The water vole is heading back to Kielder

The water vole is a step nearer being reintroduced back into the Kielder Forest in Northumberland thanks to a £40,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The money will go towards the Forestry Commission and Tyne Rivers Trust’s ongoing work to improve rivers in Kielder Forest so they are ready for the water voles. Once this preparation work is completed, an application for further funding will be made for the second phase of the project: to reintroduce water voles to the Kielder area.

Kevin O’Hara, Senior Conservation Officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said: “Building on many years' success in otter conservation, it is right that we now focus on the water vole and its current plight. After a long decline, this funding gives us real hope of reversing the situation and bringing this charismatic little animal back to our riverbanks where it belongs”.

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Future of New Forest National Park secured by huge grant

Aim is to make the forest more robust

November 2013. The future conservation of the New Forest National Park’s unique landscape, wildlife and heritage has been given a huge boost thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

A £2.9m HLF Landscape Partnership grant has been earmarked for the National Park to restore lost habitats, develop forest skills and inspire a new generation to champion the care for the New Forest.

The seven-year New Forest Landscape Partnership will be led by the New Forest National Park Authority and 10 key partners, who will contribute their own funding to increase the pot to £4.5m.

The aim is to make the forest more robust and able to withstand the modern-day pressures such as trends in agriculture, climate change and increasing demands from a growing population that is less connected to the countryside.

The New Forest is one of only two areas in the southeast to receive funding this year and only one of nine across the country. Covering just 569 square kilometres, the New Forest is the smallest national park in the UK, although more than 50% of this is accessible to the public, including 325km of Public Rights of Way.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/new-forest-future.html