Northumberland Wildlife Trust. Charity Number 221819.
Partnership work is an important part of the work we do. To find out more about projects such as Westmorland Community Green Space or Living Waterways click here.
To find out how to get involved in campaigns such as Breathing Places click here
Get involved with our WildPlaces project - join us in filming and photographing urban mammals in their natural habitats and in practical conservation work. See our Clip of the Month. (This is a large file so might take a while to download)
North Sea - Marine Protected Area Project
Living Seas. What picture does this phrase conjure up in your mind? A rocky reef bursting with brightly coloured fish, corals and sponges? A boat trip in the company of leaping dolphins and playful seals? Fishermen hauling nets brimming with big, tasty fish? Living Seas are all these things and more. We urgently need your help to bring back the UK’s Living Seas.
Twelve Wildlife Trusts (Northumberland, Durham, Tees Valley, Yorkshire, Sheffield, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Leicester and Rutland, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough, Norfolk, Suffolk), located across the East coast of England aim to make the concept of 'Living Seas' a reality though the North Sea MPA project. This project promotes protection of the North Sea's weird and wonderful marine wildlife, from the smallest plankton to the largest whales and will ensure over the next few years that our seas receive the protection they need.
The project focuses mainly on the English North Sea, from Northumberland down to Suffolk and 200 nautical miles out to sea. Click here to find out more and how you can help us Save Our Seas.
Partnership with Northumbrian Water
The Kielder Wetland Conservation Officer post was set up to deliver biodiversity on Northumbrian Water (NWL) sites and to provide an additional resource to NWT. It represents an excellent Environmental Partnership between NWL and NWT.
Projects undertaken to improve biodiversity have been numerous. Conservation grazing by Exmoor ponies and traditional cattle have been introduced at Bakethin and Kielder to improve grassland diversity. Work has been undertaken at Fontburn Water Treatment works; two sludge lagoons were cleared of silt, a third pool was created and ditches were constructed in between the pools. This has reinstated the breeding habitat for the resident great-crested newts. Two new bird hides have been erected, one on the beeches trail at Leaplish Waterside Park, where there are now frequent sightings of our native red squirrel, and another on the Great Northern reservoir at Whittle Dene. This has provided improved access to wildlife. There are future plans to install a tern nesting platform at the Great Northern also.
NWL has its own BAP providing guidance on the management of its sites and practical conservation tasks occur twice monthly to deliver these targets. Examples of tasks include removing reed mace from the ponds at Bakethin to improve habitat for dragonflies, putting up nest boxes and creating a wildlife garden at Leaplish.
NWL commissions ecological surveys, including the annual monitoring of the calcareous flush at Bakethin and Kielder Dam grassland, at all of its sites in order to determine the best management practices for biodiversity.