Reforestation at Peak Dale Gets Underway   

Gumwood saplings are being planted at Peak Dale between the existing stands of mature gumwood trees.  Peak Dale is the last remaining site in St Helena where gumwoods have survived in significant numbers since before human settlement started.

Self-regeneration of gumwoods at this location has failed in recent years.  The precise cause is not confirmed but damage caused by rabbits and stray sheep and cows is at least part of the problem.  The newly planted saplings are protected by tree guards to help them through the first few years.

Lack of rainwater and air moisture makes life difficult during the summer months, particularly for newly planted saplings.  To combat this problem three water supply sources are being assessed.  A basic irrigation system could be installed to feed pipe lines laid to the saplings as required. 

Alternatively, an agricultural water supply line could be used if we can establish that the supply reaches this remote area.

Peak Dale is just below the ridge line overlooking Sandy Bay.  The steep gradient throughout the site means water can be gravity fed throughout. Nearby springs are also being checked as possible supplementary water sources.

Wirebird Protection – Action on Several Fronts

The Wirebird project at Deadwood Plain has started to show some beneficial results but more time is required to confirm an established trend of Wirebird population growth.

Deadwood Plain is one of the larger and more populated Wirebird feeding and breeding habitats.  For the Wirebird, successful feeding and breeding depends on an expanse of open terrain.  A prerequisite is short grass and reasonably flat or gently sloping ground.  The Wirebird favours these conditions for feeding on invertebrates and for breeding.  Potential predators can be sighted at some distance in this type of landscape.

Cattle are grazed at Deadwood Plain.  To improve the pasture, [and the habitat preferred by Wirebirds] paddocks were erected so a rotational system of grazing could be introduced.  The cattle now rotate between the paddocks finding a succession of fresh grazing areas while at the same time keeping the grass as short at the Wirebirds like to have it.  Invasive vegetation, such as the long and tough bull grass, has also been removed.  The result is better pasture management, improved pasture and early signs of increased nesting and chicks.

A research student, Fiona Burns, is also in St Helena undertaking a six months Wirebird study.  The main purpose of Fiona’s work is to study behaviour patterns and predation threats.  Wirebirds are being ringed in order to log their individualmovements around the island and small field cameras are being placed near nests to collect data on the success rate of eggs to fledgling chicks.      

The cameras are also used to collect hard evidence of predation of eggs and chicks.  After only a few days using the cameras, a Mynah bird is already shown on film destroying Wirebird eggs.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds [RSPB] is very active in St Helena and is behind most of the Wirebird research projects.  International interest in the Wirebird stems from the bird’s status as a critically endangered species.  This means, simply, that if recent Wirebird population trends continue, the bird is likely to become extinct.  In order to help the Wirebird re-establish itself, much more needs to be known about it.  Research into feeding and breeding habits, lifespan, intra-island migration patterns, threats and dependencies is a continuing process.  As is so often the case, finding out more about the wirebird only reveals how much more needs to be known.

Specialists from the RSPB have visited St Helena on several occasions to further Wirebird research.  The most recent visitor was Mark Bolton who came to teach Eddie Duff, our resident Wirebird specialist, and research student Fiona Burns how to ring Wirebirds safely and how to take measurements of their legs, heads and wings accurately and without harming them.  In the short time Mark was on the Island he also took genetic samples of the Storm Petrels which use the island coast.  The purpose of this research is to find out if, as with several other species of flora and fauna, the Storm Petrels inhabiting St Helena have evolved into a different species.    

Mark is now in the UK working away in the laboratory with his genetic samples to find the answer.  He will be making comparisons with North Atlantic Storm Petrels.  We wait to find if St Helena has another endemic avian species.

Another aspect of Wirebird protection is providing extra suitable habitat to compensate for the loss of Wirebird ‘territories’ when airport construction starts.

No plan has been implemented yet but the intention is to make additional areas of the island suitable for Wirebirds as part of the Air Access Wirebird Mitigation Plan.  This will involve improving and expanding existing pastures, removing invasive species from otherwise suitable terrain and possibly installing irrigation systems to create the right conditions for cattle as well as Wirebirds.

With all this activity either taking place or planned it is necessary to co-ordinate the various strands of work to ensure there is no wasted duplication and every opportunity is taken for each activity to complement other related work.

