Evening with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust

The Wye Valley Wilders were delighted to welcome Toby Fountain and Rebecca Meredith from Herefordshire Wildlife Trust for a discussion of Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) from Toby and HWT’s Farm Advisory service from Rebecca (Bex).

Toby introduced the group to LWS and how they sit next to designations such as SSSI.  He talked about the number and diversity of LWS in Herefordshire and how he is working to prioritise and resurvey as many as possible.  We covered the possible influence that a LWS designation might have in the context of a planning application – in some situations the designation has helped to avoid inappropriate development but it can also be overlooked.  Key to keeping a LWS designation relevant is that it be recently surveyed and a management plan in place.  Toby talked about some of the nationally important birds and flora found at local sites and of his confidence that there will be more exciting discoveries, particularly in North and West Herefordshire.  He would encourage landowners with a LWS that has not been surveyed for years to get in touch, or if you have a special site that may be worthy of designation please submit it for consideration.  Toby can be reached at t.fountain@herefordshirewt.co.uk

Bex introduced the group to the valuable farm advisory service that HWT offers – the first session being free of charge.  HWT are well qualified to advise on grant applications such as Countryside Stewardship or the new SFI schemes.  If this might be helpful, please contact Bex on r.meredith@herefordshirewt.co.uk

The group then retired to the Bull’s Head for a well-deserved, pre-Christmas drink.