'In the Wild' is the new e-newsletter from the IW Biodiversity Partnership.

‘In the Wild’ will be publiched twice a year and we hope that becomes an enjoyable way of keeping up-to-date with local wildlife projects, news and events, and it enables you to find out more about the Island’s wonderful biodiversity and ways you can get involved.

View the very first issue here.

Click here would like to subscribe to 'In the Wild'.

A Forestry Commission scheme to plant tens of thousands of trees in new woodlands across the Isle of Wight is being re-introduced.

The last time the grant initiative was on offer between 2001 and 2006, the extra funding enabled new woodlands to be planted across the island equivalent to the size of 355 football pitches.

Now the Jigsaw Scheme is being brought back as an incentive to private landowners, in a bid to reconnect blocks of ancient woodland to allow wildlife to move more freely. Last time it was so successful that the island’s woodland cover was increased from 10 to 12 per cent.

Read the full story here

Images: successful JIGSAW planting on the Island.

Conservation charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is asking members of the public to keep an eye on mammals in the green spaces around their homes and places of work as part of their annual survey, Living with Mammals.

The survey records the public’s observations of mammals and their tell-tale signs in the built environment, helping provide a picture of how towns and cities can support our native wildlife.

The survey takes place between April and June of each year and requires you to spend some time observing a chosen site throughout the survey period.

Gardens, allotments, cemeteries, recreational grassland, industrial and brown field sites, derelict spaces, railway embankments, roundabouts and roadsides, as well as isolated pockets of heath and woodland all provide important refuges for our urban wildlife neighbours. Volunteers are needed to take part in this important environmental inventory, which kicks off in April and which requires participants to monitor mammals on their doorsteps over an eight week period.

Click here to find out more about the survey and how to get involved

PTES own and manage Briddlesford Woods here on the Island.

Starting this week, (weather permitting), Natural England and its partners are surveying the waters off the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, an area which is recognised as an important European marine site to help protect the species and habitats.

Chris McMullon, coastal and marine specialist for Natural England in the South East, says: “This work will help us plot the reefs, gullies and boulder fields which characterise this dynamic environment, and, in due course, will help scientists understand the marine communities in these tide swept areas. The more we know about our marine environment, the better we can protect the future health of the seas around Britain and the species which live in them.”

The South Wight Maritime European marine site will be surveyed for the first time using a multibeam echo sounder. This will enable Natural England staff to collect data to map the seafloor. Once analysed this data, alongside video and diver records, will allow scientists to determine the different communities which thrive in the tide swept environments, a technique known as habitat mapping.

Click here to read the full story