Coppice restoration at Little Wittenham Wood

£11,414 awarded in March 2024

TOE was delighted to receive a grant application from the Earth Trust for an inspiring project to restore a neglected coppice coupe at Little Wittenham Wood, transforming it into a thriving, species-rich habitat.

With a grant from South Oxfordshire District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Fund, this project aims to enhance biodiversity while connecting people with the power of sustainable woodland management and traditional crafts. This is the perfect combination of goals for any project applying to TOE’s Local Environment Fund.

The 1.76-hectare coppice, once a source of materials for hedgelaying, has been left to nature’s own devices for some time. Earth Trust recognises the importance of balancing natural processes with careful management to maximise biodiversity and community engagement. The project will involve planting hazel and sweet chestnut trees, installing a protective deer fence, and training volunteers in coppicing skills.’ Read more at Coppice restoration, boosting biodiversity and engaging communities - Earth Trust.

We look forward to seeing the boost to woodland biodiversity in the coming years .

Aquatic surveys possible with new pond dipping equipment

A grant of £160 improves understanding of pond life

There are a good number of watercourses and some ponds in South Stoke.  The South Stoke Wildlife & Conservation Group were looking to survey these and enter the data to iRecord as part of their mission to better understand the flora and fauna of their parish.  TOE was delighted to provide funding for the equipment they needed to start.

This mini mission is one of a number of goals to engage the community in nature recovery by providing fun events to encourage public participation, especially with children.  WWT guidelines for pond-dipping were followed which allows the data to be recorded and submitted towards the larger national picture.

The pond dipping was undertaken in ponds and water courses in the marsh and fen area to the east of the Thames between Ferry Lane and Withymead Nature Reserve in Goring. 

“The benefits provided by the pond dipping project allow the public to better understand the species in our environment and raise awareness of the aquatic environment encouraging people to look after the existing watercourses and even to build new ponds.  Children love pond dipping and there is an amazing environment to learn about” said South Stoke Wildlife & Conservation Group when thanking us.

A biodiversity boost for Island Pond Wood

Two grants totalling £18,390 awarded in 2022 and 2023

A grant from TOE is helping the Friends of Island Pond Wood to enhance the biodiversity of Island Pond Wood, a community woodland site in Launton, near Bicester.

The grant has funded capital works including pond creation, woodland thinning and grassland enhancement to provide opportunities for not only wildlife, but community engagement and education.

The grant holder told us “The funding that TOE provided has been fundamental in achieving our habitat management plans for the Island Pond Wood. The process has been well signposted, with great support throughout from Rachel and the team. We are already seeing the positive outcomes of the project – an established wildlife pond, thinned woodland with a newly developing understory and regenerated hedgerows bustling with life.”

The Friends are looking ahead to the next 20 years of management to secure a place of solace and nature-based wellbeing for present and future residents. With development on the increase locally, the value of green spaces like Island Pond Wood is more important than ever.

West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Group

Five grants since 2018 from the TVERC Recorders’ Fund totalling £6,763

Established in 2016, the West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project monitors farmland bird populations and is helping to turn around the declines of key farmland bird species in West Oxfordshire (Tree Sparrows, Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings). This effort includes using bird ringing surveys, nest recording and observational surveys to monitor the status of farmland bird populations and reporting back to farmers and landowners with ideas for how the habitat and management can be improved. The number of landowners and farmers they work with has grown from three in 2016 to over 20 now.

The TOE grants awarded have funded ringing and survey equipment for the volunteers involved with this group. Equipment includes mist nets and poles, and, most recently, a contribution towards a thermal imaging camera.

Thermal imaging now allows the volunteers to conduct surveys of species that are difficult to monitor accurately during the day. For instance, Snipe, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Skylarks and Corn Buntings remain incredibly well hidden in low vegetation until flushed at close proximity making it difficult to conduct daytime observational counts without causing a degree of disturbance to the birds. However, thermal camera can pick up the heat from such species when hiding and foraging in low vegetation thus allowing them to be counted from a distance without causing birds to flush from their foraging or roosting sites. This also applies to observational counts at night where using torches can cause disturbance to roosting or foraging.

The West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Group told us that

“The TVERC Recorders’ Fund grant has been fundamental in the setting up and development of the West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project.

