Nature Recovery

Introduction

The Town Council recognises the importance of taking steps to address the ecological crisis our world is facing and the necessary steps we all need to take to stop the decline of biodiversity.

In October 2023, Cllr Melanie Davis and the Clerk attended a very informative and exciting Nature Recovery event held at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington. We were encouraged by the work the Town Council already does; allotments, the Community Woodland, planting trees and hedges, supporting the Selby & District Beekeepers with their apiary in the cemetery, planting wildflowers, the community pond and taking part in No-Mow May.

And excited at what more we could do! Not only with our land and property, but also working with the community.

We would like to encourage the residents of Selby to support the bees and other wildlife that are key pollinators. This can be done by planting flowers and creating places for wildlife to form habitats.

Nature Recovery Action Plan

We have introduced the action plan which sets out our projects and programme for the next 6 years – taking us up to 2030. The first year we will be concentrating on communicating our intentions, identifying projects, and securing funding through grants and sponsorship.

What we are doing this year

We are installing a Wild Pod in the cemetery and planting with wildflowers and native plants. The Wild Pod provides a home for lots of different species – hedgehogs, insects – supporting nature and increasing biodiversity. We will monitor how well the Wild Pod meets our aims before considering installing more.
We are continuing to plant wildflower bulbs throughout the cemetery, and sowing wildflower seeds in some of the older sections of the cemetery.
We are continuing with “No Mow May” – leaving areas in the old sections uncut, along with boundaries around the bottom fields at the cemetery and Scott Road Community Centre.
We are leaving log piles on and around various sites we own or manage.
We are continuing to plant trees and hedges, and maintain and manage all our trees to keep them healthy.

We will add to this list as we complete more actions.

What can you do?

You could join us in the No Mow May campaign and leave areas of lawn in your garden uncut.
You could plant native species in your garden, in pots, window boxes and / or hanging baskets.
You could leave a log pile in a quiet corner of your garden Build-a-log-pyramid-for-stag-beetles-with-video-link.pdf
You could provide shelter for hedgehogs. Lots of useful information can be found on this website Home – Hedgehog Street
You could provide food for birds How To Attract Birds To Your Garden – Woodland Trust

There are lots of ideas on the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website – #TeamWilder | Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to look at and how to get involved or start projects for yourself or in your immediate surrounding area.

Of course, you may already be doing some or all of the above – why don’t you get in touch, send us photos of how you are supporting nature and biodiversity – we would love to see them. You could be one of our Environment Champions, please see below for more information.

Viewing: All Files

Show me documents by:

Nature Recovery Action Plan

Environment Champion

We would like to invite members of the community, who live in Selby Town Parish, to support the bees and other pollinators. Bees are vital to stable, healthy food supplies and key to the varied, colourful nutritious diets we need. This can be done by planting flowers and creating places for wildlife to form habitats.

To recognise the residents of Selby Town who are supporting the wildlife we have produced window stickers that can be displayed in your window to show your support.

We are asking residents to send in photos of their own flowers, insect hotels, or wildlife habitats so that can receive a window sticker to display and show their support. You can also nominate someone who you feel is supporting the local wildlife.

Our aim is to plot private gardens and public spaces, that are supporting the wildlife through our town, on an interactive map and try and join up nature corridors.

The application / nomination form can be found below, so whether you have a window box, a plant pot or two, an insect hotel, or a garden full of plants and flowers, we would love to hear from you. A space will be created on this web page for all your photos – so please send them in!