Funding awarded to save wet grasslands.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has been awarded over £18,000 from Biffa Award to save Derbyshire’s wet grasslands. The Trust will use the money to improve the habitats at Wyver Lane Nature Reserve.

The reserve, situated in Belper, is a well-known and important site in Derbyshire for overwintering wildfowl and visiting waders. As it is one of the few remaining areas of wet grassland in the mid-Derwent Valley and is the only site with large enough areas of undisturbed grassland for wigeon to overwinter. It is also home to resident species such as canada geese and little grebes.

The funding will help to improve the habitat on site for the water fowl, clearing all of the invasive New Zealand Pond Weed. The site will be dredged to restore open water. The habitat improvements could entice water voles back to the area in large numbers, as the site has previously been landscaped to create a safe and comfortable home for the species.

Improvements will also be made to the dry stone wall and the grazing infrastructure.

Alex Morley, Living Landscapes Officer (Derwent Valley) who will be managing the project said “This is great news for Wyver Lane and the wildlife which uses it. We can make a concerted effort to deal with a problem plant which has reduced the area of open water available for wildfowl, plants, mammals, and invertebrates, and has continually threatened the areas of marsh and wet grassland”

Gillian French, Head of Grants, Biffa Award said “This is a really exciting project that we are thrilled to be able to support. Improving the habitat at Wyver Lane is going to have a huge impact on a wide range of animals that visit the site. We can’t wait to see the site transformed for the benefit of so many species.”