New lease brings boost for wildlife at Herts reserve

Habitats protected on Waterford Heath as Lafarge extend lease with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust

RARE butterflies and locally rare open habitats on Waterford Heath will be protected for the next 85 years after Lafarge extended a lease with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.



The arrangement has allowed the Trust to secure £50,000 from environmental funder SITA Trust, ensuring species such as the grizzled skipper and white letter hairstreak butterflies, as well as numerous other insects, birds and plants will be safe until at least 2096.



The 100-acre site near Hertford was once a sand and gravel quarry operated by Redland Aggregates, predecessors of Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK.



When extraction finished in the early 1990s work was carried out to restore the area to a community nature park, featuring a range of habitats including grassland, scrub, plantation woodland and a small area of ancient, semi-natural woodland.



Lafarge, who took over Redland in 1997, already had a lease agreement with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust but following discussions a long-term guarantee has been established, allowing the Trust to develop a progressive improvement plan.



Stuart Wykes, managing director for aggregates with Lafarge, stressed the fundamental importance of partnership working and added: ‘As a modern, sustainable quarrying company we are totally committed to ensuring the legacy we leave at our sites is a positive one.

‘We aim to create, enhance and protect habitat for the preservation of wildlife and in the interests of biodiversity wherever possible.

‘Our restoration work at Waterford Heath and subsequent partnership with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust has already ensured the area has a range of habitats and provides a home to some rare and interesting creatures.

‘Now Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust have taken on this long lease it will mean the good work we have begun can be progressed to new levels, both for the benefit of wildlife and the local community.’



Tom Day, head of living landscapes for Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, said: ‘The lease from Lafarge means we can now develop long-term plans for the protection of wildlife at Waterford Heath.

‘This is very important for continuity in habitat management and exemplifies what we are trying to do across Hertfordshire – our vision is of a living landscape, where we work with others to improve our towns and countryside for wildlife.

‘We have secured funding from SITA Trust to the tune of nearly £50,000, so we can get to work straight away, restoring habitats for grizzled skipper butterflies.’