Future is grey for Northumberland wildlife.MEASURES in Northumberland Northumberland (nôrthŭm`bərlənd), county (1991 pop. 300,600), 2,019 sq mi (5,229 sq km), NE England. Northernmost of the English counties, it is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills and the Tweed River, and borders on the to help one of the first species to be given protection under the Government's biodiversity action plan ''This article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP (disambiguation). A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats, which is designed to protect and restore biological will be highlighted next week. In 2007, Northumberland Estates won the Purdey Award for game and wildlife conservation for its work in encouraging the recovery of wild grey partridge partridge, common name applied to various henlike birds of several families. The true partridges of the Old World are members of the pheasant family (Phasianidae); the common European or Hungarian species has been successfully introduced in parts of North America. populations. To help demonstrate key management actions that have led to this success, the Northumberland Estates, in partnership with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, is holding an open day on Ratcheugh Farm, near Alnwick, on September 22. The 'Future is Grey' day will include speakers from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Northumberland Estates. They will focus on the provision of strategically-sited nesting, brood-rearing and winter holding cover, predation predation Form of food getting in which one animal, the predator, eats an animal of another species, the prey, immediately after killing it or, in some cases, while it is still alive. Most predators are generalists; they eat a variety of prey species. control, winter/spring feeding techniques and partridge drives. A once common farmland and game bird in the UK, the grey or English partridge is a red-list species and a bird of serious conservation concern. Hugo Straker, trust regional advisor, said: "Grey partridges are still showing a decline in unmanaged areas. "But where farmers, landowners and gamekeepers are carrying out positive management, such as improving nesting and brood-rearing habitats, increasing food supplies and protecting nests and sitting hens from predators, then grey partridges are responding very well." The Ratcheugh Grey Partridge Restoration Project is run over 5,000 acres of The Duke of Northumberland''s Alnwick Estate. It won the 2007 Purdey Gold Award for Game and Conservation, run annually by London gunmaker James Purdey & Sons. For open day details and bookings, contact Lynda Ferguson on 01425 651013 or email lferguson@gwct. org.uk. Alternatively, book online at www.gwct.org.uk/thefutureisgrey. |
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