The MEAS Team were recently invited to help with fruit tree planting at Kindling Farm in Tarbock Green as part of their agri-forestry farm.
Kindling Farm is part of the Liverpool City Region Farmland Species Recovery Project run by the Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS). This project works collaboratively with farmers, encouraging regenerative practices for the benefit of wildlife to trial and deliver species recovery interventions. It supporting targeted action to recover England’s most endangered species and is supporting us to fine-tune habitat conditions for a number of farmland species.
Its purpose is to help reverse the decline, for example, of Corn Bunting and Tree Sparrow whose numbers have fallen by around 90% since the 1970s.
The project is focused not on ‘rewilding’, but showing how food production and a strong farm business can sit alongside habitat creation and improvements for nature.
Increased field margins, improved ponds, creation of scrapes, hedgerows diversified and gapped up, opening up of the brook will all help resident brown hares, grey partridge, lapwings, skylark, yellowhammers, purple ramping fumitory and reed bunting. They are hoping to see the return of corn bunting, tree sparrows and water vole as part of this project.
For more information on the Kindling Trust visit www.kindling.org.uk
