As we look forward to a successful 2024, I wanted to reflect on some of the ways in which Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has made the county a little wilder over the past 12 months thanks to our members, donors, and volunteers.   

In January, our Nature Recovery team oversaw new hedge-laying at one of many farms we’re helping make more welcoming for wildlife through our partnership with Severn Trent – supporting iconic farmland species such as the yellow hammer.

February might have less days than other months, but it was no less busy – with volunteers helping install 500 metres of deer-proof fencing to protect regenerating coppice at Treswell Wood near Retford.

In March, volunteers including young people of our Keeping it Wild team helped save over 600 toads at toad crossing points – and also helped train local toad patrollers in amphibian identification. New viewpoints, benches and map panels around Belmoor Lake at Idle Valley Nature Reserve, supported by the FCC Communities Foundation, went down a treat with visitors.   

The arrival of April saw our Three Rivers Project Team busy surveying in Sherwood Forest where we plan to restore water flows along key watercourses. We often provide the last line of defence for wildlife habitats under threat and during April we objected to proposals to extract pulverized fuel ash from land next to Idle Valley Nature Reserve.  Our livestock team, based at the reserve welcomed 73 lambs and 13 calves to our nature grazing programme which is vital to maintaining and enhancing wildflower meadows and heaths.  

May marked 60 years since the inaugural meeting of the Trust and our friends at the University of Nottingham kindly hosted a special celebration attended by representatives of organisations we’ve worked with right from the start.

During the annual 30 Days Wild celebration in June, the garden area behind Attenborough Nature Centre was transformed thanks to a generous donation from a family trust and the efforts of volunteers from Beeston Wildlife Group.  Nottingham’s annual Green Hustle, bigger and better than ever, provided the ideal platform for us to encourage hundreds of people to act for nature and the climate in their daily lives.   

In July, news that City Council planned to ‘put the ‘marsh’ back into Broadmarsh’ underlined the success of our campaign to have a nature first approach to the site’s regeneration. Exciting new visuals of how the ‘Green Heart’ might look, plus news that funding to get the work underway was in place provided a real lift.  The Trust’s ambitious efforts to restore priority habitats on nature reserves across the north of the county including Idle Valley and Misson Carr, was recognised in the Large-scale Nature Conservation & NGO Impact Categories at the prestigious Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (CIEEM) Awards.  

August saw 60th Anniversary celebration events at Idle Valley and Attenborough nature reserves – highlighting both the sites’ wonderful wildlife and ways people can act for nature and climate.

 September saw success at both the Traditional and Native Breeds National Show & Sales in Melton Mowbray and at Collingham Show – including a Supreme Champion award for one of our Hebridean Ewes. These accolades for the Trust’s nature grazing programme demonstrated that our team has farming, as well as conservation credentials.  

In October, efforts to create extensive reedbed at Attenborough Nature Reserve gathered pace and new trip cam footage from Idle Valley NR confirmed what we’d hoped – our new beaver pair produced three rather than two kits.

November brought news of almost £500,000 funding via the Environment Agency to support habitat creation and control of non-native mink provided light at the end of the tunnel for the county’s beleaguered water vole population.  

As the year drew to a close, December  was a time to reflect on the success of the past 60 years and plan for the future. We are asking people why nature is important to them and what their greatest aspiration for nature in our county is. We've received a heart-warming response, and we’re keen to hear from as many people as possible.