On Thursday 10th September delegates from across the Island and South East region attended a special event to celebrate 10 whole years of local action for the Island's Biodiversity at Brading Roman Villa.

Throughout the morning, both informative and reflective presentations were given by Dr Colin Pope - IW Council Ecologist covering major achievements for biodiversity over the last 10 years and Richard Grogan - Head of Conservation (IW) for the Wildlife Trust speaking about wildlife in terms of local heritage, community involvement, land acquisition and education.

A short break followed with tea and delicious home made cakes by the Friends of the Villa.

Next, Marianne Sullivan from Brading Town Council kicked off the second half of the morning with a presentation on local projects jointly benefiting biodiversity and the community. Jackie Kelly, Land Management and Conservation advisor with Natural England was the final speaker emphasising the key work of partnerships, where the work on the Island fits into the national context and the way ahead for the future.

For the final part of the morning, Eccleston George - Landscape Artists led a tour of Medusa's Meadow, the new nature trail in the grounds of the Villa which was a collaborative project between EG, the Villa and local schools; all thanks to a BBC Breathing Places grant. Ian Boyd of Island 2000 was busy sweep-netting whilst all this was going on collecting interesting mini-beasts for the group to marvel at; finds included common blue butterfly caterpillars, a pea weevil and the unmistakable wasp spider!

Lunch was enjoyed on the cafe terrace with the group re-convening for the afternoon's guided walk at 2pm.

Delegates gathered on Brading Down and made their way back down footpaths, along lesser known permissive paths and through the disused quarries returning to the Villa. Colin Pope described the ecology en route, Bob Edney - Countryside Officer was on hand to explain management of the site and Trevor Price from Dinosaur Isle provided a fascinating interpretation of the exposed geology within the quarries.

You can download the special publication here 'Isle of Wight Biodiversity: celebrating 10 years of local action'