Community grant application.

The Hilsea Lines Conservation Volunteers are trying to get a £6,000 grant from the NatWest community force group.

The grant scheme runs as a competition with the top three wining the grant so we need your votes.

UPDATE:

I'm sorry to say that we were not awarded the grant. However, we were very close maybe next year we will be able to get those extra votes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who participated and voted for us.

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/4007

The grant will enable us to:-





Volunteer at work


• Improve the Biodiversity of the site.
• Improve access for the public.

If we are successful in securing the grant then we will be able to improve access further and to maintain the parts of the site that have been restored and managed already.



Woodland walk at Hilsea



We have a specific project in mind should we get this funding and that is to open up the canopy and widen the rides which will allow more light to reach the ground flora. Whilst at the same time opening up site lines within the woodland which will give the site a lighter more welcoming appearance for visitors.

Hedgerow Harvest

Free, Healthy Food for the Picking.

Why we annually cut the meadows.

Over the next few weeks we will be carrying out Grassland Management on certain areas of Hilsea Lines.

1.    Meadow management.



Flowering meadow



Yellow Rattle



All grasslands need sympathetic management, without this the fine grasses and flowers become crowded out by the tallest plants and toughest grasses. Eventually scrub such as bramble, hawthorn or blackthorn replaces the flowers and grasses. Grasslands provide a very diverse habitat that can support an exceptional variety of plants and invertebrates. These in turn support large populations of birds, reptiles, and mammals.

The grassland areas at Hilsea Lines are managed by an annual ‘cut and collect’ at the end of the summer, when the majority of plants have set seed. This method maximises the floral diversity, as removing the cut vegetation prevents the build up of nutrients that would favour vigorous pernicious plants and scrub species.

2.    Scrub Management.



Volunteers cutting back scrub invasion

Scrub and bramble have encroached onto areas of grassland reducing the biodiversity of the area. Scrub will be prevented from encroaching further onto the grassland through rotational cutting back to allow the natural wildflower meadow to develop. A certain amount of the scrub is left for nesting and also as a food source for small animals and invertebrates. In large areas of scrub channels are cut through allowing grassland species to move from one grassland area to another.

 









Woodland Management of Hilsea Lines

Over the next few months we will be carrying out woodland management on Hilsea Lines.

The object of this process is:

HILSEA LINES CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERS

• Are you interested in the countryside?

• Would you like to make a difference to the natural wildlife in the area?

GREEN FLAG SUCCESS AT COUNTRYSIDE SITE.

Portsmouth’s Parks and Countryside team and its volunteers are celebrating its success in winning a prestigious ‘Green Flag’ for Hilsea Lines. This award is presented to the best managed country parks in the Country, and this is the second year running the Lines have been recognized.

The award is a national scheme managed by a consortium of organisations, Keep Britain Tidy, BTCV and Green Space. The site was visited in May by a panel of judges looking for exceptional standards in categories such as ‘Community Involvement’ and ‘Clean and well maintained’.
http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/