More than 2,700 trees planted as wildlife appears at nature reserve

Shrewsbury Town Council's countryside and green space team has been planting at Monkmoor River Ground.

Matt Wilcoxon, countryside and greenspace manager for the town council, said: “Our team has done an amazing job by planting so many trees this winter, and we’ll be planting another 300 this week, bringing the total to over 3,000 trees.

“When we started the planting last year, we had a great turnout from volunteers and local schools, but due to the current coronavirus restrictions we haven’t been able to work with the local community as we would like.”

The tree-planting project has been funded by the town council, the Environment Agency and the European Regional Development Fund and uses a mix of hedges, park trees and woodland groups to create a diverse riverside habitat.

Matt added that after a year since the original hedgerow was planted, staff have noticed signs of new wildlife.

He said: “We have seen fascinating oak galls made by a species of non-stinging small wasps as well as a stonechat that has been regularly spotted around the new trees.

"As the trees become more established, we expect to see a more diverse range of wildlife inhabiting the trees and woodland.

“It’s a fabulous effort by everyone involved and once Covid restrictions have been lifted, we will have more tree planting projects that people can get involved with next winter.”