Funding from Biffa Award has helped us to restore habitats for invertebrates in our Greno Woods nature reserve.
Greno Woods in Sheffield is an ancient woodland, but prior to the Trust purchasing it in 2012, it was damaged by years of timber harvesting, fire and quarrying.
Now, with support from organisations like Biffa Award, we are working to restore it for wildlife. We have used a grant from them to carry out interventions across the reserve with a focus on invertebrate conservation.
Invertebrates are everywhere. Often small and easily overlooked they are the unsung heroes of nature conservation. As pollinators, as decomposers, as pest controllers or simply as a delicious snack for a passing bird, they are a crucial part of a healthy woodland ecosystem – and this video shows what we’ve been doing to help them.
Woodland restoration is central to our work at Greno. The funding has allowed us to create safe fallen and standing dead wood, providing food and shelter for many species. When invertebrates benefit, so do all the other species in the food chain!
Wood for the trees
It’s not just the trees in a woodland that are important for invertebrates; as part of the project we have been restoring Greno’s ponds. Water beetles and drangonflies have discovered them already, and we are hoping they’ll become breeding ponds for frogs and toads.
Open spaces are vital for woodland regeneration. By clearing back scrub and bracken from woodland rides, flowers can bloom and attract pollinating insects. Wood ants love these sunny spaces and use them to build their nests. Staff and volunteers improved and created 3 kilometres of rides!
Mike’s field is full of wild flowers. It is a very important part of our site for bees and butterflies. Here, the grant from Biffa Award has been used to fence the field and build a cattle corral, getting it ready for conservation grazing in the autumn.
Thank you to our funders and supporters, for helping us to protect wildlife and wild spaces like Greno Woods. Come to visit the reserve soon, and see what your support has helped to create!