Minsmere Celebrates 60 Years of Conservation
Avocet (photo: Steve Round).
The RSPB's flagship nature reserve, Minsmere on the Suffolk coast, is celebrating 60 years of saving some of the country's most endangered birds from extinction.
The site, which is a haven for a stunning array of plants and animals, was first leased to the RSPB in April 1947, the same year that Avocets - extinct in the UK for 100 years - were found breeding there. This year is also the 60th anniversary of their return.
Ever since Minsmere has provided a lifeline to birds on the brink of disappearing from the UK. Avocets, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and Bearded Tits all owe their current success to the reserve and to the work of its staff and volunteers.
By the 1840s the Avocet had become extinct in the UK, wiped out by marsh drainage, shooting and the taking of eggs by collectors. A century later, the coastal marshes of East Anglia were flooded to hinder the expected German invasion. This provided an ideal habitat for the Avocet, which launched its own invasion. In 1947, four pairs were found on the Minsmere Level, which during the war had been a battle training ground. In the same year the RSPB agreed to lease the area and the reserve was born. In the years that followed The Scrape - a saline lagoon with shingle islands - was built and became home to a colony of avocets. Today the reserve is home to 100 of the country's 1,000 breeding pairs and the avocet features on the RSPB's logo.
Marsh Harrier (photo: Peter Simpson).
When DDT poisoning almost wiped out the UK's Marsh Harrier population, the last pair in the country were to be found at Minsmere in 1971. The reserve remained a stronghold for the harriers until DDT was banned in the early 80s. It then acted as a springboard for the sleek and slender birds of prey to re-colonise other parts of the country. In 2005, there were 360 breeding females in England and Scotland, a 200-year high.
The harsh winter of 1947 reduced the UK's Bearded Tit population, already hit hard by habitat loss, to just four pairs - all at Minsmere. There, the little birds hung on. By 1959 there were so many that they irrupted out of the marshes of East Anglia and began to spread into other parts of the country. Today there are about 400 pairs breeding in Britain.
Hunting and habitat loss saw the Bittern vanish from Britain by 1886. It returned in 1911 only for numbers to crash once more to a low of 11 booming males in 1997. RSPB research carried out at Minsmere led to the reserve's famous reedbeds being completely re-profiled to suit the birds' needs and the reserve became the engine room of a second recovery. Today there are more than 40 booming males in England, with 10 at Minsmere. Without the young produced at Minsmere, there would have been no recovery.
The conservation work continues to this day with efforts to bring Stone Curlews back to Minsmere already bearing fruit on farmland that has been recently restored to heath and grassland.
Among Minsmere's other riches are Nightingales, Nightjars, Otters, Water Voles, Antlions, the largest herd of Red Deer outside Scotland and more than 1,000 different species of moths and butterflies, including one named after the reserve - the Minsmere Crimson Underwing.
Not surprisingly, Minsmere also ranks as one of the RSPB's most visited reserves. Visitors number more than 100,000 a year, including 1,400 school children taking part in the Society's field teaching scheme; also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Together they pour more than £1 million into the local economy every year.
Bearded Tit (photo: Dean Eades).
Adam Rowlands, site manager at Minsmere, started his RSPB career as a volunteer on the reserve. He said: "There is nowhere like Minsmere; working here is a constant pleasure. What makes Minsmere so wonderful is not just its size but also the diversity of habitats that allow so many species to flourish. It shows how important nature reserves are in preserving our wildlife when times are hard and in giving them a safe place from which to recover. With climate change starting to bite, such places can only become more important."
Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's director of conservation, said: "Minsmere's record of preserving and saving the UK's wildlife has been nothing less than remarkable. It is a record which springs from the resolve of those who in 1947 were determined to protect the returning Avocets and make sure they did not disappear from our shores for a second time. That determination, that passion for conservation, has characterised everything done at Minsmere since. Their dedication means that today Minsmere is a shining example of what conservation can make possible - rare species have been saved, common species thrive, beautiful countryside is protected and enhanced and millions of people get to enjoy it all."
Bittern (photo: Fraser Simpson).
