Bristol’s wildlife sites under threat

It may be just a stone’s throw from industrial Avonmouth, but you wouldn’t know it as birdsong fills the air and butterflies flutter among the wild flowers.

Brambles and grassland have taken over once well-trodden pathways and it is a motley crew that sets out to forge a way through the overgrown greenery and almost head-high reeds at Lawrence Weston Moor.

The expedition party consists of a politician – trademark blazer slung over one shoulder – a hapless journalist and three conservationists, which may sound like the makings of a bad joke, but the reason for the foray into nature is a deadly serious one.

A major State of Nature report in 2016 revealed that 12 per cent of species in Britain are at risk of extinction and the numbers of the nation’s most endangered creatures have plummeted by two-thirds since 1970.

Around 56 UK species are in decline and local wildlife sites are under pressure, amid funding cuts and a proposed new National Planning Policy that could put them all at risk of development.

Heading into the wilderness

“There is an element of not knowing what we have got until it’s gone,” says Amy Coulthard, the director of conservation at Avon Wildlife Trust, looking over the vast expanse of wild meadow and reed bed.

The trust is fighting to raise awareness of the danger to Bristol’s wildlife-rich spaces and encourage communities to use them and get involved in helping to preserve them for future generations.

A remnant of the North Somerset Levels on the edge of the city, Lawrence Weston Moor is a haven for wildlife – something that is evident to even the untrained eye – and provides a rich habitat for owls, bats, frogs, dragonflies and more.

But it is an area currently in decline. Avon Wildlife Trust no longer manages the council-owned site due to funding cuts and the lack of conservation work is taking its toll on species that once thrived here.

The reed beds have grown to almost head height for adults

“There should be more wild flowers here if the grass was cut annually,” says the trust’s CEO Ian Barrett. “We know there were water voles here once and we want to encourage them back.”

A wooden platform overlooking an overgrown dip that was once a pond is testament to the extent of neglect.

With vast swathes of greenery and wild flowers, punctuated with the sweet sound of birdsong, it is a tranquil spot just waiting to be explored – yet it is almost impassable and rarely visited by the local community who stand to benefit from the use of green spaces.

Ian Barrett, MP Darren Jones and Amy Coulthard discuss what the future holds for sites like Lawrence Weston Moor

Amy explains that it is a vicious circle: as these areas fall into decline and usage drops, their value as wildlife sites also decreases, weakening any protected status and thus leaving them more vulnerable to development.

For Bristol North West MP Darren Jones, a key aim is to encourage people to make the most of the green spaces in the city and reap all the health and well-being benefits that come with it.

“In my constituency, we have quite a number of green spaces, but I’m not sure many people know about them,” he says. “We want to help local residents find out about their local countryside and places you can take the kids.

“We need to do all we can to protect and preserve them.”

Ian outlines some of the local wildlife sites and stresses the importance of having connecting spaces

One fear is that current legislation that protects wildlife areas and sites of special scientific interest will be weakened when Britain leaves the EU.

“When the Government starts copying and pasting EU laws, we need to make sure they are not diluting them,” adds Darren. “They won’t be debated, so we have to be on it and make sure they are properly scrutinised.”

Delving deep into the reed beds

Around £2.1billion could be saved from the NHS every year, if everyone had easy access to green space, according to a Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology note Oct 2016.

And is is a drive to get people outdoors and back to nature that lies at the heart of a campaign by Avon Wildlife Trust.

Lawrence Weston Moor is one of eight local wildlife sites around Bristol that the trust is working to improve as part of a Heritage Lottery Fund project – My Wild City.

This will link people living in communities nearby to these valuable spaces and help them get close to their local wildlife.

The idea is not only to improve people’s health and well-being, but also to get them interested and involved in preserving the nature on their own doorstep.

Because, all is not lost – Ian confirms that conservation really does work and, with a bit of love and attention, species that have left a site will return.

The key is to recognise what we’ve got before it’s gone.

The site is host to a wealth of wildflowers – but there used to be far more

Read more: ‘Bristol has the potential to become a world-leading urban nature reserve’