Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have debated their draft list of 'priority species' for the park area, in a bid to establish a new long-term conservation strategy.
'Priority species' according to the park authority are those that are considered to be in need of 'additional, bespoke conservation work'.
The National Park Authority met yesterday to agree to a new strategy and identify species which needed additional conservation support on their land. They will be working with the Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Forum and the local farming and woodland forums, to develop a final list for the Yorkshire Dales Nature Recovery Plan - the new long term strategy - which is expected to be published in June 2023.
Read more: Wool entrepreneur's attempt to save ancient peatland with 'logs'
The Yorkshire Dales Nature Recovery Plan will set out a long term vision for wildlife conservation in the National Park. It will succeed ‘Nature in the Dales’, the Biodiversity Action Plan which covered the period 2010-20.
Only 41 species appear on the new draft of priorities, compared to the 122 priority species on the previous Nature in the Dales plan. The Authority’s Senior Wildlife Conservation Officer, Tony Serjeant, told the meeting that only species with nationally significant numbers in the National Park ought to be included. He said conservation needed to be concentrated on species where a real difference could be made and monitored.
The new draft list of priority species includes twelve birds. Curlews and swifts, respectively considered to be the sound of spring and summer in the Dales, appear alongside other moorland birds like hen harriers and black grouse.
Ten mammals, ten plants, eight butterflies and moths and one other animal – the white clawed crayfish – complete the draft list of 41 priority species.
The white clawed crayfish is the only native freshwater crayfish in the UK, although its numbers have been in decline because of diseases introduced by invasive species of crayfish.
The Member Champion for the Natural Environment at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Mark Corner, said: “Owing to the efforts of people such as farmers and moorland managers, some species are doing better in the Yorkshire Dales National Park than in most other areas of the country.
"But we are keenly aware that the objective we and our partners set on nature recovery in the Yorkshire Dales National Park Management Plan is not going to be met. We need urgently to address the ‘nature emergency’ and help to reverse the declines in wildlife locally and nationally.”
He added: “It must be stressed that the draft list of priority species is not a list of most important or favourite species in the National Park. Rather, these are the species we and our partners have identified as most in need of additional, bespoke conservation work.
READ NEXT:
- North East car washes and nail bars fined £100k after modern day slavery raids
- Northern Echo campaign hits £2,000 mark thanks to kindness of readers
- Darlington's Dolphin Centre pool will shut down for 4 months - here's why and when
If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here
“I’d invite people to look out for the birds, bats and mammals on the list. People don’t have to own or manage large areas of land to improve the prospects for some of these species. In some communities residents are installing nest boxes for swifts and encouraging house martins to nest. There is something that every person who lives in, works in or visits the Dales can do to prevent these iconic species from disappearing.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here