Severn Vale Living Landscape | The Wildlife Trusts

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Severn Vale LLS project Lowland wet grassland cpt Karen Lloyd Gloucs WT

creating a wetland wildlife highway through the county

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s vision is to restore the wetlands of the Severn Vale to their former glory, creating a 50-kilometre wetland wildlife highway through the county. This will create an environment that has economic, social and environmental benefits, so that these wetland grasslands will become valued by local communities and provide an income for farmers.

This scheme is underpinned by a comprehensive ‘Nature Map’, unveiled in March 2008 by Gloucestershire Biodiversity Partnership, which has enabled the Trust to identify 22 strategic nature areas where it is ecologically feasible to create the target wetland habitats in the Severn Vale. Linking up just 12 of these will establish the desired ‘wildlife highway’ route north.

Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane

What's happening?

We are:

Restoring and creating new wetland habitats
Providing practical land management advice
Establishing a network of trained volunteers to monitor biodiversity gains
Working with the Environment Agency to create a better habitat for water voles
Producing a grazing strategy for the area

Start date: 2007

Scheme area: 11,000 hectares

Trust reserves within the scheme

Coombe Hill Canal & Meadows, Mythe Railway Line, Chaceley Meadows,
Ashleworth Ham and Meerend Thicket and Over Ponds

This scheme is helping species including...

Snipe, starling, harvest mouse
Otter, water vole, brown hare, skylark, reed bunting, corn bunting, bullfinch, turtle dove, true fox sedge
Lapwing, curlew, redshank, snipe.

Current threats to the landscape

Development, agricultural intensification, flood defence, non-native species, overgrazing and undergrazing, conversion to arable, inappropriate ditch maintenance

This scheme is also...

Helping wildlife adapt to climate change, improving water quality, reducing flood risk, storing carbon, improving access for people, encouraging green tourism, providing volunteering opportunities and environmental education, producing local food.

Partners

Natural England, Environment Agency, RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, British Trust for Ornithology, Local Authorities, local landowners, Internal Drainage Board.

To find out more

Email: info@gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk | Tel: 01452 38 33 33 | Severn Vale Living Landscape

Living Landscapes

Find out more about our Living Landscape conservation work - targeting areas for landscape-scale nature conservation and transforming places for people and wildlife.