Crown Lakes Country Park
At Crown Lakes Country Park a new wild-flower meadow has been established that will soon be home to many traditional British plants such as cowslip, oxeye daisy and Bird's-foot Trefoil. The 7000m2 site was prepared during spring 2007 by firstly removing a layer of top soil to reduce soil fertility and provide better conditions for flowers to grow in, without being out-competed by more aggressive weeds.
An artificial bat cave has been installed as part of a joint project with the cambridgeshire Bat Group. The 20 metre long tunnel will provide ideal conditions for bats to spend the winter hibernating in. Because it is buried several feet below ground level, the air temperature remains stable which is what the bats require.
Several bird and bat boxes have been placed on trees around the site to provide extra nesting/ summer roosting sites.
Areas of mature species-rich grassland have been managed by clearing back invasive scrub that had been threatening to shade out the wild-flowers. This will also benefit the many butterlfies and other insects found here.
Scrub has also been cleared back from alongside sections of the lakes, streams and ponds to reduce shading and encourage aquatic vegetation to develop which is so important for many other species too.
A pond dipping platform has been installed using re-cycled plastic. This can be used by families and schools visiting the site for discovering more about the wildlife in the ponds.