This small snail almost halted the Newbury bypass. Sadly, it was
revealed yesterday that it has died out in the area but its name will
live on as a symbol of planning protest. Jonathan Brown looks at 10
animals that stood in the way of the bulldozers.
The battle to save a colony of tiny snails that stood in the way of the
controversial Newbury Bypass went all the way to the High Court.
Environmentalists argued that as one of Europes most imperilled
molluscs, Desmoulin s whorl snails (Vertigo moulinsiana) should not have
a road built through their natural habitat.
The judge threw the green groups case out of court and the A34 went
ahead but not before the colony was offered a glimmer of hope with a
£250,000 translocation plan which saw them moved further along the river
Lambourn.
But the tale of the snail was not to have a happy ending. This week it
emerged that vandalism and silted-up pipes caused the snails new
habitat to dry up and according to wildlife charity Buglife, Desmoulin s
whorl snail is extinct in its new home.
To make matters worse, numbers have collapsed in at least three other
strongholds close by. According to Matt Shardlow, director of Buglife,
the results could be catastrophic. "If it is not OK here we are talking
about global extinction," he said.
The bypass became one of the most high-profile environmental battles of
the 1990s, with protesters defying the road builders with a variety of
ingenious and determined tactics. A report published by the Highways
Agency this week found that while the bypass had cut journey times by 11
minutes, it was at odds with the Governments environmental pledges.
Itmay be Britains third rarest newt, but when it comes to development
schemes, Triturus cristatus seems to find itself all too commonly in the
way of the bulldozers. Protected under schedule 5 of the Countryside and
Wildlife Act 1981, the five-inch amphibian enjoys considerable shelter
beneath the arm of the law, both in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
Not only is it an offence to kill or injure one, it is also illegal
"intentionally or recklessly" to disturb its habitat. As a result,
campaigners opposed to everything from new mines to road-widening
projects have rallied to its cause. In 2003, the European Union paid
£43,000 to re-home a colony of newts in Rhyl, Wales, to make way for a
new childrens playground. In the same year, an engineering firm was
told it would have to pay £2,000 for every newt killed during the
building of the A350 bypass in Wiltshire. The great crested newt is
particularly vulnerable because it can take up to four years to reach
sexual maturity.
The plight of this nationally scarce priority species has been
highlighted by plans to turn an ancient peat bog known as Aucheninnes
Moss, into a landfill site. Despite a campaign under the banner Don t
Dump on our Bog, Scottish ministers gave the go-ahead in 2003.
Metrioptera brachyptera is frequently found on southern heaths and bogs,
but it is rare in northern England and the Aucheninnes area is the only
site in Scotland where it is found. The bog was once part of the
extensive Barclosh Moss Complex which has been nibbled away by
development and the planting of forests. Other species threatened are
the sorrel pygmy moth (Enteucha acetosae), which is unique to the bog,
and the small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene).
Considering all the trouble it has caused the Government, not least in
recent weeks, perhaps it would have been for the best if the presence of
Phoenicurus ochruros on the Greenwich site had strangled New Labour s
ill-fated baby at birth. The robin-sized bird has adapted to living in
inner-city areas such as the former gas works on the Thames peninsula.
With fewer than 100 breeding pairs in the UK, the bird is on the amber
list of Birds of Conservation Concern. It was the ironically named Lord
Falconer of Thoroton, then the Dome minister, who green-lighted the Dome
and three breeding pairs were required to vacate the premises. In
October 2000, the species returned, with pairs spotted setting up home
on the roofs of three tower blocks at nearby Canary Wharf where
wildlife-friendly gardens had been built. On average there are between
eight and 12 pairs breeding in Greater London each year with a further
six to 10 singing males present.
Often mistaken for its unloved relation the rat, the water vole occupies
a unique position in the mythology of the English countryside. Kenneth
Grahames Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, was in fact a water vole
(Arvicola terrestris). But despite its status, the water vole has no
special protection under the law and has been in long-term decline, not
least because of the impact of predatory North American mink escaped
from fur farms. Although wildlife groups are increasingly critical of
relocation projects for affected animals, considerable time and expense
goes into minimising the impact of construction upon species. At
Dartford in Kent, where 1,000 new homes are being built, contractors
collected hundreds of water voles from the river and transported them to
Devon for the duration of the construction phase - due to last for up to
three years. They were due to be returned to the site once the builders
have gone.
