A scheme in the West Midlands that is improving the habitat for wildlife along the region’s historic navigable canals has received a prestigious award. Lucy Wood reports…
THE transformative Unlocking Biodiversity programme has been recognised by a Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management award. It has helped preserve and restore wildlife habitats in the West Midlands through a series of conservation and restoration works that have seen the creation of ecological corridors and which has connected otherwise fragmented wildlife habitats.
More than 231 miles of the area’s canals were involved, including the Walsall, Worcester & Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford, Trent & Mersey, Grand Union, Stratford-upon-Avon, Staffordshire & Worcestershire, Droitwich and Shropshire Union canals.
The main scope of the project, which was funded by Severn Trent as part of its Great Nature Boost and administered by the Canal & River Trust, has involved working with volunteer groups to create new and improve existing reedbeds to filter water and improve water quality. This will help support several animal species including the water vole, Britain’s fastest-declining mammal.
Hedgerows and grasslands have been improved to create animal ‘superhighways’ to boost numbers of butterflies and dormice, while existing heathland habitats were extended to protect reptiles and mammals like the small heath butterfly and the bilberry bumblebee.
Laura Connor, the CRT’s Unlocking Biodiversity project manager, said: “We are honoured to receive the award. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of our teams, partners and volunteers who’ve come together to restore and enhance these vital green-blue corridors for nature and communities alike.
“This project has been about reimagining what our navigable waterways can offer, as heritage assets and transport links, but also as thriving ecological lifelines. The biodiversity gains we’re seeing from increased sightings of animals and insects along our canals is already really encouraging.”
