Double Trouble for Cornwall’s Wildlife

Our changing climate is now the biggest threat facing Cornwall’s wildlife both on land and in the sea. Some species simply will not survive the direct effects of hotter drier summers, wetter spring and autumn periods and increased storminess. When you add in the indirect effects, like nature’s complicated clock being thrown out of time, and the impacts of invasive alien species competing with native species, Cornwall’s wildlife is in double trouble.

The good news is that with your support we can make a difference. We need to give Cornwall’s wildlife room to move and adapt to the changes that are happening. This means we need to work at a landscape scale to link our nature reserves up with other areas of habitat and work with landowners to encourage them to create a wildlife-rich countryside between the reserves. The map below highlights the county’s most important wildlife areas. We need to focus on getting these into good condition and linking them together.

Landscape-scale conservation

Thinking big - we need to give species and habitats room to move and adapt to our changing climate. This means we need to think bigger than individual nature reserves and must link habitats across whole landscapes. We are already involved in landscape scale projects aiming to restore heathland in West Penwith, the Lizard and in the mid-Cornwall Moors. These projects involve habitat creation and management on and between our Nature Reserves. To be involved in this work and develop complex funding bids to lead projects of our own we need resources. We cannot do this without your help.

County Wildlife Sites

County Wildlife Sites cover roughly 10% of the land area of Cornwall and form crucial refuges for wildlife. Despite being of county importance for wildlife these sites, often privately owned, have no legal protection. Our County Wildlife Sites Ecologist visits these sites and gives free advice to landowners
on how they can best manage the site for wildlife. The threats of climate change mean it has never been so important to get our County Wildlife Sites into good condition.

Monitoring the impacts

New fish species recorded - sixteen species of warm water fish never seen before in Cornwall have been detected in the last 30 years including the smooth pufferfish and flying gurnard. The grey triggerfish is a Mediterranean species which used to be rarely seen in Cornish waters. These fish are now commonly encountered by divers and fishermen in many areas of Cornwall and may also be breeding off our coast. This suggests that changes in our climate are affecting distribution. Cornwall Wildlife Trust records the occurrence of unusual, warm water species through Seasearch diving surveys. We provide training for recreational divers in how to record marine species on their dives.

Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas are the key to ensuring our oceans are prepared to cope with climate change. Within Marine Protected Areas wildlife and habitats would be protected from damaging activities. Allowing some areas to recover from human impacts will give marine wildlife the best chance of adapting to change. Our seas currently lack this vital protection and Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s work is vital to ensuring they are put in place. Cornwall Wildlife Trust is campaigning for the development of a network of Marine Protected Areas through the Marine Bill, working closely with local communities. Through our marine survey work we collect essential information. for example the location of cold water corals and eel grass beds which can be important for sea horses, to aid the identification of sites which are in most need of protection.

Development Planning

There are numerous developments planned for Cornwall including new roads, urban expansion, wind farms, marinas and mineral extraction. It is crucial that Cornwall Wildlife Trust is engaged in the planning process to help ensure that developments will not lead to further fragmentation of important habitats. Last year we responded to over 200 planning consultations. Almost 14,000 new homes and associated roads and industrial development are planned for the county in the next 20 years. The pressure of this new development, together with the threats of climate change means our input to the planning process is more vital than ever. You can help us to continue this crucial work into the future.

Alien marine invaders

We now have many alien (non-native) marine species in Cornish waters. Warmer sea temperatures improve their chances of establishing themselves and extending their ranges northwards. The slipper limpet for example, originally from the East coast of America, is now found all around the Cornish coast. These aliens are becoming a severe pest to traditional oyster fisheries as they compete with native species for space and food. Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s long term rocky shore monitoring project on St. George's Island off Looe will help us to detect alien species that have become established. It will also highlight any changes in the natural rocky shore species distribution caused by sea level rise and warmer waters.

Dormice

The impact warmer, wetter winters will have on hibernating dormice is unknown. There is concern that milder winters will mean that dormice will come out of hibernation earlier in spring before there is enough food available. We currently monitor dormice numbers and manage habitats to benefit dormice on our Nature Reserves. With your help we plan to assess the state of the population at additional sites across the county to get a clearer picture of how the dormice are being affected by climate change. Only when we have more information can we focus habitat management on a bigger scale to ensure good supplies of flowers and berries for dormice to eat.

Changes in dolphin, basking shark and sunfish distribution

We believe that the distribution of dolphins, basking sharks and sunfish is changing with rising sea temperatures. These animals are potential indicators of climate change and could tell us more about what is happening in our oceans. For example the ocean sunfish used to be a summer visitor but we now have records of them in almost every month of the year. Cornwall Wildlife Trust collects records of marine megafauna through our Seaquest Southwest project. The information gathered will enable us to detect any changes in marine megafauna distribution. With your help we can continue this important recording into the future as sea temperatures rise.

Download full details of this campaign as a PDF file (450kb)

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• Make donation on-line now, using our 'Make a donation' button. This will take you straight through to our Paypal payment service, where you can use your Paypal account or pay by debit/credit card.

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Thank you for your support