What’s new?
5 May 2009
Cash boost for "Creatures of the night"
Rare species of newt given a lifeline in Cambridgeshire
The number of rare, great crested newts in the county is set to increase thanks to a grant secured by The Wildlife Trust.
Britain is the most important country in the world for great crested newts. The animals need a very special habitat; ponds with just the right amount of light and plant life, and no fish. Such ponds have become increasingly rare in recent years, and is the reason why the newts have suffered such a dramatic loss.
The generous grant of £35,500 - awarded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services - has kick-started The Creatures of the Night project, so named because the newts are most active at night when the males perform their intimate courtship dance.
The project was launched on Thursday 30 April at Upwood Meadows Nature Reserve. Its aims are to improve both the ponds and the landscape around them, and to undertake nocturnal survey work to monitor the newts.
The award, which includes £1,000 from The Herpetological Conservation Trust, £750 from The Mitchell Trust and £1,798 from The Friends of the Wildlife Trust, will enable the Wildlife Trust to restore and conserve the habitat for great crested newts at eight of its most beautiful nature reserves across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough:
- Brampton Wood, near Brampton
- Lady’s Wood and Upwood Meadows, near Upwood
- Lattersey, near Whittlesey
- Norwood Road, in March
- Ramsey Heights, near Ramsey
- Stanground Newt Ponds and Woodston Ponds, in Peterborough.
For further information, please contact Heather Laing on Heather.Laing[at]wildlifebcnp.org.