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Wildlife Trust recognises those taking action for wildlife on their doorstep

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is delighted to announced the successful nominees in the charity’s 2020/21 Wildlife on Your Doorstep Awards supported by EDF.

After a year which has challenged many to re-evaluate what is important in their lives and which has, for many underlined the value of people having access to natural greenspaces on their doorstep Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is delighted to announced the successful nominees in the charity’s 2020/21 Wildlife on Your Doorstep Awards supported by EDF.

For over a decade, the awards have been recognising and rewarding actions taken by individuals, groups and organisations to protect and promote wildlife in their local communities. Over the past year many people have continued to find the time and energy to put nature first despite the challenges we’ve all faced due to the pandemic and restrictions during successive lockdowns.

Speaking about the awards Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said:

“One of the positives to come out of the past year has been people’s increased appreciation of the natural world and wider recognition of the role nature plays in sustaining us and enhancing our wellbeing. We’ve been delighted with the response to the Wildlife on Your Doorstep Awards and it’s great to see that people across the county have been putting nature first in extremely challenging times.”

The winners of the 2020/21 Wildlife on Your Doorstep Awards are:

5-year-old Ariadne van Krimpen

5-year-old Ariadne Van Krimpen who regularly collects litter from her local park and streets near her home in Beeston – whatever the weather. She already plans to become a marine conservationist and regularly encourages her family and friends to be kinder to wildlife.

Ian Stephens

Retford based lawncare expert Ian Stephens who champions the benefits of nature for health and encourages his customers to appreciate the wildlife around them.

St John the Baptist Church of England School, Colwick who promoted a range of weekly outdoor activities and nature challenges through last year’s lock down.

Young frog in Micheal Trendall's hand

Michael Trendall of Strelley who goes out of his way to help ensure toads make it safely across the road on a key migration route each year.

Ravenshead CofE Primary School

Ravenshead Church of England Primary School which has developed a new outdoor learning area from a previously out of bounds area of woodland during lockdown to encourage children to learn about nature. With the help of parents, the area was quickly restored after damage caused by heavy snow.

Nadia Ming

Nadia Ming of Newark who has been helping to safeguard the toad population that crosses Barnby Road and monitors local planning applications for possible impacts on amphibians.  

Friends of The Hook

Friends of the Hook – This dedicated volunteer group care for this popular community greenspace in the Lady Bay which has become a place of solace for many new visitors during lockdowns. Despite significant challenges the Friends have carried out a range of improvements including significant tree planting and wild flower planting and expanded their wildlife monitoring programme.

Speaking on behalf of the award sponsors EDF Training Lead Steve Walker said: “We care about our local community. We are proud to work in partnership with the Wildlife Trust and fully support the excellent work they do. We take an active interest in the local wildlife and meet regularly with members of the local community to discuss and share action that is taking place in our neighbouring towns and villages”.

New Chair’s Award

For the first time Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust will also present two special Chair’s Awards – to highlight people and projects that are helping to put nature into recovery or inspiring others to take action for nature.

Speaking about the new Awards Wildlife Trust Chairman Nick Parsons said: “For too many years the focus of conservation effort has been on hanging on to remaining areas of habitat but in the face of wildlife and climate emergencies this needs to shift towards expanding and connecting habitats to put nature into recovery. With so much to do we also need more and more people to take action in their daily lives that benefit wildlife and the environment. We want to celebrate the efforts being made to create a wilder Nottinghamshire and we hope these awards act as a rallying cry to encourage others to do more for nature.”

Ewan Cameron

Ewan Cameron

The inaugural Chair’s Awards will be presented to Ewan Cameron and the Nottingham Dormouse Group. Ewan is recognised for his decision to launch an online petition last summer calling for the demolished Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham City Centre to be transformed into public greenspace following the collapse of former owners INTU. His petition sparked considerable public debate and helped inspire the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and other groups to develop their own wild green visions for the site. The Nottinghamshire Dormouse Group are dedicated and skilled volunteers who help to monitor the dormice populations in a number of woodlands in north Nottinghamshire. Their work is helping to map the spread of these re-introduced populations and helping to inform work to create a network of habitat between locations that will ensure that these delightful woodland mammals have a sustainable future in the county thanks to this landscape scale conservation project.

Nick added: “Ewan stuck his head above the parapet and called for something bold and innovative. His call clearly resonated with the public and his ambitious idea helped inspire us to create our own vision for the Broadmarsh site and his early work has undoubtedly helped to move the conversation on. The City Council are no longer talking about whether there will be natural greenspace as part of the redevelopment of the area, but in terms of how much. The support of the Dormouse Group is not just helping the animals themselves, it is helping us to map and create functioning Nature Recovery Networks with other landowners that will help sustain the dormice and provide opportunities for other wildlife populations to migrate and expand in the years ahead.”

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