Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 famously once said that if Kent is the garden of England, Shropshire is surely the secret garden of England. However, sadly, like the rest of England we have lost 50% of our orchards and 97% of our wildflower meadows in the last half century. Loss of habitat (feeding grounds and shelter) is contributing to the decline in so many of our native insects, mammals and birds.
There are initiatives throughout Shropshire trying to reverse the decline. By way of example, Restoring Shropshire’s Verges Project is making significant progress in South Shropshire and regularly offers help to our Parish Council in its attempt to restore some of the verges in North Shropshire. Thus far, work has been carried out on a verge in the centre of Welshampton and further work is planned on another Welshampton verge this month. Thereafter it is hoped to work on verges both in Lyneal and Colemere. The Working Group aims to turn certain verges into wildlife corridors whilst always maintaining safety for road users.
The Big Green Day in 2023 focused on education in respect of the Meres and the Mosses, composting, waste management, verge rewilding, meadow creation, butterfly conservation and much more. There were stands with exhibits and representatives available throughout the day to inform and advise. Further, two speakers in addition dealt with verge rewilding and meadow creation.
In 2024 apart from work continuing on the verges it is hoped to have another Open Day at Welshampton Village Hall with a focus on making bird boxes, making bat boxes, making hedgehog houses and possibly also toad houses. We want to look after nature in the Parish. We hope that all ages will participate in such an event.
The Working Group will always try and note local biodiversity actions taking place. It will also agree what further steps to take.
The Parish Council addresses biodiversity when commenting on planning applications and biodiversity has been a monthly agenda item throughout 2023 and continuing.
As for the future, the Parish Council intends to make contact with nature conservation Non Governmental Organisations as appropriate.
The Working Group will also look to carry out biodiversity audits to inform their work as necessary. The Parish Council together with the Working Group will endeavour to gather expert advice on possible biodiversity actions.
To conclude this section, the Parish Council and Working Group will endeavour to engage and inform. They will endeavour to be innovative. They will endeavour to make links with other partners for there should never be a requirement to work alone. Finally, we will celebrate our wild places.
As for other initiatives we might wish to get involved with, we wish to hear from you as to what more can be done in the name of biodiversity.