Gift Sponsorship
Sopnsorship is available for a number of animals and habitats. By sponsoring an animal or habitat you are helping us to preserve the natural habitats of Cheshire.
Longhorn Cow
Grazing animals are the most effective and natural way to manage many of our nature reserves in. Cattle are very good at removing coarse grasses. They feed by wrapping their tongues around the grass and pulling it into their mouths, creating an uneven, tussocky sward. The varying height provides micro-habitats for invertebrates and exposes pockets of bare earth that enable seeds to set.
The English Longhorn is a traditional British breed. They are very hardy so can be over-wintered outside, and thrive on a diet of course vegetation.
Our herd of longhorns were bought originally to manage our Gowy Meadows nature reserve. Through our Conservation Grazing project we loan out cattle to other conservation organisations to graze their reserves. Grazing of floodplain grasslands is a vital part of out Gowy and Mersey Washlands Living Landscape project - through this our Longhorn cattle are helping to manage six sites along this vital wetland corridor.
Hebridean Sheep
Hebridean Sheep are an extremely hardy native breed, able to cope with harsh, wet conditions. Our sheep were originally acquired to graze our Holcroft Moss nature reserve. They will nibble away at the purple moor grass and any birch or bramble seedlings, allowing the natural mossland flora of heather and cranberry to flourish.
Our Hebridean sheep are also used to manage some of our other reserves, including Swettenham Meadows, Rudheath and our headquarters at Bickley Hall Farm.
Dormouse
The hazel dormouse is a woodland specialist - it is an agile climber and rarely comes down to the ground. It has disappeared from much of the north of England along with the woodlands on which it depends.
Im 1996 Cheshire Wildlife Trust reintroduced a population of dormice to a wood in the south of the county - the first dormice to live in Cheshire for a century. We are continuing to monitor this small population, and they are thriving.
But for dormice to continue to spread we need a network of species-rich woodlands to provide them with food and shelter, and dense, bushy hedges to help them move between woodlands.
Peat bog
Peat bogs are one of our most fragile and threatened habitats, with less than 3% of our original peatlands still intact. As such, they have a Biodiversity Action Plan in Cheshire. Raised bogs are formed by layers of Spagnum mosses buiding up over the centuries. Cheshire Wildlife Trust has a number of peat bog nature reserves, including Holcroft Moss, Abbots Moss, Danes Moss and Bagmere.
Hedgerow
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Thank you for your support
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