This update includes a link to the new "Badger Trust Best Practice Guidance for Developers, Ecologists and Planners" in both England and Wales. It's a subject close to my heart as I lead the Trust's Working Group in this area. These publications will be followed shortly by Best Practice guidelines for Badger Groups including advice on how to tackle development applications where there's a real or potential threat to resident badgers.
The Working Group is now turning its attention to developing a suite of training modules for planning officers, ecologists, developers and badger groups on this topic to embed best practice and try to bring an end to poorly conceived, misleading and misguided planning applications and development implementation. The guidance documents are a very good start, even if I say so myself! Lots more news and dates for your diary below as well.
Dear Badger Group Members
This week, we have a few things to share, including the Groups Quarterly Meeting (Q3) Q&A summary and presentations, plus our newly updated Planning & Development Guide that groups have first access to in the Groups Shared Resource Library. Next week, we will have a focussed e-news on the cull with updates and resources. Don't forget the Regional Group Meetings are in September, so please register in advance for those.
It was great to see so many of you at the meeting, which covered the latest Badger Trust updates, plans and progress, campaigns and crime. We also welcomed two new groups to the clan, Cumbria Badger Group and The Lincolnshire Badger Group. We had a specific presentation and Q&A on the State of the Badger Pilot Project. Badger Trust’s first citizen-science project and the first large-scale assessment of badger population health to be carried out since the mass culling of badgers began ten years ago. Badger Trust has now publicly announced that Lancashire and Somerset are the two pilot project areas. Read the full news release > The GQM Presentation, State of the Badger Presentation and the Q&A summary are available for you to read in the Groups Shared Resource Library >
Updated Planning & Development Guidance New badger protection guides for the Planning and Development Sector released Badger Trust is pleased to release new guides for England and Wales focused on planning and development issues and the impacts these can have on badgers, their setts and habitats. These guides aim to widen knowledge and make best practice requirements easier to understand among planners, developers, ecologists, local authorities, wildlife crime investigators and nature lovers so that badgers are properly protected. Affiliated Badger Groups are the first to have access and can download the guide now from the Group Shared Resource Library > Two guides are available – one focused on England and one on Wales, with forewords by Chris Packham CBE for the England version and Iolo Williams for the Wales version. We hope to release the Wales version in both English and Welsh languages shortly. Please ask anyone who would benefit from this guidance, such as planners, ecologists, developers, etc., to download a copy from the Badger Trust Website >. The new guide will be publicly released and available for download from Tuesday.
* Oxfordshire Badger Group * The group is running the Sad Badger Campaign locally to raise awareness of the badger cull and their concerns that epidemiological culling (total removal of badgers in a defined area), which is due to be consulted on later this year, could mean indefinite culling. They have a silent protest outside Oxford University on 1st September. More information on their Facebook page > * Northamptonshire Badger Group * The group is busy support feeding a group of 5 cubs that were released into their artificial sett two weeks ago, with regular video updates of the cubs' antics on their Facebook page >. They are also running Cull Night Patrol Taster Walks for those interested in taking part in legal nighttime walks on footpaths during the cull, in line with Operation Cobb Police Guidance. * Warwickshire Badger Group * Running an Introduction to Wildlife Tracking and Nature Awareness One Day Workshop at Brandon Marshes, Coventry, on 30th September, led by seasoned wildlife ecologists Tris Pearce and Sam Devine-Turner. More information and tickets > * Somerset Badger Group * Support fed three orphaned cubs for several months after their mum was killed on the road, ensuring that they could stay at their natal sett and thrive. Watch the lovely video >
Do you need help attracting and keeping active volunteers? We have an opportunity to offer subsidised online 'Volunteer Recruitment' training to groups and would like to know if you are interested in this. We know many of you struggle to attract and retain active volunteers, yet active volunteers are vital to continue your group activities. Having the skills and know-how to engage effectively and retain volunteers can only help your group and take the pressure off of those of you currently taking on a lot. We would need to charge around £10 per person and Badger Trust would subsidise the rest, but we would also need to fill all the 30 places for it to go ahead. Please can you let us know by emailing groups@badgertrust.org.uk if this is something you and your group are interested in us proceeding with.
Diary Dates & Group Resources! Next Badger Trust Grant Deadlines Monday 23rd October 2023 More detailed grant Information >
Regional Group Online Meetings * NORTH * Tuesday 19th September 2023, 7pm. REGISTER > * WEST & SOUTH WEST * Thursday 21st September 2023, 7pm. REGISTER > * EAST & SOUTH EAST * Monday 25th September 2023, 7pm. REGISTER > Group Resources The shared library has many resources for groups, so please take a look and make use of them. Groups Resource Library > eNews links Review previous enews updates or link to them in your newsletters. Access links to previous newsletters > Please share Badger Trust news with your members or ask them to sign up for these updates.
If you have any questions about any of the information in the newsletters, need advice or support with something, or just want to chat about your group and badgers, please do contact us! Whatever you're up to for badgers, we'd like to hear about it! Let us know via groups@badgertrust.org.uk and we can profile your wonderful work nationally. Sally Jones Groups Coordinator
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