Wildlife Trust secures Heritage Lottery Fund support

Thursday 21st June 2012

Buzzard in flight. Photo copyright Paul HobsonBuzzard in flight. Photo copyright Paul Hobson

The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield and Rotherham has successfully secured initial support* for a £265,000 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid, plus £24,300 development funding to help reconnect people to their woodland heritage.

The project will focus on Greno Woods which is rich in wildlife and will involve researching the ecology, archaeology and history of the site to help inform future management. Rather than relying solely on ‘experts’ the project aims to harness and develop the skills and experience of the public.

“Local people have told us that they would love to know more about the heritage of the woods, including the wildlife found there and its history and archaeology” commented Roy Mosley, Head of Operations at the Wildlife Trust. “This project will enable us all to learn more about the woods by involving local communities in measuring and recording what’s already here and helping us plan what we should do to improve the woods for the future”.

Many invertebrates and more than 50 species of birds have already been recorded on site including several nationally important species (such as turtle dove and cuckoo). However, the biodiversity of the site is significantly under-recorded at the moment and many more species are very likely to be present.

The funding will enable the Trust and its partners to train local people to be able to identify species and features themselves and record the wildlife found within the woods, which can then be used to draw up the development plans for the site.

The project development phase began in April but the first major event to be funded by the project is the BIO-BLITZ WEEKEND on 23-24 June. Local people are invited to come along and work alongside experts to identify and record ecological data. This event will be run with Weston Park Museum using software developed for recording wildlife sightings.

Roy Mosley enthused, “We are expecting to find lots of different species living within Greno Woods – from wood ants to woodpeckers. Everyone is invited to come and join in whether they have existing knowledge of wildlife or are just eager to learn”

The event will start at 11am on Saturday 23rd and the programme of guided walks and activities will include:

Saturday
11am-1pm: Ants, with Alistair McLean
2-4pm: Invertebrates, with Paul Richards
9-11pm: Bats, with Alistair McLean
All day activities: Tree Trail and Mammal Tracks

Sunday
4-6am: Dawn chorus, with Jim Clarke
11am-1pm: Birds, with Jim Clarke
2-4pm: General flora, with Julie Riley
All day activities: Tree Trail


To book onto a specific activity or to find out more please contact the Wildlife Trust on 0114 263 4335 or visit the website www.grenowoods.com