Aviva Community Fund has provided £2,676 of match funding
Planting of mature trees along the canal
Chippenham, England, United Kingdom
Aim
The aim of the project is to provide an improved landscape along the canal for pollinators and wildlife in general.
The way we are going to achieve this is to provide flower rich environment on the land we manage next to the canal.
Our existing small meadow has been supplemented by 7 acres of land leased from Wiltshire Council. This land is a former meadow that has not been grazed for nearly 15years. Dense scrub, vigorous plants like hogweed and willowherb and rough tufty grassland has developed. Some shrub like trees (mostly willow) are present. The plan agreed with the Council Ecologist Ali Rasey, is to return some areas back to flower rich meadow and create a woodland pasture environment.
Using mature tree planting to push back some of the dense scrub and bramble to create a mosaic of environments with maximum benefit to a wide range of flora and fauna. We have the equipment to produce the flower meadow environment, which will be used to replicate grazing by large animals. An important element in woodland pasture development. Also coppicing and pollarding suitable trees, leaving them on site for dead wood habitat.
There are few mature trees and as a result we have put up bird and bat boxes to provide safe breeding and roosting places.
Trees are an important element in the Bee Route project supporting a wide range of insects, birds and animals. Volunteers have been laying and renovating neglected hedgerows along the canal and identified areas where we can plant standard mature trees in the hedgerow. These will be pollinator friendly trees like bird cherry, rowan and crab apple amongst others.
We have volunteers who are qualified ecologists who will monitor and record and evaluate our progress.
We wish to supplement the free whips from the Woodland Trust with some purchased mature trees as we lose 30-50% of all free whips.
This project successfully funded on 12th May 2023