On Friday and Saturday, 27th and 28th February 2026, Wellesbourne and Walton Parish Council held a public consultation event on their developing Local Nature and Climate Action plan. There is a parallel consultation online. The aim is to have a final version ready in late spring, from which prioritised Actions and Projects can be detailed, drawn up and executed. Details can be accessed via the Parish Council website https://www.wellesbourneandwalton-pc.gov.uk/.
Residents and councillors have already been working together to address the Climate and Nature Emergency and support the Climate Emergency Statement made by the Parish Council in 2022. You can read about activities to support wildlife in Wellesbourne here: https://swanforwildlife.org/groups/sustainable-wellesbourne/.
Together, they will start work on the ground across the 3,000-hectare project area.
The wider catchment includes some of county’s finest landscapes. It spans parts of the Cotswolds National Landscape, the remnants of the ancient Royal Hunting Forest of Wychwood, and the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site. It includes 16 river water bodies, including the River Evenlode and its major tributaries, the Glyme and the Dorn.
Like so many parts of the country, the landscape is under increasing pressure from flooding, water quality decline, biodiversity loss and the challenge of sustaining long-term, productive food systems.
For example, around 19% of the area lies within a flood zone and floods frequently during heavy rainfall due to the catchment’s rapid (“flashy”) response. This puts multiple communities, farmland, rail and local roads at risk.
One of the farmers taking part in the project reported one field flooding nine times in the winter of 2023–24.
The catchment supports a mosaic of habitats, including oak and ash woodland, limestone grasslands, lowland meadows and fen, creating conditions for a wide range of wildlife.
The priority species identified for targeted conservation action because they are rare, declining or threatened, include remnant populations of the endangered native crayfish and water voles, alongside rare plants such as fen violet and downy woundwort.
Credit: North East Cotswold Farmer ClusterAllowing the river to reconnect with its floodplain works with natural processes to reduce flooding and improve habitats for wildlife. Credit: Dave Gasca.Water Vole. Credit: Peter Trimming
Once common along rivers and streams, water voles have declined sharply in recent decades due to habitat loss and the predatory American Mink.They are found along rivers, streams and ditches and can be mistaken for brown rats. Water voles are legally protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, are a Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework and are listed as endangered on both the Great Britain and England Red Lists for mammals.
A dry February 2026 morning and a dozen volunteers turned up at Cornmill Meadows, Shipston’s wildlife site, to lightly prune and cut out suckers in the community orchard planted 2 years ago.
A mixture of heritage trees were planted including plums, gages, apples, pears and damsons, 54 in total. We hope to harvest some fruit this year for the first time.
Common ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) is a native plant of the British Isles and plays an important role in supporting wildlife. According to the National Trust, ragwort is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies, including Red Admiral and Peacock butterflies.
It provides food for around 178 species of insects, with 27 species relying on ragwort alone. Its bright yellow flowers also attract approximately 40 species of night-flying moths. These insects, in turn, support wider ecosystems by providing food for birds, bats, mice, voles and predatory insects. Ragwort flowers for longer than many other wild plants, offering a sustained source of nectar and pollen later into the season. It is also the sole food plant of the striking black-and-yellow caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth.
Ragwort and Livestock Safety
Despite its ecological value, common ragwort is classified as a specified weed under the Weeds Act 1959. The plant contains toxins that can cause serious illness or death if eaten by horses and other grazing animals, particularly when ragwort is present in hay or silage.
To address this risk, Defra has produced a Code of Practice on How to Prevent the Spread of Ragwort. The Code promotes good land management to significantly reduce the likelihood of livestock poisoning. It is intended for all landowners and occupiers and provides practical guidance on:
Identifying common ragwort
Assessing risk and setting priorities for control
Choosing appropriate and effective control methods
Environmental considerations
Health and safety responsibilities
Importantly, the Code does not seek to eradicate ragwort altogether. Instead, it supports a strategic and proportionate approach, controlling ragwort only where it poses a genuine threat to the health and welfare of animals, while recognising its value to wildlife.
Header image credit: Cultureel Gelderland, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
This new strategic assessment from Defra explores how global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could affect the UK’s resilience, security and prosperity.
This assessment is an analysis of how global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse could affect UK national security.
It shows how environmental degradation can disrupt food, water, health and supply chains, and trigger wider geopolitical instability. It identifies 6 ecosystems of strategic importance for the UK and explores how their decline could drive cascading global impacts.
This assessment, which was developed by analysts and experts across HM Government, supports long-term resilience planning. Publishing the assessment highlights opportunities for innovation, green finance and global partnerships that can drive growth while safeguarding the ecosystems that underpin our collective security and prosperity.
The River Hope team are organising events around Stratford-on-Avon District and South Warwickshire between 6 – 15 March, 2026, to see water differently – as a living presence that connects people, place and Nature.
The programme was launched on 1 December, 2025 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon: see presentation outlining the overarching vision (Remember | Reflect | Restore).
They are co-creating an opportunity for people across South Warwickshire to come together for learning, creative exploration and imagining, reflection, planning and action to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers on Saturday 14 March, 2026.
Expect: workshops, discussion panels, book talks, film screenings, exhibitions, ceremonies and hands-on activities that bring together residents, creatives, environmentalists, schools, local organisations, community groups and elected representatives.
As soon as they took on Cornmill Meadows, the management group were encouraged to include ‘more water’. A team from the Severn Rivers Trust dug out a scrape in the lower meadow at the end of 2025 (at no cost to the group) and created a butterfly bank with the soil that was removed. The site obviously looks very bare at the moment, but the group will plant it up as soon as they can and, hopefully, within a year it should look a lot more established.
