Monday 13:15
Gateshead Council's efforts to bring people and wildlife together are reaping rewards with the help of Defra's Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS).
The Council transformed an area of arable land and degraded horse pasture with the help of funding from CSS to create a wildflower rich grassland, Cross Lane Meadows, overlooking the Gateshead MetroCentre.
The transformation has proved such a success, attracting a variety of wildlife and providing a range of recreational and educational opportunities, that the Council have declared it a Local Nature Reserve with the backing of English Nature.
The site is one of seven reserves included in the Council's Next to Nature project and is now also being used as a donor site, with wildflower seeds harvested to help create further areas of wildflower rich grassland elsewhere in the borough.
One of the sites to benefit is Gateshead Council's Lamesley Pastures project, also supported by Stewardship, which hopes to restore ancient water meadows along the banks of the River Team.
Peter Shield, Community Wildlife Officer at Gateshead Council, explained:
"Gaining Local Nature Reserve status is the culmination of more than seven years' work at Cross Lane Meadows. The area is now home to a wonderful array of wildlife. In spring, hundreds of cowslips provide an early splash of colour and in the summer wildflowers, including yellow rattle, ox-eye daisy and common knapweed, attract clouds of butterflies and other insects. The site is also a haven for nesting songbirds and ground-nesting birds such as the skylark and attracts kestrels and tawny owls, as well as other wildlife.
"Encouraging local people to become actively involved in their management and appreciation is essential, and work will start soon on removing stiles and creating surfaced footpaths to ensure the site is can be enjoyed by more members of the public. The wealth of wildlife returning to Cross Lane Meadows and Lamesley Pastures is testament to the importance of forging effective partnerships in order to protect and enhance our natural heritage for future generations."
Neil Clark, senior adviser at Defra's Rural Development Service in the North East, said:
"We're delighted that the work undertaken at Cross Lane Meadows is reaping rewards, not only here but also other sites in the area.
"This is a wonderful example of how Defra and its agri-environment schemes, working in partnership with local authorities and other landowners, can make a real difference to our countryside, both in urban and rural areas."
Tony Laws, English Nature's Northumbria Area Manager, confirmed the importance of these sites to both people and wildlife:
"Local Nature Reserves are important to us, not only because they support a rich variety of wildlife, but because they make the places where we live and work healthier and less stressful. They also provide stimulating outdoor classrooms with an ever-changing world to discover.
"Cross Lane Meadows and Lamesley Pastures are testament to this, providing invaluable space to walk, talk, think, learn, play or simply enjoy, right in the heart of Gateshead. These sites capture the very essence of Local Nature Reserves as places for people and wildlife and so we've been delighted to support their declaration and help fund them through our Wildspace! grant scheme."
Notes to editors
1. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme offers payments to farmers and land managers to improve the natural beauty and diversity of the countryside. The scheme operates throughout England outside Environmentally Sensitive Areas. It is operated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and is one of the ten schemes that make up the England Rural Development Programme. Countryside Stewardship currently has over 16,000 agreement holders.
2. Farmers enter into a ten-year agreement and payments range from £20 to £555 per hectare depending on the type of land management agreed. The majority of payments are co-financed by the EU.
3. Management under Countryside Stewardship has been shown to benefit several previously declining bird species including Cirl Bunting, Stone Curlew and Grey Partridge. Over 1,300 miles of dry stone walls and over 17,500 miles of hedgerow have been restored, with over 44,500 miles of grass margins being established. Land under agreement currently totals over 500,000 hectares. Between 2000 and 2006, Defra has allocated £500m to the Scheme, with a target of bringing an additional half a million hectares into agreement.
4. In running the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, Defra works closely with partner organisations including the Countryside Agency, English Nature, English Heritage, the National Park Authorities, The Wildlife Trusts, The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and the RSPB.
5. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme closed for new applications on 31 March 2004. It will be replaced, subject to Commission approval, in 2005 by the new Environmental Stewardship scheme (ES). This scheme will be made up of three elements; Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS). The ES is currently being considered by the European Commission and more details will be announced once it has received EU approval, hopefully by the end of the year.
6. The England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) provides a framework for the operation of 10 separate but integrated schemes which provide new opportunities to protect and improve the countryside, to develop sustainable enterprises and to help rural communities to thrive. The schemes (and a brief outline of their aims) are:
- Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Schemes (protecting landscapes and wildlife habitats, improving biodiversity). - Organic Farming Scheme (promoting organic production). - Hill Farm Allowance Scheme (supporting sustainable farming in the English hills). - Woodland Grant and Farm Woodland Premium Schemes (encouraging planting of new woodland and maintenance of existing woodland). - Energy Crops Scheme (encouraging renewable energy production). - Rural Enterprise Scheme (supporting a diversified and enterprising rural economy). - Vocational Training Scheme (improving occupational skills of farmers). - Processing and Marketing Grant (improving agricultural processing and marketing infrastructure).
7. A total of £1.6 billion of EU and Government money is being made available under these schemes in England during the 7 years (2000 to 2006) of the Programme
8. For more information on any of the schemes in the ERDP, contact your local Defra Rural Development Service office or visit the Defra website at http://www.defra.gov.uk.
9. English Nature is the Government's independent agency that champions the conservation of wildlife and geology throughout England.
10. In 2001, English Nature launched a special grant scheme for Local Nature Reserves, Wildspace! This is part-financed by Lottery money via the Big Lottery Fund. There are 22 Wildspace! projects across the North East region employing 14 Community Liaison Officers. In total the North East has received over £1,103,000 in Wildspace! grants since the scheme started. Gateshead Council was one of the recipients, being awarded £76,500 in October 2001 to employ a Community Liaison Officer, to declare a further 6 LNRs and to encourage involvement and participation by local people through events, festivals, habitat management.
Public enquiries 08459 335577 Press notices are available on our website http://www.defra.gov.uk
Client ref NE/432/04
