Wildlife

I was just sitting here eating my breakfast and looked up to see a small flock of migrating red kites flying over head.( I needed to refer to "the bird book" to establish that information). Yesterday lunch time we watched a buzzard catch and enjoy his lunch in the allee.

I listen every week to a radio 4 programme called Saving Species. It does take a world wide view but predominantly discusses British issues of habitat loss, creating wildlife havens etc. A couple of weeks ago I felt moved to write to the programme telling them how living here we take things like butterflies, red sqirrels, barn owls etc. for granted. I suppose at that minute I just needed to say how lucky and privileged we feel. (You have all heard this so many times that I must have subconciously deduced that there was another anonymous voice out there with which I could communicate).

Fine, I had got this off my chest. So you can imagine my total surprise when I received an email from the Presenter explaining some of the reasons why wildlife is so much more abundant 'chez nous', followed up by a thank you from the production assistant. Do they not receive many missives from their listeners? I really appreciate that Brett Westwood took the time to reply to my musings and print his email below.

Dear Sue,
Many thanks for getting in touch and for your observations. There's no doubt that parts of Europe including France that have been less intensively farmed and have a much richer wildlife. Land use is definitely part of the reason, but some of it is for climatic reasons too. As we head south in Europe the number of species increases, and one of the pleasures for me of visiting western France is finding insects and plants which have only a toe-hold in the UK, or aren't there at all: praying mantis, lady orchids, re-backed shrikes…the list goes on.
What France does have, especially in the west and south, is a less intensive farming economy and some substantial areas of forest, heath and wetland. Here in the UK we have begun to appreciate what we've lost in the past by re-creating larger areas of wetland into which we're reintroducing cranes…they're also colonising naturally and numbers are at their highest for several centuries. Red squirrel conservation is now entering a new phase , boosting populations and keeping the greys at bay. So projects are under way, but there’s a long way to go! The biggest challenge is to create landscapes which are resilient, and which offer lots of niches for wildlife…that's what some areas of France still have, but even here they are still reducing.
All the best and thanks for listening
Brett
Brett Westwood
Presenter, Saving Species
NHU Radio
BBC Bristol