Local conservation project

Askham Bog, York

Askham Bog in York is a small scale ecological conservation area in the UK. The aim of this conversational project is to encourage local species growth, protect rare species that are local to the area and provide a sustainable community project for the people of York.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust runs the conservation area with the help from volunteer "Board Walkers". The requirement of volunteers means that people participating in the upkeep of the conservation plan are educated about both the native and rare species of the area. This is a positive achievement of the scheme in York and increases local knowledge which will promote the recognition of the species being protected in other areas of York.

Another success of the area is that it acts as a pollution barrier to residences that are located close to the adjacent A64 - a major road transporting thousands of cars per day. Pollution levels are lowered because the bog is peat. This means that it is very efficient of 'scrubbing' carbon out of the atmosphere and trapping it as new mosses grow over older mosses that contain the carbon. Carbon can be held for millennium this way if undisturbed thus reducing pollution levels in nearby Woodthorpe and Askham Bryan.

Previous to its existence as a conservation area, Askham Bog was uses as a municipal dumping ground in the earl 20th Century. In 1946 the bog was bought by famous sweet manufacturers Terry and Rowntree and donated to the newly formed Wildlife Trust. This makes the bog the oldest nature reserve of the Trust and after decades of active management of cutting meadows for hay and grazing Exmoor ponies, the bog's biodiversity has been successfully restored. The area now boast the largest colony of gingerbread sedge in England and some of the largest royal ferns to which is a fantastic achievement of the conservation area. The bog is kept base-rich by water draining from the Moraine and attracts rare specie of water beetle, the rare Fen Square-pot and the spectacular Emperor dragonfly.

Since peat bogs only cover 3% of earth, the preservation of one by the Wildlife Trust in York is a fantastic achievement, Because of this, the are is now an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) which labels the bog as a successful conservation programme and the Trust is now looking to invest even more into the area.

The area has been described as a "Mosaic of fen, woodland and meadow," by the Trust and boasts a collection of "Magnificent royal ferns, rare gingerbread sedge and spectacular displays of water violets." This shows that the Trust feels Askham Bog is a success and is proud of what the area has achieved since 1946.



references ::
www.wildlifetrusts.org/reserves/askham-bog-nature-reserve

pictures located ::
letterfromnorfolk.wordpress.com
ywt.org.uk