A Wilder Herefordshire

‘A Wilder Herefordshire’, begun in Summer 2021 and concluded in March 2023. It included a number of projects which all contributed to nature’s recovery across the county, primarily through increased and improved surveying, monitoring and data collation.

We were delighted to have received a grant of £249,500 from the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund for this project.

Key areas of work include:

• Our Nature Recovery Network Officer, Sam Price, will lead on identifying and surveying some of Herefordshire’s Local Wildlife Sites so that they can be improved for wildlife and better protected for the future.
• Our Wildlife Monitoring and Data Officer, Charlotte Bell, is taking charge of our existing wildlife data and creating new systems for better data management and monitoring.
• Working with project partners ‘Herefordshire Meadows’ and owners of existing high quality flower rich grasslands, new sites will be surveyed and supported through management plans across the county.
• We will continue and extend our work with landowners, funding a Farm Advisor who can support farmers to make their farms more wildlife friendly and sustainable, helping them to access grants and expertise.
• The project will also be supporting our ongoing work along the Yazor Brook in Hereford.
• On its own sites, the Trust will create and restore wildlife habitats and improve public access to two key sites within the Lugg Valley Wetlands: Bodenham Lake and Oak Tree Farm nature reserves. At Oak Tree Farm, purchased by Herefordshire Wildlife Trust in 2020 thanks to a public appeal, the site will be restored to a wildlife wetland with ponds, reedbed and floodplain meadows and bird hides and access paths installed. At Bodenham Lake, where a habitat creation project has just been completed, the nature reserve will be made more accessible with new paths and bird hide.