Working with local residents over the last 18 months we have learned a lot more about the many micro-habitats in the Orchard and in the adjacent private gardens and how this is providing a complex mosaic of conditions which enable our wildlife to thrive – not only birds and butterflies but the hedgehogs, toads, frogs, mice, etc.
It may be a small suburban green space, but it sustains a rich and diverse wildlife alongside humans and their domestic animals.
Our vision is to run a 3 year project to further enhance the basic floral biodiversity of the Orchard, facilitate and expanded the network of micro-habitats there and within the adjacent private gardens, and to track the biodiversity from 2020 to 2023 using both traditional observation and technology to record what progress is achieved, and to share this with residents and our young people.
The launch of the project will only be possible if our existing volunteers who live around the Orchard share our vision, so we will be discussing with them how and where they might contribute to the project. It is clear to us that the private gardens – highly protected spaces – are one of the keys to wildlife thriving – given that wildlife can move freely around the area.
We will be taking advice from our local ecology experts on the enhancement of existing habitats and broadening their range.
We will be introducing various data recording techniques – starting with baseline data recording in 2020 to confirm what the ‘State of Nature’ is before we start enhancing habitats.
The project will need a small amount of funding for equipment and bio-material ( for which we will be seeking grant funding), and additional manpower, especially in surveying and data recording. Volunteers who would like to learn new skills will be very welcome.
