Help Nature Thrive

How to get involved:

• Garden at home with nature in mind.
• Join neighbours to help make your street greener and more wildlife-friendly.
• Help us map the wildlife we already have.
• Join us in planting and sowing.
• Help us develop and look after nature-friendly sites
  • Back Lane Nature Corridor
  • Coley Lane Nature Corridor
  • On the St Mary’s estate

Please read on below for more information.

Why do we need to do this?

Firstly, the loss of plant diversity and animal life in the UK is shocking and the UK is now ranked as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. The Staffs Wildlife Trust says that over the last 50 years 56% of all species have declined. For more details check out the State of Nature report.

Secondly, we have already lost many fields and hedgerows so we need to protect and improve what we have.

Thirdly, Nature can bounce back, if given the chance and support. What we do can make a difference and across the UK people are working together to improve biodiversity.

SinCH is proud to be “getting it’s hands dirty” to help the Parish Council deliver it’s Green Infrastructure Plan.

So what can we do?

1. Garden at home with nature in mind

We can all find ways to improve biodiversity in our own backyards and some good advice with an extensive guide of actions to take is published by the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB here.

Lists of plants to support pollinators can be found here & here and creating wild patches here or here or even make your own nature reserve.

You can also encourage bats and amphibians or a bee hotel. You can also make your own bird boxes here or here. Alternatively, you could buy these locally here.

We do have hedgehogs in the villages and we are keen to help them. Check out sightings on the Big Hedgehog Map and if you see one please report it on that website so we can build up a fuller picture. More advice here and here and please look out for more information about our local campaign.

Also check out SinCH’s Green Fingers newsletters for ideas and tips on gardening for nature and growing your own.

2. Make your street greener and more wildlife-friendly

Join up with your neighbours to take a look at your local area and think about what you can do together to enhance nature.

There are already some great local examples which have been working together for years within the RHS’s It’s Your Neighbourhood Scheme:

• Friends of Crossheads
• Mill Lane and Mill Court
• The Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee Orchard (Cliff Road)
• Shugborough Terrace

So let’s create more neighbourhood groups – for more info and advice please see the Colwich In Bloom website here or contact SinCH for advice.

3. Help look after our nature-friendly sites

The Help Nature Thrive group is currently working in the following areas:

• Back Lane Nature Corridor
• Coley Lane Nature Corridor
• On the St Mary’s estate

There will always be jobs to do and your ideas are welcome. Just sign up with us to help out at a site near you. Look out for more details here and on Facebook as the projects progress.

4. Help us map the wildlife we already have

It’s important to know what flora and fauna we currently have. We can then see what we can do to support nature by enhancing the biodiversity in the surrounding area.

We want to build up detailed maps showing what species we have and we are using a phone App called iNaturalist to help us. To take part in this you need to:

• Download the App on to your phone
• Sign up to iNaturalist
• Enable data and location on your phone before taking a photo of a species
• Check what the software suggests as an identification
• Before selecting it, do a common sense check – is this really what I am seeing?
• Upload your sighting

Please see our crib sheet or this quick tutorial.

We are particularly interested in:

• Wildflowers and plants
• Trees and hedgerows
• Birds
• Mammals
• Insects

Look out for events associated with this here and on Facebook.

What else is going on locally?

For many years local groups such as Colwich Parish in Bloom have been doing some great work by helping community-based flower planting beds and some of these can be seen here.

There are also a range of local initiatives underway:

• Parish Council Green Infrastructure Plan
• River of Flowers
• Great Haywood Mini-bloomers
• Colwich Allotments
• Staffordshire Hardy Plants Society
• Shugborough
• Staffordshire Nature Recovery Networks