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Oh great Iove got GCNs on my land!

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Mark_b View Drop Down
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    Posted: 18 Aug 2009 at 1:24am

Interested in everyones opinion on the positives of finding gcns for the landowner?

SWWARG are currently doing a lot of survey work on amphibians in our area, in particular farmland

It would appear most farmers dont know a lot about amphibians but they know the words 'great crested newt' mean trouble

Obviously we ask permission to survey their ponds, then go have a look if granted and afterwoods go see or call them to tell them what we have found

Some land owners are thrilled and ask how they can make it better, but most farmers are not keen at all. They are just trying to make a living and want to be able to do what they want to their land (a fair point I say). Most dont care about biodiversity and endangered species, so how can you make finding GCNs into a great event?!

p.s. In a dream world we think a large scale scheme should be set up to reward land owners who have and look after 'important' species, or does this already exist?

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will View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Aug 2009 at 11:42am
Good and thorny question !  Some ponds may be eligible for stewardship type awards I guess - can their local FWAG advise ? 

At the end of the day, most farmers like to say their role includes custodians of the countryside / nature - so they're lucky to have such impressive animals on their land.  In my experience, if you can actually show them a male GCN in full breeding dress in a tank they do often come round. 

Also it could be worth emphasising that GCN will avoid land which is already being actively / intensively farmed (if it's arable) so their impact on the running of the farm would be less than they might imagine.  Of course if they want to plough up a rough grass and scrub field or fill in a pond, it's a different question entirely.

I was once escorted off a farm at shotgun point for telling the farmer he had GCN

Cheers

Will
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark_b Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Aug 2009 at 11:53am

Taken from GCN Species Action Plan ....

Proposed actions with lead agencies

Policy and legislation
Consider expanding incentives for pond creation and management on farmland under the Countryside Stewardship and agri-environment schemes

Site safeguard and management
Seek to ensure that key sites for the great crested newt in Wales are safeguarded, considering SSSI notification where necessary to secure

Does anyone know of any progress?

edit// Also it appears the environmental stewardship scheme is available in Wales, but most of the details are on the natural england site, confusing



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Mark_b View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark_b Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 12:34am
On the subject of GCN, when does everyone stop seeing them in ponds? We are still bumping into a couple every so often!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote herpetologic2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 9:36am
Hi Mark

crested newts will visit ponds throughout the spring and
summer months. The breeding season is when they are most
obvious while in the summer they are in deeper water
looking for food etc

On the GCN on land - you just have to be open to land
owners and explain that gcn's would not result in
problems if things stay the same - ploughing already
regularly ploughed fields etc

However ploughed land in some parts of the country have
been very productive for newts. In Basingstoke it is
reported that over 3,000 newts were collected from a
field which was ploughed the year before!

Building a working relationship with the owner is key and
getting them to consult the group would be the best way
to ensure that newts are looked after.

There will be people who do not like great crested newts
due to the perceived problems that they create for
landowners when they want to build a new barn, remove
rough habitats for further agriculture etc of course
there may be a problem - each case needs to be assessed
on whether it would affect the status of the newt
population - in order to do this you need to have up to
date surveys - which is what ARG's can provide -

The survey information can be sent via the landowner to
DEFRA/CCW etc so that their environmental stewardship
plans can add these animals to the list -

There is an incentive for building ponds, creating
habitats within farmland etc

It is not just cresties all the widespread reptiles and
the common toad are all BAP species so these would count
to any score to a farm going into environmental
stewardship etc

Report your sightings to the Record Pool http://arguk.org/recording
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote herpetologic2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 9:37am
If you have farmers who are really keen go with them and
try not to waste time with the sceptical ones - hopefully
they will come round but you have to put your efforts into
schemes which would give the most benefit to the newt
populations that you find

J
Report your sightings to the Record Pool http://arguk.org/recording
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark_b Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Aug 2009 at 9:09pm
New Species action plan has been released for GCN and other species ...

http://www.arc-trust.org/species/saps.php
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