Warmley Nature Action Zone

Imagine stepping out of your home into a neighbourhood full of nature . . . bees buzz around blossoming trees, butterflies flutter from garden-to-garden, and bats twist and turn, gobbling up insects against a summer sunset. In winter, birds feed from berry-laden bushes and wildflowers left to set seed, frosty cobwebs drape between hedges, where hibernating hedgehogs make their homes, and robins treat us to some well needed bird song during the coldest months of the year.

Our gardens and community green spaces are a lifeline for wildlife, little havens scattered through urban networks and intensively managed farmland. Together, the UK's gardens are larger than all of our National Nature Reserves combined, making them as important for wildlife as they are for our own wellbeing. 

From January 2024, we're launching a new project in Warmley, South Gloucestershire, in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council, to support local people to make a difference for wildlife - the Warmley Nature Action Zone . 

The nature action zone is an area where streets and neighbours come together to make their own Community Nature Reserves and where public open spaces will be improved for wildlife too! Whether that's planting for pollinators across front gardens, creating an orchard along a whole street, building a hedgehog highway, or helping our neighbours to delight in the creatures we share our neighbourhoods with. We're here to help create a village where both people and wildlife can flourish.

1. Registeryour garden or your own green space to be part of the nature action zone and tell us a bit about what you currently do for wildlife.  Register here
   

2. Get in touchwith Alex if you'd like to; find out more, get some support to make your garden or green space wildlife-friendly, or if you have an idea to create a community nature reserve on your street or in your community space such as a school, church, allotment, grass verge, or housing green.
   Email alex.dommett@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk or call, text or WhatsApp 07421 226112.
   

3. Come alongto one of our Warmley events, next up:  

   Tuesday 2nd April, 11.30am - 1.30pm, Spring Wildlife Walk, Warmley, find out more and book your free spot here  Spring Wildlife Walk in Warmley Tickets, Tue, Apr 2, 2024 at 11:30 AM | Eventbrite

   Saturday 6th April10.30am - 12noon, Wildlife Gardening Tour, Grow Wilder, find out more and book your free spot here  Wildlife Gardening Tour at Grow Wilder Tickets, Sat, Apr 6, 2024 at 10:30 AM | Eventbrite
   

4. Sign up for the Warmley Nature Action Zone Newsletter to find out more about the project, stories from local people, free tree and wildflower giveaways, wildlife sightings and more!  Newsletter Sign Up
   

5. On Facebook?Join the Warmley Nature Action Zone Facebook group

The Warmley Nature Action Zone covers the area from Hinton Drive near William Champion’s Garden in the North to Tower Rd South and across to Cloverlea Road. In this partnership project, Avon Wildlife Trust are supporting local people to improve streets and gardens for wildlife, while the Common Connections project and South Gloucestershire Council will be working on improving council-owned community green spaces. The Warmley Nature Action Zone is an opportunity for all of us to work together to make the whole area welcoming for wildlife and full of natural beauty for people to enjoy. 

Of course - wildlife has no boundaries after all! We have identified key blocks of streets to improve based on how close they are to public open spaces and where there are gaps in wildlife corridors. Residents outside of these areas are also encouraged to take part!

A community nature reserve doesn’t have to be a large patch of green space away from home! A community nature reserve is when people join forces to make habitats for wildlife in their own spaces, whether that’s your own garden, a grass verge or even a window box. It’s when people come together to garden with wildlife in mind – a community nature reserve could be across a whole village, a street, a block of streets or even a few gardens! 

There are many community nature reserves, check out our community nature reserve resources – full of inspiration from Bedminster, Emerson’s Green and further away in Felixstowe.

Creating a community nature reserve helps us all realise the potential of our own gardens by; 

• Creating spaces that provide essential food, water and shelter for wildlife to live, grow and reproduce. 

• Building wildlife corridors between spaces, so creatures like frogs, newts and hedgehogs can find safe routes across the landscape. 

• Community nature reserves are not just great for wildlife, they’re great for people too. Spending time in nature-rich areas is scientifically proven to improve our mental and physical health and we might meet a few new friends along the way!