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Scrub bashers needed to save chalk downland flowers |
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Could you spare a few hours to help the hairy violet, viper’s bugloss or the common bird's-foot-trefoil?
These wild flowers, and many others, grow on beautiful Perham Down,
near Tidworth, but they are in danger of being crowded out by
vigorously growing scrub. So, to keep the scrub at bay, the Wiltshire
Wildlife Trust is calling for volunteers to come to Perham Down on
Thursday 26th January from 10.30am to 3.30pm to do a bit of scrub
bashing.
Nicky Warden chatting to Castledown Radio's Baz Reilly:-
Listen to the interview: (3 MB)
“This
type of habitat, with its tightly cropped and closed sward, is so rich
with wildlife that it is the grassland equivalent to rainforests. Yet
more and more of it is disappearing under the plough or beneath
developments,” says the Trust’s Nicky Warden,
who is the Salisbury Plain Communities Wildlife Officer.
“What’s left of it needs to be looked
after. If we leave the hawthorn bushes to spread over the Down they
would gradually shade out the rarer chalk downland plants. By clearing
the bushes, or scrub, you are helping this summer’s flowers and
butterflies to prosper,” she says.
The green hairstreak uses common birds foot trefoil to feed from nectar and for laying its eggs.
 The green hairstreak butterfly
 Common birds foot trefoil
Please wear old clothing and
outdoor shoes or boots and bring waterproofs. All tools will be
supplied. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided but you will need
to bring a packed lunch with you. This
event has been organised as part of the Salisbury Plain Community
Wildlife and Heritage Project at the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, and
funded through the European Programme ‘Sustain the Plain’.
For more info contact Nicky Warden
on (01722) 792015 or email NicolaW@wiltshirewildlife.org if you would
like to attend. Details of where to meet will be supplied on booking.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 23 January 2006 )
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