Devon to get 'purpose built breeding facility for invertebrates'
It will be based at Wildwood Trust’s wildlife park near Ottery St Mary
A Devon wildlife park is helping to tackle the biodiversity crisis by trying to save “the little things that rule the world.”
A 'purpose built breeding facility for invertebrates' aims to transform the future of some of England’s most endangered and extinct invertebrate species.
The site is due to open this spring at Wildwood Trust’s wildlife park near Ottery St Mary.
It is believed there are over 200 native invertebrate species that are likely to go extinct in the next 20 years in the UK, as a result of habitat loss and isolation, along with agricultural chemicals and pollution.
Conservation Project Officer Tyrone Capel said: "Invertebrates - and the role they play - don’t always get the attention they deserve, but we have to do more to protect and restore them.
"Britain is in the midst of a biodiversity freefall, and invertebrates such as dung beetles play such a critical role in our ecosystems.
"Without these species, we lose a whole range of ecosystem functions so we are determined to do everything we can to reverse their decline.”
"The first arrivals to check in at the centre will be the Tadpole Shrimp and the Glow-worm.
"Tadpole Shrimp are one of the UK’s rarest invertebrates, only found in a few British ponds. Often referred to as ‘living fossils’, having remained virtually unchanged for over 200 million years, these prehistoric crustaceans are essential to wetland ecosystems. Habitat loss and pollution have however pushed them to the brink of extinction, an issue that RESTORE is rapidly trying to redress through the 80,000 acres of nature restoration and rewilding projects it manages. One of RESTORE’s flagship projects, the Southill Wildland in Bedfordshire, should, in time, become the perfect home for Tadpole Shrimp as the estate restores wetland habitats, create ephemeral pools and introduce Beavers later this year.
"Glow-worms, meanwhile, are famous for creating a greenish glow to attract mates, but their populations have declined due to loss of shrubland habitats, light pollution and isolation. By reintroducing them to suitable areas that are difficult for them to reach naturally, the project hopes to restore this magical species to Britain’s countryside."
As the centre grows, Peter Cooper, species restoration lead at RESTORE, says the team plans to work with a variety of different invertebrate groups, including butterflies, dung beetles and dragonflies - focussing on species that are threatened or extinct on a regional or national level, but which play incredibly important roles in ecosystems:
He said: “Invertebrates really are the little things that rule the world. Without them, everything else would collapse. They are incredibly important ecosystem engineers in their own right, just as much as Bison or Lynx. Yellow Meadow Ants, for example, can harvest as much grass as an elephant; stewarding the flower-rich grasslands on which many other insects depend.
“Working with our partners, landowners and academics, we want the NIRC to be a centre of excellence for invertebrate restoration, and whilst initially it will not be on display to the public, we do hope that in the future we can bring people in and show them how amazing invertebrates are and help inspire them to go out and protect the natural world.”