Introduction
The first community nature reserve that included private gardens was launched in 2025 by Alison Morgan and Chris Green in Honley. Alison Morgan and Chris Green introduced the idea at the Honley Open Gardens weekend after learning about other initiatives in local communities. It was an overwhelming success as people pledged to not use any pesticides in their gardens to help wildlife and put a dot on the map of Honley saying where they lived, thus building up a picture of a potential urban nature reserve. The idea was formally adopted by Holme Valley Parish Council in summer 2025 and a subsequent event was held in Netherthong Church promoting the protection of the swift colony in the village with an outstanding talk by a Swift Conservation activist from Leeds. It was attended by around sixty people.
Aims
The aims of the Community Nature Reserve are to:
- increase the diversity of wildlife in the parish council area
- build community life around a wildlife concern
- increase our knowledge of, and respect for, the natural world
Method
To encourage residents within the parish council area to register their gardens and say what they are doing to increase biodiversity.
To create a digital interface for such registration and to keep in touch with those who register.
To create and maintain a Facebook group so that people, who wish to, can tell stories of what is happening around the area or post wild life photographs.
To put on events in pursuit of the aims.
To create local interest in the areas with a view to increasing biodiversity and particularly to cooperate in regard to the Local Nature Action Plan.
To carry out wildlife surveys of the local area in cooperation with local groups such as the RSPB national bird count
To work with other partners as appropriate such as Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. To protect the privacy of those people who register their gardens. Other actions in pursuit of the aims.
Area of Interest
Defined by the boundary of Holme Valley Parish Council
Structure
The project will be managed by the HVPC community nature reserve working group of Holme Valley Parish Council, consisting of council members and local people and currently chaired by Cllr Alison Morgan.
The project will work on an entirely cross-party basis and has no affiliation to any political party.