Tree planting boost for nature reserve
More roots have been put down to support the unique biodiversity of a new county nature reserve.
More roots have been put down to support the unique biodiversity of a new county nature reserve.
During Wales Climate Week, Denbighshire County Council’s Biodiversity team and volunteers from St Asaph business Celtic Financial joined forced to increase the tree canopy at Green Gates Nature Reserve.
Thousands of trees grown from locally sourced seeds at the Council’s Tree Nursery, which is based at the reserve, have already been planted out on the reserve earlier this year.
Celtic Finance staff, who are based at St Asaph Business Park, helped the Biodiversity team plant around 450 trees including a mix of oak, willows, alder, birch, wych elm, black poplar, the cherry and elder around the developed wetlands area which is planned to be home to the Denbighshire Beaver Project.
Wildflower seeding has also been carried out this week at to help provide a stronger biodiversity on the reserve to support wildlife on the reserve. Areas undergoing seeding include the viewing mound and on some of the bunds around site. More wetland and pond margin specific mixes are also going down around the edges of the ponds and the wetland areas to help to create the diversity and suit the conditions of each part of the site.
Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said, “We are really pleased that a business on the doorstep of this developing site has come and helped us continue to plant the plant the roots of what will be a fantastic asset for local nature.
“It’s also great that the trees grown in our tree nursery at St Asaph are able to be used at this reserve. Our volunteers and Biodiversity Team have worked hard to source and grow these trees at the nursery, and this will be a massive help with reducing carbon across the county to tackle the climate emergency and help support nature’s recovery.”
The 70-acre nature reserve development is part of the Council’s response to protect and restore local nature habitats to contribute to the nature recovery goal.
The Green Gates Nature Reserve Project has received funding from the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund. Additional funding has also been provided from Denbighshire’s Climate and Nature Recovery Programme. Work at the tree nursery is supported by the Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project.