Wildlife Guardians

Our corporate membership scheme Wildlife Guardians was launched at County Hall on 1st December 2000. Many members were able to attend to receive their new certificates and it was good to welcome newcomers as well as those who have supported us over many years.

At our first joint event we welcomed Vickery Holman onto our newly acquired Windmill Farm reserve, where the company's staff from all over Cornwall and Devon spent a day tackling some of the initial management work needed on the site. Donning wellies and working clothes, the volunteers enthusiastically threw themselves into hedge planting, putting up a five-bar gate and clearing up mounds of rubbish at a very impressive rate. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and a great deal of valuable work was done. Many thanks to all.

If you are interested in finding out more about our corporate scheme, please get in touch with me.

Profile of a new member

We were delighted to welcome Weststar Holidays to our new corporate scheme and are very grateful to the company for providing this year's main raffle prize. Weststar Holidays Ltd is a family-owned concern with three award-winning parks: Mullion, on the Lizard Peninsula; Looe Bay, tucked away between picturesque fishing villages on the delightful south-east coast of Cornwall; and Sandford, surrounded by beautiful Dorset woodland. All parks have won the prestigious David Bellamy Award in recognition of their contribution to the environment.

Weststar's strong environmental policy includes working with Exeter University's STEPS environmental programme, minimising waste and putting in an environmental management system for water conservation. In Cornwall, Weststar has developed its own park character, Lizzie the Lizard, to highlight environmental awareness through an innovative programme, "Lizzie's Gone Green", aimed particularly at younger visitors. Quiet zones have been

introduced, reflecting the natural habitat of each park's location. Guests are encouraged to recycle and to save energy, and overall Weststar endeavours to educate staff and visitors about sustainable issues and the environment. We look forward to working with Weststar and thank the company for its generous raffle prize.

Annual Members' Day

Our first Annual Members' Day, incorporating our Annual General Meeting, was successful beyond our expectations. So many of you came along that we were spilling out of the doors, particularly for Tony Stebbing's excellent workshop on climate change.

We have a provisional date for our second Annual Members' Day - Saturday 10th November - and will try to keep it in a relatively central location again.

I would be very grateful for your workshop suggestions.

Alison Vaughan