How to Find US
On the corner of Waingroves road is where you find one of our entrances, the woods are dog and pushchair friendly. Unfortunately there isn't any formal parking due to the residential location.
Sat Nav: DE5 9TF
About Us
History of Waingroves Community Woodland Trust
About The Trust
Waingroves Community Woodland Trust purchased 12.75 acres of local woodland after a public meeting was held in Oct 2010 stating the woods were up for sale and could become development land. Around 140 villagers and village groups donated £20,000 to save the woods. After a lengthy sales process we finally got the deeds for the land in June 2011. Now the woods are managed by a group of local volunteers elected from all those who donated. The committee has successfully bid for and received funding from such organisations as the Big Lottery, Co-op and DCC to create a community glade for holding village events and improving paths and access for all people. As the woods are located on the site of an old pit colliery we have replaced the miners memorial statues as a mark of respect to the heritage of the site. The objectives of the Trust can be found in the constitution on the downloadable files page along with the work plan and annual report. But in short we aim to conserve and promote wildlife while improving usability for local people and schools.
Monday Group
Volunteer
THE MONDAY GROUP are a growing number of volunteers that meet every Monday 9.30am to carry out maintenance on the woods. There can be anywhere between 6 - 15 people and we are always looking for new faces, so if you fancy a bit of exercise outdoors with a friendly group then contact Paul Cox on 07974556212 or Info@waingroveswood.com
Wetland Habitat Project: Woodland Management for Birds.
The population of Willow Tits has decreased to a level where they have become vulnerable to local extinction. The reasons for this decline is currently the subject of several studies in the UK, possible reasons for the decline are loss of scrub, mature woodland, and the loss of standing dead wood which the birds use to nest in. Areas where the birds once would have nested and foraged have, and continue to be cleared and used for building, and other developments, particularly scrub areas resulting in loss of habitat. The Willow Tit is on the red list of "Birds of Conservation Concern" on account of a decline of 80% in the UK breeding populations’ since1977, with a 50% decline since 1994.
We are very lucky to have Willow Tits present in our Woodland and have been taking advice from Jacqui Weir who is a woodland adviser for RSPB, Jacqui has recently been working on Willow Tit research for the RSPB so is ideal to advise us on how best to develop the existing Wetland area as a suitable Habitat for them. The Wetland has been identified as being in urgent need of management and could be targeted to benefit this Red listed species that is the most rapidly declining resident UK Bird.
Ponds are Biodiversity hotspots and are critical habitat for many rare and threatened species, It is estimated that the number of ponds has declined from 1.2 Million to around 0.4 Million since the 1850’s. The Million Ponds Project is a partnership of major UK land owners that is coordinated by Pond Conservation, partners include The Environment Agency, Natural England, The Forestry Commission and the RSPB to name a few.
We have used the Million Ponds Creation Tool kit to help develop our Wetland area and it has been registered on their Million Pond Project register. “Ponds are a critical habitat for biodiversity in the freshwater landscape. Studies in the UK and abroad have shown that, regionally, ponds support more species and more uncommon species than other freshwater habitats including rivers, streams and ditches” (REF: Williams et al, 2004; Davies et al, 2008).
Shaun Walters: Conservation Officer Waingroves Community Woodland Trust:
GDPR
Waingroves Community Woodland Trust respects privacy and is committed to maintain personal data in line with the GDPR May 2018. Please find attached our Privacy Policy. If you have any queries then please get in touch with us at info@waingroveswood.com