Check a Sweet Chestnut

With summertime drawing to a close, there’s still time to take part in the RHS ‘Check a Sweet Chestnut’ project.

RHS want to know where there are healthy and unhealthy sweet chestnuts across the UK so they can understand how far sweet chestnut blight and oriental chestnut gall wasp have spread since they were first reported. The information you provide will help us to produce an up-to-date map of healthy and unhealthy sweet chestnut trees and tell them whether their actions to control the spread of blight and gall wasp are working.

This year, between National Plant Health Week in May and National Tree Week in November, the RHS, Defra, APHA, Forest Research and Observatree invite you to submit data on sweet chestnut health to the UK tree health-reporting platform, TreeAlert.

Full details on the RHS Citizen Science page.

Rewilding Britain: Rewilding Innovation Fund recipients 2023

Since 2021, the Rewilding Innovation Fund has funded 35 initiatives across Britain’s land and sea. From community-driven to technology-focused projects, these awards have removed the barriers to rewilding for many.

Rewilding Britain believe that innovation is key to rewilding, to remove barriers to rewilding across Britain to scale up existing projects to the landscape-scale. The 11 projects funded in the latest round of the Rewilding Innovation Fund are either at the start of their journey or ready to go one step wilder.

Full details on the projects awarded money in this round on the Rewilding Britain Innovation Fund page.

Beverley Eco Fair

Did you know there is a Beverley Eco Fair in September? More details can be found here: Eco Fair 23

Save the date! : Saturday 30 September 10.00 – 16.00

Come and meet members of the Molescroft Wildlife Network at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust stand at the fair. The is a fair organised by Beverley Minster Ecochurch Group, who are all volunteers, with support from Churches Together in Beverley and East Riding of Yorkshire Council. This event is being funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s ‘Do It For East Yorkshire Community‘ Grant. A further grant has been received from Dogger Bank Wind Farm and sponsorship from The Little Coach House.

MWN visit Molescroft Farm Estate

MWN members took a trip to Molescroft Farm Estate with Jon Traill from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The invite was kindly extended by Tamara Hall, Managing Director of the family-run Molescroft Farm Estate. The farm is run according to Conservation Agriculture principles, with over 10% of the farm estate managed primarily for wildlife and the environment through Higher Tier Environmental Stewardship. A meeting of minds, all dedicated to working together to restore nature in Molescroft.

Karyn Murby (MWN), Tamara Hall (Molescroft Farm Estate) and Jon Traill (Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) pictured at Molescroft Farm Estate. Picture credit: (c) Helen Kitson