Ratty was in peril. By the early twenty-first century this beloved character from Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows” had suffered a catastrophic 95% decline in its UK population. Once a common sight along many of our waterways the water vole was endangered because of the increasing intensity of urban development, modern farming and forestry, and the predatory American mink. This book tells the story of the UK’s largest water vole re-introduction programme which began in 2014 in Northumberland’s Kielder Forest. The author was a lead volunteer working with Northumberland Wildlife Trust throughout the ten years of the project. He tells the story through the eyes of the volunteer, with plenty of factual information about the water vole, the mink and the forest. But the main core of the story is the process of collecting native voles, breeding sufficient numbers and then releasing them back into the wild. All told with plenty of anecdotes and perspectives on the benefits of volunteering for the good of the individual, the wildlife and the organisation. Mel Rockett worked in education for 45 years as a teacher, school leader, adviser and consultant before transitioning into a new life as a wildlife volunteer. Whilst he wrote several text books for the teaching of geography and a handbook for teachers on the subject thinking skills - “Thinking for Learning” (NEP) - this is his first venture into writing about the world outside.
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