Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has secured just over £60,000 from Biffa Award to fund vital work on The Devil’s Spittleful nature reserve that will help rare heathland plants thrive and provide habitats for birds, lizards and bees.
Local heathland receives boost
The view at The Devil's Spittleful by Charlie Harland
Work has begun to further improve a nature reserve for wildlife.
Yellowhammer ©Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
Clearing scrub along paths will improve visitor’s experience and will also allow more sunlight to reach the ground, enabling rare plants such as heather, sheep’s-bit and lesser centaury to thrive whilst providing perfect conditions for animals like lizards and mining bees.
Fencing in other areas of the reserve will allow grazing by livestock to take place. Grazing helps to suppress the more vigorous vegetation, allowing more delicate plants to grow, which helps to support a wider range of wildlife. These grazed areas will also provide the perfect conditions for ground-nesting and feeding birds such as stonechats, green woodpeckers and yellowhammers.
Andy Harris, manager of the reserve for the Trust, said “The Devil’s Spittleful nature reserve is a beautiful place that provides a safe haven for a number of different rare species that rely on protected areas like these to survive.
“Heathland itself is our rarest habitat in Worcestershire. We’ve lost around 97% if it and The Devil’s Spittleful is part of 600 acres of habitat managed for wildlife, which includes the largest block of heathland in the county.
Heathland by Mark Robinson
“With huge thanks to Biffa Award, this grant will provide a welcome boost for heathland wildlife, helping to increase the diversity of plants and animals that make it their home while also providing a better experience for those visiting.
“We hope that regular visitors will be able to watch the impact that this work will have over the next few years and invite them to help with the ongoing improvements by staying on paths and keeping dogs on leads to help protect the wildlife.”
Work on the path-side scrub clearance began on Monday 15th September and will take approximately two weeks. Further works will take place from mid-October.
The grant is part of Biffa Award’s multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to communities and environmental projects across England and Northern Ireland as part of the Government's Landfill Communities Fund.
