Growing the Future though Habitat Management

Aim

To provide equipment to enable our group to improve and maintain woodland habitats using traditional conservation techniques and replanting.

HERA was set up in 2015 to provide opportunities for individuals to access the countryside in a safe way as many of the participants were from BAME groups with little experience of the outdoors. We have evolved over the years and now offer conservation and outdoor learning opportunities across all the boroughs of Bolton. We have regular task days, events, and drop-in sessions where we carry out conservation tasks on our local nature reserve. During the school holidays, we provide family activities that are nature-based and allow participants of all ages to learn about the local environment and how we impact nature and biodiversity. We have had over 1200 engagements in the last twelve months with over 30 family activities and nearly 4000 hours of work carried out.  We are keen to maintain our nature reserve so all can enjoy it safely with an emphasis on traditional management techniques including hedge laying, coppicing, and meadow management.  We allow all members of the community to take part, we base our work on the group's abilities and dynamics while creating a relaxed and easygoing atmosphere. Socialisation is a priority with some of our members attending with support workers, some are octogenarians and some just join us to chat and drink tea. We are very keen to keep the group moving forward, especially with cuts to other services that would be involved in the maintenance work on the site, and without funding this cannot happen.  

This project successfully funded on 18th December 2023