Dr Rebecca Cairns-Wicks is heading this exercise.  She is co-ordinating the many areas of work, including; research, pasture improvement schemes, a review of relevant legislation, promoting public awareness, education and securing funding. 

After much which has already been achieved for an island with minimal resources, we all acknowledge there is much more to know. 

A tidal wave of work needs to be completed by do or die deadlines.

Please see the details on page 6 in this newsletter about how you and your friends can help by participating in the Adopt a Wirebird scheme.

The Millennium Forest –

An Evolving and Maturing

Long Term Project

The ‘roots’ of the Millennium Forest where planted before the turn of the century.  George Benjamin, a pioneer of St Helena’s environmental awareness and action, introduced gumwood planting and experimented with different cultivation methods nearly two decades ago.

The idea of a Millennium Forest in St Helena resulted from the need for a project which recognised the necessity to regenerate the Island’s native forests. 

In fact, the Millennium Forest is situated on part of a larger tract of land where ‘The Great Wood’ once covered most of the eastern side of the Island.  Colonisation by man and his domesticated animals left the entire area treeless and the exposed soil suffering from severe erosion.

The project launch unleashed a tremendous amount of energy which left hardly any Islanders untouched.  Virtually every Islander paid for a tree to be planted, many of them planting a tree themselves.  During this initial phase about 3,000 trees were paid for and planted.  The Gatehouse was built, a car park laid out and forestry workers employed to continue the work.

Eight years on much has been achieved and of course, there is much more still to do.  About 25 hectares [63 acres] have been planted so far.  However, the total land area now reserved for the Millennium Forest is 250 hectares [625 acres].

After eight years developing the Forest we now need to maintain previously planted areas alongside expanding the Forest into new planting areas.

We are now planning work at the Forest on two fronts.  First, the entrance to the Forest is to be given a facelift.  The car park requires maintenance and the adjacent area is to be planted with some of the other species endemic to the Island as well as Gumwoods.  The nursery facility is to be replaced with a larger, better equipped building.  The very basic staff facilities are also to be replaced and improved.  The main walkway from the Gatehouse to the most established part of the forest is to be cleared and upgraded. 

Invasive species are the main cause of much time and effort spent on ground clearance work.

As is common in most parts of St Helena, invasive species in the Forest have to be controlled.  The most successful invasive species at the Forest is the Creeper [Carpobrutus edulis] – a vine like plant where each one spreads its tentacles for yards along the ground.  The leaves are thick and fleshy and the roots contaminated with mealy bug.  Creeper can be seen in the photograph opposite.

Other invasives are present in the Forest but the eroded and degraded soil means they do not spread and become as significant a problem as in other parts of the Island.  Samphire [Suaeda fruticos], White Tungi [Opuntia cochinillifera] and Salt Bush [Atriplex semibaccata] are some of the invasive species which need to be kept in check.  Failure to do so would mean parts of the Forest are sacrificed to invasives, eventually.

The eroded soil means Gumwood saplings require labour intensive care to become established and survive.  Currently there are two forestry workers to plant, water and clear the ground of invasive species. Funding is being sought to increase the number of forestry workers employed by the St Helena National Trust.

In addition to more forestry workers, the most important requirements are a plentiful and cheap supply of water together with a reliable and continuing supply of compostable materials.

A new water distribution system is to be installed by laying a network of pipes to the new planting areas.  Some of the water pipes are now no longer required in the older parts of the Forest as the trees have become well enough established to fend for themselves.  Water pipes in these areas will be lifted and re-used in the new planting areas to supplement to supply of new pipes purchased for the new areas.

The supplies of compost too need to be more plentiful and more constant.  The main supply source is fish waste.  Unwanted parts of fish caught by the Island’s fisherman are composted down by the Trust’s Forestry Workers and used to provide vital nutrients for the forest soil.

We are trying to obtain other compostable material to supplement the supply of fish waste.  A continuing supply of higher volumes of compost will help enormously to increase the survival rate of newly planted saplings and reduce the daunting workload faced by our two forestry workers.  Every donated tree which fails to survive has to be replaced.

Sponsor a Tree

At The Millennium Forest

Sponsorship of One Tree - £5.00

Sponsorship of a Plantation - £250.00

All sponsors of trees for the Millennium Forest will be listed in a special section of the St Helena National Trust’s website.

