Marks attended Oxford University where he earned a degree in nuclear physics and post graduate qualifications in philosophy

Described by the Daily Mail (UK Tabloid) as 'the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time', Howard Marks has worked with the British Secret Service and has been connected with the Mafia, the IRA, MI6 and the CIA.

Busted in 1988 by the American Drug Enforcement Agency and sentenced to twenty-five years at America's toughest federal penitentiary; Terre Haute, Indiana. He was released on parole in 1995 after serving seven years.

In 1996 he released his autobiography, Mr. Nice, which remains an international best seller in several languages and was the best selling non-fiction book of 1997.

During 1997, he performed his first live shows, which discussed his life as a marijuana smuggler and his views on drug use and legalisation. The shows received excellent reviews throughout the national press, and his now legendary one-man comedy show, An Audience with Mr Nice, continues to sell-out at venues throughout Britain and Europe covering an ever-widening range of topics.

Howard wrote a monthly column for Loaded for five years and has written features for The Times, Observer, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Time Out, GQ, and the Guardian. He has also penned Senor Nice, the sequel to his autobiography, collected together writings on intoxication for the anthology Dope Stories, co-wrote 101 Uses of a Dead Roach and has published the first of a series of crime fiction novels called Sympathy for the Devil.

His TV and Film career includes a cameo in Human Traffic, narrating Manumission – The Movie, presenting Channel 5 News on the day George Best died, interviews for Selena Scott, Hardtalk and This Week and appearances on Dinner with Portillo and Heartbeat amongst many others.

A Cardiff City supporter, Howard directed the Welsh Celebrity Soccer Six team that included Ian Rush and members of Goldie Looking Chain and reported on the 1998 World Cup in Paris for The Evening Standard. He is also a keen follower of Rugby Union, Boxing and especially Lawn Green Bowls, his interest in which was piqued when he learned it had been made illegal for the hoi polloi by Henry VIII.

Since his release from prison Howard has been politically active, standing for parliament in four separate constituencies (Norwich South, Norwich North, Neath and Southampton Test) in the 1997 general election on the single issue of the legalisation of Cannabis, catalysing the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance. He applied for the position of Drugs Tsar, created by the Labour government in the late 90s but Keith Halliwell ‘pipped me at the post’. He continues to campaign vigorously for the legalisation of recreational drugs.

HOWARD MARKS - IN CONVERSATION WITH ‘MR NICE’
THE FACTORY SUNDAY 13TH DECEMBER 7:30PM

Doors open at 19:30pm
£20 in advance - Seated based on first come first seated
Physical tickets - North Devon Theatres & Beatsworkin, Barnstaple
Online tickets available from
More info – www.thefactoryvenue.co.uk