Grant awarded by the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund to the Friends of Chichester Harbour

The 'Return of the Tern' project takes flight on the South Coast, with new Nature Recovery Officer appointed as part of an 18 month programme.

This May’s placement of five new tern rafts marks the start of the Friends of Chichester Harbour’s ‘Return of the Tern: Nature Recovery on the Southern Coastal Plain’ project. The exciting new 18-month campaign has been made possible thanks to the £182,300 grant that the Friends received from the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund last July.  

To be undertaken in partnership with Chichester Harbour Conservancy, the ‘Return of the Tern’ is an ambitious environmental project that will focus on nature recovery along the south coast, stretching from Langstone Harbour & Farlington Marshes to Pagham Harbour and taking in Chichester Harbour, Bracklesham Bay and Medmerry too. It will also head inland along wildlife corridors - west and east of Chichester - up to the foot of the South Downs.  

Following its successful bid for the grant, the Friends’ next step was to appoint Jess Vagg to the specially-created role of Nature Recovery Officer with specific responsibility for overseeing the ‘Return of the Tern’ initiative. Having previously worked as an Assistant Site Manager at The Woodland Trust and with an MSc in Conservation Science and Policy from Exeter University, 28-year-old Jess took up her position in November 2021. She has spent the past five months familiarising herself with Chichester Harbour, as well as its various communities and organisations dedicated to protecting and enhancing the coastal environment. Jessica has also been busy researching and securing the resources required for terns to return to the harbour to nest and breed. 

‘Inspired by the work that Chichester Harbour Conservancy has already undertaken deploying tern rafts off Thorney Island, it is very exciting to be expanding on this activity with the placement of the new rafts at strategic points across the harbour. They will support tern nesting for the four-month breeding season from May-August,’ says Jessica. The first tern chicks are expected to hatch in June and cameras will be installed on each raft to chart their development.  

‘Last Thursday, the Friends of Chichester Harbour collaborated with Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s Youth Rangers who painted and printed out 3-D images to mimic terns as a visual cue to attract real birds to nest on the rafts. We are also currently mapping out plans for a shingle recharge at Stakes Island from September to enhance the terns’ breeding habitat in time for next year.’  

A Fish Population Survey is in the pipeline for this summer. ‘This will increase our understanding of how the terns use the harbour and what they feed on which will then help us determine the food availability for both visiting and returning terns,’ explains Jess, who while studying for her Masters at Exeter University conducted research on the threat of plastics to marine vertebrates in the Galápagos. 

The Friends of Chichester Harbour (www.friendsch.org) was established as a registered charity in 1987 and currently has over 3,000 individual members plus 30 organisational members. Comprising walkers, sailors, nature enthusiasts, fishermen, wildfowlers, local residents and visitors to the area, the Friends draws together those who share a love for Chichester Harbour and an eagerness to preserve and improve its unique beauty. An annual programme of events, exclusive to members, includes harbour walks led by nature guides, talks by a variety of experts, birdwatching and boat trips.  There’s also the chance for members to volunteer for the weekly working parties run by Chichester Harbour Conservancy rangers and involve themselves in undertakings such as maintaining paths, planting hedges and trees and all the other tasks essential to managing the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which surround the water itself. 

The Friends of Chichester Harbour is on social media: Instagram @thefriendsofchichesterharbour; Twitter @FriendsChiHarbr and Facebook @FriendsChichesterHarbour. Those interested in joining the Friends of Chichester Harbour – or who might like to gift membership - can learn more about the charity’s various activities and sign up for membership at www.friendsch.org/about-membership