Royal Mail Stamps, Endangered Mammals and Conservation in London – all in one blog!

Conservation and rescue efforts are helping several of the animals featured on Royal Mail’s set of ten Mammals stamps issued on 13 April. They include otters, water voles, hedgehogs and bats.

“Mammals” is Royal Mail’s fourth Action for Species stamps series. It turns the spotlight on the UK’s mammal population and their struggle for survival in a changing world.

All 10 featured mammals, including the seemingly prevalent hedgehog, are the subject of conservation programmes. Their decline has caused by pollution, the growth in roads and housing developments, and in some cases, the introduction of non-native species. The UK has become increasingly aware of the threats to our mammal populations. Many now benefit from legal protection including otters, bats, polecats and since 2008 water voles too. Together with active conservation measures endangered mammals are showing encouraging signs of recovery.
By 1990 water vole populations had declined by 90 per cent. This was one of the most rapid and dramatic declines of any British wild mammal and occurred across the country. This huge decline over the last 50 years has been due to damage caused to riversides and predation by the American mink – a species that was introduced to this country for its fur. Nowadays, though, mink control and improved management of waterside habitats are encouraging their survival.

The Biodiversity Action Plan for London includes the water vole as a key species. The London Wildlife Trust's Water Vole Project started in March 2001 and is dedicated to the conservation of this species throughout Greater London. This project has had initial success and has contributed to London being a stronghold for this rare mammal.

In Greater London water vole distribution is sparse, however the project has identified a number of important locations where water voles still thrive. The most significant populations can be found in dykes in the marshes at Rainham and Crayford to the east of London. Other healthy populations live on rivers such as the Ingrebourne and Beam in the Havering area, the Crane, Colne and Frays in West London and waterways in the Lea Valley, North London.

The RSPB Reserve at Rainham, Wennington and Aveley Marshes is a key national site for the water vole. A united effort between the London Wildlife Trust and RSPB Rainham has helped to arrest the decline of the water vole population at Rainham.

In 2001, 147 voles bred in captivity at Wildwood, Kent were released by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) at their wetland centre in Barnes. Two further releases were subsequently carried out in order to mimic a natural immigration and diversify the gene pool. The water vole population at the London Wetland Centre has expanded successfully and the ultimate aim is to connect this population with others across London to ensure the species’ long-term survival in the region.

London Wildlife Trust’s London Water Vole Project also involves working with landowners, developers and relevant authorities throughout London to protect, enhance or create water-side habitat where water voles are living. Education is also important to help people recognise differences between water voles and rats to avoid the accidental destruction of colonies through pest control.

Otters, also featured on a stamp, are a rare site in London because of farming chemical seepage and road and housing developments. However during water vole surveys the London Wildlife Trust has found recent evidence of an otter at the River Wraysbury at Harmondsworth Moor, near Heathrow and at Denham Lock Woods, on the River Colne, Denham. The only two other fairly recent sightings in London were at Redbridge in 2002 and Enfield in 2003.

Featured on the new Royal Mail stamps are two types of bat; the brown long-eared bat and greater horseshoe bat. Over the last 50 years, Britain’s bats have suffered severely from disturbance to vital breeding and hibernating places as well as from a lack of insect food caused by changes in land management and pesticides.

Conservation efforts to protect and increase roosting sites, appropriate habitat management and raising public awareness are helping to stabilise and increase bat numbers. Bats can be seen in all of the London Boroughs, especially the tiny pipistrelle which manages to hang on even in the more built up areas of central London.

The sculptural Berkeley bat house opened last year at WWT’s London Wetland Centre in Barnes. The architects, Jorgen Tandberg and Yo Murata were chosen from an open competition to design a building of aesthetic and environmental excellence, using sustainable materials, which offers a home to bats and an educational visitor attraction for people.

