A cause for celebration

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust has come a long way since its foundation by a group of pioneering local conservationists in 1962. We have much to celebrate and we hope that the attention focused by our 40th anniversary activities will help us build on our success to date.

Anniversary Wildlife Garden Our gardens provide a significant refuge for wildlife, and by using sympathetic methods there is much we canall do to conserve and increase local species and biodiversity. Promoting wildlife-friendly gardening is therefore a major theme for the Trust. We were delighted to take up the opportunity of creating a special! wildlife garden as a feature in the main marquee in the "Celebration of Cornish Gardens" held at Trelissick from 11st to 4th May. Rosemullion Homes, the Countryside Trust, Cornwall Today and the Environment Agency provided the sponsorship to make this garden and our anniversary programme possible. We hope you were able to visit us at what was the first point in the Queen's Golden Jubilee tour of the country - a double celebration.

Anniversary programme

We have enclosed a programme that covers some of the main events supporting the Trust's celebration of 40 years of protecting Cornwall's wildlife and wild habitats. As well as organising a variety of special events, including the sponsored walk (page 19) and the Fox Club day (page 5), we will be co-sponsoring the annual Cornwall Lecture and benefiting from promotion by Gill Body through this year's Nanpusker Opera.

Nanpusker Opera

The Barber of Seville - 27th July

In only six years, the Garden Opera Company's annual performance at Nanpusker Farm has become a fixture in the Cornish calendar. This year. Gill Body is dedicating the event to celebrating the 40 years of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust's work, complementing the opera's beautiful setting with that

of the lakes which the Bodys have created over the years.

From one very small lake, a few resident moorhens and an area of barren, unproductive, boggy land, the Bodys have created three new lakes and lush green planting on what had proved to be toxic mine waste. There is now a wealth of wildlife from moorhens to beautiful dragonflies and on occasions swans have nested on the island.

Royal Cornwall Show

If you missed the Jubilee wildlife garden, a smaller version will be reconstructed as the centre of our marquee at the Royal Cornwall Show (helped by the construction expertise of Rosemullion Homes!) on 6th, 7th and 8th June. Once again there will be exhibits, activities and advice from a range of expert staff and specialist groups, plus our popular sales stand. We look forward to meeting you there.

A fittingly natural backdrop/or the Garden Opera Company's performance at Nanpusker farm, which is dedicated this year to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.