Local nature recovery project to feature on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
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Natural England are leading a partnership project, Purple Horizons, focusing on habitat restoration and nature recovery across the Black Country. The project is supported by Walsall Council and is set to be featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday 22 August 2023. This will form part of a series of Today programme short features during August, highlighting habitat regeneration projects across the UK.
The ambitious project aims to restore eight nationally and internationally important heathland areas across 10,000 hectares of land within the West Midlands, specifically the Black Country. The Black Country was awarded Global Geopark status in July 2020 and is home to several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The project aims to develop a connected mosaic of heathland, wetland, woodland and grassland between Cannock Chase and Sutton Park, deemed vital for the recovery and long-term climate resilience of the area’s reptiles, birds and pollinators, allowing them to move between and thrive within the natural spaces.
Purple Horizons also hopes to create more nature-rich spaces for local people to access and enjoy, so they can experience the positive health and wellbeing benefits associated with spending time in nature.
The project works in collaboration with multiple partners including Walsall, Staffordshire and Lichfield Councils, as well as several midlands Wildlife Trusts and the Canal and River Trust. Purple Horizons takes its name from purple heather which covers much of the heathland areas across the region, providing a vital source of pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinating insects.
Dave McMullan, from BBC Radio 4, joined members of the Purple Horizons team and Walsall Council earlier this month on their visits to three project sights: Pelsall Common North, Wharf Lane and Chasewater Country Park. The purpose of these visits was to assess the sites for evidence of rare pollinating insects, in particular, the Tormentil Mining Bee (Andrena tarsata).
Walsall is home to a metapopulation of this rare solitary bee, which is internationally threatened and listed as a Section 41 Conservation Priority Species in England.
The Tormentil Mining Bee feeds its larvae almost exclusively on the pollen of Tormentil, a rare wildflower that grows on acidic sandy soils and can be found across the heathland areas of key Purple Horizons project sites. These heathland habitats also provide the perfect nesting habitat for the Tormentil Mining Bee, who likes to dig its nesting burrows in soft sandy soil banks.
The project aims to conserve and further develop areas of heathland within the region so that Tormentil flower and Tormentil Mining Bee populations can thrive.
Some of Purple Horizon’s conservation work will involve ‘scraping’ sites that were once heathland but have become densely populated with vegetation and woodland over many years. Clearing some of these landscapes will ensure the original heathland can re-establish itself and will provide crucial nesting and feeding spaces for the Tormentil Mining Bee, as well as for other rare pollinating insects.
“ The Purple Horizons project offers an opportunity for our residents and community members to reconnect with the nature that’s right on their doorstep, and to experience the health and wellbeing benefits that spending time in our green spaces across the borough can bring.
"The work that the project is undertaking is crucially important to ensure the protection and development of some of our most valued natural habitats and species. It’s vital that we care for these landscapes now, so that both wildlife and people can use and enjoy them in harmony for generations to come. “
Aaron Bhambra, a Birmingham University PHD student who specialises in the study of pollinating insects, works closely with the project. Aaron said,
“ We’ve been working with Walsall Council for several years to restore the natural landscapes which were once part of a huge area of heathland between North Walsall and South Staffordshire. The idea is to re-wild these fantastic landscapes and to restore them to their former glory.
“Purple Horizons is a promising community-based project that involves lots of environmental charities and local governments, all working together to restore our most valuable and precious natural sites across the West Midlands. “
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme can be listened to via digital DAB or FM radio, on digital television (live only), or online via BBC Sounds.
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Notes to editors:
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Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Find out more about Natural England.
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Purple Horizons began in August 20201 and is one of five landscape-scale nature recovery projects launched by Defra and Natural England across the country to help counter biodiversity loss, climate change and public health. Defra and Natural England are investing £2.4 million to take forward the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (25 YEP), enacted by the Environment Act 2021 and covers an estimated 99,000 ha.
