BRANCH CHAIRMAN’S REPORT MARCH 2012

Last year will be remembered for its warm dry spring, cool summer and warm dry autumn.

This meant we had a series of very early butterfly emergences: nationally, all but 9 of our native species were on the wing before June. As you might expect, some species did well, others not so well.

Dorset Branch had a very busy year. The overall situation is summarised inthe report on the notice board, compiled by Robin George of all the events held in 2011 (118), with 2865 people attending. We estimate that the branch did about 3500 volunteers of work – a staggering amount – and this excludes all the time spent recording butterflies and mot the time spent by our recorders1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111hs and processing the results.

The level of activity is reflected in Bridget de Whalley’s Display and Information Stall report (in your packs) which describes an astonishing number of events attended. This is a very important function for the branch, as it is effectively our “shop window” where we see many familiar faces, and lots of new ones. Bridget has many volunteers who help her in this task, which we really appreciate, but more people are always needed to cover the increasing number of events we can attend.

Another important concern is conservation at our 4 reserves and other good butterfly sites. A major focus has been to meet the objectives set out in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme at Alners Gorse, and this has been achieved using both volunteers and contractors. You can read about our conservation activities in Richard Belding’s report in your packs.

Perhaps the activity involving the greatest number of people is recording and monitoring of butterflies. Hundreds of people record for us, both members and non-members, and, verifying, inputting and collating the results involves a huge amount of effort, as you can read in Bill Shreeves’ report, also in your packs.

Some of you may have read about BC’s 2020 Vision in the national Newsletter. This was developed in 2010 to chart the way forward for BC over the subsequent 10 years. We were a bit slow in Dorset Branch to pick up on the need to work out how the Branch could make its contribution to the vision.However the 5-year Business Plan developed and adopted by the branch in 2006 bears a striking similarity to many of the objectives set out in the Vision, so you could argue that we had already been doing it! In January 2012, members of the Branch Committee and others who contribute to our work held a workshop to develop projects which would contribute to the 2020 Vision, prioritising those for immediate action. One of our key projects is to rationalise and update all the information held relating to our transect walks, and to put them onto a consistent mapping basis. This is an ambitious project, the first stage of which is to define what we want to do in close detail. I will be writing about our plans in a future issue of the Branch Newsletter.

Although our focus is butterflies and moths, we could not do this without people, and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed in anyway to our work, however large or small. We are very fortunate in Dorset that many people contribute large amounts of their time and expertise. I was delighted to learn last year that two of our members were to be presented with Outstanding Volunteer Awards at the National AGM. As there are only 6 awards given each year, this is nothing short of amazing. So well done Bridget and Lawrie, the awards are well-deserved.

Sadly, two of our long-standing Committee members have decided to stand down at this AGM, and I would like to pay tribute to each of them. Both of them precede me on the Committee, so I have asked my colleagues to fill me in on their history, for which many thanks.

Anna Barwick has been a Branch Committee member since 1994, and has filled the roles of Book Secretary and Sales Treasurer, Sales Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and since 2001, Website Officer, setting up one of the earliest branch websites. Sadly, in 2012 Anna found that the pressure of work was making it impossible to keep the website up to date, and many of you will have noticed the somewhat erratic appearance of sightings during 2011. Having last summer taken over with Lyn Pullen the task of inputting the records into a form suitable for uploading to the website, I am full of admiration for all that Anna achieved in previous years. So Anna’s contribution to the branch over the last 18 years has been immense, and on your behalf I would like to thank her.

Bobby Knowles joined the Branch Committee in 2001 as Newsletter Editor, her first product being the issue for Spring 2002. I think you will all agree that under her stewardship, the newsletter has gone from strength to strength. I am very sorry that she has decided to move on, but her retirement is well-deserved as she has held the position for longer than anyone before her (the previous record being held by Lyn). Many thanks Bobby, I hope we find a successor soon.

On a brighter note, I would like to welcome Sue Rawles back to the committee. Many of you will remember that Bob Steedman agreed to continue as Acting Secretary at the last AGM as no one else had come forward. However, later that same day, Sue decided that she would take on the role, her second stint as she was previously Branch Secretary between 1999 and 2002, when she handed over to me. So Sue was co-opted onto the committee last year, and is standing for election today. Welcome back Sue, I’m delighted to be working with you again.I’d also like to tell you about our new arrangements for our website. I’m delighted to tell you that Lyn Pullen has agreed to take over from Anna as Website Coordinator, with technical support being provided by Steve Bennett.

I would like to end by thanking all of my fellow Committee members for their hard work and support throughout the last year. Between us we have a very wide range of skills and experience, but we now have two vacancies on the committee that I would like to see filled, one as Newsletter Editor, the other as a Committee Member. Please think about it.