Trust seeks support around the county

A passion for dragonflies has inspired Steve Covey, County Recorder of Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies), to join the Trust as a Field Officer.
The Trust wants to reach out even more to the people of Wiltshire by recruiting people like Steve to promote its work.
It owns or manages 44 reserves and runs many projects encompassing standing up for wildlife and encouraging people to live sustainably. The Trust is a self-funded charity that relies on membership support for much of its resources.
“Members are the lifeblood of the Trust, and the more support we have, the more we can look after our environment and all the wonderful creatures that live in it, including my personal obsession - dragonflies,” Steve says.
Dragonflies are an ancient order of insects that has remained virtually unchanged since they first appeared.
“I love everything about dragonflies –the way they can fly up to 30mph, stop dead and turn on a sixpence; the fact they spend the majority of their lives under water as larvae, only on the wing for a brief instant to breed before dying; and their brilliant colours.
“Surely such marvels are worth helping - and with the support of Wiltshire people we can conserve and increase their habitat, which will help them adapt to climate change,” he says.

Steve, who lives in Swindon, is one of four new Field Officers, along with Chris Aukland, Lee Hodge and Tricia Venman, who will divide their time between reserves, such as Lower Moor Farm and Langford Lakes where education centres provide facilities for schools and community groups, and getting out in their areas to increase understanding of the Trust’s valuable work.
They will be appearing at lots of events and also setting up stalls in shopping centres and big stores.

Bradford-on Avon resident Chris gained his love of the great outdoors as a member of the Sealed Knot, a Civil War re-enactment organisation.
“We would spend days in camps preparing for ‘battle’ and when you are camping out in the middle of nowhere you see and appreciate a lot of wildlife,” he says. “I feel that by joining the Trust I am taking a positive step which will help it to continue to influence the beautiful landscape that is such an important part of Wiltshire’s identity, and which means a lot to me personally.”
Projects the Trust is currently investing in include ‘New Life for Chalk Grasslands’ designed to help wildflowers grow once more across Wiltshire’s iconic chalk grasslands.
Case study

The downy emerald dragonfly is one of Steve’s favourites. It is a dark metallic green, and tends to be elusive, existing on only six sites in Wiltshire – including the Trust’s nature reserves at Lower Moor Farm and Swillbrook Lakes. It is both locally and nationally scarce and has specific habitat requirements. Primarily these are that a water body has some overhanging trees and that the bed of the lake or pond is not disturbed, as the larvae live in the leaf litter. The Trust can help it to thrive by managing its habitat where it appears on reserves, and providing advice where it occurs on private land.