Its been a while since I've had chance to do any work on this course but its now time to move on to my second assignment where I'll be looking at the theme of Wetlands. The first question to answer is why I've choose to look at Wetland Conservation as a theme for this next assignment, the honest answer being it seem an obvious place to start as its one of the most important habitats we have in this country but at the same time its one that we don't really have that much of compared to some countries. Another reason why I decided to look at this area of conservation was because of the geography/geology of the area I live in, here in Staffordshire I'm surround by a large amount of Sand and Gravel mining operations which leave behind them a lot of scaring on the landscape. To make use of these pretty messed up areas that are left behind the easiest and most logical process for the companies involved is to let the deep pits fill with water and then hand the land over to one of a few private organisations or the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust which then manage them as new Wetland habitat. This presents an interesting insight into conservation in the area because I'll be able on one hand to show how the landscape is being damaged due to intense mining operations and then on the other how we can take advantage of these areas and make the best out of a bad situation. One of the first things I think I'll need to do is get in touch with one of the mines and see if there's any chance there'll let me on site, I can't say I'm overly hopeful but you never know unless you ask the question. Once I've got my photos of the lets say "before" I can move onto the main body of work being the "after" showing the wetlands themselves, here what I'm aiming to do is show the landscapes and wildlife that inhabit them to the best of my ability. Building on this I can then look at the work being done to improve these areas whether its by volunteers or staff to increase the wildlife's population while at the same time making it accessible to the public. At the end of the day places like this have to accommodate this duel purpose because without people being able to see for themselves the rich diversity of life that can be found how can the idea of conservation be spread?
Another thought I'd had was what about going a little further afield and look at Coast Wetlands, these tend to be a little scares and not always as accessible as there inland alternatives. On the flip side they can be much more photogenic and have larger numbers of birds as we head into the autumn/winter months because of migration patterns. I think I've started considering this because I'm afraid that a lot of the inland area might be getting a bit sparse of life as we move into October and I really need some good wildlife shots to show why these areas are so important.
Have now been in touch with the local mine and as I expected its a no go with getting on site to take some photo. As usual its the same old health and safety rubbish and how they don't feel it'd be beneficial to them. Ok then I'll have to take maybe a slightly different approach but I still need photos to illustrate how these wetlands are created and the effects on the landscape.
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