What do Great Crested Newts, Willow Tits and Harvest Mice have in common? They are part of a ground-breaking project developed by Froglife and the Sheffield City Council Ecology Team, who have linked their once fragmented habitats into an interconnected wildlife corridor stretching over 4km.
The wildlife corridor goes North to South from Woodhouse Washlands to Holbrook Marsh and Heath on the outskirts of Sheffield.
The project, running from 2018-2020, created 43 breeding ponds and made numerous wildlife scrapes, hibernation spaces for reptiles and amphibians and provided foraging habitats and breeding areas for Willow Tits and Harvest Mice.
It also ‘linked’ local and national businesses, encouraged collaborative partnerships with conservation bodies, land-owners and charities, and involved skill-sharing and education with local schools and the community on the importance of wildlife corridors and those species mentioned.
Finishing in late February/early March 2020, the project came to fruition when around five thousand young whips were provided by the Environment Agency with the aim of ensuring that the Great Crested Newts and Harvest Mice were able to travel along the wetland corridor via trees, shrubs and hedgerows.
Many were planted by school children, including 25 of the UK’s rarest hardwood trees, the Black Poplar and other varieties such as Silver Birch, Elder, Hawthorn, Hazel, Blackthorn, Grey Willow and Alder Buckthorn. Numerous Willow Tit nest boxes were put up and areas of Philaris grass were planted to encourage Harvest Mouse nesting.
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Posted On: 29/04/2020