Telford and Wrekin to play a vital role in saving the UK’s wildlife
Over the next 10 years local and national specialists will be working in and around Telford to help make sure the area’s parks and green spaces become important havens for wildlife as well as being the best places to visit, relax and pass the time.
Award winning landscape specialists idverde and the UK’s largest conservation charity the RSPB will be working together with Telford & Wrekin Council to help wildlife find a home and raise young, as well as helping local people discover and enjoy the benefits of the rich and vibrant natural world on their doorstep.
With its origins as a forest city and plethora of parks, woodlands, local nature reserves and green spaces, Telford and its surrounding area is an important haven for wildlife. However, across the UK nature is in crisis, over half of the UK’s wildlife and plants are in decline and more than one in 10 are being pushed towards extinction. Which makes it all the more important that we plant and care for these spaces with wildlife in mind.
There is a chance to make a real difference in helping our natural world recover so future generations can enjoy simple pleasures like birdsong and this is what this local partnership hopes to help achieve.
The partnership is being officially launched at Dale End Park in Ironbridge on Monday 2 September. Local groups and volunteers will be key to making the partnership a success, helping to create and care for the borough’s green places. Volunteers from Feed the Birds will at the launch.
An important element of the partnership’s work will be making sure everyone can discover and enjoy the wildlife living in their neighbourhood, and learn how we can all do our bit to help save nature.
Councillor Hilda Rhodes, Telford & Wrekin Council cabinet member for parks, green spaces and the natural environment, said: “Our beautiful green spaces are vital to support wildlife as well as people’s health and wellbeing. We already work with a range of local groups and individuals to care for and maintain them, but I hope this partnership will mean we can do more and learn more. As we are keen to support the development of a local friends group in Dale End Park, I am very pleased the partnership is being launched here. It is an exciting and important initiative.”
Nigel Symes, head of business advice at the RSPB, said: “No one wants to live in an area where birdsong has been pushed out and our wildlife is not welcome. And yet, our wildlife is vanishing and the UK’s nature is in crisis. The parks and green spaces of Telford and the wonderful surrounding areas are increasingly important for wildlife, and they are places we all love to visit. So it is really exciting that we will be working alongside idverde and Telford & Wrekin Council to not only help wildlife thrive but also give people the tools they need so they can play their part too.”
Sarah Hughes-Clarke, idverde Director leading on Biodiversity, said: “We’re very proud of the work our dedicated colleagues do in Telford and Wrekin to help keep its parks and countryside welcoming for nature and for people. That’s why when the opportunity arose for us to partner with RSPB to provide a Community and Nature advisor, the borough of Telford and Wrekin was the perfect location. The passion of residents for their green spaces is just incredible, so we know this project will get off to a great start, and we’ll be supporting communities along the way.”
The partnership will see a dedicated member of the RSPB team based in Telford and Wrekin to work with idverde, the council and local people.
To get involved or find out more please email rita.gries@idverde.co.uk.
Photo courtesy of Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com). The RSPB is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654
