Stroud Valleys Project (SVP) will become the new guardians of Frome Banks’s nature reserve.
Previously managed by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT), this wildlife haven close to the town centre is a great place for spotting birds such as dippers, grey wagtails and kingfishers.
A GWT spokesperson said: “We will be sad to say goodbye to this nature reserve, having devoted several years of hard work to its care; however, the Trust is consolidating the land it manages in order to make better use of its resources and to enable work at a large scale to restore ecosystems, strengthen ecological networks, enhance biodiversity and build resilience to climate change across a dynamic mosaic of different habitats in the county.”
SVP CEO Clare Mahdiyone added: “We’re so grateful to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for handing over the stewardship of this beautiful spot to us. We thank them for their sympathetic maintenance of this wild space and look forward to taking it forward to a new era.
“Frome Banks is a genuine wildlife haven in a semi-urban area, and it’s the perfect place to enjoy a quiet break from the working day. We hope to make the area more accessible to the people of Stroud while retaining its biodiversity.
“Stroud Valleys Project are excited to be taking over the management of Frome Banks nature reserve and working with the local community to link green spaces in Stroud together to extend our wildlife corridors. This will increase the urban green spaces SVP manage into the heart of Stroud and enable links to the wider countryside.”
