Better for Nature

The Council owns in excess of 500 Hectares of grassland, 500 Hectares of woodland and approximately 40 Hectares of wetland, rivers and ponds. 

Better for Nature is the programme of work we are doing to improve biodiversity, which is everything that we think of as the natural environment around us, and help address the decline in native species in those areas. 

Here's what's happening across the Borough...

Grassland

Some areas of grassland that have previously been mown on a regular basis have been left uncut to encourage wildlife and to see what natural wildflowers and grasses are growing naturally. Many of these areas have been chosen as they help to connect other areas of natural habitat.

A number of our fields are managed in a traditional way by cutting them for hay. This allows the natural wildflowers to drop their seeds to create more flowering plants the following year. You can visit hay meadows at each of the Country Parks and sites along the River Tees.

Woodland and hedgerows

There are several areas of older woodland in the Borough that are defined as ancient semi-natural woodland. These can be found at sites such as Preston Park and Wynyard Woodland Park. They do not require a lot of active management and are home to a wide variety of wildlife, including birds, mammals and insects.

The established plantation woodland that has been planted over the past thirty years at sites throughout the Borough quite often requires the trees to be thinned out in order to allow the ones that are left to grow to maturity. This work is typically done in the winter by the Countryside Rangers and with the help of volunteers.

Over the past three years more than 25,000 sapling trees have been planted on Council-owned land throughout the Borough. Planting these trees will contribute to our net zero ambitions and will also help add more woodland cover, provide wildlife habitats and increase biodiversity.

Wetland and ponds

We worked closely with the Environment Agency and Tees Rivers Trust to deliver two projects that improve the biodiversity of wetlands, rivers and ponds in the Borough. These are the Billingham Beck Valley Country Park Wetland Restoration Project, where work has been done to reconnect the watercourse to the flood plain to improve the biodiversity of the 'wet grassland'; and the Lustrum Beck Urban River Restoration Project, where work has taken place to reintroduce natural features into the channel.

New ponds have also been created in partnership with the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust as part of a national initiative to help to conserve Great Crested Newts.

Invasive non-native species

Unfortunately, there are non-native plants, animals and insects in the Borough that pose a threat to both native wildlife and humans. One of the main plants that we try to control is Giant Hogweed, although we also work with the Tees Rivers Trust try to prevent the spread of a number of others, such as Himalayan Balsam, Crassula and Floating Pennywort. 

Local Nature Partnership

We are an active member of the Local Nature Partnership, a group of organisations and individuals committed to managing and protecting the natural environment in the Lower Tees Valley. Through the partnership we can engage in much bigger environmental conservation initiatives, such as the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

What you can do to help

We'll include details on how you can help soon. Watch this space!