‘Conservation in Unusual Places’ – Points West Filming
Oldbury Power Station was recently the setting for a BBC film on ‘Conservation in Unusual Places’.
BBC Points West became aware of the fantastic conservation work that goes on at Oldbury and sent presenter Alex Lovell and a film crew to site to find out more as part of the Autumn Watch season.
Together with the Hawk & Owl Trust, Oldbury got the chance to showcase the ongoing work that the Environment Team do to ensure the nature areas around the station are maintained and improved to benefit the existing wildlife and attract new species to the area.
Pete Longley from the Environment Team at Oldbury Power Station said: "At Oldbury we are continually working hard to enhance the natural environment around the station - many people probably don't think that a nuclear site is a great place for wildlife but we have some thriving habitats here, many of which are open to the public to come and see for themselves. We were delighted to invite Points West to the station to find out more about what the site is doing to for nature conservation and the promotion of biodiversity."
The Hawk & Owl Trust, a national charity dedicated to conserving owls and other birds of prey in the wild, offer Oldbury continuing advice on habitat restoration and creation, such as building and installing hawk and owl boxes, woodland thinning and building vole habitats which in turn provide food for Kestrels and Barn Owls.
Future conservation work planned at the site includes thinning of the dense woodland opposite the approach road to the station, planting snowdrops and bluebells, creating a ‘Tern Island’ by using floating barrels with wooden crates on top to encourage birds to the pond area, and carving out an area in the face of the pond island to encourage Kingfishers to nest.
The Points West video on the Oldbury Power Station nature conservation can be found online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9123000/9123818.stm
