Wildlife Festival in Dumfries & Galloway



Cairnsmore of Fleet nature reserve in Dumfries & Galloway

 The popular 2 week Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival is back in 2012 for its ninth year. With more than 80 events packed into the festival there's something for everyone.

The Wildlife Festival runs from 31st March through to 15th April and there are some new events lined up - including a Wild Food Forage in Langholm with a cookery demo and free lunch - as well as all the favourites such as the badger watch and many activities for families.


Find out more on the Dumfries & Galloway Wildlife Festival website

Eco Friendly North Yorkshire Cottages

Keld Head Farm Cottages, Keld Head, Pickering, North Yorkshire

The cottages rest in open countryside on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park but only twenty minutes walk from the centre of the picturesque market town of Pickering famous for its medieval castle and the North York Moors Steam railway.

The cottages are individually designed and created with the emphasis on comfort and relaxation from a group of traditional stone built barns set around a secluded courtyard. Much of the original character and features have been retained including beamed ceilings, traditional stone fireplaces and pan tile roofs. 
Credentials include the Green Tourism “Silver Award”, Enjoy England “Gold Award” for exceptional quality of accommodation & customer service and VisitEngland 4 Star grading.

Find out more about these eco friendly Yorkshire cottages on the Wild & Green Escapes website

New Nature Zones In England

New wildlife landscapes set high standards for woodlands  

New nature zones each covering thousands of hectares are to be set up across England, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman revealed today.

The 12 Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) will each get a share of £7.5 million to create wildlife-rich landscapes, restore habitats and encourage local people to get involved with nature.

The Forestry Commission is very pleased and impressed to see the principles supporting woodlands all in the winning NIAs. There will be no overall deforestation when creating open habitats with new woodlands created. The use of woodlands to improve water quality and managing them for wildlife habitats has vey high profile in many NIAs.

Pam Warhurst, Forestry Commission Chair explained: “These are fantastic projects filled with ambition and vision. Our own Senior Ecologist was on the judging panel for the NIAs and although few of the projects involve major woodland programmes, he was delighted to see the excellent principles underpinning the winning proposals.”

“New woodlands have the security of commitments to ongoing management which will benefit wildlife, improve water quality and produce timber or woodfuel to support the local green economy. Where trees have to be removed to restore open habitats, new woodlands will be planted and the material from the felling will be used locally for woodfuel. We hope that all landscape-scale projects in the future will adopt the same high standards.”

Nature Improvement Areas were a flagship policy contained in last year’s Natural Environment White Paper ‘The Natural Choice’ which set out  aims to improve the quality of the natural environment across England, halt the decline in habitats and species, and strengthen the connection between people and nature.

Further information on NIAs from Natural England.

Stay In A Cornish Garden

Hidden Valley Gardens, Treesmill, Nr Par, Cornwall

The Garden Studio is 4 Star rated self-catering accommodation set within the 3 acre award-winning garden known as “Hidden Valley Gardens”. 

The Garden Studio is ideal for couples, especially those who love gardens and are seeking a cosy romantic hideaway. 

The studio is a natural stone building accessed by external wooden stairs leading to a decking area for outside dining.  

You can find out more about Hidden Valley Gardens – including a short garden tour –by watching the video on You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yadF9dJLkFM

Find out more on the eco, nature and wildlife friendly holidays website Wild & Green Escapes

Access To The UK Countryside

Public access needs common sense improvement, says CLA in hard-hitting report

The CLA has today (23 February) published The Right Way Forward: The CLA’s common sense approach to access in the countryside – a no-nonsense report calling for a shake-up of the access and public rights of way system.

The association says it is “highly desirable” to improve access in a way that enhances the system, boosts efficiency and gets better value for money for everybody, and the report addresses these concerns in a series of practical recommendations.

CLA Midlands Rural Surveyor Andrew Shirley said: “Public rights of way are a valuable public resource but much of the network is based on historical evidence rather than current or future requirements. There is no doubt it needs to be improved for everyone’s benefit.

“Yet public access is a minefield of legal complexity, a tortuous and archaic system loved only by those who can turn its convoluted processes to their own advantage, sapping much needed resources from ongoing maintenance and improvement. 

“The emphasis going forward must be on improving the existing right of way network rather than creating new, and unnecessary, problems. But in order to do this we need to address the failing bureaucratic and legislative system which is long-winded, expensive and completely incomprehensible to most people.

“That is why the CLA has published this report, providing a timely injection of common sense into a network that is clearly not working.”

The association says that it has concentrated on providing practical solutions in ways which are achievable and which would not undermine existing rights of way.

The Right Way Forward: The CLA’s common sense approach to access in the countryside is available from www.cla.org.uk from 23 February.

Forest Diary Update

Forest Diary, entry sixteen (20/2/2012)

 From the Forestry Commission:

"When staff  like myself are out and about in the forest, it’s common for people to ask us about the wood and branches that are often left behind after the Forestry Commission completes our operations. Forestry by its nature is a messy business, no matter how hard we try there is some ‘mess’ that is simply nature and actually left there to do a job.

The wood left behind after certain tasks is known as brash, or ‘lop and top’. Brash is used as a natural manure for the forest and is no different to the compost you would put in your garden to encourage vegetables to grow. In its slow but inevitable decay, the brash is important to the forest system and for many species.

Brash offers a home to and food for many woodland dwellers. The minute wren is often one of the first to take advantage of the new habitat brash provides; its beautiful call reason enough to retain brash. Fungi can benefit from the dying wood, while mice and birds can find homes, build nests and source food in between the twigs and branches.

The brash also acts as a ladder to the climbing plants growing in the forest, allowing them to gain valuable height. This higher level of cover is attractive to many birds and the blackbird and even song thrush are often found nesting in this entanglement. Forest predators like the stoat and weasel use this new found area as an extra hunting place and tawny owls will feed on the increase of new neighbours to its territory.

When spring comes, I often see butterflies and moths seeking shelter from blustery winds between the drifts of brash, also finding shelter within it on wet and overcast days. I’ve come across toads in the damper woods in brash heaps and have even seen many newly emerged spring adders using the heat absorbing cascades of pine needles to warm up and shelter on. So brash isn’t just a mess on the forest floor, it’s there to carry out a very important job for a range of species and while not all woodlands can be national nature reserves, you can be proud that the New Forest is a working woodland that offers many crucial habitats to a vast variety of wildlife."

Colin Elford, Wildlife Ranger
For more information about the Forestry Commission, visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/

Eco Friendly Scottish Lodge Boutique B&B With Loch Views

Huntingtower Lodge, Druimarbin, Fort William, Scottish Highlands

Chris and Jackie Clifford would like to welcome you into their West Highland home. Come to relax and enjoy 21st Century comfort at Huntingtower Lodge, a contemporary boutique B&B offering a "haven of tranquillity" overlooking Loch Linnhe.West Highland home. Come to relax and enjoy 21st Century comfort at Huntingtower Lodge, a contemporary boutique B&B offering a "haven of tranquillity" overlooking Loch Linnhe.


The Lodge, with its stunning and ever changing views of Loch Linnhe, is 2 miles south west of Fort William, the 'Outdoor Capital of the UK.' All accommodation has extensive views across the loch towards the Ardgour Peninsula and offers the opportunity to spot some of the varied wildlife around the Lodge.

The Lodge is light, bright and modern with double glazing and central heating throughout and is run as a green establishment (GTBS Gold Award).

Find out more on the eco and wildlife friendly holidays website Wild & Green Escapes