Wildlife campaigners celebrated a rare victory when the former transport
secretary Alastair Darling turned down a scheme to build a massive
container port on the Solent. After four years of plans and public
inquiries, the proposals for Dibden Bay near Southampton, which would
have affected two special areas of conservation, one special protection
area and eight sites of special scientific interest, were rejected. A
major stumbling block was the presence of large numbers of waterfowl
which inhabit the mudflats around the bay. The dark-bellied brent goose
(Branta bernicla bernicla) was among the birds under threat. It
overwinters in Britain, arriving in huge flocks in October after
spending the summer breeding in the shallow pools of the Arctic tundra.
A favourite with birdwatchers, the goose feeds on the eel grass that
thrives on the mud. The species is on the amber list of endangered
species because although it is found in large numbers, these occur at
relatively few sites.
To their well-organised supporters, badgers represent the quintessence
of British fauna: the largest land carnivore since the extinction of the
bear and the wolf, and a vital link with these islands ancient past.
Yet, with the backing of the National Farmers Union, the badger faces
the prospect of a widespread cull in the face of an epidemic of
tuberculosis in both cattle and in badgers. Because they are so
widespread, the estimated population is 250,000, badgers are often
affected by new development schemes. Only last month conservationists in
Edinburgh warned that the future of the species was "hanging by a
thread" with plans for a new road and rail link to the citys airport.
Under pressure from campaigners, four badger tunnels were built under
the M8 close by. However, despite their protection under the law -
punishable by a six-month jail term - badgers can still be removed to
make way for road and housing developments as well as for forestry and
agricultural operations.
The idea of a barrage across the Mersey has long pitted
environmentalists eager to harness the clean power of the river against
wildlife campaigners who fear it would devastate the estuary s important
birdlife. The last time the scheme was seriously floated was in the
1990s when, much to the delight of groups such as the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds, the project was scrapped when it became
apparent it was economically doomed. Opponents of the scheme rallied
behind the dunlin (Calidris alpina), a wading bird which uses the
estuary mudflats as a staging post on its way to and from breeding
grounds in Africa and northern Europe. The bird is responsible for one
of the most stunning natural sights in the region when they take to the
wing in flocks of up to 5,000. Plans for the barrage resurfaced last
year with a new scheme to generate enough electricity to power 15 per
cent of the North-wests requirements. Will the dunlin be the victor
once again?
When plans were unveiled to build tens of thousands of new homes on the
banks of the Thames east of London, wildlife campaigners feared that
some of the most endangered invertebrate species could be put under
threat. Chief among these was Bombus humilis, one of the most endangered
of Britain s 24 species of bumblebee. Populations of all domestic bees
have collapsed in recent years, due to habitat loss and intensive
farming practices. But some species have found sanctuary amid the
derelict factories and overgrown warehouses along the Thames.
Entomologists are currently attempting to discover what is under threat
in what will be Europe s biggest regeneration project. Typical is the
Northwick Road site on Canvey Island, where dredged gravel has created
the ideal environment for so many species it is now cited as the most
diverse ecosystem in Britain. Such are the stakes for the UKs
invertebrates that campaigners will fight to the bitter end to preserve
their refuge.
The sight of Sylvia undata on a Surrey heath forced housing developers
to shelve a vast house building project earlier this year. The
Independent revealed how plans to build up to 20,000 homes across a 300
square mile expanse of lowland heath in the Home Counties had to be
blocked because it is the habitat of three rare birds, including the
Dartford warbler. The bird has attracted the concern of wildlife
campaigners since the 1960s, when its population crashed to just a few
pairs. Since then, it has increased in both numbers and range, but
remains on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds "amber list"
and is still at risk of extinction. In the past 200 years, the lowlands,
known as the Thames Basin Heaths, have been depleted to one-sixth of the
terrain they once covered, but became protected by European wildlife law
in March this year. The warbler makes its home in gorse scrub and
heather and as an insect eater, is vulnerable in cold winters.
The battle to save a colony of tiny snails that stood in the way of the
controversial Newbury Bypass.
(
The Independent, 28/07/2006)