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17 June 2008
Generous donors release wildlife grant for project
Three Northamptonshire woodlands get funding to create one large reserve
Generous donors have stepped in to save a huge grant from slipping away from The Wildlife Trust, given to link together three woodland nature reserves as part of its Reuniting Dodhaws Ancient Woodlands Project
In April, The Wildlife Trust received a whopping grant of £66,315 from SITA Trust, through the Landfill Communities Fund, but grants from this source require 10% (£7,294) from third-party contributors to release the money so the project can begin in July.
Volunteers from the Trust’s Oundle Local Group raised £600 and the River Nene Regional Park and the Forestry Commission stepped in at the last minute with generous contributions towards the target. The balance of funds required came from the Friends of the Wildlife Trust, which collects donations from individuals, companies, and other organisations that are used to release major grants to fund the Wildlife Trust’s work.
The reuniting Dodhaws Ancient Woodland project was officially launched today with representatives from SITA Trust, RNRP, local volunteers and parishioners enjoying a guided walk by Wildlife Trust staff.
The project will take the next vital steps in linking three ancient woodland habitats - Southwick Wood, Short Wood and Glapthorn Cow Pastures - home to some of the UK’s most threatened species, including black hairstreak butterfly, nightingale, and pipistrelle bat. All three woodlands are relics of the medieval Rockingham Forest and Dodhaws is the historic name for Short Wood and Southwick Wood, which were once just one woodland.
The Wildlife Trust will recreate the larger woodland by restoring a linking piece of arable land between Short Wood and Southwick wood, making the woodland habitat more robust in the face of climate change and other pressures. It will also allow species to move and mix freely over a larger area.
Volunteers and contractors will help the charity to prepare the land for natural regeneration to occur over the next decade. Wildflower seeds will be harvested from the glades of the existing woodlands to germinate in the new area; woodland management works such as coppicing, mowing and scalloping of rides will take place; and a new hedge will be planted on the boundary of the new linkage area to create a wildlife corridor to further aid colonisation. The project is also one of our national Living Landscape schemes, aiming to link and buffer sites to create larger reserves.
For more information about the project, please contact Tamzin Smith on 01604 405285 or email Tamzin.Smith [at] wildlifebcnp.org