Boosting biodiversity on Dearne Valley’s verges
16 August 2018
A landscape partnership is helping to boost biodiversity on road verges across the Dearne Valley.
The ‘On the Verge’ project, funded by the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership (DVLP), will bring together three local authorities and residents to improve the habitat on verges for plants and wildlife.
It follows a survey which identified 17km of road verges across Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham that would benefit from increased biodiversity.
The DVLP is hosting a series of training workshops run by ecologists Baker Consultants for local authorities, to highlight the importance of conservation management. They will also be presented with a five-year management manual to guide them through how to manage the selected verges.
Roseanna Burton, community officer at the DVLP, said: “Roadside biodiversity isn’t a new concept but it’s important that local authorities invest more into verge conservation or take part in incentives like this. Simple things like cutting areas of grass less frequently in parks and roadside verges allow wild flowers to grow and could also save councils thousands of pounds.”
Residents in the community are also invited to attend free workshops to learn how to carry out plant, bird and butterfly recording. The workshops will provide all the skills needed to enable residents to get involved in the project as volunteers.
Roseanna said: “We’re calling on people in the community to help us provide a bigger, better and more connected landscape that wildlife can safely move between and that looks attractive in their neighbourhood too.
“Verges are so significant for connecting habitats, refuge and food for a wide variety of plants and animals, so it’s really important we get as many volunteers as we can to help protect them.
A ‘Bird and Butterfly’ session will take place on 18 August at RSPB Old Moor Nature Reserve near Barnsley from 9.30am to 11.30am and on 30 August at Denaby Ings Nature Reserve in Mexborough from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. There will also be a ‘Botanical Assessment’ workshop on 18 August at Denaby Main in Doncaster from 2pm to 4pm and on 25 August at RSPB Old Moor, Barnsley from 9.30am to 11.30am.
The free workshops are open to everyone in the community. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Katie Watson at Baker Consultants at k.watson@bakerconsultants.co.uk
The Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership is a five-year scheme running until June 2019, supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project team based at Elsecar Heritage Centre in Barnsley, is made up of five people working on a range of environmental, heritage and community projects.
For more information on the DVLP, visit: www.discoverdearne.org.uk
Notes to editor
Media contact: Charlotte Goldthorpe at Capital B Media on 01226 766900 or at charlotte@capitalbmedia.co.uk
The Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership
The lead partner of the The Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership is Barnsley Council with a partnership that includes Rotherham and Doncaster Councils, the RSPB, Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Garganey Trust and others. The DVLP is part of Barnsley Museums & Heritage Services and is based at Elsecar Heritage Centre. www.discoverdearne.org.uk
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
Thanks to National Lottery players, the HLF invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about - from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife. www.hlf.org.uk @heritagelottery @HLFYandH
This press release was prepared by Capital B Media, a public relations and media training agency based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. For more information, please visit www.capitalbmedia.co.uk.
