Hello, from the LANCE Trust’s small but busy team! We really appreciate your support: signing up to our newsletter, following our Facebook page and volunteering when the opportunities arise, so we will try to keep you more updated with what the Trust have been up to and how you can get involved. Our mission, as ever, is to maintain and increase biodiversity in and around Long Ashton, here’s what’s happening… |
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🪺 If you do one thing this month for wildlife... A frosty week rounded-off a pretty soggy January, so you can be forgiven for not wanting to spend too much time outside. We hope this will be a simple suggestion that doesn’t mean too much time getting weathered! If you do one thing this month for wildlife, we suggest you install a bird box. While it’s a little early for birds to be nesting, fitting a box now will allow them to become used to its presence, explore it, and decide that it will make a good home come spring. Consider which birds you are trying to provide for when fitting your box. The house sparrow, for example, is one we assume to be common but is actually in rapid decline in areas including Long Ashton (especially on the rural fringe) and is now red-listed as a species of high-conservation-concern. Sparrows are social birds so you could even erect a 'sparrow terrace' - combining multiple boxes. If you're up for a DIY bird box, there are plenty of good guides online, for example the BTO's and the RSPB's. We'd love to know how you get on - keep us updated! |
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🌳 Local updates We have begun a hedgerow survey in the village, starting with one in the allotment field. The hedge scored well for both biodiversity and structure. However, it lacks a few species that would provide a good food resource for wildlife so there is scope to fill in these gaps. | | |
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🌱 Get involved... in your garden We're in full support of the council's Every Garden Counts initiative - which draws on guidance from the Avon Wildlife Trust and the National Trust. The initiative offers practical tips and guidance on how your garden can play its part in boosting the biodiversity of Long Ashton. | | |
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🌱 Get involved... in Keeds Wood The Friends of Keeds Woods volunteer group will be coppicing this Sunday (5th Feb). Anyone who wants to join in, helping manage the vegetation in the woods, would be more than welcome. Meet at 10am at the entrance to the wood at the top of Keeds Lane. (Tools provided) |
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🦫 Further afield The biodiversity-focussed meeting, COP15, happened last month and 194 countries made a commitment to conserve 30% of the Earth's land and oceans by the end of this decade. We reflected on what this means on a more local scale, and why this is such an important goal. | | |
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All the best, The LANCE Trustees |
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