Every year my colleague Rolf (Williams – Kent Communications Officer) gets the plum job of soaring 1,000ft up above the Thames Estuary in a micro-light. In his words this is “a privileged, if precarious, position from which to visit the whole of the Greater Thames Futurescape, viewed from the birds’ perspective”.
Fortunately, with the power of the digital camera we too can sample a bird’s-eye view of this spectacular landscape, here is RSPB Northward Hill (North Kent) in 2012:
Firstly, wow! Who knew there was so much green space in the Thames Estuary?!
Unfortunately, the land was parched. Wildlife such as wintering waders and wildfowl were struggling to feed, while the rest of the South East was preparing itself for a harsh drought. In less time than it takes to say the words “hosepipe ban” the heavens opened and we were treated to the second wettest year on record, with parts of the country completely deluged by flooding. As winter came and stayed we were treated to the second coldest March on record with heavy snowfall across the country, slowing the onset of spring. See this blog from Hope Farm on how this has affecting the farming year.
This is what the same site looks like now:
What a difference! From a wildlife perspective, it is great to see the marshes looking so wet at this time of year.
This fluctuating weather is not enough alone to draw conclusions regarding our future climate. However, recent climate projections (UKCP09) suggest that climate change will lead to increased frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, flooding and heat-waves. Perhaps the weather of the past few years is a stark indication of what could be to come if we aren’t able to curtail our dependency on fossil fuels.
If one doesn’t understand the influence of these unseasonable conditions to wildlife, allow me to refer to an old phrase “don’t keep all your eggs in one basket”. The smaller your business, the tighter your margins, the closer you are to failure. It’s the same for wildlife. You may have seen that Cliffe Pools in North Kent has been inundated with huge numbers of black-tailed godwit, lapwing and teal (see here), next year, it might be in South Essex, we don't know for certain what drives birds to choose particular sites. This is why we are working through partnerships such as the Greater Thames Marshes NIA to build resilience across the whole Thames Estuary to help adapt to a climate change, for example by working with farmers to create corridors between nature reserves, enabling wildlife to move across a landscape instead of being trapped in isolated pockets. This kind of work, taking place across the UK, will help ensure that wildlife isn't lost from our iconic landscapes.