The end of the willow season

Teepee by Julia Clarke

The willow season comes to an end as the weather warms up.  Bees are buzzing on the Osier catkins and the last bundles of spiling material are being cut and bundled for the Environment Agency.

Willow customers have produced a range of projects this season including Julia Clarke in London with her beautiful teepees and tunnels.

Here are just a few images of some of the structures which are now gracing gardens and schools.

The price of newt fencing - it's coming down

Unusually in business there is actually a service where prices are falling. The cost of newt fencing has dropped by around 20% in the last 3 years as competition in the market has increased and materials have become cheaper.

People, Ponds and Water Project

Pond protection in England and Wales is to get a welcome level of support after a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) totalling £1,344,500 to conduct the UK’s largest and most ambitious freshwater monitoring and protection project to date: the ’People, Ponds and Water Project’. The three year project will train thousands of volunteers across the country as ‘citizen scientists’

Diffuse pollution by agriculture

The UK Government has produced a briefing paper on the diffuse pollution of water by agriculture and has summarized measures that have the potential to reduce the effects on waterbodies by agricultural activities.  This can be found here:

 http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/POST-PN-478/diffuse-pollution-of-water-by-agriculture

In summary: ‘Surface, coastal and ground waters in England suffer from significant pollution problems: 78% of surface and groundwater bodies fail to meet the ‘good’ ecological status prescribed by the EU Water Frameworks Directive. Pollution increases water treatment costs and adversely affects wildlife. Compared to treatment, preventing water pollution at source can have a cost-benefit ratio as high as 1:65.