Without the funds provided by TOE, we would not have been able to conduct the extensive bird survey work we currently undertake over a large part of Oxfordshire. Thanks to the survey equipment funded through the funding from TOE we have been able to gain an incredible insight into the health of our farmland bird populations and discover fascinating behaviours of a many of our fastest-declining farmland birds.

The main aim of this survey work has been to provide farmers and landowners with real time data on the state of their farmland birds and, thereby, help inform conservation efforts at a farm, local and regional scale.

There is always more work that can be done but, so far, with the funding and support from TOE, we have made great steps in involving farmers and landowners more closely in conservation efforts of farmland birds in Oxfordshire. As a result, we are beginning to see positive signs of increases in the farmland bird populations at many of our study sites.”

Heritage Community Orchard, Deddington

Grant of £2,167 awarded in 2021

The Community Orchard at Clifton near Deddington is one of a dozen orchard projects funded through TOE’s Local Environment Fund.

Volunteers from Deddington Environment Network have planted 15 heritage fruit and nut trees and hundreds of spring bulbs on a site donated by the Deddington Parish Council. Watch this short video filmed during the community planting day in October 2021.

As well as the trees themselves, the grant awarded to Deddington Parish Council included training to equip the volunteers with the knowledge and skills to care for the trees as they grow.

Hinksey Heights Fen Restoration

Two grants totalling £15,890 awarded in 2018 and 2020

The Freshwater Habitats Trust is working with volunteers to carry out a large multi-year, multi-site project to restore rare fen habitat in Oxfordshire.   

Three principal tasks have been undertaken at Hinksey Heights (west of Oxford) since the project started in 2018: baseline assessment survey (of habitats, water quality, vegetation and invertebrates); volunteers have been trained in how to use scythes, fen plant identification and monitoring; and crucial habitat management.  As part of the management at this site, there has been regular clearance of vegetation including willow scrub, bramble, reeds and tall herbs.  Once cut, the areas are then scythed and raked regularly to emulate traditional management. 

A dam has been built of timber and brushwood to enlarge the fen and typical fen species previously not present (including marsh lousewort, parsley water dropwort and bog pimpernel) have been introduced to promote fen habitat. Repeat vegetation surveys have demonstrated the positive impact of the work so far. 

Work at the site has been undertaken by skilled contractors working with a dedicated team of volunteers who attend regular monthly workdays.

Rycote Meadow, Thame

Two grants totalling £1,483 awarded in 2021 and 2024

Volunteers from Thame Green Living are delivering this ambitious project to enhance Rycote Meadow for wildlife, with advice and practical help from the Cuttlebrook Conservation Volunteers and 21st Century Thame.  .

After two years of detailed preparation, the first phase of work was completed in November 2021 when over 30 volunteers from the local community, including the Mayor and a couple of councillors from Thame Town Council, planted 29 trees and a new hedge of 700 whips (about 120m of double-width hedge) on the western perimeter of this riverside meadow, next to the Cuttlebrook Nature Reserve. 

During 2024, the next phase of this conservation project will be to dig of a scrape to provide a variety of wetland habitats enabling new species to establish.  The work will be undertaken by volunteers advised by River Thame Conservation Trust.

When the scrape is finished, the second grant awarded by TOE will contribute towards the cost of a hard-wearing and accessible footpath which will be fenced to protect flora and wildlife and will include a section of boardwalk across a part susceptible to flooding.  This will give the general public access across the meadow while restricting access to the precious grassland by people and dogs thereby protecting its special wildlife.

This fascinating project to promote biodiversity and protect a valuable nature corridor began with some ground tidying and preparation before selective planting. This had been preceded by an expert assessment of wildlife, birds, and established plants already present in the meadow. Ultimately the project will incorporate a pleasant footpath connection from Thame Meadows to and from the Town Centre, providing a tranquil location for all to enjoy the river and meadow location. The project will be phased over the next 24 months with access gate, ramp and path. Whilst work is progressing the organisations involved will share the latest news via www.thamegreenliving.org.uk  website and social media so please watch for developments. The site will not be open to the public until all this work is completed, and we’d request anyone interested simply to watch from the roadside to ensure there is minimal disturbance to the highly sensitive water meadow.
 
