Cannock Chase Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty. Photo courtesy of National Trust Images/Chris Lacey.
Helping wildlife in the wake of HS2
With HS2 construction now underway within Staffordshire our focus as a wildlife charity must press for the best possible outcome for nature around the line.
The Trust is also part of a local stakeholder group, the Trent-Sow Parklands and Cannock Chase AONB HS2 Group, which has demanded more funding for nature restoration work from HS2. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and other group members petitioned the HS2 phase 2A bill to get a better deal for Staffordshire wildlife and landscape, securing £1.5 million of funding to deliver several additional environmental projects.
The project, which began in February 2022, will carry out grassland and wetland restoration, creating new channels and ponds, and sowing wildflower meadows. This project will help conserve and protect rare plants such as the native black poplar, as well as invertebrates, fish and otters.
Black poplar tree by Dave Cadman
Dunlin by Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
The Trent and Sow Washlands project won’t make up for the damage along the route. We will continue to stand up for nature. We will do our best to lessen the impact that HS2 has on the landscape and wildlife, using all available means to do so.
The project will enable improvements to 50 hectares of ancient grasslands, and saltmarsh which will support important saltmarsh specific grass species and wading birds. Additionally, it will deliver improvements to the rivers, reconnecting them to floodplains, supporting juvenile fish and invertebrates whilst maintaining joined-up habitats for mammals such as otters.
The Trent and Sow Washlands is one of six projects being delivered under HS2 funding in the Cannock Chase Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty and nearby vicinity, an area of protected landscape. Across an area of just over 3,500 hectares, which extends approximately 3km north and south from the HS2 line, the environment projects will be implemented by various organisations alongside the construction and subsequent operation of HS2.
The area includes the historic designed landscapes of Shugborough, Ingestre and Tixall, along with canals, listed buildings and environmental designations. More information on the other projects will be available here.
The Trent-Sow Parklands and Cannock Chase AONB HS2 Group is made up of the Canal and River Trust, Cannock Chase AONB Partnership, Historic England, HS2, Inland Waterways Association, National Trust, Natural England, Sandwell Borough Council, and Staffordshire County Council.