A chemicals company employee, artist and bird watcher has contributed her artwork to help fund the conservation of the rare hen harrier bird of prey and other wildlife in Derbyshire’s uplands.
Linda Hartshorn, a buyer for additives company Lubrizol based in their rural site at Hazelwood near Belper, is one of the artists to have donated her work to an online auction organised by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, as part of its work to protect hen harriers.
Known as ‘sky dancers’ because of their graceful acrobatic displays in the air, numbers of hen harriers in the UK are down to below 700 pairs, according to the latest estimate from the British Trust for Ornithology.
These beautiful agile raptors were once a common sight but have suffered a severe decline in Britain for several reasons including persecution on grouse moors.
The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust ran a special art auction, “Ghosts of the Landscape”, to raise awareness of the hen harriers’ plight and help raise funds to protect them. With its theme based around species that are disappearing from these types of landscape, the trust invited people to send their entries depicting their vision of how upland areas could be rich in wildlife once more.
Linda Hartshorn, a worker at Derbyshire chemicals firm Lubrizol, with some of her previous artwork.
Linda, a keen bird watcher and artist in her spare time, said she wanted to do something to help protect hen harriers and other under-threat wildlife and so decided to donate a piece of her work to the auction, which was held for the second year running.
She said: “Hen harriers are persecuted in the wild and are really, really rare. We are very lucky to have a couple of pairs of hen harriers in the Peak District. I’ve never seen one in the wild, but I would love to. I’m absolutely passionate about wildlife and conservation. At Hazelwood we work on a beautiful site in a rural location and we do our best to look after it. The nature we have got on this site is marvellous – we are lucky to have such a diverse amount of wildlife.
“Giving this artwork is something I think I can do to help. By donating I am directly helping The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Biodiversity, not just in Derbyshire but everywhere, is under threat. The fact that a hen harrier is a top predator means that if you take that out of the food chain, it causes issues further down the line.
“It’s extremely important that people understand that if you just grow a pot of wildflowers in your back garden you’re having a positive effect on some little creatures who depend on those.”
The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust received 94 entries for its auction this year. All art was anonymous for the auction which closed on October 31. The art, which includes works by professionals, amateurs and even children, has been on show at The Green Man Gallery in Buxton.
The money raised is being split between Hen Harrier Action, a charity which aims to celebrate and protect wildlife of the UK uplands landscape, and The Wild Peak, the trust’s recently launched project that will work in partnership with landowners, communities and project leaders to make landscape-led conservation gains in the Wild Peak region of Derbyshire.
Diane Gould, people engagement officer at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Opening up the entries to this year’s auction and seeing the artwork was so exciting. We had professional artists and children sending entries. They all felt they could take part. We have got a real variety of styles and ideas, that’s what gives this auction its charm.”
