Aquacadabra
 
The magic of water and wetlands is always evident in Cornwall. The county is latticed with a network of rivers and streams which act as lifelines to a range of habitats such as meadow, heathland, wet woodland and open standing water. Wetlands form a mosaic of continually changing, interdependent habitats which are highly susceptible to environmental changes. However, it may still come as a surprise to learn that they are the most threatened habitats in Cornwall.
Historically, we lost our wetlands due to intensification and other changes in agricultural practice. Today the threats are more varied and include: loss through development; habitat fragmentation; pollution; run-off; over-abstraction and drought. The journey of water is a continuous one from the air, to the land and sea, and back to the air again. This water cycle is complex and it carries nutrients that will sustain or end life and create or destroy habitats. The characteristics of wetlands vary, but they are all sensitive to changes in water quality and quantity. Wetlands are also dynamic and are capable of rapid change. Modern life has become very detached from these natural processes and seasonal cycles. Our understanding of wetlands is improving all the time, as it needs to: our wetlands are a vital resource and of the utmost conservation importance for wildlife. In February 2002 the Otters and Rivers Project, sponsored by the Pennon Group (South West Water and Viridor Waste Management), The Wildlife Trusts and the Environment Agency, comes to the end of its three-year programme. It has worked on a number of successful initiatives and it is planned to develop the project, with a wider wetland remit, to become Water for Wildlife.

Kate Stokes
Pennon Water Champions
Increasing educational awareness and providing a wildlife resource need not be costly. Pennon provides small community grants of up to £500 for activities such as building ponds. It has supported 40 such projects in Cornwall so far. SWW has further supported the OARP with its Clean Sweep programme to improve water quality: this region now has the highest water quality in the country.
Students at Cornwall College
Students and staff at Cornwall College creating a complex of ponds and a "hibernaculum" (right of picture) for amphibians and reptiles, funded by a Pennon community award.
Photo: Mark Nicholson

Operation Otter Cub
In October 2001, two orphaned cubs were rescued by Newquay Zoo. The twins had lost their mother (who we believe had died) and were malnourished and distressed. With superb care from Wendy Winstanley they are gaining weight and should have been moved in December into a secret enclosure. They will stay there until they are old enough to be re-released into the wild, where they were found, in the summer. Thank you for sponsorship from Tecker Ltd.

 Otter Cub
One of the orphaned cubs on its way to the secret enclosure.

Photo: Fiona Moran