Sponsorship of a plantation pays for one hundred trees to be planted and the provision of a name board.  The plantation can be used to commemorate an event or remember a loved one.  

For details on how to sponsor a tree at the Millennium Forest, e-mail the St Helena National Trust using the address at the bottom of this page.

A New Year Resolution from the Trust Director and Project Officer

Our forestry workers use two small metal clad shacks and a small dilapidated nursery to grow saplings.

We want to give them a bigger, better equipped nursery and a better place for meal breaks.  The computer image above shows what we have in mind.

Robert Draper and Vince Thompson decided to use some weekends to erect the nursery and staff accommodation.  The money saved on paying a contractor to build it will pay for equipment to help the forestry workers plant and water the saplings.

News from Trust Members

Dr Anne Whitehead used her visit to St Helena

to obtain records from the St Helena Government archives which helped in her research. 

-----------------------------

My wonderful week in St Helena in late August this year is now – some weeks later and back in Australia – more than vividly alive to me. Hundreds of digital photos of archive documents sit in my computer slowly being transposed into text to reveal more about the life and times of the man and his family who, for some years now, have captured my imagination.

In a frantic week’s research in the Archives, aided by my partner Allan who acted as a forward scout, and supported by the guidance of Lacosta McDaniel and Ricky Fowler, I photographed page after page of archival documents revealing aspects of life on St Helena in the early 19th century.

The story of William Balcombe and his family directly connects St Helena to Australia. Balcombe was a distinctive figure on the island, first in 1805 as a trader in Jamestown (initially in partnership with William John Burchell) and then in 1807 he was appointed Superintendent of Public Sales for the Honourable English East India Company. By a stroke of extraordinary fortune he played host to Napoleon Bonaparte for eight weeks at the Briars, while Longwood was being made ready. During this time his younger daughter Betsy, pretty, impudent, with an irrepressible sense of humour, formed a famous friendship with the exiled emperor, who found her boldness amusing and occasionally alarming. In December 1815 Balcombe became purveyor to the French entourage at Longwood, a role which gave him unprecedented access and which continued until his departure from the island in March 1818. He left ostensibly because of his wife’s ill health but under suspicion of being too partisan with the French. Later in the year Governor Hudson Lowe intercepted correspondence which he claimed as evidence of this and Balcombe was not welcome to return to the island.

It took William Balcombe five years to restore his standing with the British Government, exerting every connection he had. Rumours persisted that he was the illegitimate son of the Prince Regent who, in 1820, was crowned George IV. Certainly Balcombe had an influential patron in Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who formerly had been private secretary to the Prince and for many years was Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the House of Lords.

Balcombe’s rehabilitation was so astonishingly successful that in 1823 he was appointed the first Colonial Treasurer of the fledgling colony of New South Wales. The family (including Betsy, by then a deserted wife with a baby daughter) arrived in Sydney in April 1824. Balcombe was favoured by the colonial government with a handsome house in Sydney and an extensive land grant at Bungonia, some 120 miles to the south-west. However, two years later he was embroiled in a scandal involving his deposit of Treasury funds in the insecure Bank of NSW. He received a formal rebuke from Whitehall which contributed to his declining health. He died in March 1829.

Betsy made a brief trip to England to petition the British government for a pension for her mother, but failed in the attempt and came back to Sydney. Finally, in 1834, she and her daughter returned to live in London while her three brothers remained all their lives in Australia. William worked land south of Sydney with convict labour, Thomas gained distinction as an artist and Alexander became a successful farmer and country squire, part of the colonial establishment of the new state of Victoria.

In London, Betsy – Mrs Lucia Elizabeth Abell - received visits from the former emperor’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, and his nephew Louis Napoleon. In 1844 she published a memoir, Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon During the First Three Years of His Captivity on the Island of St Helena. A charming, whimsical and sometimes historically unreliable story, it was something of a bestseller and went through three editions. But by 1852, when her former young visitor claimed the French throne as Napoleon III, she was living in genteel penury. She sought his help and the Emperor offered her the dubious gift of a thousand acres of land in the French colonial conquest, Algeria, in gratitude for her kindness to his uncle in exile. She never visited it.

It has to be said that Betsy’s father, William Balcombe, occupies only a small niche – as a trader and East India Company official – in the long, colourful history of St Helena, although he takes on a larger – and still ambiguous - role during three years of Napoleon’s captivity.

