KEMERTON CONSERVATION TRUST

 'Conserving wildlife and ancient landscape'

 

Registered Charity Number: 702488 

 
 HABITATS: Wetlands
The Trust owns, leases or manages a number of wetlands, ranging from ditches and small ponds to riverbanks and large lakes. These include examples of six priority habitats under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP): Eutrophic Standing Waters; Lowland Fens; Ponds; Reedbeds; Rivers; and Wet Woodland.

Reedbeds, KLNR

Male migrant hawker, KLNR

Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve

The Trust’s 46 acre (19 ha) flagship reserve was created between 1987 and 1997 through the extraction of sand and gravel.  It is leased by the Trust from the Kemerton Estate on a long lease.  The reserve includes a diverse range of habitats including a 16 acre (6 ha) lake (eutrophic standing water), reedbeds, islands, pools, seasonal wet scrapes, woodland and species-rich grassland.  A public footpath gives access across part of the site, and leads to a bird hide on the west side.  An additional permissive path provides access to a hide at the east end of the lake.  The reserve has been designated as a Local Wildlife Site.  It provides important habitat for invertebrates, including mining bees, 20 species of dragonfly and damselfly, and the endangered white-clawed crayfish.  Among the mammals species found at the site are polecat, badger, otter and nine species of bat.  The reserve is very popular with bird watchers and more than 170 bird species have been recorded on the site since 1987. It is a breeding site for many birds including lapwing, oyster catcher, cuckoo and reed warbler; as well as the BAP priority species skylark and reed bunting.  It also attracts a range of passage migrants, and in winter it is an important roosting site for waterfowl.  Among its most exhilarating spectacles are the enormous starling roosts in the reed beds. More detailed information about the site can be found here.

Kemerton Lake

Rivers and streams

The Trust owns approximately 500m of frontage along the River Severn and either owns or oversees around 1 km of Avon frontage. It oversees more than 3.5 km of the Squitter and Carrant Brooks. With grant assistance from the Environment Agency it has carried out the restoration of old ox-bows on the Carrant and installed fish passes to improve water quality and flow. It has constructed holts and encouraged bank-side vegetation to provide suitable habitat for otters – a BAP priority species. Otter spraint (faeces) has now been found alongside both of these streams. Other riparian management includes the pollarding of willows and encouraging the spread of black poplar. The Trust is also involved in a multi-agency project to restore streams throughout the Carrant Catchment Area, involving local landowners, the Environment Agency, Worcestershire Biological Records Centre and other partners.

Squitter Brook

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