Charity launches Project Yellowhammer

Dog owners have been encouraged to keep their pets on leads to protect birds and other wildlife in Worcestershire.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has launched Project Yellowhammer, an initiative that aims to increase the public's awareness of wildlife, while also encouraging people to keep their dogs on a lead and to stick to paths.

The scheme has so far been introduced on the trust's Dropping Well Farm and The Devil's Spittleful nature reserves, situated between Bewdley and Kidderminster.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust's Project Yellowhammer was inspired by the declining bunting (Carl Bovis).

Public awareness

With a small population still present on the edges of The Devil's Spittleful and Dropping Well Farm, the project was named after Yellowhammer – and it is hoped it will give the declining birds, and other wildlife, a much-needed boost.

Ian Riley, community wildlife warden at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, said: "Letting dogs run free and straying away from tracks can cause huge disruption to wildlife, particularly to the ground-nesting birds and reptiles that are present on site."

"We hope that by having constructive and positive conversations with visitors about the wildlife on our nature reserves, individuals will be inspired to help wildlife and to share their knowledge with others."

The work forms part of the trust's Saving Worcestershire's Heathlands project, which aims to restore farmland at Dropping Well Farm and to connect more than 200 ha of heathland habitat in the local area.