However, in an odd way he also played a part in both St Helena’s and South Africa’s natural history because of his connection with the young botanist, William John Burchell. It was at Balcombe’s instigation that Burchell came to St Helena in 1805 in an unlikely business partnership. The commercial and personal relationship soon failed; Burchell became the island’s schoolteacher, but his passion was his study of the indigenous flora of St Helena and he undertook various scientific and agricultural experiments with Governor Beatson’s support. In 1810 he moved to the Cape Colony and in 1811-12 made intrepid expeditions north to the edge of the Kalahari Desert, collecting and classifying literally thousands of birds, plants and insects and, as a talented artist, sketching many of them. He was the first to describe a species of zebra which was named in his honour and his Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa became a famous text.

The final chapter of William Balcombe’s life was enacted in Australia, but he never forgot his connection with and affection for the island of St Helena and for his former beautiful home and garden just a mile and a half up the Sidepath from Jamestown. He called his farm in NSW at Bungonia ‘The Briars’. His youngest son, Alexander Beatson Balcombe, gave the same name to his farm near Melbourne, and while Thomas the artist perversely insisted on calling his house ‘Napoleon Cottage’, ‘The Briars’ name was taken up again for the home of  his son William in Sydney.

Balcombe’s great-granddaughter, Dame Mabel Brookes, brought the tradition full circle when in 1957 she visited St Helena. She purchased the Briars site (though the main house had been destroyed by termites) and the Pavilion where Napoleon had stayed and, in 1959, in a ceremony at Malmaison in Paris, she deeded it to the French nation. It is now one of the French Domains of St Helena along with Longwood House and the Tomb; I was delighted during my visit to meet their custodian, the French Honorary Consul and Napoleonic scholar, Michel Dancoisne-Martineau.

In turn ‘The Briars’ at Mount Martha near Melbourne, the farmhouse of Alexander Beatson Balcombe, was bequeathed by his descendants to the people of Victoria as a National Trust property. Today it is a museum of Napoleonic and early Australian colonial history, managed by a small staff and an active and dedicated group of volunteers. In March 2006, during the Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, they enjoyed playing host at The Briars to a visit from the official athletic team of St Helena, a long distance runner and two shooters accompanied by Mr. Gilbert Yon.

My time has run out and work on my Balcombe book awaits, including more deciphering of the historical treasures from the Jamestown Archives. But what will stay with me for life are my pleasurable memories of my visit to St Helena, the warm welcome from Barbara and Basil George, the vividness and majesty of the island’s landscape and the kindness and generosity of its people.

The Government Archives hold detailed records for important periods in St Helena’s history.  Many are original manuscripts

Enquiries into local searches for ancestors or notable historical people should be directed to;

lacosta@sainthelena.gov.sh

Praise for the Photography in Our 2008 National Trust Calendar

Tammy Gray from Dorset wrote to us in October to congratulate Malcolm Carpenter, Andrew Darlow and Edward Thorpe for their ‘superb’ photographs in the 2008 calendar.

Shark Valley and the waterfall is Tammy’s favourite while the Sail Spider by Edward Thorpe is favoured by her husband.

Tammy asked that her comments be printed in the Trust’s newsletter.

We still have some copies of the 2008 calendar available for sale.  Whether they are bought on the Island or overseas, the calendar is a quality product which is a little different from the usual and is a good choice as a present.

Adopt a Wirebird

Wirebirds in different areas of the Island are being ringed so they can be identified during our regular field surveys.  Through identification we will have a better knowledge of Wirebird;

• movement between ‘territories’
• lifespan
• breeding cycles
• mating patterns
• reactions to seasonal changes
• feeding patterns / dependencies

Adopt a Wirebird

and receive periodic reports giving information we gather on your adopted Wirebird.  We will tell you what parts of the Island it inhabits and how many chicks it has reared.

Adoption costs £10 per Wirebird.

e-mail the Trust at the address below for your ‘adoption papers’.

New Trust Director Appointed 

Vince Thompson was appointed Director of the St Helena National Trust on 1st October this year.  The appointment brought to an end a difficult period of several months when no full time director was available.  Prior to Vince’s appointment Barbara George had, selflessly, returned from retirement to fill the breach on a part-time basis. 

