Made possible by National Lottery players, the project aims to make a significant intervention into vital habitats, such as globally rare lowland heathland, and to connect people to the remarkable natural resources on their doorstep. Development funding of £147,797 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust progress their plans to apply for a further Heritage Fund grant of £633,514 at a later date.

In the peri-urban landscape around Walsall, nature is under pressure and local communities face numerous barriers to accessing and appreciating it. Significant areas of the heaths that once surrounded the town have  been lost as land-uses and local livelihoods have changed. The result is a landscape in which action to save natural heritage is in high demand.

Once considered land of little value, lowland heathland is now appreciated and protected for its unique, diverse wildlife and austere beauty. Tragically, over 80% of the globe’s lowland heaths have been lost in the previous two centuries, meaning that it is now a habitat rarer than rainforest. Wild Walsall will prioritise action for this habitat alongside landscape-scale conservation that encompasses not only heaths, but also local woodlands, grasslands and river corridors. We will reconnect people to the value and beauty of the natural world on their doorstep, and enable them to take action for its protection.

Wild Walsall’s bold programme plans to improve for nature 1% of the land across the Walsall borough, including:

55 hectares of land improved through habitat restoration or creation
55 hectares of land with updated or new site assessment
20 sites assessed for presence of flagship species

The project will focus attention on a number of ‘flagship’ priority species of local and national importance - bell heather, cross-leaved heather, willow tit, green hairstreak butterfly, white-clawed crayfish, black alder, green tiger beetle, and the common lizard - with the dedicated aim of providing high quality habitat to expand their local range and abundance, along with improving overall ecological condition and connectivity.

Alongside conservation work, Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust will run community and citizen science events, school sessions, health and wellbeing walks and volunteer opportunities.

“We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to create a wilder Walsall, focusing on globally significant habitat and priority species, and ways in which we can engage Walsall residents with the wealth of wildlife and wild spaces to be found on their doorstep”.

Dr Delia Garratt, Chief Executive of Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust