27 Sep 2020 Nature Recovery Day Successes! Natural England funds our Network!
Over forty of our Nature Recoverers – from South Leigh, Freeland, Cassington, Stanton Harcourt, Standlake and Eynsham - did it!. One thousand snakeshead fritillary bulbs, kilos of wildflower seed, pots of our rare local perennials planted, and a very well attended Workshop at the allotments run by the Flowers for Wildlife Group - all on one Nature Recovery Network’s 2nd Nature Recovery Day and under the tight resctrictions of Covid-19 rules.
Planting out some of the 1000 fritiliary bulbs on the playing field meadow.
Huge thanks to the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment and Grundon Waste Management Ltd who have helped with funding.
Planting out fritiliary bulbs on Dovehouse Close's new meadow
Handcasting yellow rattle seed in St. Leonards Churchyard
The Flowers for Wildlife Group ran back-to-back workshops at the Allotments to show how cultivating wildlife friendly gardens can be done anywhere.
Workshop by the Flowers for Wildlife Group on methods of growing wildlife friendly gardens.
Huge thanks also to the participants of Long Mead's 'care-farming' groups who, despite their learning disabilities and autism, have made a magnificent contribution to the project by successfully propagating the perennial plants in pots that were added to the meadows.
Long Mead's Care Farmers planting seed they have gathered from local sites
Eynsham now has four new meadow sites (in the Playing Fields, Churchyard, Fishponds and Dovehouse Close) totalling nearly one and a half acres, as well as an allotment for propagating and collecting seed to share. What’s more, the network is growing: several other local greens in Eynsham are now in the process of being transformed for wildlife by the residents who live around them. There is a new group starting to work on biodiversity in Freeland and there are groups already at work in Cassington and South Leigh. This month, members of the NRN were invited to talk to South Leigh's Parish Council meeting about how it might work with the community to enhance biodiversity.
It shows the effective power of a local network that connects enthusiasts with experts and community groups, businesses and councillors to bring about positive change. Natural England has just recognised the ground-breaking nature of our model and have given us a grant to cover the next six months. They described being 'blown away' by what we have all achieved in the last six months. Congratulations Everyone!
The new grant will be used to run workshops for science teachers in the seven schools under the Eynsham Academy Partnership, to run monthly surveys and to extend our support to our Parish Councils and groups in neighbouring parishes. Watch this space! The environmental charity Wild Oxfordshire has also submitted a grant on our behalf to plant one kilometer of hedgerow throughout the network.