Watchtree Nature Reserve

The company structure of Watchtree Nature Reserve

Watchtree Nature Reserve (WNR) currently has seven Directors including the Company Secretary.  On the Board are two farmers from the local community, an ecologist, a businessman, a retired nature reserve manager, and two members of the local community who served on the original liaison committee.  The company has recruited a Nature Reserve Manager on a five-year appointment to deliver the board’s Business and Habitat Management Plans. This full-time position will service the management of the nature reserve, maintain public access and promote the WNR’s educational aspirations.  The Directors have already agreed to a range of policies and procedures, which will be used now the new manager has been appointed.

The Directors of Watchtree Nature Reserve have negotiated a 25-year lease and Land Management and Funding Agreement with DEFRA for the Nature Reserve.  DEFRA will provide funding and support for 10 years and then exit from supporting the management of the nature reserve.  DEFRA will retain full responsibility for all the engineering substructure and operations connected with the FMD burial site. During this period Watchtree Nature Reserve will deliver the development and maintenance of the nature reserve in accordance with the Annual Habitat Management Plan and Notice of Proposed Development (NoPD) agreed with DEFRA and an Aftercare and Liaison Group that includes Cumbria County Council the Environment Agency, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, English Nature and local Parish Councils.  During this time Watchtree Nature Reserve will also promote the nature reserve for public enjoyment, scientific research and education as well as developing its own funding streams for company initiatives.

Watchtree Nature Reserve contracts-in specialist advisors on legal, financial, secretarial and land agency matters. It will also co-opt specialist advisors on ecological and other site management issues and will have the benefit of the Aftercare Group inherited from DEFRA who formed the group when the site management plan was being developed and implemented.

A local strategy is being developed that will maintain and develop the interest and involvement of the local community, farmers and landowners. This will be achieved through newsletters, special open days to visit the site, and the help of the media as and when appropriate.  Local people will be encouraged to become ‘Friends of Watchtree’ and to get involved in helping to manage the site by undertaking various projects and duties that will help to achieve the nature conservation objectives. In the medium to long term, it is anticipated that this ‘Friends Group’ of volunteers will provide new Directors to strengthen the Company’s management abilities, help with the development of greater public access and appreciation and assistance with the development of educational facilities.

The site already possesses a new building housing the site administration unit and a small multi-purpose meeting room/interpretive centre/classroom with modern IT facilities including remote camera surveillance monitoring, as well as a weather station. Outside it has a substantial car and coach parking area.  In planning their access strategy, the Directors want to find ways of focusing all access and site management activities at the centre, permitting maximum access to areas of the reserve but minimizing disruption.  ‘Virtual’ access by means of wireless cameras to inaccessible or restricted areas during breeding seasons or at un-social hours, e.g. at night or dawn, may be an option. 

With only seven Directors, the Board will have to plan its Access Strategy carefully to avoid being overwhelmed by the demand that may be created for site access. As part of their strategy, the Directors are marketing the Reserve especially to organisations representing people with disabilities, schools, the Local Education Authority and PhD or MSc postgraduate students conducting scientific research.  Visits and talks from local community groups, conservation and environmental bodies are also being programmed.  The funding from DEFRA will enable WNR Ltd to employ a full-time Nature Reserve Manager who will assist the Board with their development plans.
All records and statistics are available, allowing academic institutions and individuals the opportunity to learn from the engineering and environmental science applied on such a large scale. The dramatic history of the site also provides teachers and parents with the opportunity to encourage children towards better awareness and care for the environment with tangible proof of the effects.  The nature reserve demonstrates how longer term strategic planning can overcome even the worst environmental setbacks, and how a totally man-made environment can replace the devastation that was there before - albeit on a time-scale measured in decades rather than single years.

Key issues for the future of the Company include:

  • Encouraging and sustaining wildlife, particularly Bio-diversity Action Plan species and habitats.
  • Obtaining additional funding to eventually replace agreements for core funding from DEFRA.
  • Building a social enterprise that will endure for the 25 years of the lease and be in a position to take on a further lease of the site
  • Clarifying the future ownership issues associated with the site long-term
  • Growing associated social enterprises in areas such as public access, ecological education and events
  • Exploring the potential to stimulate and create additional local economic and social impacts and gains associated with the site
  • Succession planning for Watchtree Directors
Networking effectively with other similar sites in Cumbria, Durham and across the EU.