Council backs cutting edge campaign to save our stunning wildlife habitats

The mapping South Norfolk's wildest and most beautiful areas of countryside has taken an important step forward.

South Norfolk Alliance, which is chaired by South Norfolk Council's Deputy Leader, Councillor Martin Wilby, has handed Norfolk Wildlife Trust a cheque for £3,675 to complete a series of vitally important surveys and studies.

The studies will result in a comprehensive and up-to-date South Norfolk Ecological Network Map, which will help protect some of the district's most stunning wildlife areas for generations to come.

To mark the Alliance award, Helen Baczkowska of Norfolk Wildlife Trust took Cllr Wilby to Wood Green, a common close to Long Stratton, just off the A140.

The Common, covered with waist high buttercups, coarse grasses, oxeye daisies and teeming with wildlife, is centuries old and was probably first mapped in the 1790s by the Royal Society. It is well known to walkers and ramblers and the famous Boudicca Way skirts close by.

Cllr Wilby said:

"This project is about putting our environment first. We have many such valuable areas in South Norfolk, so it is very important to map and record these for the benefit of our people, and to safeguard them for future generations. Wood Green near Long Stratton was a stunning example for me to visit with Helen and South Norfolk Alliance are pleased to help and be a part of this scheme."

Helen Baczkowska, Norfolk Wildlife Trust conservation officer, said:

"Through this project, the Trust and the Council want to build up a better picture of the wildlife habitats in the district, so that we can start looking at ways to re-connect habitats that have become fragmented. This is the cutting edge of nature conservation today and if wildlife is to survive challenges like changes in global climate then it must be able to move more freely across our landscape."

The project is vital to the delivery of the Alliance's community strategy, and the Council's promise "to put our environment first in everything we do."

It won't just map current sites, but search for potential County Wildlife Sites within South Norfolk. These, along with Sites of Special Scientific Interest, represent the valuable core biodiversity of the district. The study focus will be grassland commons and green lanes which are a distinctive part of the district's historic landscape.

Aerial photographs and maps along with site visits will be used to identify how these wonderful wildlife sites can be protected from surrounding development, and then linked to each other.

South Norfolk Alliance is a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) - a group of different organisations working together. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for everyone in the district, using its Community Strategy.

The Alliance recently granted £1,146 to fund the Loddon Carbon Gym Day event and follow-up work. The event - the first attended by new Council leader John Fuller has become the launch pad for a four-week experiment in energy efficiency and reducing waste, working with eight volunteer households in both Loddon and Chedgrave.

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