Biodiversity projects
The City Council's Ecology team leads and contributes to a variety of projects across the city and region. These projects cover a range of overlapping aims, including nature enhancement, biodiversity monitoring, community engagement and citizen science.
We work with partners within the Council, such as parks, urban forestry, Public Health and climate change, as well as external partners, such as the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Canal and Rivers Trust, and both Warwick and Coventry University.
We play a strategic role, offering advice or assisting with funding applications in everything from local community projects to regional programmes and research collaborations.
Examples of our ongoing projects
Creating and supporting natural spaces
In line with Biodiversity Net Gain legislation, we are creating biodiversity offsetting sites. This involves large-scale, long-term habitat creation and restoration. Examples of these spaces include Elm Fields Farm and Coundon Wedge.
Partnering with the Council's Parks Team
This includes designing and implementing biodiversity enhancements in our green spaces, such as Edgwick Park and Radford Recreation Ground.
City Nature Challenge
This is a global Citizen Science event that takes place the final weekend in April every year and involves getting people out in their local environments to record biodiversity. More information can be found on the official City Nature Challenge webpage and you can sign up to take part via the Council's City Nature Challenge event page.
Monitoring biodiversity with novel eDNA methods
In collaboration with the University of Warwick's School of Life Sciences, we have been awarded funding from the University's Biosciences Impact Fund to experiment with innovative eDNA techniques to monitor biodiversity in Foleshill and Binley and Willenhall.
The Species Recovery Programme
In collaboration with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the Canal and Rivers Trust, and the University of Warwick, we will be enhancing habitats designed to support bittern, water vole, willow tit and white-clawed crayfish and help their local populations flourish. More details can be found on Warwickshire Wildlife Trust's webpage.