This parkland tree has an amazing story to tell us…

This tree and others like it around Herefordshire have been witnesses to all that has happened in the county over many centuries. With your support, the Herefordshire Parklands Project can write the next chapter in the story of this tree andthe amazing parkland in which it is growing.

The Herefordshire landscape has been defined by its historic parklands and estates. The parklands of today can be rich tapestries of rare, diverse wildlife and high value habitats. Their ecology and preserved archaeology cangive us clues about how they were established perhaps from as far back as mediaeval times, or even earlier. All of these factors together make the UK’s parklands of international importance for their biodiversity and landscape history.

In spite of this, our parklands are under threat. Half of the historic parklands in the West Midlands have been lost in the last 90 years. The veteran trees, homes to a myriad of animals, plants and fungi, have been allowed to decay and die, with little thought to how they might be replaced. The ornamental pools and ponds which could be vital habitats for aquatic wildlife, have been drained or filled in. The designed landscapes, once great assertions of a landowner’s status and influence, have been fragmented and abandoned, before disappearing into the wider countryside forever.

Herefordshire, however, has retained much of its rich parkland heritage, with over 200 historic parklands and gardens scattered around the county. Some have statutory designations, protection or stewardship, but many have not and are vulnerable.

The Herefordshire Parklands Project is aiming to build up a picture of the current condition of the county’s parklands, looking specifically at the ecological, historical and archaeological features which still exist. We will achieve this by recruiting, training and supporting volunteers in key identification and recording skills, to then go out and survey parklands of all shapes, ages and sizes.

Having recorded the important features on the estates, we will assist landowners in making the right management decisions to safeguard their parkland’s unique ecology and history for generations to come.

The project has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and European Union EAFRD and DEFRA through the VITAL Herefordshire LEADER programme. This money needs to be match-funded by Herefordshire Nature Trust and we have set ourselvesthe target of raising £15,000.

Any gift you are able to give today will make a difference, for example:

£20 will pay for a volunteer’s parkland survey kit, including ordnance survey map, measuring tape, species identification guides, and clipboard.

£80 will pay for a volunteer to be trained to undertake parkland surveys.

£150 will pay for an Open Day so that local people can come and learn more about their local parkland heritage.

£300 will pay for a specialist fungi or insect survey of a parkland.

Herefordshire’s parklands have been the historic backdrop to the county. Today, they provide havens for amazing wildlife, and they will continue to do so in the future, through the work of the Herefordshire Parklands Project.

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