If you would like to become involved in the next stages of the project, please contact Charles Boundy of Thame Green Living or Andrea Oughton at Thame Town Council.

Saving the Lady orchid

Grant of £2,590 awarded in 2021. Total project cost £4,432

Lady Orchid is one of our rarest orchids: outside its Kentish stronghold, the species is known from just three native colonies, totalling 32 plants since 2010.  A colony of plants was discovered in Oxfordshire in 1961 and represents one of the most northerly in Europe.  By 2019, just five plants survived at this secret location, though none was ‘strong’ enough to flower.  As a species of well illuminated woodland, the lack of management here was deemed the problem. 

With the landowner’s permission, a small team of dedicated botanists have undertaken appropriate habitat management and carried out hand pollination of flowers to ensure good seed set and revive the population.  The TOE grant addressed the remaining problem – predation by rabbits and deer – by erecting a deer fence to project the orchids during the population’s recovery phase. 

As a result, the number of Lady Orchid plants continues to grow and the success of this project has helped unlock a grant of £51,000 from Natural England for further works at this and other Lady Orchid sites in England.

Restoration of Kirtlington village pond

Grant of £4,155 awarded in 2020. Total cost of project £9,084

The project delivery went like clockwork and there were no significant differences to the project plan. However, the whole project was delayed because, prior to the commencement of this final phase, it was learnt that pumping out the pond to assist the digger could only be done after downstream pipes that form the drainage had been restored. This was achieved in a separately funded initial phase of the project.

In just four days in autumn 2021, two large mechanical diggers, three 6 tonne dumpers and four men attended and removed substantially all the accumulated vegetation and silt.  This was aided by pumping out of the water and careful traffic management.  The fish were also removed.  The work was managed by members of the Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society and a local resident with a high level of expertise in highways.  (Maintenance of the pond annually, involves up to around 30 volunteers.)

The Kirtlington Wildlife and Conservation Society, said “The difference the funding made to the project was not only allowing it to happen at all but, in our case due to the delay we encountered, TOE’s positive and understanding attitude to the project was invaluable while we took a long time to resolve downstream issues before the works could proceed.” 

Bird and butterfly conservation, Bicester

Four grants since 2016 totalling £23,180

Before receiving grants from TOE, a special site outside Bicester had become less attractive to the rare species that lived there. The site is home to dingy skipper, grizzled skipper and five hairstreak species of butterfly, as well as nightingales and seven species of warbler.  This project has rejuvenated habitats by opening up new spaces in scrub to achieve the mosaic of vegetation required by these species.   

The land is owned by the MOD and work is carried out by volunteers and some service personnel. Typical activities include grassland and woodland management, clearing and removing mature scrub to make glades and encourage new growth, opening previously dark and overgrown 'rides' to create perfect basking spots for butterflies and reptiles; and making habitat piles of branches and twigs for invertebrates and small mammals. 

The photo shows some of the many volunteers from community groups who have given their time helping at the six regular work party sessions which happen every winter. Volunteer groups include the Bicester Green Gym, Butterfly Conservation, Bucks Bird Club, Duke of Edinburgh’s award candidates and others.

Improving butterfly records in the historic Wychwood Forest area

TVERC Recorders’ Fund grant of £1,290 awarded in 2021

Butterfly records are almost non-existent in the historic Wychwood Forest area so, to address this, the Wychwood Forest Trust partnered with Butterfly Conservation’s Upper Thames Branch to train 50 local volunteer ‘butterfly champions’ in butterfly recording and encourage them to record butterflies throughout the 2022 recording season across the Wychwood area.

Thanks to the grant, volunteers were given expert training sessions across the historic Wychwood Forest area. During the engaging field sessions they gained confidence in identifying butterflies, were taught how to use butterfly nets as well as Butterfly Conservation’s iRecord Butterflies app and website, and learned the importance of recording.  

Over the years our grants have added valuable new records for moths to the county’s database so we look forward to hearing how these new ‘butterfly champions’ got on with their surveys in the coming years.

Love the Letcombe Brook

Grant of £3,330 awarded in 2021. Total project cost £7,424

The main aim of this project was to improve the habitat quality and biodiversity value of this Priority Habitat.  Reducing tree cover and bankside brambles has enabled more light to reach the water in a heavily over-shaded section, which has promoted the recovery of riparian habitat which is now supporting important species such as the water vole, wild brown trout and the many specialist invertebrates present in the chalk stream.

