The Annual bittern conference 2004
The Annual Bittern conference was held on 5th & 6th May 2004, in Norfolk. The conference sparked great interest, with over 70 people from various charities & other organisations showing an interest in attending. On the day of the conference, 49 delegates attended to hear our dedicated speakers. Sarah Alsbury, the Bittern Project Manager opened the conference, outlining the day & thanking everyone for attending. The speakers were Mr Ken Smith, from the RSPB who spoke on recent research on Bittern ecology. Mr Harry Bowell, from the RSPB and Mr Nick Ash from ëProject Engineerí both spoke on the feasibility of using reeds as a biofuel. Dr Martin Perrow from ECON Ecological Consultancy presentation was on fish ecology & managing reedbeds for fish. After a delicious lunch, we heard from Mr John Blackburn from the Norfolk wildlife Trust, who gave an overview of Hickling broad, a site that was part of the first EU LIFE project. All the delegates then departed for a site visit around Hickling Broad, with Harry Bowell, John Blackburn & his staff leading us on a guided walk to show us the results of management work done as part of the first EU LIFE project, which was interesting and informative. Sarah Alsbury closed the first day of the conference by thanking Harry, John and his staff for giving us such an insight into how reedbed management has worked at Hickling Broad. The second day of the conference was organised for the Bittern project site managers & project-linked staff. We all boarded small boats & were taken for a site visit to Martham Broad. Once there, we met Richard Starling who is the chairman of the Broads Reed & sedge cutters Association. He took us to see the Reedbeds & talked about how commercial reedbeds are managed. We all found this a most informative visit, with plenty of exchanges of ideas & knowledge.
If you would like to come to the 2005 Bittern Conference, please contact Sarah Alsbury sarah.alsbury@rspb.org.uk.
