Wilder Together in the Stour Valley

A partnership for wildlife in the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley

East Bergholt Hedgehog Friendly Village Project

East Bergholt Hedgehog Friendly Village Project . Click to expand.

A joint project between the Dedham Vale AONB and East Bergholt Futures group. The aim was to increase local hedgehog populations by creating hedgehog highways between gardens and to raise awareness of hedgehog friendly gardening.

Boxted Birds, Bees and Bugs Project

Boxted Birds, Bees and Bugs Project . Click to expand.

A project run by Boxted Biodiversity group to raise awareness of the presence and importance of birds, bees and bugs in and around Boxted.

Waldingfield Old School Wood Project

Waldingfield Old School Wood Project. Click to expand.

Old School Wood is a community green space owned by Waldingfield parish council. In 2008 money was raised to buy the land. Now volunteers manage six acres of new woodland and meadow with hedges, ponds and a small orchard of local heritage varieties.

Babergh Project

Babergh Project . Click to expand.

1.375 acres of land, owned by Babergh DC,  lay undiscovered in the centre of the village for more than 25 years. The Parish Council negotiated a peppercorn rent and in 2013 a path was cut through the impenetrable blackthorn scrub to reveal a clearing inside of mixed rough grass and bramble, surrounded by oak, elder and hawthorn thicket.  Bat boxes and a Barn Owl pole box were installed. Three trees from the Scattered Orchard Project were planted in 2016. The circular path is accessible from Meadow Way and cut regularly to prevent blackthorn and bramble spreading.

Nature Citizen Charity - Cherishing All life

Nature Citizen Charity - Cherishing All life. Click to expand.

'Be a Nature Citizen, create a Nature Space and together we build a Nature Network’

East Bergholt Hedgehog Friendly Village Project

A joint project between the Dedham Vale AONB and East Bergholt Futures group. The aim was to increase local hedgehog populations by creating hedgehog highways between gardens and to raise awareness of hedgehog friendly gardening.

Boxted Birds, Bees and Bugs Project

A project run by Boxted Biodiversity group to raise awareness of the presence and importance of birds, bees and bugs in and around Boxted.

Events and activities are run to highlight what villagers could do to create new habitat for these species, alongside monitoring to map what wildlife is present in the village.

Waldingfield Old School Wood Project

Old School Wood is a community green space owned by Waldingfield parish council. In 2008 money was raised to buy the land. Now volunteers manage six acres of new woodland and meadow with hedges, ponds and a small orchard of local heritage varieties.

Traditional skills such as coppicing, hedge laying and hay making have been used to manage the site for the benefit of wildlife. The village schoolchildren also use the space regularly for forest school.

Babergh Project

1.375 acres of land, owned by Babergh DC,  lay undiscovered in the centre of the village for more than 25 years. The Parish Council negotiated a peppercorn rent and in 2013 a path was cut through the impenetrable blackthorn scrub to reveal a clearing inside of mixed rough grass and bramble, surrounded by oak, elder and hawthorn thicket.  Bat boxes and a Barn Owl pole box were installed. Three trees from the Scattered Orchard Project were planted in 2016. The circular path is accessible from Meadow Way and cut regularly to prevent blackthorn and bramble spreading.

 

Nature Citizen Charity - Cherishing All life

'Be a Nature Citizen, create a Nature Space and together we build a Nature Network’

Nature Citizen based in Polstead is delivering a Community Project bringing people and nature closer together. People are encouraged to create Nature Spaces of any size, which will naturally contribute to Building a Nature Network across the village. 

Additionally, the Community Garden a ‘Demonstration Nature Space’ is providing food, water and shelter for the benefit of small creatures. Seeds, plants and trees are being gifted to residents for their Nature Space.

Charity Number - 1166223

To add information onto this map about your community wildlife projects please email charlottem@essexwt.org.uk 50-100 words and a landscape photo. It’ll be great to see what everyone is doing for nature.