The riverbank was cleared of Himalayan balsam in mid-summer prior to the start of the main project.  Nine large bankside willows were pollarded by specialist arborist, habitat piles created on site, and sections of bramble were removed from the bank edge.  To further encourage recovery of riparian vegetation, sections of the bank were seeded with a specialist wetland seed mix.  Two major obstructions to flow (which were collecting debris and litter) were cleared along with several large fallen limbs from the opposite bank.  Smaller sections of large woody debris have been left in place in line with Wild Trout Trust guidance to provide habitat, flow diversity and cover for fish. 

Two barn owl boxes and a little owl box were put up in the surrounding river corridor to further support local biodiversity – the surrounding habitat provides good hunting for both species – but nesting opportunities are often limited.  It was decided not to create an artificial otter holt as several natural features are already present on this site and the opposite side of the river. 

Project delivery went ahead largely as planned.  A digger was needed to deal with two willows that had collapsed into the river and a couple of blockages that could not be dealt with in conventional means.  This section of rare chalk stream has now recovered and has become excellent water vole habitat, supporting the recovery of this charismatic priority species.

The grant holder told us that “There is no doubt that the work we were able to complete due to TOE funding has led to real biodiversity gain on this section of rare chalk stream.”

River Thame Conservation Trust 2016-2020 Bird Atlas

Grant of £1,000 from the TVERC Recorders’ Fund. Total project cost £4,000

Up until now very little was known about the birdlife of the River Thame catchment.  To remedy this, River Thame Conservation Trust (RTCT) undertook a volunteer-led, catchment-wide bird survey to create the River Thame Bird Atlas 2016-2020.

A team of 63 volunteers carried out winter and summer bird surveys across 236 different survey areas covering the whole of the river catchment (over 675 km²).  The group of skilled and passionate volunteers carried out 935 survey visits, walked for c. 3,785 hours and found an impressive 153 species in the catchment. The TOE grant contributed towards the costs of digitising the data collected by the volunteers.

Some really exciting and rare birds such as Hawfinch and Merlin were recorded and it has also proven breeding of less common birds such as Goosander and Curlew as well as charted the distribution of our more common breeding species such as Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.

The project was delivered in partnership with the British Trust for Ornithology which has allowed the comparison of records from the national Bird Atlas 2007-11 and helped map changes in populations over 10 years including the increased range of species such as Little Egret and Raven.

RTCT is very proud of its new online Atlas, the only one of its kind across a river catchment in the UK.  Click River Thame Conservation Trust bird atlas to explore the Atlas.

Habitat enhancements at Boundary Brook nature park

Two grants totalling £11,390, awarded in 2020 and 2024

With their initial grant, the Oxford Urban Wildlife Group (OUWG) offered a wide range of opportunities for their members to be involved at the Boundary Brook nature reserve and hosted events for the public to visit and find out about the reserve and the wildlife found there. 

Volunteers helped with ongoing maintenance of woodland glades and paths, planting out woodland plug plants to enhance the ground flora, building a new bird hide, planting trees and shrubs, as well as gardening and watering in areas planted up with shrubs, trees and a wildflower mix. 

Work on the grassland ecology supported by the TOE grant was linked with other ecology work on site by BSG Ecology to build resilient grassland corridors and create buffer zones advantageous to wildlife and to our allotment neighbours.  OUWG has continued to plant trees along the borders and also followed recommendations in their Environmental Consultancy report to create a wildlife safe space with tree planting and woodland plug planting along its edges. 

The increasing numbers of work parties and public events have brought more members to help with species surveying which is increasing understanding of the wildlife found there and the impact of conservation work. 

A network of all-weather accessible paths on site has been completed using limestone which now means the reserve is safer during the winter and also enables public access to the wildlife habitat areas without damage to them by people wandering off paths. 

OUWG said “TOE funding for the ‘Glades, Ponds and Woodlands project’ has enabled us to become a more resourced and dynamic group and to revitalise our mosaic of wildlife habitats.  This project has been very beneficial to us and all the budget has been spent on meaningful aspects of work on site.  Thank you.”