Protect and Restore Nature Projects

We are very concerned about the destruction of beautiful and ecologically important ancient woodland in our local area by HS2 enabling works. Please support the protestors at Jones’s Hill Wood (address: Jones’ Hill Farm,  Aylesbury Vale, HP226PT ) as they try to protect the ancient woodland that was the inspiration for Roald Dahl’s  ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’.   HS2 do not seem to have the correct licenses to go ahead destroying trees and wildlife habitats in this area but have forceable evicted protestors in preparation for felling the trees.  You can support and find out more at: https://www.facebook.com/WARCampHS2/  or Save Jones Hill Wood Facebook Group

www.standforthetrees.org or www.gofundme.com/f/save-roald-dahl-woods-support-fund

This is on our doorstep and we are likely to see even more disruption associated with HS2 over the next few years. The recent high profile High Court ruling to suspend work at Jones Hill Wood, brought about by the hard work and dedication of the protestors, demonstrates that you can make a difference if you really want to.


Speen Village Pond

Summer 2021:

After some limited maintenance by SEAG members and involved local villagers, we finally managed to meet with the Lacey Green Parish Council to discuss the future of the pond and what could be done to better maintain this important asset within our natural environment. The Parish Council recognised that more extensive work needed to be undertaken to ensure the continued future of the pond, and has agreed to coordinate and fund this work, which is great news for our pond and our community. We are waiting to hear more about what and when this will take place, but feel positive about more collaborative engagement with the Council and an agreement that the pond should be restored as an environment for local wildlife. We thank everyone for their positive interest in the pond and its future.

January 2021:  

The Studridge Pond is a great asset to our village: environmental authorities continually cite having a pond as the single most useful promoter of ecological biodiversity, and it’s also a great way to educate young generations about the natural world and the cycle of life. Sadly our village pond has become very overgrown and it is 4-5 years since it was last maintained in any constructive way. We were unable to fulfil the proposed more extensive clear up due to the raised water levels before Christmas, however a small team managed to carry out an initial tidy up in January and we hope this will be enough to encourage the return of the frogs and duck to the pond.
 
The Council, who are ultimately responsible for the pond, has granted us approval to maintain the pond and we hope this will become part of an annual pond clean up so that the pond does not return to an overgrown state, but instead becomes an active, rich habitat supporting a wide range of pond and birdlife. We hope to keep the village informed and updated on what’s going on at the pond to encourage you all to come by and enjoy the fruits of our collective labour.

No Mow May and Every Flower Counts campaigns:

Boost our local biodiversity and take part in Plantlife’s Every Flower Counts simple survey:

  1. Simply leave your mower in the shed for No Mow May and let the flowers grow.
  2. From 23rd May to 31st May take part in Every Flower Counts by counting the number of flowers in a random square metre of your lawn. The animation here shows what to do.
  3. Enter your counts on the website and instantly receive your very own Personal Nectar Score, showing how much nectar is being produced by the flowers on your lawn and how many bees it can support.

Read more about how to boost biodiversity on your lawn –

Plantlife: No Mow May: how to get ten times more bees on your lockdown lawn Gardens Illustrated: https://www.gardensillustrated.com/feature/lawn-mowing-when-flowers-may/

Protect and Restore Nature Projects
Contacts:
Jeni Fairey (jeni.fairey@googlemail.com 01494 488930)
Naomi Rogers (naomi_proudlove@yahoo.co.uk 01494 488501)