Slovenian girl Kristina Kenda helping Species Recovery Trust bring back the New Forest cicada
A YOUNG girl in Slovenia may have saved a project to reintroduce singing cicadas to the New Forest.
Staff from the Species Recovery Trust flew to the eastern European nation in the summer to try to catch some of the insects to reintroduce to Britain but were unable to catch any.
Now Kristina Kenda, the 12-year-old daughter of the AirBnB owner the staff stayed with, is putting out special nets to catch enough cicadas to reintroduce a permanent population to Britain.
“I'm very pleased to be able to help the project,” Kristina said. “I like nature and wildlife and it was fun helping Dom and Holly from the trust look for cicadas when they were here.
“Cicadas are a part of the summer in Slovenia so it would be nice to help make them a part of the summer in England as well.”
The black and orange-striped New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana) is the size of a grasshopper but can fly rapidly from tree to tree.
Males produce a high-pitched song in the summer to attract a mate. Females lay eggs in trees, with the tiny nymphs falling to the forest floor to burrow into the soil; they then live underground for six to eight years.
There have been no confirmed sightings of these insects in the New Forest since the 1990s.
Last year the Species Recovery Trust was awarded £28,000 from Natural England's Species Recovery Programme to bring the New Forest cicada back.
The plan, also supported by the Valentine Charitable Trust, was to fly to the Idrija Geopark in Slovenia where the same species of cicada is still found.
They planned to bring back five males and five females and keep them at a ‘cicada nursery’ specially created by zoo staff at Paultons Park, before transporting them to secret locations in the New Forest and releasing them.
Trust director Dom Price and conservation office Holly Stanworth flew to Slovenia in June but found the cicadas were harder to catch than they had expected.
In fact, the cicadas were so high up in the trees and flew so fast they didn't even see one.
However, the team found hundreds of tiny mud chimneys made by the nymphs as they emerged from the ground, just a stone's throw from the AirBnB where they were staying.
By erecting a net tent in the area before the cicadas emerge next year, they could catch enough to take back to the UK, but they can’t leave the nets up over winter for fear of them being damaged. They also could not afford to fly out twice in one year.
Coming to the rescue, Kristina, who had enthusiastically joined the team on their outings, offered to set up the nets in the spring. She has also agreed to monitor the area throughout the winter to spot signs of activity.
The trust team will now fly out in early June and, if all goes to plan, finally collect the insects they need. This will be followed by a six-year wait to see if the tiny nymphs survive underground to become adults and seed a new generation of New Forest cicada.
Dom said: “We are so grateful to Kristina and the whole family for their enormous support.
“At this stage, the project might be impossible without that help. If this method works then we can bring back one of the UK's most special species, our only cicada and an icon of the New Forest that residents and visitors can enjoy forever. What an incredible legacy for Kristina, her family and everyone involved in this project.”
Natural England’s Thames Solent area manager Allison Potts said: “People are the heart of successful conservation action, so it is wonderful to hear how Kristina has been inspired to get involved and is now playing a crucial role in supporting this Species Recovery Programme project.
“We are very thankful for all her hard work in helping the Species Recovery Trust with the overall aim of the project to bring cicadas back to the New Forest.”
Find out more at speciesrecoverytrust.org.uk
