BIAZA Newsletter | Winter 2017 | Issue 13

We have all heard the stories in the media about bees, butterflies and other pollinators that are disappearing. To help our members buck that trend, and improve their sites for native species in general, BIAZA initiated a campaign with Flora Locale, a charity promoting the conservation and enhancement of native wild plant populations and communities. The initiative was christened Grab That Gap and 2016 marked the second year which the campaign has taken place. Grab a gap for Native Species

Photo: Ruth Desforges - ZSL

Grab That Gap encourages our members to take small unused patches of land, like grass verges and the space between standoff barriers, and plant it up with British wildflowers in the spring. This is a part of a wider effort to improve management of our sites for native species. Flora Locale assists by providing seed packets with a mixture of wildflowers like meadow buttercup, cornflowers, ox eye daisy and corn chamomile. We have also created posters for members to advertise their efforts to visitors and we send out planting advice together with the seeds to encouraged participants to carry out a mini bioblitz during the summer: a census to count and identify the number of species they can find on their ‘grabbed’ gap. The campaign was very well received by our members and even more collections signed up to participate in 2016 than during the first year of the campaign with nearly half of our zoos and aquariums taking part. The feedback was favourable and everyone has said that they would like to participate again this year. In September and October we compiled the feedback, photos and species lists we received and judged the most successful planting effort in 2016 belonged to the Zoological Society of East Anglia (ZSEA). When asked whether they had any secret tips to future participants, Jade House, the animal records keeper at ZSEA, said that they had purposefully left the gap to its own devices. It certainly seems to have worked well for them, though I am sure some of our other participants might argue that is only because they do not have any wild rabbits or cheeky peacocks helping themselves to an easy wildflower meal. Congratulations to Jade and ZSEA. To encourage even more BIAZA participants in 2017 we have decided to add a competitive element. In other words, we have together with our corporate member Barcham Trees come up with an awesome prize for the best grabbed gap. If you are a BIAZA member, and would like to participate this year, then send an email to the BIAZA office on ga@biaza.org. uk and let us know. All categories of members are welcome to take part. May the best gap win!! ensure a high rate of germination success. As a way of measuring progress we have

Photo: Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Photo: Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Photo: Jade House - ZSEA

Photo: Barcham Trees

Photo: Jade House - ZSEA

By Tine Stausholm Christiansen, BIAZA Office

24 www.biaza.org.uk