The bat house offers a dry roosting area for pipistrelles and a damper area underneath the building for Daubenton’s bats - the species also known as the water bat – which only roost above water. Water is crucial for providing food for bats. The London Wetland Centre is important for the number of different bat species found there and also for the sheer number of soprano pipistrelles – the newest species of mammal to be identified in the UK.

More than 100 local ‘bat groups’ have been formed throughout Britain. These groups assist with the monitoring of existing bat colonies and the discovery and protection of new ones. Special bat boxes have been put up to provide secure roosting sites. Underground hibernation sites, including caves and old mine tunnels, are also being protected from disturbances by fitting steel grilles over the entrance. These activities are all co-ordinated by the Bat Conservation Trust, which runs various projects and initiatives, as well as operating the National Bat Helpline.

Many people do not realise that hedgehogs are in significant decline which is why that mammal is also featured on the stamps and has been included in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The number of urban hedgehogs is falling with more gardens covered over for parking, or flower beds and lawns replaced with low maintenance decking and patios, and with every green space that is developed for housing or commercial use. Urban hedgehogs have fewer places to forage, and their routes are blocked by fences, new and busier roads and denser housing.

So as you place your stamp on your next letter – appreciate the beauty of the wildlife pictured and the need to ensure we don’t lose these mammals for ever.


You can hear interviews with many of the UKs leading conservation organisations on PASSION for the PLANET

Nature through all your senses

Nature is without doubt beautiful, but if using your eyes is the only way you experience it, then you’re missing out on about 4/5th of it.

I decided to put my five senses to the test during a walk along the Meewasin River Valley in Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada.

This delightful walk is accessible from the centre of town and my starting point was the majestic Delta Bessborough Hotel just a few minutes walk from the river path...

My eyes soak up the beauty of the river, sunlight glinting off the water, surrounded by the golds and reds of the trees as they begin to turn to autumn. As I walk I’m accompanied by the honking symphony of Canada Geese. I can feel the warm sunshine on my skin and a slight breeze mussing with my hair. My lungs fill with air that smells fresh, not city stale.

As the trail continues I enter a wooded area and the light changes to a speckled dance along the path. A rustling in the undergrowth delivers my very first sighting of a wild chipmunk.

Something I would have missed if I hadn’t been using my ears as well as my eyes.

As I walk along I can feel the leaves brushing my arms and the subtle change in temperature as I move between patches of sunlight.

Further along the sounds of the geese are drowned out by the rushing water of the weir, where I stand soaking up the sunshine and admiring the grace of fishing cormorants. Pelicans can often be spotted here but I’m not lucky enough to see one.

The insistent cheep-cheep of small birds alerts me to their presence and as I stand motionless on the path they flitter around me - tantalisingly close. I have no idea what species they are, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment.

I start walking again breathing in the light scent of clean air, vegetation and slightly damp soil. And then I am stopped in my tracks by a glorious yellow furry caterpillar with large black fur “spines”.

He is soft and fuzzy to the touch (although I have been warned in the past that you shouldn’t touch them as they can cause allergic reactions – but it seems worth the risk to me).

As I emerge from the trees I am confronted by jewel-like berries hanging from the bushes; bright reds and oranges. The berries are firm but soft to the touch, the leaves cool and smooth and the nearby tree trunks rough and hard.

It’s time to cross the river by means of wooden bridge high above the rushing water and on the other side my senses are rewarded with a whole new set of experiences.

I am now in open fields surrounded by a sea of golden grass. The sun is strong and I can feel perspiration forming on my back. As I walk along I can hear the drone of grasshoppers and the swish of the breeze in the grass. Then a strange clicking sound rushing past my ears alerts me to a very large grasshopper-cum-moth. Over an inch long, as it sits on the ground it looks like a grasshopper with folded moth wings, but when it flies (not jumps) it looks more like a dark moth with white wing tips. Its wings beat very fast and its flight is quite short and erratic. As I move along the path dozens of them dance in front of me marking my way.

