NottsBAGBlog
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Tackling Himalayan Balsam in Nottinghamshire
Siobhan Brocklehurst Invasive Species Week: Protect Our Ecosystems If you’ve spent time near rivers, woodlands, or damp green spaces in summer, you may have spotted a tall plant with pink-purple flowers and explosive seed pods—this is Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), one of the UK’s most widespread invasive plant species. This week (June 22nd – June…
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LBAP Species Sightings in Nottinghamshire
Siobhan Brocklehurst & Kate Doull Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group focus on a number of species, one being the Grizzled Skipper, which is an LBAP species. This butterfly has been seen on many railway sidings in the south of Nottinghamshire, where plenty of work parties have been involved in supporting the habitat management which is undertaken…
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Nottinghamshire’s Native Black Poplars: Part 2
Siobhan Brocklehurst Initiation of the project In January 2026, we discovered which of our sampled trees are true natives. The following February we took cuttings from the native trees across Nottinghamshire, and we planted some in the ground and in pots with the hope that they would continue to grow into saplings. With the Environment…
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Grizzled Skipper Work Parties Completed (2025-26)
(March 4, 2026) https://nottsbag.org.uk/2026/03/04/grizzled-skipper-work-parties-completed-2025-26/ After starting in September 2025, this month we have officially finished our Grizzled Skipper work parties for the winter season! With funding from Butterfly Conservation East Midlands Branch, Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group successfully organised a total of 10 volunteer work parties, targeting locations across South Nottinghamshire. The work parties led to…
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Nottinghamshire’s Native Black Poplars: Part 1
Siobhan Brocklehurst The Black Poplar (Populus nigra subsp. betulifolia) is one of Britain’s rarest native trees. Historically, these trees thrived along lowland river floodplains, but land drainage, urbanisation, and canalisation have confined them to scattered remnants. Once valued for timber—used in building construction, wagon bottoms, rifle butts, and even flooring near fireplaces because of its…
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Heathland: A Sherwood Treasure in Nottinghamshire
(February 19, 2026) https://nottsbag.org.uk/2026/02/19/heathland-a-sherwood-treasure-in-nottinghamshire/ Heathlands are among the UK’s most distinctive and threatened habitats – wild, open landscapes defined by poor, sandy, acidic soils and carpets of heather. Once widespread across the Sherwood Sandstones, these habitats are now fragmented, but their cultural and ecological importance remains immense. Nottinghamshire is a great place for heathland, and…
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White-Clawed Crayfish Rescue and Translocations
(January 1, 2026) https://nottsbag.org.uk/2026/01/01/white-clawed-crayfish-rescue-and-translocations/ The Environment Agency has been leading a conservation project during the summer and autumn aimed at rescuing endangered, white-clawed crayfish from a threatened location! Sadly, the native, white-clawed crayfish is heading towards extinction in the UK, due to habitat degradation but most importantly due to the spread of crayfish plague. Crayfish…
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Restoring Biodiversity at Freckland Wood: A Day of Conservation
(December 18, 2025) https://nottsbag.org.uk/2025/12/18/restoring-biodiversity-at-freckland-wood-a-day-of-conservation/ On 11th November, staff from Nottinghamshire County Council visited Freckland Wood (one of the county’s green spaces sites) located on the edge of Newstead village. A fascinating site that was once a colliery pit tip, this is now a thriving broadleaved woodland. With its wide grassy rides (paths and tracks) open…
