Stories from the Birmingham and Black Country Nature Improvement Area

For more information please visit the NIA Page on the BOSF website and visit the website for the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust.

Project 047 – Penk Rise De-culverting

The River Penk first flows into daylight within Penk Rise open space Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton. The aim of the project was to break out the culvert and improve the open channel downstream of the culvert. Doing this will connect the two open channels and will provide better habitat than exists now. This will be for the benefit of in-channel species such as invertebrate populations and marginal vegetation.

Project 028 – Cotteridge Park Enhancements

Cotteridge Park is a park located in the south of Birmingham which is mostly formal and frequently dominated by amenity grassland. Within the park there are two areas of woodland that The Friends of Cotteridge Park applied to the NIA board to improve for both biodiversity and amenity: The first is an area of secondary semi-mature Sycamore woodland occupying a steep slope on the boundary of the park; whilst the other is a younger area of planted (predominantly) native broad-leaved species which is about 15 years old (known as Millennium Wood).
During Quarter 4 of Year 2 crown-lifting and thinning of the Millennium Wood was carried out, whilst 30% of the young and semi-mature Sycamore in the secondary woodland was removed. Both areas were under-planted with native trees, plug plants and seeds provided through Growing Local Flora.

Project 041 – Milking Bank Plantations Project

The purpose of the Milking Bank Woodlands Nature Improvement Area project was to undertake woodland management which opens up the canopy of selected areas of the plantations to improve their ecological value.
By improving the structure of the woodland the remaining trees will be able to grow stronger and the newly added species will add diversity.  This diversification will enable many more species of birds and insects to live in the woodlands and will make the site significantly more visually attractive to site users.

061 – Sedgley Beacon

Over the years, the semi-natural area of green and open space at Sedgley Beacon has suffered from a lack of appropriate/traditional site management. However as well as the re-introduction of traditional grassland management techniques on the site, this project aims to improve the value of the calcareous grassland and clear encroaching non‐grassland vegetation in order to increase the overall wildlife value of the site.
Initially re-introduced by the NIA, the longer term grassland management of the site will be achieved through annual cutting by community volunteer task groups and grazing. This will help in the transfer of skills in traditional management techniques and help to re-engage people with this particular part of the site.

Posted on 19th February 2015