Celebrating Seven Years of Successes in the Lugg Valley Andrew Nixon

Celebrating Seven Years of successes in the Lugg Valley

- Andrew Nixon

In 2015 we embarked on work in the lower Lugg catchment to support our Living Landscape vision for a river valley that is rich in wildlife. Now seven years later we are reviewing what we have achieved and summarise the outputs and successes of our actions. In 2015 the Lower Lugg valley was selected as one of our Living Landscape areas for two good reasons: 1. There are already some great areas for wildlife. Think Wellington Gravel Pits, Lugg

Meadows SSSI, Bodenham Lake and of course the River Lugg itself as well as many others. 2. There was great potential to improve and increase the quality of these habitats and create new habitat in the wider landscape. Together these provide an exceptional opportunity to create a landscape of connected habitats where wildlife can thrive. We have been fortunate to have had very generous support from the Environment Agency and Natural England as well as successful bids to other funds and grants. Here are some of the highlights over the past seven years. Farm Advice

The Lugg Valley has been at the vanguard of our farm advice work. Because the Lugg was suffering from pollution and habitat degradation, as well as contributing to flooding of properties, we prioritised contacting landowners along the main stem of the River. This then spread to other landowners and work on the Lugg’s tributaries. Through advice on land management, support with stewardship applications and the provision of funding, we have helped farmers to protect the river from grazing animals, bankside erosion and pollution. We have managed riparian trees, dug ponds, sown cover crops, restored meadows, planted hedges and promoted good soil management. So far we have: • Installed 18.5km of riparian fencing • Installed seven new water pumps/connections for alternative water supply • Planted 500m of hedgerows • Planted 132 trees, many of which were Black Poplar • Funded 70 hectares of cover crops • Created four attenuation ponds and restored two farm ponds • Created 13 acres of meadow and enhanced 45 further acres • Managed 96 riparian trees • Created one backwater We have also worked closely with other landonwners in the Lugg Valley to support them to act for nature. This includes companies like Tarmac who own the Wellington Gravel pits. We have advised them on reedbed creation and undertaken volunteer tasks to enhance the margins of their lakes. Similarly, we have reached out and visited sites such as Lugg Quarry as well as land owned by Cadbury’s where they have good wetland habitats.

Wetland Habitat Creation

We have undertaken significant habitat enhancement works on our reserves, not least at Bodenham Lake, where we have created extensive areas of shallow water destined to become reedbed. We have re-profiled islands to create muddy shallows and grassy and gravel areas for ground nesting birds. Much of this work was funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through a project developed in partnership with the Wye and Usk Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Between 2017 and 2021 approximately two hectares of wetland habitat were created, along with the installation of two new bird hides, an Osprey platform and an education pond and dipping platform. Our project work also meant engagement with the public through events and activities and generated a huge amount of support from local volunteers, with over 100 people generously providing time to help our work.

The habitat creation work had almost immediate interest from wildlife. Oystercatcher quickly set up home and bred for the first time in many years and over the past two years Little Ringed Plover successfully nested and fledged chicks. But it doesn’t stop there. We have more recently expanded our estate in the Lugg Valley through the purchase of Oak Tree Farm in 2020. Acquisition of the land was made possible through generous contributions from the public as well as funding from the Bannister Trust and Severn Waste. It is the first site we acquired because of its potential rather than existing habitat value. Our plan is to create additional wetland habitat within the floodplain sections of the site and create species rich grassland across the rest. Excitingly, work started on the wetland in August and the grassland restoration is already underway. This will provide a vital stepping stone between Bodenham Lake and Wellington Gravel Pits and another place for people to view and appreciate nature. There is still a lot to do. We are still actively working with farmers and have plans to create three large attenuation/wildlife pools in the Wellington catchment this autumn but more on that another time! As we know the River Lugg is still suffering from pollution and further work is needed but the long term efforts are having a combined effect and wildlife is benefitting as a result.

Reedbed creation in progress at Bodeham Lake nature reserve (c) Sophie Bourton