The scent here is drier and faintly tinged with grass. I then suddenly I am surrounded by a thousand gossamer winged fairies as the breeze releases the floating seeds of the field thistles.
As I head back along the eastern side of the river I dive deep into a densely wooded area with tiny streams crossing the path. I almost trip over a small polecat – who looks as surprised as I do to see him there!

Its quiet here – the odd rustle in the undergrowth, the call of small birds, the tinkle of water cascading down, the leaves moving in the breeze. I breathe deeply and feel my lungs filling with cool air. The sun is hot on my neck. I feel calm and full of life as I soak up the beauty of nature, in all its forms and am thankful that I have five senses with which to experience such a wonderful place.

However you may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned taste – well, I’ll be honest, the main taste I enjoyed on my walk was the memories of the delicious cinnamon, maple syrup and cranberry French toast I ate for breakfast.

Perspiring for the Planet

Writing my new book, ‘The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment’ saw me undertake several remarkable spiritual adventures. All of these were performed in the pursuit of a higher wisdom and deeper spiritual enlightenment. Each experience aided my understanding, and in turn added amusement for my very modern readers. My personal favourite exploit was when I took part in a South American style Sweatlodge on the banks of Lake Windermere. It was an intriguing trip, for I am essentially a modern girl who ardently supports ‘Passion for the Planet’s’ (PFTP) love of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

I drove alone to an empty Scout camp in the middle of nowhere, where I met Matt. Matt was a total stranger to me and was carrying an axe. Matt directed me into the woods, and whilst I knew that wandering into the woods, with a stranger, carrying what amounted to a lethal weapon was foolhardy, off I trotted anyway! Matt, of course, was a gent, however he did make me clear a hole in the ground to put his Grandfathers in! Whilst I did this he gathered several twigs and amazingly fashioned a small tent that would house eight persons, plus a hole in the middle stuffed full of magnificently hot rocks aka ‘Grandfathers’. For those of you afraid of a two-minute stint in the sauna, look away now!

Native Americans have undertaken Sweatlodge rituals for centuries. They are a purifying and challenging example of traditional spiritual pursuits. Not only do they cleanse your soul and test your staying power, they also heighten the senses and bring about closeness to the natural world. For me the four-hour experience was physically and emotionally difficult. With a variety of symptoms ranging between the torturous, to absolute bliss. The hair on my body felt like it would sizzle and melt, whilst the air was thick and unbreathable. I felt I would melt into the ground and veered mentally between joy and panicked desperation. By the end I crawled out of the tent, flesh matted with mud as though I had spent a day in the trenches. However with sweat soaked eyes Lake Windermere sparkled like it were supporting the floatation of a million diamonds. I experienced a true sense of peace, and felt distinctly connected to the planet and all life upon it.

Shamanic people worldwide feel a deep affinity with Pachamama (Mother Earth). They saw nature to be our equal, and believed that humans are just one part of a greater ecosystem. They got it right really. Without being privy to our satellite systems or eco-knowledge, Shamans knew that the abuse of the planet would bring us naught but trouble. They knew it and they truly respected it. Nature to them was a stronger force than any number of intelligent human beings. They courted nature, living in it and loving it. Somewhere along the lines our society moved away from pagan earth-worshipping principles, and we all got greedy. Leading of course to our wasteful, ‘have it all’ consumer culture.

Shamans were the original environmentalists; their simple lives and naturalistic based beliefs could teach us modern humans a great deal. A Sweatlodge is a fabulous way to experience this connection to nature and to help forge a relationship with your natural self. It was good for my soul and in tandem I rediscovered the shamanic part of me that adores the world we live in and the creatures and flora that reside upon it. For anyone with a passion for the planet and a spiritual inclination, no matter how small, perspiring for Pachamama is something I highly recommend!

Sweatlodge undertaken with Continuum Self Development in The Lake District, UK . Read more about Shamanism, Sweatlodges and other alternative spiritualities in Alice Grist’s book, “The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment”. Alice will be at Graceland’s Yard, Kensall Green on 1st October for her Little London Book Launch. From 18.30 onward.