Gosforth’s Wild Web!

NEWS JUST IN.  The Gosforth’s Wild Web project is now live and needs you to get involved!  

Gosforth’s Wild Web is NHSN’s new two-year project for you to enjoy, celebrate and identify the A to Z of wildlife in neighborhoods surrounding Gosforth Nature Reserve, and to celebrate 100 years since the reserve was created by one person – proof that one person can make a difference.

An urban Tyneside richer in nature is what NHSN members and supporters want to see.  For that to happen we need to help wildlife move around among areas that are called ‘urban wildlife corridors’. Wildlife corridors are places where many of you live, play, learn or work.  Wildlife in these corridors is often overlooked, not recorded, but it’s there and you probably do see it!  Butterflies, birds, wildflowers, bees, trees, foxes, ladybirds; we know they are there and need your help to tell us what you see and where.  By noticing wildlife in corridors, we will value them as places for wildlife which will lead to more creation and management of wildlife-friendly places. It will then be easier to connect areas that are currently fragmented from each other such as Gosforth Nature Reserve, Havannah Nature Reserve, Weetslade, and Big Waters, to name a few – so that wildlife relies on your homes and neighborhoods as safe routes to travel, feed and sleep.

Thanks to NHSN members and supporters, funding was secured for this project from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project was inspired by the action of one local person, William Beck, who created Gosforth Nature Reserve 100 years ago.  He passed the rights to NHSN, leaving a legacy whereby Gosforth Nature Reserve plays a vital and unique local role in the urban ecological network on Tyneside. 

You can now play your part too in this exciting project.  There are lots of ways local people, households, businesses, communities, and schools can get involved. Surrounding Gosforth Nature Reserve are 100 one-kilometer squares – maybe you are in one?  You can help by sharing what wildlife is there throughout the year.  This new citizen science project is for everyone, from the beginner to the expert to the general nature lover to the most specialist naturalist.  With your help, an A to Z of local wildlife will be created so that more nature-rich places can be created and managed for the future.  

‘This exciting project will inspire local communities to go on a journey of nature connection, by collaborating with NHSN through citizen science and school visits, enabling a better understanding and noticing the nature in and around Gosforth Nature Reserve. It seeks to empower people of all ages to protect the nature around them.’

Clare Freeman, NHSN Director

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