Conservation

Dead hedging

All conservation work undertaken at Sinfin Moor Park Local Nature Reserve is done in line with the Management Plan for the site

The Management Plan can be viewed on Derby City Council website.

Over the years, the Friends group engaged the services of The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to run Conservation Training Days for volunteers. This has been helpful both in terms of completing work around the site, such as hedgelaying, pond digging, fencing, dead-hedging and coppicing, and to provide volunteers with skills that are useful for continuing the work and providing valuable experience towards further courses and employment.

At the end of March 2015, the Derby branch of TCV was closed down. We are very grateful for all the work the volunteers did under the leadership of Stephen Wright. In May 2015 volunteers formerly with TCV re-formed a group to continue conservation tasks on the site. They are now known as Derby Parks Volunteers - DPV. Please see our webpage 'Latest News' to find out about the DPV Programme of conservation tasks and how to take part.

Making clearings

In September 2010 a presentation evening was held at Sinfin Moor Social Club to award volunteers certificates for their achievements following training.

Scrub clearance

Derbyshire Conservation Volunteers also came along on several Saturdays in 2011 to lead conservation work on the Nature Reserve. Scrub clearance, hedgelaying, dead hedging and pond digging were also among the tasks they undertook with volunteers. http://www.derby-cv.org.uk/member_info/info_sheet.htm

Ponds

The digger digging a ‘new’ pond (this pond was found to exist on an old map of the area).

Sinfin Local Nature Reserve is historically a wetland area and hence conservation work has included the creation of many new ponds to restore some of that natural habitat. Some of these have been hand-dug due to their proximity to power-lines and others have been dug by digger. In early 2011 we were able to have 6 new ponds created by digger through funding from the Million Ponds Project. Our ponds are of varying sizes and now provide habitats for tadpoles, newts, water plants and other wildlife, that have all arrived naturally. All our ponds on the Nature Reserve are ephemeral, in that they dry out in summer months. This is a good feature as far as amphibians are concerned, as they are protected from fish, which cannot live in them.

Derby City Pond Wardens Association has been closely involved with the creation of new ponds. They also led a pond clearing event at the end of February 2011 to improve the habitat in the original main pond.

Viewing a new pond on completion

A survey of four ponds at Sinfin Moor Local Nature Reserve was commissioned by the Wildlife Trust as part of the Wild About Ponds Project and a Report was produced by Trevor Taylor in November 2010. This can be forwarded on request.

Community Payback

We have been fortunate in being able to engage the services of Community Payback in tasks such as path laying, ditch clearing and notice board making.

Rolls-Royce

We are thankful to Rolls-Royce for sending a team of apprentices to help work on path laying and pond digging, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.