Conservation

Preparation and Planning

One copy of Student Worksheet 1a-1d needs to be photocopied for each student. In Episode 3 students are required to produce a report. Depending on the format that you choose, they may need ICT access or poster paper. You will need ICT access to play the Video.

In Episode 5, students prepare their homework. They are required to produce a conservation poster that raises awareness of an endangered species or habitat. This task could alternatively become project work in a separate lesson. Students can promote issues relating to a local or global species. If you want to encourage them to promote local conservation projects, then you may need to prepare information about any local issues in advance of the lesson. Alternatively students can be encouraged to complete the research as part of their task. You will also need to provide materials for the students to produce a colourful and eye catching poster.

About the MOD Topic

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) owns one of the most varied and highly designated estates in the UK, so biodiversity is of particular interest and importance. They own 171 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which cover a total of approximately 82,634 hectares. Defence Estates, an agency of the MOD, is the department responsible for managing the land and ensuring that it fulfils its statutory duty. A Government target stipulates that 95% of SSSI land must be in a favourable or unfavourable recovering position by 2010.
Favourable condition means that the SSSI land is being adequately conserved and is meeting its 'conservation objectives', however, there is scope for the enhancement of these sites.

Unfavourable recovering condition is often known simply as 'recovering'. The SSSI units are not yet fully conserved but all the necessary management measures are in place. Provided that the recovery work is sustained, the SSSI will reach favourable condition in time. In many cases, restoration takes time.

Working hard with Natural England and other devolved Government statutory bodies, the MOD has managed to increase the percentage of its land in a favourable position and it currently stands at 78%. Across the defence estates there are some amazing species and habitats to be found. The MOD's conservation groups are focussed on maintaining or improving the biodiversity of these rare and special places.

The main purpose of the MOD's estate is to train service personnel and prepare them for peacekeeping duties or deployment to conflict zones around the world. It plays an essential role. Most service personnel have very little conservation knowledge and when engaged in training their focus is on the military task. It is Defence Estates' role to work closely with the military to understand the nature of training that will be taking place and to mange the land accordingly. They have to ensure the military and environmental objectives are balanced.

Today, Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA), with approximately 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres), is the largest training area in the UK. SPTA is the largest area of chalk grassland in NW Europe, containing many endangered species of flora and fauna. Salisbury Plain has been designated under the European Habitats Directive as a Special Protection Area and Scheduled Area for Conservation for species and habitats such as:
Stone Curlew Burrhinus oedicnemus,
Quail Coturnix coturnix,
Hobby Falco subbuteo,
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus,
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus,
Merlin Falco columbaria,
Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus,
Calcareous grassland,
Juniper scrub,
Winterbournes and Chalk streams.

Buried beneath the grassland is the largest concentration of archaeological remains in the UK and some of the best preserved archaeological landscapes in Europe. It covers barrow systems from 4 000 BC, entire Roman and Anglo Saxon villages to medieval strip lynchets and Second World War tank defences.

The habitat of Salisbury Plain was created centuries ago by humans clearing the original woodland and then using the land for grazing their sheep and cattle. This pattern of land-use needs to continue if the habitat is to be maintained. Sheep and cattle eat the new shoots of hawthorn and other scrub which stops it from squeezing out the grassland plants.

Whilst military training can result in some damage to the soil and vegetation, there are benefits too. Grassland is suited to military training and so it is maintained by Defence Estates who actively remove scrub from the land. This enables rare species to continue to survive. One example is the marsh fritillary butterfly Euphydryas Aurinia. They need to lay their eggs on a special chalk grassland plant, the devil's-bit scabious, Succisa pratensis as the caterpillars have adapted to only eat this particular plant. The plant requires patches of bare soil on which it can set seed and become established. Otherwise the plant is out-competed by more vigorous plants. The patches of bare earth created by the tracks of manoeuvring armoured vehicles create the ideal habitat for this plant. These would be squeezed out if the grassland was undisturbed and scrub was to spread. Further information is given on the Student Worksheets.

The nature of military training also helps some species to flourish. For example, the rain water collected in temporary pools created by tank tracks provides a habitat for rare fairy shrimps Chirocephalus diaphanus which cannot live in permanent pools. As the pools dry out the fairy shrimp lays eggs that remain in the mud until such time as the pool fills with water again. The shrimp dies when the pools dry out. The eggs of the fairy shrimp are moved around the training area in the mud that collects on the vehicles during training and can stay in a viable state in the mud for about 15 years. Once the eggs fall into water, they hatch out and the life cycle starts over again. Previously the pools would have been created by the wheels of carts and the eggs of the fairy shrimp would be transported on the feet of cattle and horses.

Click on the links below for further information:

Defence Estates: http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/index.php
Natural England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/

Endangered species:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/index.html
http://www.wwf.org.uk/core/wildlife/factsheets.asp
http://www.endangeredspecie.com/
http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html

Further Opportunities for Learning

Study a local habitat and look at how living organisms are adapted to life on land and in water. Find out how local action is helping or hindering conservation.

Write an empathetic poem about a habitat or species that is threatened.
Use the 'Sustainability evaluation' lesson to build on students' understanding of sustainable development.

Discuss and debate how humans are damaging or working to improve the planet.

Take students on a trip to a forest which has deciduous and coniferous trees and compare the ecology.

Collect articles about conservation issues or programmes to produce a wall display.

Research extinct species and produce a timeline. How many of these extinctions were influenced by human activity?

Use Student Worksheet 2 on the 'Managing Ecosystems' lesson to learn about the conservation of fairy shrimp.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.