Thanks to funding from Biffa Award, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust will be undertaking a range of tasking such as dredging the ponds on site to remove the invasive New Zealand Pond Weed and restore open water.  Work to repair the dry stone walls on site has already been completed.

Work is due to start on September 10th, with machinery moving on to the site.  The dredging is expect to last 3-4 weeks, and bio-security measures will be put in place to stop debris flowing from one pond to another whilst removing the invasive pond weed.  A water vole survey is also scheduled to take place before work starts to monitor if any of the species are present on site. Depending on the results, staff will be able to put measures in place to avoid disturbing them.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteers to help with the initial stages of the project and also with monitoring the site further down the line to see if the invasive New Zealand pond weed returns.

Alex Morley, Living Landscapes Officer has said “This is a real opportunity to massively impact upon the value of the reserve for future conservation outcomes.  We hope to see many more species present on site in the future.”

Wyver Lane nature reserve is situated in Belper, a well known and important site in Derbyshire for overwintering wildfowl and visiting waders.  This is the start of a habitat recovery journey, which is likely to take several years, to fully eradicate the New Zealand Pond Weed.  Yet, once work is complete on site, the habitat will be perfectly suited to welcome more birdlife and other species such as water voles to call Wyver Lane their home.