Water Sports Diaries - Help us to Understand How the Exe is used

Disturbance Study to Commence this Summer

The Management Partnership are coordinating an innovative study for the Exe Estuary to analyse the impact of water related recreation - in all its many forms - was having on wintering birds in the area.

The partnership is pleased to announce that, after a long and careful tender process, we have appointed Durwyn Liley of Footprint Ecology to carry out this important study. More on this later.  

This groundbreaking research will not only improve our understanding of the impact of recreation on the estuary, but it will also help us to work out how this can be effectively managed alongside nature conservation.  

This collaborative study has been funded by the Environment Agency as part of ‘Enjoying Water’: A Strategy for water based recreation in the South West’ - which can be viewed online at: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/101708.aspx  Additional funding has also been provided by Natural England, with key input from Teignbridge & East Devon District Councils, RSPB and Devon County Council.

But it’s not just on the Exe that this work will have a big impact. The study could influence how other globally important habitats across Britain are managed. It’s because there’s very little understanding of how water-based recreation impacts on wintering bird populations.

After the study is completed, the Exe Estuary Management Partnership will have a much clearer picture of which kinds of recreational activities have the greatest effect on wildlife, how much of an impact this disturbance has on the survival rates of birds and also which estuarine sites are most sensitive,.  

We can then advise other coastal partnerships across the UK and no doubt influence future recreation management principles.  

Some practices are already in place on the Exe Estuary, for example, voluntary codes of conduct, which have proven to be effective at minimising environmental impact. But we also need to look into the future, and to predict the impact of recreation in the future.

For example, several new housing developments have recently been approved in East Devon, Exeter and Teignbridge. The Management Partnership will need to take increased visitor numbers into account when considering the impact recreation will have on the delicate habitat which is the Exe Estuary in the years and decades ahead.

Durwyn Liley at Footprint Ecology is a world-leader in carrying out this kind of research. Human disturbance and access have been key research interests throughout his career - which started with his doctoral research, exploring the consequences of shoreline access for Ringed Plovers in Norfolk. Durwyn has also worked as a warden with the RSPB, as a project manager for the RSPB, as a research ecologist for Butterfly Conservation, as an ecologist for Birdlife International and as a conservation officer for English Nature. Birds have always been an over-riding passion since childhood and Durwyn has worked on a wide variety of species and bird conservation projects – including work in Canada, Pakistan, Indonesia, Paraguay, Israel, Bolivia, Fiji and New Zealand.  Durwyn is a keen all round naturalist with a wider interest within the UK that encompasses cetaceans, hoverflies, dragonflies and plants.

He co-founded Footprint Ecology in 2005 as a way of using his skills and experience to contribute directly to nature conservation while integrating his environmental principles.  Footprint Ecology now employs eight staff and works across southern England, exploring ways to integrate people and nature conservation.  Footprint Ecology’s recent work includes advice to various local authorities relating to housing distribution in relation to protected sites, research into heathland birds and access, work on night-time foraging of waders in Poole Harbour (in relation to access levels), work in the Solent on access and disturbance, access monitoring and visitor studies at a range of sites and various projects to reinstate grazing on commons.  

From this summer you can expect to see Durwyn and his team out on the estuary as well as visiting recreational clubs and user groups to discuss the study.  We will be keeping you up to date on the progress of the study through quarterly editions of Exe-press as well as on our website www.exe-estuary.org.uk

Jenny Lockett, Exe Estuary OfficerDurwyn Liley, Footprint Ecology

Tel: 01392 382236Email: info@footprint-ecology.co.uk

Email: exeestua@devon.gov.ukWeb: www.footprint-ecology.co.uk