Conservation work at Vinters Valley Nature Reserve

To many visitors, Vinters Valley is a pleasant area of Maidstone in which to enjoy the countryside, perhaps with friends and family or a much loved dog. However Vinters Valley is also a home to many protected wildlife species and much of the work carried out is focused on conserving and improving the habitat for these species, which are sadly disappearing in large areas of Kent.

Currently much of our conservation work is focused on amphibians, bats, birds, butterflies & reptiles, but also benefits plant and tree species found in the reserve.

The following is a summary of some of the more important work we are undertaking:

Reptile reintroduction programme

Since 2007, two areas of the reserve have received new populations of grass snakes, slow worms and viviparous lizards under a licence granted by Natural England, the government's main conservation authority. These are animals that were threatened by development and the success of these reintroductions is being monitored over five years by a qualified ecologist and is being funded by the developers. All these reptile species are classified as under threat in the UK, mainly due to habitat loss and fragmentation and we are hopeful that by re-establishing successful breeding populations of these reptiles we will be helping to ensure their long term survival.

Bat Populations

Vinters Valley has been recognised as a hot spot for bats since the reserve was first established in 1991. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly we have two legally protected winter hibernation sites within the reserve, both of which have been monitored by licensed bat experts from the Kent Bat Group since 1994. The main species that hibernate within these sites are daubentons, brown long eared bats and pipestrelle species. The second important reason that bats favour Vinters Valley is the feeding opportunities the reserve offers, mainly between April & October. This is centred on the reserve's main lake, although other areas are also used, particularly sheltered hedgerows and wooded edges. In 2009 we will be conducted further surveys to gain a greater understanding of the feeding patterns of the different bat species in the reserve, if you would like to help with this work please contact our warden..

Nesting Birds

Some areas of the reserve lack suitable nesting sites for certain species of birds and for this reason we have nearly 100 nesting boxes which we have been monitoring each year since 2007. The results of the last two years monitoring can be seen on our website and during the winter of 2008/9 we have increased the different types of boxes we have erected around the reserve, to attract owls and possibly jackdaws and other corvids. Again if you would like to help with our monitoring please contact the warden.

Amphibians

Over the last 50-60 years there has been a general widespread loss of ponds in the countryside, many of which are used by frogs, toads & newts for breeding. Whilst we have a lake in the reserve, the fish population it contains means that amphibians breeding in the lake are likely to be unsuccessful due to predation of the eggs and young by the fish. In 2009, after taking advice from the Kent reptile and amphibian group, we have commenced work to establish two ponds in the reserve, away from the lake, which are intended as breeding ponds for amphibians. They are also likely to be useful habitats for a whole variety of invertebrates which find the lake less than ideal, due to the fish and wildfowl populations. This year will be an important year for the ponds to become established within the surrounding habitat, which we know is suitable for amphibians outside of the breeding period and we hope to report a growing population of different amphibian species using the ponds, in the years to come.

Butterflies

Butterflies and moths are a good indicator group of the overall health of a habitat and respond reasonably quickly to any improvement or deterioration in habitat quality. Woodland and scrub can be good for certain species of butterflies and moths and generally Vinters Valley has good examples of these types of habitat. However, with the support and advice of local members of the Kent branch of Butterfly Conservation, we have been endeavouring to improve the grassland areas for butterflies and moths. For many years now we have concentrated on the cow field, the crematorium valley and Netley field and have aimed to provide both tussocky and open sward grass to get a mixture of grass and wildflowers favoured by different butterfly species. The grass sward has proved to be easier to maintain in a suitable condition than attracting new wildflowers, but with time we hope to be more successful. The grassland management we carry out is not just restricted to butterflies, our current management regime is also helpful for reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. We were very pleased in 2008 to gain our first record of harvest mice in the reserve, which shows that good habitat management can benefit a whole range of species, in addition to the targeted group.

Wild flowers

In 2009 we plan to establish a few trial areas for selected wild flower species. This will be in the grassland area next to the TV studios, called MacGrory's Meadow. As is the case with many of our experimental habitat management regimes we initially seek advice from recognised experts and then try out the changes on a small scale. If, after monitoring the results, this proves to be successful then we look at increasing the area being managed in similar manner, again monitoring the results to see if the expected improvements occur.

Time and Money

Of course all this and similar conservation work involves a substantial investment of both time and money. If you would like to help by either assisting with the various activities or contributing to the finances needed, by becoming a friend of the reserve, please visit the various pages on our website www.vintersvalley.co.uk

Many Thanks

Steve Songhurst, Warden

Please help support the park by becoming a friend of Vinters Valley!

It’s so easy! Being a Friend means that your support will greatly contribute to the conservation of our rapidly disappearing native wildlife in Maidstone. You will receive the quarterly newsletter "Parklife": information, exclusive access to the members forum on this website and seasonal articles about the park, as well as invitations to any volunteer work days such as scrub clearing or pond building, fun events, guided tours and the AGM.

Join the friends! We suggest a donation of £4/5 per household per month, more if you can, or whatever you can afford.

Please click here to request the "Join the friends" form. Once complete, please return it to the address provided on the form.

Thank You

The webmaster of the Vinters Valley Nature Reserve website is Ben Kirby. Please use our contacts page to contact him.