New biodiversity project to be created at Pathlow

A series of new ponds, wildflower meadows and woodland are set to be created in land belonging to a district charity, as part of a new biodiversity project.

£170,000 will be spent on the new scheme on land belonging to the charity Forest of Hearts at Pathlow.

The money has come through biodiversity offsetting, a process where developers contribute funds towards biodiversity projects elsewhere, to offset any loss of environmental habitats on their own sites.

Carole Longden, founder of Forest of Hearts, said: “This is a joint project between ourselves and Warwickshire County Council, it’s a five acre site and we’re going to have two large new ponds, plant more than 1,000 trees and wildflowers. We’re in the process of looking for grants to for our accessible café too.

“It’ll be a great space for community groups to visit and this is just the kind of project we need in the region as part of our post-covid recovery. We’re really happy that this funding will enable us to go ahead.”

The scheme will help create a habitat for great crested newts and a new butterfly bank is also included in the plans.

The area will initially be managed by Warwickshire County Council before being transferred over to Forest of Hearts.

Forest of Hearts is a charity supporting sustainable agroforestry, or ‘Forest Gardens’ which exist for enjoyment, education, volunteering and to help good causes.