Anti-social Behaviour

Let’s start with the bad… of the 90 or so Nature Reserves managed by Wildlife BCN, Nene Wetlands hosted over 60% of the Anti Social Behaviour incidents from April to June. 

26 incidents, ranging from fires, motorbike theft and dumping, graffiti and criminal damage of signs, and damage to the Sand Martin Bank at Otter Lake, which contained active nests at the time. 

We’re working with the police in many ways, including on an appeal for information regarding the Sand Martin Bank. We’re also working with local people to explain the work we do, and other stakeholders to look for solutions and funding to improve security and infrastructure on site. Despite this unfortunate uptick in incidents, we are not discouraged from our objectives and will continue to improve the site for wildlife and people.

Upgrading Visitor Information Signs

We’re nearing the end of a project to improve the signs across Nene Wetlands. The final stage, to produce and install new entrance signs, will hopefully be completed by early Spring. Some will be installed before September, when we revert to vegetation management for the Autumn and Winter, and the remaining signs will be installed around April time. This should improve the visitor experience by providing more relevant information and a clearer picture of what the Nature Reserve is, and where its boundaries lie (see main picture).

Paths and Bridges

Following 2 winters of extreme flooding, our paths are not in an ideal condition. A contractor will be coming in in August to repair the worst of the damage to the Greenway. The funding for this comes from a fixed pot of money that we will exhaust in the next year or two. Longer term, the hope is we can do more repairs ourselves, though this is dependent on us having an agricultural tractor in order to move the stone (plans for this below)

Our bridges are surveyed on rotation for their structural integrity – though a small pedestrian bridge on the Nene Way (https://w3w.co/shifts.fantastic.bloomers) has revealed some issues prior to the survey! Whilst still safe to use now, a stone has dislodged from the surface revealing some rusty joists that will need replacing over the next year or so. We’re looking into options for this so we can keep the right of way open to the public with a cost effective, long term solution.

Grazing

Everyone’s favourite employees – the cattle and sheep – are working hard again this summer. Unfortunately due to the drought, we have more mouths than grass in many areas, so we are having to get creative with how we graze the reserve. The fencing off of the field near Cettis Lake (https://w3w.co/confirms.staining.correct)  and the field south of Lodge Way (https://w3w.co/privately.caravans.rods) has given us some additional flexibility – though the perfect solution still alludes us. As we get more extreme weather due to climate change, we’re going to have to be ever more innovative.

Future Plans

The above represents a small part of a complex, delicately choreographed dance. Sometimes it feels like we’re duelling a gladiator (or several – anti social behaviour, climate change, and limited resources being a few of them) whilst trying to get the steps of the dance right. But, we have some plans for future projects that will greatly enhance our ability to get work done and ever improve the site for wildlife and people.

1. Improved storage, and an agricultural tractor. This is currently the biggest barrier to progress that we have. A tractor will enable us to do far more in terms of habitat and infrastructure management – cutting and collecting path edge vegetation to improve the wildflower assemblage, moving stone to improve paths and moving other materials around the reserve, cutting grassland to achieve the short structure that so many of our key species thrive on… The possibilities are vast; the flexibility we’ll have (and will need) in a changing climate, and the long term cost saving we’ll make versus employing contractors to do these jobs are just two of many things that a tractor will give us.

    

2. Wildflower restoration. Wildflowers are lovely things to see, and improve the visitor experience, but they’re also a keystone for biodiversity. We’re working with consultants at Emorsgate to come up with a plan.

    

3. Improved habitat for SPA and SSSI target species. Reprofiling and vegetation removal works around Dragonfly Lake over the last few years have been very successful. A couple of examples - Lapwing numbers in winter have gone from handfuls to hundreds, and this summer, Common Tern juveniles are up by more than eight times – from 1-3 a year for the last 3 years to around 24 this summer. But this is just the beginning. There are plans for more tree work before the end of 2025, and there is scope for much more reprofiling work. Also, we’re in the early stages of a water control project for the area. Controlling the water – holding water in spring and slowly releasing it over summer – would dramatically advance the habitat, with the potential to encourage waders like Lapwing, Redshank, Snipe, and Little Ringed Plover to breed. Flooding also helps suppress vegetation growth, helping give us the short vegetation needed over winter for key wildfowl species like wigeon.

    

4. Improved birdwatching infrastructure. As the Irthlingborough end of the site continues to improve for birds, it will be more attractive to birdwatchers. More birdwatchers means more eyes on the ground – this will help us ‘catch’ rarer birds that visit the site. More eyes also means more potential witnesses to any antisocial behaviour. A few screens in key areas will make birdwatching more effective and pleasurable to visitors.

All of these things are in their infancy and none are funded yet, but they all represent key steps forward for the management of the reserve.

Exciting times are ahead!