Community nature group really are the bee’s knees!
January 16, 2025
A group of community volunteers have won two coveted awards for their stellar efforts to create much-needed habitat for wildlife.
The Friends of Blacknest Fields have been working hard over the past few years to improve eight acres of land in the parish of Binsted, Hampshire.
Two years ago an array of stunning wildflowers were sown, thanks to funding from the National Park’s Bee Lines scheme, and last summer the site was buzzing with insect and bird life. The Western Rangers of the National Park have also been helping to guide the volunteers on their nature recovery endeavours, including the installation of a new pond, as well as support from a number of partner organisations.
Now the group have been recognised in the CPRE Countryside Awards, winning the “Protected Landscape Awards” and also the “People’s Choice” award as voted for by the public.
Sarah Womersley, from the Blacknest Fields group, said: ‘We are delighted to receive this award, it recognises all the huge community effort that has gone into the project. Blacknest Fields is such a special place and has brought the community together to care for it for future generations.”
Volunteers have already recorded around 30 different species of butterfly and over 170 species of moth on the site.
Volunteer teams have also been busy planting hedgerows and disease-resistant elm trees, and developing a dead hedge – all valuable homes, shelter and nectar sources for wildlife. There has been a huge push to get children involved in all aspects of the nature recovery work.
A solitary bee habitat mound has been created with the help of not-for-profit organisation Hive Helpers.
