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Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Our district is named after the Wyre Forest, one of the largest, most ecologically significant oak woodlands in England. The Wyre Forest district is also home to a wide range of other beautiful natural sites, including the nature reserves and green spaces owned by the council. Our Countryside and Rangers team manage a variety of sites and habitats, including significant areas of wetlands, acidic meadows and lowland heaths.

In July 2021, a motion was passed at Full Council backing the Climate and Ecology Bill - a plan for a new UK law to fully address the climate and nature crises by proposing a comprehensive and joined up approach to cutting carbon emissions, halting and reversing biodiversity loss and staying below 1.5C of global warming: Council calls for support for Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill 

Wyre Forest District Council is a partner on the Worcestershire Biodiversity Partnership, an association of organisations working together to deliver the Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan which sets out plans to protect and conserve priority habitats and species in the county. One example is the Woodland Habitat Action Plan, which looks to increase woodland cover through appropriate planting. WFDC have been doing this continuously as opportunities present.

Case Study: Tree Planting in Wyre Forest

18,000 trees were planted at Burlish Top former golf course during the 2020 winter months.  This site was previously used for tipping of waste materials; the planting of trees in here will greatly add to the carbon capture capacity of the land. This follows on from the planting in 2019 of a total of 2650 trees were planted at Stour Valley and Stourport Riverside in a project involving WFDC’s rangers, the Environment Agency and a local primary school. Carbon sequestration is an important factor in the tree planting programme, with consideration of concerns over ground disturbance impacting on carbon release offsetting the carbon capture of the trees planted. The soils at Stour Gateway site are thin and over the remains of a former industrial area; the tree species’ planted will help build soil depth in these areas and effectively capture carbon.

Case Study: Promoting Pollination

The Worcestershire Pollinator Strategy 2020-2025 focuses on aims within the Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan that relate specifically to pollinators or their habitats. The vision is that Worcestershire will be rich in native flower-rich habitats and help to support sustainable pollinator populations. In support of this, at WFDC we are mowing our sites less, are creating a new wildflower meadow on a former golf course site and created wildflower beds in our parks. In 2022, WFDC trialled four pollinator patches on our highways, at sites in Stourport, Bewdley and Kidderminster. The project was planned in partnership with the Butterfly Conservation Trust and Friends of the Earth, with the patches encouraging a wide variety of native wildflowers and grasses to thrive and attracting insects, bees and butterflies.

 

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