For immediate use. Monday, July 5th, 2004

Wetlands Wildlife

Otters and rare birds have been attracted to a new wildlife haven created from a 17-acre barren field at the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus in Hinxton, Cambs

The Wetlands area, which was once as flat as a snooker table, now boasts several lakes, two holts for the otters and a bat roost inside a former World War 11 pillbox.

The £750,000 project, which involved moving over 70,000 tons of earth – the equivalent of shifting Sydney Harbour Bridge-and planting 10,000 trees and shrubs, took almost a year to complete. Conservation experts from Derbyshire and Birmingham were called in to advise on the right flowers and plants to attract the wildlife and regular checks of the nearby River Cam were carried out to ensure the stocks of trout, pike, roach and dace, as well as snails and molluscs, were not affected.

A family of otters has been spotted in the river, near the lake and kingfishers, plovers, herons and a pair of swans have also taken up residence at different times.

The site, which is part of an extension to the Genome Campus, called the South Field Project, was designed down to the finest detail with tiny cracks being deliberately inserted in the walls of the pillbox so the bats can roost properly.

Julian Dudley- Smith site manager for construction management company Mace, which is carrying out the project, said : “ We wanted to show that building work and conservation could go hand in hand so we put an extraordinary amount of effort into getting details right. Boxes for the bats were measured down to the last millimetre so they could roost in comfort.

“We dampened the floor, added mulch and restricted the air flow to achieve the right level of humdity so it would become a welcoming and near-natural cave environment for them.

“The holts for the otters have been made from trees that were either cut down or trimmed to improve the river area. We have seen a couple of them around but we are not sure if they have set-up home here yet.

“ It’s been a wonderful transformation from a flat field to an idyllic spot, which the local people will be able to enjoy as a new public footpath is being laid to run alongside the Wetlands, linking the two villages.”

Dr Phillipa Towlson, Project Co-ordinator for the Wellcome Trust South Field Project, who has set-up a Community Conservation Group, involving the villages of Hinxton and Ickleton as well as the Campus, to manage and develop the area, said : “The Wellcome Trust takes its responsibilities to the communities around the Genome Campus very seriously and the wetlands project is a perfect opportunity for the local villages to be involved in the management and development of what I hope will become an ecological treasure for all to enjoy.

“I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the local communities for this project and look forward to working closely with them in future.

“With help from the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust, the Community Conservation Group will be aiming to develop the wetlands to achieve County Wildlife Status within the next five years or so.”

Martin Baker from the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust, said : “ This project is really exciting. We’ve had a fantastic array of wetland birds there, including waders, lapwings and the rare little-ringed plover.

“ We’ve also seen signs that the otters have been around, which means the river in that area is clean and the quality of fish is good. We believe the otters are breeding but it’s very hard to get a sighting of them. I’ve been a conservation officer for 16 years and the only time I’ve seen one is when I was on holiday in the Hebrides!

“ The Wellcome Trust has made a huge effort to make this area a haven for the wildlife and they have succeeded. We will be working together to make sure it continues to improve.”

Teams of foresters spent months planting thousands of saplings and semi-mature trees, including birch, oak, elder, ash, willow, hornbeam and lime.

Species of flowers, such as cowslip, knapweed, meadowsweet buttercup, and ragged robin were specifically selected to encourage butterflies, dragonflies and other insects.

Mr Dudley- Smith, added: “ I sometimes wander down here and it’s hard to believe that building work is going on just a short distance away.”

Photographer John Freebrey managed to snap one of the otters as it was swimming in the Cam close by the Wetlands.

“I heard a bit of a racket and when I looked around there it was, about fifteen feet away,” he said. “It was swimming backwards and forwards and seemed to be feeding a couple of its young.

“I’m glad I had my cameras with me otherwise it would have been hard to convince people that they were around.”

ends

Media contact:
Barry Gardner, Wellcome Trust

0207 611 7329.

Mobile : 07711 193041.

The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity established in 1936 under the will of tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust’s mission is to promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. It currently spends more than £400m p.a.