Protecting and enhancing nature is all about natural habitats. These are some of the really practical ways you can help us to ensure we don’t lose any more and we bring back to life the ones we’ve lost. Contact wildcookham@gmail.com to find out more about any of them. The links at the bottom take you to more great ideas to get involved and make a difference.
We can restore our wildflower meadows, with your help
Last year saw further work creating a rich variety of wild flowers on some of the local Commons. So far WildCookham has been working on Cookham Moor, Odney Common, Hardings Green and some smaller areas in the Dean. You could join the team working with the National Trust and other local landowners to make our meadows a haven for insects. 97% of our meadows were lost to development and intensive agriculture from the 1930s, with insect populations falling by as much as 75%. Your involvement could involve the practical work clearing land and sowing seed as well as the organisation and planning with the landowners. And most of the work is done over short periods in the Spring and Autumn so you don’t need to feel it’s a major year-round commitment. Contact wildcookham@gmail.com to find out more.
Hedgerow Highways make a massive difference
Our hedgerows are home to countless species of mammal, insects, birds, fungi and plants and are a vital part of much of our local natural world. You can help with our projects surveying these, improving them where we can and creating new hedgerows. It involves a range of different contributions and skills and you’d be creating a healthy natural world for decades to come. Contact wildcookham@gmail.com to find out more.
Needing arms, legs and a bit of brain!
Join a team of local people helping to protect and improve local habitats where
WildCookham is involved. We have a number of sites now for which we are responsible and we’ll welcome anyone who’d like to join our team – giving as much or as little of your time and energy as you can. There’s the Harris Woodbridge Reserve off Dean Lane in Cookham dean which we have been managing for the parish council for the past four years, creating a mini paradise for local wildlife and a great testing ground for other schemes. We’re involved with the Borough in the management of Battlemead, the 110-acre site next to Widbrook Common which is home to a vast array of species of flora and fauna. We’re helping to manage the pond on Marsh Meadow between Cookham Moor and the river. We’re supporting the parish council in other smaller projects. They all benefit from the active help of our volunteers, either with hands on manual support or bringing skills or equipment. It's all needed! Contact wildcookham@gmail.com to find out more.
Planning for a better future
So much of our good work can be undone by not thought through planning decisions and policy which can so easily destroy or undermine habitats that have been home to wildlife for years, perhaps millennia. The ideal way to approach this is to work with developers and with individuals wanting do some building, as far as possible helping them to meet their objectives whilst ensuring that we are doing the best job for nature. Your experience and expertise in planning , dealing with planning authorities, or working with the local community can help ensure that new developments and policies work for nature and not against it. If you can help in any way with this, get in touch. Contact wildcookham@gmail.com to find out more.