– IAN CARTER (www.accessiblewebsites.co.uk)

www.alerter.co.uk

Recruiting for the Broads Heritage Skills
Heritage Lottery Funded Training Bursary Placements

The Broads Authority, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is recruiting five individuals who are interested in learning new countryside skills as trainee reed and sedge cutters.

The project aims to provide individuals with practical experience and skills required to work as a Commercial Reed & Sedge Cutter or to obtain employment in the environmental conservation sector. We offer a combination of practical work based training combined with formal training in a College to work towards NVQ Level 2 Environmental Conservation. In addition we offer specific skills based accredited training to enhance your employment opportunities for the future.

Trainees receive a full Training bursary for 83 weeks. During this time trainees will work with professional Commercial Reed & Sedge Cutters and gain experience in the work place as well as the formal training at College in identifying species, habitat management and ecology. The work is physically hard and involves working on sites that are isolated and difficult to access, these facts must be considered before you apply.



Further details along with an application form are available from the
Bursary Application Form (pdf document) [455kb] which can be downloaded here.

All applications and any queries must be made to the Broads Heritage Skills Project Team and applications must arrive by 27 July 2008.

Interviews will take place during August and successful candidates will start in September 2008.

With all the hustle and bustle of life, when you work out a schedule for the day to ensure everything will get done, do you ever stop and wonder why you do it? Of course you have a duty to your family, the community and lots of other people and much of it is out of love but do we derive real pleasure from it all?

Everyone has to have incentives of some kind to motivate and spur them on to certain goals. Many of these are laid down by Society while others, depending on our circumstances, we set for ourselves.

Whoever we are, from the day we are born we are caught up in a community that puts us under obligations from which there is no escape. No matter what ambitions we might have, most of us look for a way to happiness, contentment and satisfaction both for ourselves and our loved ones.

We all have our reasons for doing what we do but what if we look beyond our own personal targets and achievements? Is there a reason for our being here in the World as we know it or was our creation just coincidence and part of evolution.

If there is a purpose for our presence here, who knows what it is? Religious bodies all have their own individual and varied explanations but they can’t all be right. No matter how great we might become or how much good we do in our lifetime, how long in the history of the Universe will it be effective or remembered?

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT
IDEAS FOR SUMMER

AVOID DISTURBANCE TO NESTING BIRDS
It is important to delay management of field boundaries and margins until at least September when you can be confident that birds have finished rearing late broods. Mowing margins or trimming hedges during breaks before harvest or when weather prevents harvesting can be very damaging for local bird populations.


BEWARE OF NESTING BIRDS AND LEVERETS IF YOU CUT POLLEN AND NECTAR MIXTURES
Pollen and nectar mixtures are often cut in June to promote late-flowering (cutting half of each area to 20cm in June is a requirement of the English Entry Level Stewardship scheme), but try to check that there are no nesting birds or leverets in the mixtures before cutting and seek a derogation to avoid cutting if these are present. An alternative for future years is to cut this half regularly through April until June so that it does not form suitable nesting cover.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR INSECTICIDE USE IN SUMMER
June is the peak month for rearing chicks in the bird calendar – many of these are dependent on insects to provide the chicks with a high-protein diet for healthy development. Adopt the Voluntary Initiative best practice guidance on use of insecticides:

• Know your farm's potential for pest attack; field records are essential in this. Assess the implications of cropping sequences and likely attacks.
• Where possible, take full advantage of varietal resistance.
• Use cultivation techniques and sowing dates to deter attack.
• Use seed treatments where available if significant damage is expected.
• Monitor crops regularly and base management decisions on the results.
• Make absolutely sure a treatment is really needed; treat only when pest thresholds has been exceeded.
• Wherever possible, use insecticides specific to a target pest. Try especially to avoid using broad-spectrum products when the young of birds are dependent on insects for food.
• Apply treatments as accurately and as close to ideal timings as possible.
• Use buffer zones and LERAPs to protect sensitive wildlife habitats and water courses.

