Ecologists from the
Environment Agency
have discovered a thriving colony of water
voles, one of Britain's most threatened
mammals, near Darfield in South Yorkshire.
Evidence of the voles
was discovered in July 2009 during a routine
inspection of Little Houghton Marsh, an
Environment Agency flood-defence washland.
The ecologists then did a more detailed
survey, which revealed a colony of around
20 of the animals.
"The discovery
of water voles at Little Houghton Marsh
is particularly important, as the site is
due to be developed into a wetland reserve
early in 2010, and the plans will now also
incorporate water vole-friendly features,"
said Andrew Virtue, a biodiversity officer
for the Environment Agency.
The current plans aim
to provide habitat for a range of important
species, including lapwing, grass snake
and some rare invertebrates.
"None of the works
will affect the principal function of the
washland site - to help protect the people
of Darfield from flooding", says Andrew.
"All the excess soil from the works
will be removed from site, so there will
be no loss of flood storage capacity.”
The site is separated
from the River Dearne by a large embankment
and so may have escaped the attention of
mink, which are probably the single biggest
threat to water vole and have been cited
as a major reason for their dramatic decline
in recent years.
The results of the vole
survey will also be fed into the Riparian
Mammals Project, a partnership between the
Environment Agency, Natural England, the
South Yorkshire Biodiversity Forum, the
RSPB, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Barnsley
Biodiversity Trust.
The project aims to
survey potential water vole sites away from
the Dearne and identify new potential sites
for wetland creation.
Environment Agency and businesses work together
to tackle climate change
Methane gas emissions from closed and operational
landfill sites contribute to an estimated
3% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions
and methane is a very potent greenhouse
gas. It is over twenty times more effective
over short time scales than carbon dioxide
at trapping heat within the earth’s atmosphere.
In its 5 year strategic
plan, the Environment Agency has included
the need to ‘act to reduce climate change
and its consequences’ as a priority work
area. Working with waste managers to reduce
methane emissions from landfill sites is
one way of achieving this.
Environment Agency officers
from the South Essex Pollution Prevention
and Control team have done just that. In
partnership with a local landfill operator
a significant reduction in methane emissions
has been achieved.
Environment Agency’s
climate change specialist, Keesje Crawford-Avis
said. “Evidence suggests that we need to
engage people close to home if we are going
to succeed in changing attitudes to climate
change”.
“We need people to understand that climate
change is happening here and now, that it
will affect all of us, and that there are
things we and businesses can do to help
reduce our personal contribution to climate
change”.
Veolia Environmental
Services Ltd, the recycling and waste management
company which operates a landfill site in
South Ockendon has always accepted the environmental
need to maximise methane capture. As part
of its ongoing programme for landfill gas
management, the company installed 79 ‘sacrificial’
gas wells into an active area of the landfill.
The new gas wells are ensuring methane is
extracted from this area until such time
as final waste levels are achieved and permanent
wells can be installed.
It is estimated that
the new gas wells will capture an additional
3700 tonnes of methane in a year.
Paul Levett, Deputy
Chief Executive, Veolia Environmental Services
(UK) Plc said. “We are committed to promoting
reduction, reuse and recycling and supporting
energy recovery both as a means to reduce
the consumption of fossil fuels and to cut
greenhouse gases. The installation of these
wells at our south Essex site will maximise
landfill gas capture, significantly reduce
methane emissions and generate sustainable
energy.
