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Community Habitat Creation Days

Community Habitat Creation Session - East Park - Emma Burdon 

A series of recent Community Habitat Creation Days have seen individuals, families and community groups in Hull coming together to make a difference for nature across the city.

Many of our #TeamWilder community groups shared with us their aspirations to visit new spaces and develop their community nature networks, so Andy, Wilder Communities Engagement Officer, responded by engaging new partners to plan and host a series of practical events, each taking place is a different area of the city.

As well as creating the opportunity for organisations to build new relationships, the sessions have enabled attendees to learn new habitat-creation techniques which they can now replicate in their own gardens or community greenspaces.

Participants connected with likeminded people in their neighbourhoods, and left a legacy for wildlife in each of the session host locations.

Man making some bird boxes assisted by another man on a table outside. In the rear of the shot are 4 people watching.

Community Habitat Creation Session - Marleet Community Centre, Hull

At Marfleet Community Centre learners from Welcome to English, volunteers from Friends of Alderman Kneeshaw Park, members of local skill-sharing organisation Timebank, and local residents came together to create a mini-meadow in the centre’s garden, build bat boxes to be installed in a local park and share homemade soup and cakes.

Girl being supervised using a drill to make a bird box

Community Habitat Creation Session - East Park

At East Park members from a number of our #TeamWilder partner groups and local families enjoying the half-term holidays worked together to plant native spring bulbs and build bird nest boxes, which will now be fixed around the park and monitored by staff as part of breeding bird surveys.

3 people crouched down in the rear of the photo and 1 crouched in the forefront, in amongst trees on a sports field doing some planting

Community Habitat Creation Session - West Hull Community Hub

At West Hull Community Hub, regulars at their weekly Warm Hub also planted native spring bulbs, along with undertaking some tree planting to increase future habitat for invertebrates, birds, and small mammals.

A vital component of the Community Habitat Creation Days success has been the contribution of our Wilder Humber team, who have worked to co-create the sessions - raising awareness about the significant benefits of seagrass ecosystems to our marine environment, while also engaging participants in the practical activity of creating seedbags. 

Seagrass seedbag-making has been a central feature of the events, with eager attendees creating over 1,000 seed bags across the three sessions!

Group of people sat round a table making seagrass seed bags

Community Habitat Creation Session - West Hull Community Hub - seagrass seed bag making

Group of people sat round a table making seagrass seed bags

Community Habitat Creation Session - seagrass seed bag making

Saegrass in the Humber

Saegrass in the Humber

Seagrass provides multiple benefits to the environment and to people, effectively capturing carbon dioxide, enhancing coastal biodiversity, and providing protection against erosion along our shores.

With many Hull residents having a strong connection to the Humber estuary which defines the geography of the city, and nearby coastal locations such as Spurn Point, they were only too keen to learn more about these marine habitats and get hands-on producing seedbags to contribute to our restoration project. These will be planted at Spurn in April by our Wilder Humber team.

Georgia, Seagrass Restoration Assistant, reflected on the benefit of the Community Habitat Creation Days, both to this restoration project and to those taking part so enthusiastically in the sessions:

It’s important to extend our project's reach to Hull and its various community groups. This allows us to connect with individuals who may be unfamiliar with seagrass and its significance, providing the opportunity to learn and contribute positively to our coastlines. By fostering this connection, we empower communities to make a meaningful difference and develop a deeper appreciation for our marine habitats.
Group of people sat round a table making seagrass seed bags

Community Habitat Creation Session - Marfleet Community Centre - seagrass seed bag making

Overall, the Community Habitat Creation Days have had a significant impact, fostering positive outcomes for both people and nature. By sowing, planting, and building together, we're establishing habitats that will be maintained and monitored by the communities involved, ensuring long-term benefits for local ecosystems.

We had a great day hosting colleagues from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust at The Animal Education Centre in East Park, Hull. Our visitors had the opportunity to contribute to some hands-on seagrass conservation activity, preparing seed bags for the Humber Estuary and learning about the significant value that seagrass provides for both marine organisms and the health of our planet. Families also loved getting outside and working with the Trust’s staff to plant pollinator-attracting native spring bulbs around our centre and construct nest boxes which will be going up around the park to increase habitat for birds.
Emma Burdon
Hull Culture and Leisure Zoo Manager
Woman making bird and bat boxes on a table outside. She is being assisted by a man and another woman is watching on and smiling.

Community Habitat Creation Session - Marfleet Community Centre, Hull 

Get involved!

If you would like to find out more about future sessions, or would like to suggest a community site where future sessions could be hosted please get in touch with us at team.wilder@ywt.org.uk

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