DELAY SETASIDE MANAGEMENT
Any rotational set-aside that has not been sprayed yet will be providing important seed food for birds and nesting habitat for skylarks. Does the weed spectrum present problems for following crops? Consult your agronomist for the latest timing to achieve effective control. Non-rotational set-aside should remain uncut until at least mid-July (preferably August) to protect nesting birds, and up to 25% can be left uncut each year which will boost beneficial insects.

IS THERE A NEED FOR BRACKEN CONTROL?
Small stands of bracken, especially in upland situations, can provide useful habitat for some nesting birds, such as twite. However, large blocks of dense bracken are of little use for wildlife. Seek advice on whether spraying, cutting or rolling is the best management for your situation. Cutting and rolling will put ground-nesting birds at risk at this time of year. Spraying can be done later in the year, when the bracken is in full frond.

BIRDS NESTING IN HAY AND SILAGE MEADOWS
Several ground nesting birds that require cover are attracted to fields shut up for hay or silage. For these birds to breed successfully, they need sufficient time to complete incubation and for chicks to be able to be moved out of the field before mowing. The length of time needed will vary between species, but will generally be at least six weeks. Ground nesting birds are most commonly found in hay meadows as the grassland management generally results in vegetation that is less dense and cut at a more mature stage.

In fields where waders (snipe, lapwing, redshank, curlew) breed, leave damp hollows/corners uncut as unfledged chicks are most likely to use these areas.

DELAY CUTTING FLOWER-RICH MEADOWS UNTIL AFTER HERBS HAVE SET SEED
Hay meadows that are the product of traditional, low intensity farming support a rich variety of grasses and flowers. Such meadows are now a rare and irreplaceable habitat. Try to maintain the long-established management practices that have created these special areas.

TOPPING
Topping of pernicious weeds may need to be carried out relatively early in the season, but try to cut areas that are not as urgent as late as possible, if at all. Topping reduces the availability of seeds and the taller areas that many insects need to complete their lifecycles and over-winter. Always leave some areas uncut, even if only around edges of fields.

If these management ideas pose any questions, then post them on the discussion forum on www.farmwildlife.info to get your answers.

– IAN CARTER (www.accessiblewebsites.co.uk)

www.alerter.co.uk

The Royal Norfolk Show is the largest two-day agricultural show in the country. In 2008 we are celebrating the centenary of the granting of our Royal Charter and therefore plan a bumper Show for our visitors.

This will include spectacular Grand Ring displays by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and breathtaking performances by the Bolddog Lings Freestyle Motocross team.

Sand levels are to be topped up at the popular Suffolk beach resort.

Natural conditions have been seen as the cause for the gradual erosion of the beaches either side of Southwold's pier, Waveney District Council said.

Now the council is beginning work to build up levels between groynes by pushing back material that has been lost into the sea.

"We have had problems which have seen the beaches lose their sand," Councillor Ken Sale said.

"These works will ensure that they are ready for the summer season," he added.

By rebuilding the levels the council said it hopefully would encourage extra beach material to be deposited naturally.

Areas of the beach are due to be closed between each pair of groynes at a time.

"The tide cycle must be right to complete this replenishment and we have agreed that action needs to be taken on the first available tides," Mr Sale said.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk

The crew at Lowestoft lifeboat station have gained some new personnel this year.

Paul Gray is the station's new Lifeboat Sea Safety Officer, responsible for local safety and prevention activity including promoting the Sea Check service, giving demonstrations to local sailing clubs and marinas and recruiting other volunteer sea safety advisors.

Meanwhile, Lifeboat Operations Manager Richard Musgrove joined at the start of the year. Richard is the Deputy Harbourmaster in Lowestoft and a pilot in the harbour responsible for escorting large ships into the port.

Richard has a long history with the RNLI, having first joined the Lowestoft crew in 1988. He has also served as Deputy Launching Authority in Lowestoft and Harwich.

Richard says: ‘I am proud to be the Lifeboat Operations Manager at Lowestoft. The town still has an important tie to the sea and the lifeboat station plays a pivotal role in keeping the people of Lowestoft and those that visit safe.'