North Lincolnshire Council says it is set to declare a new Local Nature Reserve in Elsham on the former Elsham Chalk Quarry site.
The 11.4 hectare site is currently classes as a Local Wildlife Site (LWS), which Elsham Parish Council has now acquired.
Working with Elsham Parish Council, North Lincolnshire Council has now declared the former Chalk Quarry site as a Local Nature Reserve.
It is important for remnants of calcareous grassland, a priority habitat that occurs where grassland grows over chalk or limestone, to be conserved. Key species found here include salad burnet, autumn gentian, rough hawkbit, crosswort, greater knapweed, common spotted orchid and bee orchid.
The quarry also displays similar geology to the nearby Elsham Chalkpit North Local Geological Site (LGS).
The newly declared Local Nature Reserve will provide an opportunity for local residents to get involved in nature conservation. It will also be a place for quiet recreation.
The adjacent road verge is also a Local Wildlife Site, which will also be included in the new Local Nature Reserve.
In North Lincolnshire there are currently 17 local nature reserves; these include the newly declared Elsham Chalk Quarry, Belshaw Heath in Belton and Kingsway in Scunthorpe.
The council is on track for reaching its target of two hectares of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 people by 2018. The national target is to create one hectare per 1,000 people.
Volunteers work throughout the year on Local Nature Reserves in North Lincolnshire, committing around 4,700 hours each year.
If you would like to find out more details on your school visiting the Local Nature Reserve or getting involved as a volunteer, contact the Environment Team at: environment.team@northlincs.gov.uk.
Coun Carl Sherwood, pictured above, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing and a ward member for Brigg and Wolds, said: "Elsham Chalk Quarry Local Nature Reserve will be a place where people can go to get closer to nature and discover the variety of wildlife right on their doorstep.
“It is vital for Local Wildlife Sites to be protected, which we have been able to achieve working with Elsham Parish Council. This means important habitats will not be spoilt and the site can be maintained.
“By declaring sites as Local Nature Reserves it helps to protect and enhance habitats in North Lincolnshire that can be sanctuaries for wildlife. They also provide important recreational areas for the local community.
“We always encourage the local community to get involved in managing local Nature Reserves, so if this is of interest to you please get in touch with the Environment Team.
“We are well on track for achieving our target of two hectares of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 people, which will beat the national target.”
An ultra-excellent idea.
ReplyDeleteBut being very pedantic...the article implies that limestone and chalk are two separate types of rock.
Indeed, limestone is a generic term for a wide range of calcitic sedimentary rock, which includes chalk.
In Brigg, we have examples of another type of limestone: the war memorial and the facade of Nat West Bank in the Market Place is Portland Stone.
The Lincoln Edge...the scrap that runs from the Humber to about Grantham, passing through Winterton, Scunny, KinL, Lincon etc is Jurassic limestone, while the escarpartment if the Lincolnshire Wold is Cretaceous limestime..a mere 150 to 40 circa millions years old..affected by the glaciation of the Ice Age of 10 thousand years ago.
Rambling again...limestone played an important contribution to the Agricultural Revolution an important pre-cursor to the Industrial Revolution.
ReplyDeleteThomas Coke in Norfolk popularised the ideas of marling/liming fields and crop rotation (ideas that had been used to a limited extent by others)
Cokes methods improved food production and together with Charles Turnip Townshend and livestock selection notions, allowed an farming revolution to develop....this created a surplus of the agricultural workforce who migrated to the town's as the Industriial Revolution was emerging....without such a surplus workforce together with the improved food production, the IR would probably would have not occurred in this country....
My dad was raised at Chalk Hill on the Singleton Birch site.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was raised at Chalk Hill on the Singleton Birch site.
ReplyDelete