Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2008 | Página 60

life COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING By Tony Ridd - [email protected] Changing face of the countryside Our countryside has been moulded over thousands of years because of the way landowners have farmed and managed it, and with this our wildlife has adapted and prospered. This has always been for profit. So what happens when it is not viable to farm a piece of land? Will it revert back to woodland or scrub and what 60 will happen to the various habitats that the wildlife have come to depend on? Most of our wildlife are pretty flexible, there are some however that require certain conditions to survive. The reddish buff moth’s sole larval food plant is saw-wort. It’s preferred breeding habit is open grassy/heathy swards not too acidic nor too alkaline. With the sward height being 5-15cm. The moth has been lost to the UK mainland since the 1930’s with a further known four sites being lost during the 80’s or before on the Isle of Wight. Now only a single native population remains in the West Wight. The National Trust were the first and probably best known land owning charity in our country, but there are now many like it, some specialising in certain fields with others being local. Our ‘Wildlife Trust’ was set up in the sixties and covers the whole of the two counties. They now have six reserves on the island evenly split between woodland and open ground. A dedicated reserve manager recruits volunteers Island Life - www.isleofwight.net