Birds of Berkshire Conservation Fund

The Birds of Berkshire Conservation Fund is managed by the BOC. It receives profits from the sales of The Birds of Berkshire atlas and avifauna, donations from Club members, raffle proceeds etc and is dedicated to bird conservation. After making grants totalling over £6,000 the fund available stands at approximately £4,500. The work the fund has supported includes:

• The Newbury Ringing Group for its work on reedbeds at Thatcham and elsewhere.
• Lavell's Lake nature reserve with a grant for a sluice to give better control of water levels, to help breeding birds and enhance birdwatching from the hides.
• Kennet Valley Project with a grant to protect an area of open land at Paices Hill, near Aldermarston for ground-nesting birds like Lapwing and Little Ringed Plover.
• Barn Owl nest boxes at Moor Green, Fobney Island and elsewhere.
• The Berkshire Atlas Group for bird survey work for the revision of the county Atlas and Avifauna.
• Provision of a telescope for the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust to assist wardens at Greenham Common.
• A nest box project with the National Trust at Basildon Park.
• Woodland management for bird conservation as part of the “Be Wild” project led by the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre.

Call for Proposals

The Club is now inviting proposals from local organisations or individuals for grants to support bird conservation work in Berkshire in general and for projects involving wetlands in particular. It is unlikely that individual grants will exceed £1,000.

Proposals will be judged against the following criteria:

• Is the site within Berkshire?
• Will the project help locally threatened species to breed or winter more successfully?
• Will the project have long term benefits for wildlife and/or habitat, based on (i) the expected life of the work done or purchases made, (ii) the extent to which they can be subsequently protected and (iii) the level of support the project will receive and that required to secure a reasonable life expectancy?
• Will the grant result in increased benefit to users of the site?
• Project management: Is there a convincing plan for the execution of the project and its subsequent maintenance? What measures are being taken to ensure value for money; for example, how much of the work is to be done by volunteers, have donations "in kind" been obtained?
• How important is the grant to the success of the project (what other funding is available or being sought; what will happen if a Birds of Berkshire grant is not awarded)?

Proposals, stating the work to be done and the conservation benefits it will provide and addressing the above criteria, should be sent to the Secretary who can be contacted for further information (Renton Righelato, 63 Hamilton Road, Reading, RG1 5RA; tel 0787 981 2564; email renton.righelato berksoc.org.uk. Application forms can be downloaded from the BOC website or obtained from Renton Righelato.

Applications will be judged by a committee representing the authors of The Birds of Berkshire and the Berkshire Ornithological Club.

November 2011