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 seven grants in 2002/6 totalling over £5,000 the fund available now stands at approximately £2,500. To date the fund has supported:

• 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.
• The Berkshire Atlas Group for bird survey work the revision of the county Atlas and Avifauna.
• BBOWT for the purchase of land to extend the Moor Copse reserve.

Call for Proposals: Winter 2006/7

The Club is now inviting proposals for winter 2006/7 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 (essential) and does it contain wetland or have relevance to wetland or wetland species (desirable)?
• 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 for consideration in Winter 2006/7, 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.