Indoor Meeting

Speaker: Rob Free (Amphibian and Reptile Conservation)A tour of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s ongoing work to conserve, protect and reintroduce rare Smooth Snakes, Sand Lizards and Natterjack Toads.

Speaker: Graeme Lyons (professional ecologist and author)Graeme will take us on a sweeping tour of 38 taxonomic groups from cnidarians to beetles, from lichens to arachnids, as described in his book of this title.

Speaker: Mark Mallalieu (Trustee of the Sussex Wildlife Trust.)Mark has a particular interest on scarce woodland birds and has authored or co-authored a number of papers on birds of Sussex.

Speaker: Mike Edwards (Entomologist)An introduction to the aculeate Hymenoptera and their life histories. Many of the species illustrated could be in your garden: how to start recognising them.

Speaker: Dave Elliott (Lead Ranger South Downs West, National Trust) The talk will cover the ecology of the Water Vole, the reasons why it has disappeared locally, and what is happening across the River Wey catchment to try and ensure a comeback.

Speaker: Martyn Phillis (HNHS Vice Chair and member of the Surrey Bat Group)The Greater Horseshoe Bat Project was started after this rare bat was found roosting in a semi-derelict building near Petworth in 2019.This species is very sensitive to light, humidity and temperature and nursery roosts need to be maintained at about 27ºC to maximise […]

Speaker: Dr. Mark Infield (Conservationist)From boyhood Mark has been influenced by wildlife and spent 30 years in conservation work in Africa, Asia and Europe. In 1991 he went to Lake Mburo National Park to help redress the bad effects suffered by the wildlife. He worked on a community conservation project with education and consultation with […]

Speaker: Michael JosephMichael and Jane Joseph, living near Billingshurst, have established a beautiful garden full of wildlife habitats and an impressive wildflower meadow. In achieving this their photographs showed best practice by having: plant diversity with a long flowering season to attract birds and insects; the need for water, as in ponds; plenty of dense […]

Virtual presentation on Zoom Speaker: Chris Stewart (ProfessionalGardener)Chris described the earthworm as “the ultimate eco-engineer” for its work as a decomposer. There are at least 25 native species which are divided into 3 groups: Epogeic, living in the top 25mm of soil; Endogeic living in the top soil and burrowing horizontally; and Anecic, living deeper […]

Speaker: Aimee Felus (Chief Executive of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust) To an audience of 51, Aimee gave a comprehensive, but with depressing aspects, talk on the Health of Rivers. As CEO of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust (WSRT) she focussed on the Rivers Rother and Arun and their environs.Considering the state of waterways, WSRT […]