“Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum Celebrates

County Wildlife”  

 

Last December saw the return of the Pembrokeshire Wildlife Sightings Event, organised by the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum team in order to raise awareness of the work of the Pembrokeshire Marine Code and Outdoor Charter Groups.

 

 Following on from the success of the previous year, the event was again fully booked.  Guests were welcomed to Pembrokeshire College’s Merlin Theatre, where they were treated to a number of presentations depicting our County’s wildlife, seen throughout 2007. Kate Lock from the Skomer Marine Nature Reserve started the evening with video footage of Pembrokeshire’s underwater environments followed by ‘Rock Pool Revelations’ and ‘Pembrokeshire’s Grey Seals’ delivered by Judith Oakley and Mick Brown.

 

After a break for drinks and some local cheeses Lyndon Lomax entertained with fantastic photos of sea birds and the coastal zone from 2007. This was followed by a presentation on bats by Ann Humble which included hearing sound-bytes of the wonderful sounds different species of bats make when using echo location to hunt. Peter Brown gave a highly enjoyable talk about lichens which are often overlooked but are nevertheless a beautiful part of nearly every terrestrial environment in Pembrokeshire.  

The presentations, all delivered by local people, were excellent, being both informative about wildlife in Pembrokeshire, and supported by great photos / video footage and narrative.  

Tom Luddington rounded the evening off with a presentation on how we can all play our part to help safeguard the wildlife and environments of Pembrokeshire and encouraged everyone to get involved with local conservation projects and to garden for wildlife. 

An added feature of the event was a photo competition, which encouraged people to enter photos of Pembrokeshire’s wildlife. First prize was awarded to to Andy Davies with his image of a Tompot Blenny. Andy won a £200 voucher with Irish Ferries. Second Prize went to Richard Joseph who won an activity day for six with Newgale YMCA Outdoor Activity Centre for his close up image of a hoverfly, and third prize, a boat trip for six on the Cleddau Estuary donated by Rudders Boats, was awarded to Abbie Jebson for her artistic image of a Herring Gull in flight.  

With the event gaining popularity year on year, the interest in Pembrokeshire wildlife is evident. Most importantly the event is a great way to educate local people about the sensitive nature of many species of Pembrokeshire’s wildlife, and how best to avoid causing any disturbance to them and their habitats through following the principles of the Outdoor Charter Group and the Pembrokeshire Marine Code. The Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum team hope to run the event again in December ’08, and will be hosting other events throughout the year. Further details can be found at www.pembrokeshirecoastalforum.org.uk

 

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Tom Luddington

Activity Liaison Officer
Pembrokeshire Marine Code
Tel: 01646 696134 / 07977 939325

www.pembrokeshireoutdoors.org.uk

www.pembrokeshiremarinecode.org.uk