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Welcome to our 50th birthday celebreations for Felmersham Gravel Pits
The first Wildlife Trust nature reserve in Bedfordshire – Felmersham Gravel Pits - is celebrating a birthday windfall.
The £18,250 grant from Biffaward follows hot on the heels of the reserve’s 50th birthday party in June – which was also the 50th anniversary of the Beds and Hunts Naturalists’ Trust, one of the Wildlife Trust’s original constituent parts.
The Felmersham at Fifty project will improve wildlife habitats and protect plants and invertebrates. We will improve and create new wildlife habitat. Practical work will include the following:
- Control of water soldier, an invasive plant which threatens to dominate native water plants in the old gravel pits
- New open water areas to provide habitat for dragonflies and damselflies;
- Improving woodland habitat and age structure through coppicing;
- Enhancing the wildflower rich meadows through grazing and scrub control. Conservation grazing helps to control dominant plant species in the meadows letting the smaller plants flower.
- New tools and equipment for the trusty band of volunteers who turn out in all weathers to help us with the management of the reserve.
Graham Bellamy, Bedfordshire Reserves Manager, said, “As our first reserve in Bedfordshire Felmersham already holds a special place in our hearts and now we can make it even more special and valuable for wildlife for the next 50 years.”
Gillian French, Biffaward Programme Manager said, ““Our natural environment must be protected, which is why Biffaward is delighted to support organisations like Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust who work tirelessly to conserve our landscape. The work carried out Felmersham Gravel Pits will bring huge benefits to the habitat and wildlife that lives there.”
Felmersham reserve comes to life in the summer with a display of dragonflies and damselflies. Eighteen different species have been spotted by the lakes, with the adults hunting over the water.
The reserve is testament to the hard work of those pioneering local conservationists, and now has rich habitat including the undisturbed grassland with wild flowers such as black knapweed, common spotted-orchid and lady’s bedstraw.
Notes to editors
Bringing people together to take action for wildlife is the Trust’s mission. We manage 128 nature reserves - all of them free to visit – and 95% of the population live within five miles of one of our reserves. We are working to make these wildlife havens bigger, better and more joined-up – vital to help wildlife to adapt to a changing climate. By gathering valuable information about wildlife and working with other landowners the Trust also monitors and safeguards wildlife beyond the boundary of its reserves.
The project has been funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.
In 1997 Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill tax credits to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) to administer under the fund name Biffaward. Grants made from the fund currently amount to over £100 million, supporting many worthwhile projects.
Biffa is a leading integrated waste management business providing collection, treatment, recycling
and technology-driven energy generation services.
Biffa promotes and delivers sustainable waste management solutions for commercial and municipal.
The landfill tax came into operation in 1996. Its purpose is to reflect the impact of landfill on the environment and also to help achieve the targets for more sustainable waste management. The tax, levied on the tonnage of all material disposed of in landfill sites and collected by Biffa on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs, aims to encourage recycling and reduce waste by raising the cost of disposal.
The regulations allow landfill site operators to direct approximately 6% of the tax they have collected towards approved environmental projects. However, any approved project can only receive 90% of its desired funding from the landfill tax. The remainder must come direct from the landfill site operator or from a third party organisation or company.