I am starting to come to the slightly crazy realisation that as I'm writing this, I have only nine weeks until I move back to university! I can confirm that, as I predicted, 2023 has been going way too fast for my liking. This all means that I must begin to think about how I would like my time with MWT to come to an end. All very sad, but I am also excited about where my final year will take me and where I will end up this time next year! Will I have a job offer? Will I apply for a Masters? Only time will tell!

As I took a much needed 2-week holiday at the start of June, I was expecting this blog to be much shorter than normal. I have, however, managed to squeeze loads into the rest of my month. 

I am happy to announce that my work on the carbon emissions report got completed whilst I was on holiday! I received an email from The Wildlife Trusts' main office asking for my finished report and so I had to liaise with Lucy to get it all completed and sent off. MWT’s emissions had dropped greatly since the previous year. This is due to the final score being given per employee and per land owned – both of which had increased since the 2020-2021 report. The greatest source of emissions came from commuting and travelling around the Island for work. It is difficult to improve on this as jobs can be remote and car sharing isn’t always an option. I have suggested ways in which MWT can keep tabs on emissions throughout the year so that next year there can be a more exact figure. A lot of this year's had to be guessed as we didn’t have the exact figures needed to fill out the spreadsheet. 

Slightly off-topic, but something I wanted to mention - I participated in the Parish Walk this month! I would love to say I raised loads of money for MWT, but I didn’t walk for charity. The feeling of personal achievement for walking 32.5 miles in a day was enough motivation for me and I finished (just shy of my Kirk Michael goal) in Peel. I hope to try again soon and achieve my goal, maybe even doing a little fundraising next time.

MY PROJECT UPDATES

The Freshwater Fish of Conservation Concern document that I began writing last month has now been distributed for feedback! This is a bug step for the report as I as a single person could never include all the details that a report like this needs. I am extremely grateful to all the individuals who are getting back to me on the report and believe I will have the second draft ready soon! I am so grateful to be able to get myself involved in important projects such as this one. My report will be able to help decision-makers prioritise their waterway management so that it is best suited for the wildlife that needs it most. 

My report on freshwater pearl mussels also took a new turn after I undertook a river search for physical evidence in the River Dhoo. Unfortunately, Karen and I did not find any evidence, but only one stretch of river was searched and although it is unlikely that anything will be found, there is always a small possibility. 

I have been helping Clare with some visual aspects of the State of Nature document that is to be released later this year. I attended a catch-up meeting this month to see how it is getting along. The team were impressed with my habitat mapping and I agrees to help Clare collate some images from Manx photographers and logos of the partners that have helped her by providing information. I will continue to help Clare where ever she needs it!

I hope to get the majority of my projects over the line this month coming. It hasn’t been easy and has come with a learning curve, but I think that it has been worth it! I have learnt so much about conservation in practice on the Isle of Man!

As usual, keep up to date on what I am up to by following my Instagram page @rachels_placement and any questions please don't hesitate to send over an email to rachelsmith@mwt.im