Coalface to wildspace: creating wildlife corridors with Walsall communities

Photograph of a group of children playing near a pond.

The Froglife Trust teaches children about amphibians, including frogs, toads and salamanders

Local people got involved in creating urban and semi-natural wildlife corridors for reptiles and amphibians, learning more about the importance of native reptile and amphibian conservation.

The Froglife Trust improved and created habitats for wildlife across eight sites in Walsall, encouraging local people to make space for wildlife in their gardens in order to connect habitats between the town's parks and nature reserves.

The charity ran 42 Wildlife Gardening Workshops with Walsall communities and created 9 new ponds and 80 wildlife interventions including wildflower meadows, wildlife homes, bug hotels and pollinating plants.

four people stand in an allotment in front of a newly-dug pond — Volunteers created space for reptiles and amphibians in allotments and community gardens. Credit: The Froglife Trust.

To raise awareness about the need to conserving species neglected by today's urban environments, Froglife created Frogglebox, a 3D film watched by 5,066 school children. The film journeyed through Walsall's ancient past from the Silurian period 444 million years ago, through the Carboniferous and Triassic period to the modern day. It highlighting how long adaptable reptiles and amphibian species have been a central part of our eco-system and natural heritage.

Inspired by the film, 40 LEGO workshops invited local people to recreate 252 ancient and modern species using LEGO bricks, which then went on a tour around Walsall's libraries.

This project is all about engaging local people with nature, encouraging positive action and raising awareness and curiosity of local, social and natural heritage.
Christina Nijjar, Coalface to Wildspace Midlands Project Manager

Our support also made possible the creation of eight speaking sculptures for parks and nature reserves in Walsall. Over 400 local people were involved in their design and creation. Each sculpture includes a bird nesting box and dead wood habitat, along with a QR code to a soundscape including voices from the community talking about their memories of and connections to nature. To celebrate the installation of these sculptures the project held over 40 events attracting 3,430 people to Walsall's parks and nature reserves.

Three people in woodland dig a pond — Froglife aims to increase populations of native species including common toads, common frogs and smooth newts. Credit: The Froglife Trust.

Christina Nijjar, Coalface to Wildspace Midlands Project Manager said: "This project is all about engaging local people with nature, encouraging positive action and raising awareness and curiosity of local, social and natural heritage.

"We have had a fantastic response from Walsall residents so far and we hope this project will ultimately help improve the health and wellbeing of both the people and the place. All of this is possible through the National Lottery Heritage Fund and players of the lottery. Watch this (wild) space!"

The success of this project in Walsall inspired Froglife to apply for funding from us for larger scale projects in Scotland and Yorkshire.