A year sure does fly by, especially when you’re looking after such an important wildlife corridor in the Cannock Chase National Landscape and having so much fun at the same time!

In April 2024, we were awarded FIPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes) funding through the Cannock Chase National Landscape. Through the programme, farmers and land managers can access support to carry out nature recovery projects, as well as projects which mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and cultural heritage, or support nature-friendly, sustainable farm businesses. You can read our initial announcement about taking on management of this Forestry England owned land on this webpage.

The first job on the list was to set up the new volunteer work party. What an incredible response we had! We now have an enthusiastic group which meets on the first Wednesday of every month. To date, with the addition of a couple of corporate volunteer groups, the volunteers have clocked up close to 500 hours of volunteer time, which is incredible! They’ve got stuck in carrying out various conservation tasks across the site. It’s a wonderful friendly group, with people from all backgrounds and we look forward to Wednesdays working on Cannock Chase with such a lovely bunch of people.

“It has been an excellent opportunity to contribute to a project that offers significant benefits for wildlife, particularly one that will contribute to a brighter future for the rare Welsh clearwing moth, a species for which I have a particular fondness.

“It’s great to get out doing some practical hands-on work and feeling that in a small way it is helping to restore our beleaguered natural environment. I really look forward to seeing the site develop further in coming years,” said Steve Barnes, who volunteers at the site.

We have also installed new interpretation right across the site. Each main entrances into the corridor have a map, information about what wildlife might be seen through the seasons and the Cannock Chase National Landscape Code of Practise which encourages visitors to enjoy the area in a responsible way.

Visually, the site looks very different after all the scrub clearance completed during winter, with contractors but also volunteer work parties. It’s really opened up views of the surrounding heathland landscape and created a more open heathland habitat.

While scrub is a very important element of a heathland habitat, if left unchecked it can very easily turn into secondary woodland which would result in the loss of this valuable heathland corridor. We have chosen to leave some certain areas of scrub to support various wildlife. For example, a male tree pipet will use the top of a birch tree to hold his territory. Reptiles like lizards and adders will also use the low-lying scrub as cover, to hide out of sight from soaring buzzards above.

Scrapes were created, to support a wide range of invertebrates that live within the heathland habitat. In the summer months you may be lucky enough to see a solitary bee, burrowing in the sandy soils to lay her eggs, or you might see a green tiger beetle darting across the bare earth searching for prey. If you’re very quiet, you might spot a shy reptile basking on these scrapes before they make their quick exit into the undergrowth once they realise they are being watched!

The next year will be continued work on the heathland. We’ll be introducing cattle to the site from May until the end of September. Bracken rolling and cutting will take place at the end of summer, and then we’ll continue with the scrub clearance during the winter months.