Being surrounded by seas containing such incredible creatures as those featured in this issue of Wild Cornwall is a great privilege which carries with it a heavy responsibility. To those of us whose main job is to raise awareness and inspire involvement, these animals are a real gift.

It's hardly surprising that the Trust's work with dolphins, seals and basking sharks, in particular, captures the media's attention. This in turn places us in an excellent position to highlight Cornwall's marine life, explain the problems it faces and push for solutions. It also helps us generate public participation in gathering the information upon which our conservation advice is based. The Seaquest project, the Dolphin Group and the Seal Group provide good examples of effective partnerships between marine experts and committed or casual sea watchers.

Badgers have been a recurrent theme in our news releases and media interviews this year, for obvious reasons. We have been at pains to reassure our members - and the public - that we are opposing the "experimental cull", which we view as a scientifically flawed waste of money which will not help resolve the problem

of bovine TB. We have consistently called for research funds to be directed instead towards finding ways of minimising the risks of transmission and towards developing a vaccine.

Photo: Stuart Hutchings

COMMUNICATION

As well as working with the media, we continue to communicate with wide audiences through our own publications - including Wild Cornwall, the Annual Review and, for the more modern reader, our website - and through our range of educational services.

We were sad this summer when the funding for Terry Geater's post as Community Projects Officer came to an end. During his year as an employee he had been able to help more than 30 schools or other community groups to obtain and use a total of about £30,000 for habitat enhancement projects. This consisted mainly of awards from the Pennon Group (South West Water and Viridor), together with a large grant from the County Environmental

Trust for a demonstration project at Summercourt School.

Terry had been a volunteer for the Trust for many years and, happily, he will continue to help us in this way (for which we are very grateful). Our task of communicating the Trust's messages to all sectors of society is one which is not, of course, carried out solely by our educational staff and volunteers. It's an integral part of all conservation work and we will continue to support it in every way we can.

Mark Nicholson

JUNIOR CLUBS

During the spring term we sent out our new membership leaflets to all schools in Cornwall and we are getting a great response. Our team of educational volunteers is working very hard, organising and attending events, and hopefully having a good time too! We would like to say good luck and a special thank you to Carol Craze who is off on a year's sabbatical, teaching in the United States. Carol has been an active member of the Education Committee for some time and hopefully will rejoin us if she can be persuaded to come back from her trip. We are always looking for active volunteers in our education section so if you are interested please give me a call.

Jayne Herbert

Terry Geater (right) helps families explore rock-pool life during a Fox Club and Watch outing on the Helford with River Warden Nigel Knight. Future events include Sharks and Shopping, at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth on 25th November, while the September Pawprint magazine features a fold-out identification poster on dolphins, whales and other sea creatures. Photo: Nigel Knight

To mark the new millennium and to highlight Fox Club's achievements, the Trust's nature reserve behind County Hall in Truro has been renamed as Fox Corner. Andrew George MP, whose children are Fox Club members, unveiled the new name plate. "Adults really have to take their children to Fox Club events to appreciate its full value," said Andrew. He is pictured (centre) with a group of children who later explored the reserve with Mark Nicholson (right). Photo: Tricia Hoskings

Wild Cornwall the newsletter of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Issue 83 - Autumn 2000

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Five Acres, Allet, Truro, Cornwall, TR4 9DJ
Tel: (01872) 273939 Fax: (01872) 225476
e-mail: jzhfarwest@yahoo.com
Webiste: http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall

This page was last updated 11 October 2000 12:32:27