The new High Speed 2 Railway (HS2) line has the potential to directly impact wildlife in many areas of the region.

The Wildlife Trusts' report 'What's the damage? Why HS2 will cost nature too much' draws from data from the 14 Wildlife Trusts affected by the current plans, including Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust and other charities and landowners along the route. The report shows that HS2 will divide and destroy huge swathes of irreplaceable natural habitat and important protected wildlife sites up the length of England This will cause permanent loss of nature, increased fragmentation of wild places, and the local extinction of endangered species.

In Sheffield and Rotherham, the proposed HS2 project would directly affect 5 designated Local Wildlife Sites – 3 of which contain Ancient Woodland;

• Nor Wood and Locks – a Local Wildlife Site and Ancient Woodland– Construction of railway cutting and embankments and a viaduct would result in the permanent loss of 18ha of the LWS (31.5%), and a loss of 4.1ha of ancient woodland (12.7%).  This is currently the single biggest potential loss of ancient woodland in Phase 2b.
• Nicker Woods and Ponds – a Local Wildlife Site and Ancient Woodland– to be impacted by the construction of a viaduct.
• King’s Pond Plantation – a Local Wildlife Site – a mixed woodland and large pond would be affected by a culvert and embankment.
• Firsby Reservoir – a Local Wildlife Site and Local Nature Reserve –noted for birds, including gadwall and willow tit. There could be permanent, adverse effects on the site integrity which is also designated as a local nature reserve for people to enjoy.
• Hooton Cliff Local Wildlife Site and Ancient Woodland– supporting the nationally scarce large-leaved lime. Without appropriate mitigation, the cutting and overbridge would result in a permanent adverse effect at the county/metropolitan level.
• with one further Local Wildlife Site and one further Ancient Woodland adjacent to the proposed route. – Foers Wood Local Wildlife Site wet woodland noted for its bat species and Pea Carr Woods – Ancient Woodland

The information for Sheffield is currently limited, with no assessment yet publicly available on the impacts of electrification of the existing line to make it compatible for high speed trains.