Skipton Woods get £32,000 boost from Woodland Trust (From Craven Herald)

Skipton Woods get £32,000 boost from Woodland Trust

10:00am Saturday 25th August 2012 in News

The Woodland Trust has been awarded more than £32,000 towards improvements at Skipton Woods.

The grant of £32,693 from the Veolia Environmental Trust comes just two months after the woodland charity was awarded £80,000 from Yorventure and the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Your Heritage grant scheme to pay for discovery days at the popular attraction.

The environmental trust has been supporting community and environmental projects for 14 years using landfill tax credits provided by waste company Veolia Environmental Services and, in the past three years alone, has given more than £148,000 to schemes in North Yorkshire.

Its latest grant will be used to improve access throughout Skipton Woods as well as links to the adjacent Skipton Castle, enabling more visitors to explore the area’s natural beauty and cultural heritage.

Crucial habitat management will also take place and the woods’ traditional stone wall boundary will be restored. Local volunteers will have the opportunity to get involved, learning traditional skills and techniques such as drystone walling.

Laura Parry, the Woodland Trust’s regional development manager, said: “It’s great that the Veolia Environmental Trust has awarded this grant and we look forward to working with them to develop and undertake the scheme.

“The improvements will make a vast difference for the community, enabling more people to come and see what our spectacular Skipton Woods have to offer.”

And McNabb Laurie, executive director of the Veolia Environmental Trust, added: “This is great news for Skipton and we look forward to the scheme starting.

“With support from our northern panel, our board rigorously assessed all of the proposals and supported this scheme because they felt it met our objectives and demonstrated that it would enhance this valuable habitat for all to enjoy.”

The woods are renowned for their vivid displays of bluebells and wild garlic and sustain five species of bat.

The site is also a haven for wildlife ranging from a group of roe deer to notable bird species such as green and greater spotted wood-peckers, spotted flycatchers, sparrowhawk, kingfisher and heron.