After ten weeks as Director, Vince said the range of issues which has to be addressed, simply as part of usual work, makes life interesting and challenging.  In addition, the regularity in which the unexpected has to managed and resolved is surprising, particularly for a supposed quiet remote island. 

The main focus of attention for the Trust in the immediate future will be obtaining more and better equipment to help the people working in the field, to complete projects, seek additional sources of funding, increase the number of subscribers to the St Helena National Trust and find more sales outlets for the Trust’s souvenirs.

Vince said, ‘The Trust is only five years old but in that short time has gained a reputation for being successful in obtaining funds for specific projects.  However, when the project is completed the funding stops and the risk of losing committed and skilled staff is too high.  It is a difficult thing to achieve, but the Trust must find ways to build up its own independent funds in order to have stability and the ability to plan further than two years ahead.’

In the short term Vince is looking for additional overseas contacts, donors and Trust subscribers as a first step in building up independent funds. 

Beyond that it is hoped the Trust will, in the longer term, own certain lands and property on the island and be in a position where it can gain income through admission prices or charging for services.

Some potential income generating opportunities are currently being investigated.  Just one successful scheme will make an enormous difference to the Trust’s finances.

The Trust Applies for Funds to Open Up the Heart Shaped Waterfall

Earlier this year Michel Martineau made a private donation of Land to the St Helena National Trust.  This very welcome gift was reported in a previous newsletter.

The donated land comprises the valley floor, stretching from the foot of the Heart Shaped Waterfall for about 1km. [1,100 yds.] to Drummond’s Point where there is access to the valley floor.  Drummond’s Point is a walkable distance from Jamestown.

The whole of the valley floor has been taken over by invasive species in recent decades.  The St Helena Nature Conservation Group spent several weekends strenuously hacking through the vigorous growth to create a walking trail up to the foot of the Waterfall.  Despite their valiant efforts, access for walkers to one of the most famous and beautiful geological Island features is limited to fit, adventurous and youthful.

The project funding application includes clearance of the invasive growth from the valley floor, the provision of access steps at Drummond’s Point, steps and walkways to provide safe and comfortable walking routes over steep inclines and a boulder field. 

Also planned is the re-use of plantation terraces which cover parts of the valley floor.  Not so long ago these terraces were used to cultivate vegetables and cattle fodder.  Good quality top soil still exists.  Dry stone walls were used to hold the soil in place.  Several of these walls are still in good condition.  The plantation terraces will be used to cultivate some of the Island’s endemic species.

Information boards citing the history and geology of the area will be positioned along the walking route together with seating and picnic tables at the foot of the waterfall.

This funding application is now with the Overseas Territories Environmental Projects [OTEP] for consideration early in the New Year.  If our application is successful, work on vegetation clearance could start in April 2008.

Co-ordinated Data Gathering Goes One Step Further

The St Helena Environmental Information System [SHEIS] has recently been developed further and is now an established information tool for several organisations on the Island.  The computer software provides a map of the entire island using aerial photographs as the base upon which several other data sources can be overlaid.  Apart from the usual contours, roads and urban development, property boundaries, Wirebird survey areas and nest locations, Millennium Forest & Peak Dale plantation boundaries and locations of historic buildings can be added as required.

The routes of water pipe lines [see page one] are among several other data bases still to be included.  If the data was already recorded it would save us considerable searching in the Peak Dale undergrowth.

Focus on St Helena’s Built Heritage

The Crallan Report on the Listing and Preservation of Buildings of Architectural and Historic Interest was published in 1974.  Despite being over thirty years old it is still the base document to which all subsequent studies refer.  The Crallan Report needed updating so Ed Simons, of the AOC Archaeology Group, Ben Jeffs, Director of Blackfreighter an independent consultancy and Ian Serjeant a third built heritage expert, were commissioned to re-assess legislation, policies, previous reports and current information.  From this they were asked to complete Phase One of the Built Heritage Project by recommending a series of actions which will update existing policies and take account of recent archaeological and architectural changes.  These recommendations focus on compiling a comprehensive and detailed record of St Helena’s built heritage, from fortifications to rural structures such as walls and gate jambs as well as houses.  The SHEIS computer system is ideal for this purpose.

The Staff and Council at the St Helena National Trust wish our Subscribers,Donors and Supporters Best Wishes for Christmas and The New Year.