The improvement of habitat for insects and invertebrates appeal

© IMG_20190726_emeralddamselfly_LN

You did it! We hit our target and raised £1,911 to unlock vital funding to carry out a project for the improvement of the habitat of Greno Woods for insects and invertebrates and ultimately the health of the whole woodland. 

Greno Woods is a large and beautiful nature reserve. A Site of Ancient Woodland with records going back to the fourteenth century, though it is without doubt much older, it was purchased by Sheffield Wildlife Trust in 2012 using the proceeds of a public appeal in order to prevent unsympathetic development and to manage it in perpetuity for the benefit of people and wildlife. Greno Woods is freely open to visitors who come to enjoy fresh air and recreation, picnics, horse riding, walking, wildlife watching or to learn about the local environment & history.

Restoring Greno Woods to their ancient glory is a long term aim and there is still much work to do to achieve it. The next project is focused on restoring sections of habitat in Greno Woods in order to promote insects and invertebrates, creatures vital to the whole ecology of the woodland as pollinators and food source. We wish to carry out a variety of habitat improvements, reflecting the diversity of wildlife we aim to promote. Including, 

  • Careful management of 3km of woodland ride; scrub, bramble and bracken will create a mosaic of acid grassland, flowers, heather and bilberry, providing valuable feeding and breeding resource for a range of insects including the reserve’s many butterflies. These rides will form a superhighway for species such as dragonflies as they move between the reserve’s growing network of ponds.
  • Manage 4 hectares of young planting (the woodland of tomorrow) to support the development of young trees without resorting to the use of damaging chemicals.  Work will include thinning around seedling trees and the use of mulch matting on new seedlings.
  • Protecting Greno’s northern wood ant population. Greno’s heathland is the stronghold of the northern wood ant, a species recorded on only a handful of sites in the Sheffield area and a cornerstone of woodland ecology.  By thinning scrub on the heath the project will expand the area that can be used by wood ant which need open sunny areas to build their nests.
  • Created four ponds on site planted with a range of aquatic plants that will allow them to support a range of aquatic invertebrates, including dragonflies, as well as frogs, toads and newts.
  • Remove excess holly from 0.5 hectares of woodland, opening up new areas of the woodland floor to wild flowers crucial to insects.

The estimated cost to carry out this diverse project is £19,111 and the Landfill Communities Funder Biffa Award has approved a request for a grant for this amount.

And this is where we needed your help. In order to access the funding from Biffa Award, we have to pay a 10% Third Party Contribution to the Landfill Operator Biffa Waste Services – £1911 – and we aren’t allowed to use the Trust’s own funds or that of the contractors who will carry out the work. We have to be able to prove that the funds have been raised specifically for this purpose.

In order to ensure that the project goes ahead, improving the habitat of Greno Woods for insects and invertebrates and ultimately the health of the whole woodland, we had to raise £1,911 fairly quickly – as the Biffa Award funding would have expired in a few weeks following the offer.

Thank you so much for your help! Every £1 donation you gave has secured £11.36 of funding for work to protect wildlife habitats and improve the visitor experience to Greno Woods.

Please donate below or send a cheque payable to Sheffield Wildlife Trust to Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, 37 Stafford Road, Sheffield, S2 2SF. Please be sure to mark your donation cheque ‘Greno Woods improvements’ so we can demonstrate to the funder that it is your intention to support this project.

Your contribution will be collected by Sheffield Wildlife Trust to be paid to a Biffa Waste Service Ltd in order to release Landfill Communities Fund monies for the Greno Woods improvement project undertaken by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. As such, your contribution is not eligible for Gift Aid.

If we receive any donations above £1,911 this will go towards improving signage on the site to improve the user experience. 

Thank you. 

Images
Emerald Damselfly (c) Luke Nelson
Speckled Wood (c) Chris Gomersall/2020VISION
Wood ant (c) Ross Hoddinott/2020VISION
Greno Wood Blubells (c) Helen Taylour