Rockingham Forest receives £248,599 from National Lottery

A major two-year programme bringing people and wildlife closer together has received £248,599 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Building the Links for Rockingham Forest will aim to connect local communities to the natural and cultural heritage of Rockingham Forest and raise its local and national profile.

The long-term vision is to reconnect the core remaining wooded areas of the forest with enriched biodiverse landscapes.

There will be opportunities for volunteering, traineeships, workshops, guided walks and courses as well as educational visits and support for Corby schools. The activities will focus on recording and observing trees and woodland wildlife, learning about productive forestry, as well as conserving and managing the biodiversity of existing woodlands.

They will work with community groups and parish and town councils in Corby and local villages to set up a tree warden network. They will also be expanding the river warden network, as the rivers Nene and Welland border the forest area.

Over the next two years, hundreds of people will visit the forest to learn about the wild world of wildlife.

Professor Jeremy Purseglove, one of the masterminds behind the application, said: “Rockingham Forest is a wildlife wonderland, we are so excited to secure funding to bring the forest into people’s lives.”

This is not just out in the wilds of the forest. Towns such as Corby have grown up next to the woodland and even now include parts of the ancient forest in their boundaries.

The new project will get people out and about into nature even in the centre of the town, where they will be able to learn new skills such as the ancient craft of coppicing as well as recognising and finding wild animals, butterflies and moths.

Tony Juniper, chairman of Natural England, the government’s adviser for the natural environment, said: “The Rockingham Forest Vision is a fine example of the large scale ambition we must adopt as we plan for Nature’s recovery in England, not only helping the return of our depleted wildlife, but also enhancing the historic environment and providing more opportunities for everyone to enjoy this magnificent landscape.”

Kathryn Soares, chief executive of Nene Rivers Trust, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players.

"This funding will support our enthusiastic and committed partnership to realise ambitions to reconnect local people with the natural environments that sustain them."

Rockingham Forest was a royal hunting forest established in Norman times. Pockets of rich habitat remain, but fragmentation of the original forest, through development, agriculture, commercial forestry and mineral extraction, have reduced and continue to impact adversely upon the forest’s value.

There are rare and protected species of plants and animals, for example wild service trees, dormice, purple emperor and chequered skipper butterflies, nightingales and adders, as well as many ancient and veteran trees.

Though not as well known to the public as Sherwood Forest or Ashdown Forest, it is potentially of equal or greater cultural, historic and biological value to society.

Rockingham Forest is home to some of the best ancient woodlands in England, some of which occur in the centre of Corby.