1 AUGUST 2005
NEWS RELEASE No: 7818
NATURE COMES FULL CIRCLE
The return of sand martins to an Ibstock mining site was far more than another wildlife success story.
Visitors to Sence Valley Forest Park would never guess that is was once an industrial wasteland.
The park is managed by the Forestry Commission and owned by Leicestershire County Council.
In the early 1980s there was great anguish of the proposal to mine the site, but there was a national need to extract coal for power generation. Eight million tonnes were taken out between 1982 and 1996.
The reclamation process began in 1998, when 98,000 trees were planted on the site. But even the restoration produced its casualties when colonies of sand martins lost their nest sites in piles of sand created during the extraction process.
This week the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council, David Bill, fixed a plaque next to a new £5,000 artificial breeding site built specially for the birds overlooking the park’s lake. The County Council provided £1,793 towards the project through it Shire Grant scheme. Additional support came from The National Forest Company, Sence Valley Conservation Volunteers Trust and the Forestry Commission.
The new sand martin nests have already been packed out this year with many pairs now raising their second broods.
Other creatures that have re-inhabited the former mining site include otters, skylarks, barn owls and several species of wildfowl.
David Bill, Chairman of the County Council, said:
“The fortunes of the wildlife in Sence Valley have now at last turned full circle. I am pleased that the County Council was able to fund this worthy project through its Shire Grants.”
Anyone wanting information about Sence Valley Forest Park should ring 01889 586593. Details of other Forestry Commission conservation areas can be found on the www.forestry.gov.uk website.
Notes to Editors:
For further information please contact Forestry Commission Ranger,
Miss Susan Taylor on 01889 586593.
e-mail: susan.taylor@forestry.gsi.gov.uk