Throughout the autumn our local Ecology and Biodiversity team are working with volunteers on a selection of projects around the park, each designed to improve the park’s biodiversity and look after our wide range of habitats.

During October the team have focussed on creating a beetle/butterfly bank, building two reptile hibernacula’s, carrying out shrub clearance and started the hugely ambitious task of renovating a pond.

The beetle/butterfly bank was created using a mound of logs and branches covered with a firm layer of soil and finally seeded with a native wildflower mix.  The creation is south facing to maximise the amount of sun it captures for butterflies and other insects, whilst the dead wood will give a perfect home for beetle larva and any bare soil in the bank will give solitary bees and others a home.

A reptile hibernaculum is a fancy home for a reptile or amphibian!  The team dug a rectangular shaped area, infilled with logs then brash, and then back-filled with the dugout material before finally replacing the turf that was stripped off at the beginning.  The aim of the structures is to create the perfect place for reptiles to over-winter.  The rotting wood provides a food source for the reptiles due to all the invertebrates feeding on it and the gaps in between the logs give shelter in the colder spells as well as the hotter seasons.

A small pond located in the parkland above the lake has been taken over by trees and silt has washed in, meaning that much of the pond had dried out as there was no room for the water.  So the team have worked to clear many of the trees in order to allow light to get to the pond, preventing it from being choked by the fallen leaves.  Some sections of the pond have been dug out to clear the silt and grass to create pools for amphibians to breed again.

Work will continue on the pond throughout November and the team will also be doing some willow coppicing around the park.

If you would like to get involved in our Environmental Volunteer Days please email Nadine.Morgan@blaenau-gwent.gov.ukor Rebecca.Ward@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk