HEREFORDSHIRE Nature Trust has received more than £17,000 to help improve and sustain wildlife habitats at a number of their nature reserves.

The Onyx Environmental Trust awarded three separate grants to HNT through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, with each grant directly benefiting some of the county's rare wildlife and their habitats.

The trust awarded £3,794 to help fund essential works on four Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 12 other nature reserves throughout the county to improve the locations for wildlife habitats.

The work was carried out over a two-year period and the monies spent undertaking wildlife surveys and installing fences and water troughs to allow livestock to graze valuable flower-rich grassland.

Old willow trees were re-pollarded, bird boxes were erected in woodlands and access improvements, designed to allow visitors to 'get closer to nature', were implemented.

Neville Hart, HNT reserves manager, said: "We are extremely grateful to The Onyx Environmental Trust, the money has helped secure the future of 16 of our nature reserves.

"Managing any land is both a costly and time-consuming affair. It is vital for a charity such as ours to receive financial help in managing land for both wildlife and for visitors wanting to see wildlife up close."

A second grant of £6,500 was awarded towards the cost of replanting and caring for five areas of woods with native trees at the Romers Wood Nature Reserve, near Bromyard.

The Trust also gave £7,102 to help realise local community aspirations for a Millennium Green in Leominster.

Impact

Neville Hart continued: "The green has made a really positive impact on Leominster, providing a key focal point for local people and visitors to the town. The funding from The Onyx Environmental Trust was critical to the success of the project allowing important wildlife habitats to be created."

Margaret Cobbold, general manager of The Onyx Environmental Trust, said: "Landfill tax credits provide a vital resource for organisations such as the Herefordshire Nature Trust to enable them to continue to improve and enrich our environment.

"The positive effect that each of these three projects has had on the local community and visitors illustrates the far reaching benefits of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme."