Roadside Wildlife Havens

New wildlife conservation sites are being created in Basildon – along some of its busiest roads. Rare plants and wildlife – including a butterfly not found anywhere else inEssex – are thriving next to routes used by thousands of vehicles everyday.

It has led Basildon Council to identify 10 road banks as conservation areas including the A13, Nethermayne, Uppermayne and Noak Hill Road. Among the wildlife flourishing along the roads are adders, kestrels, lizards, slowworms and field voles. Dozens of wildflowers such as primroses, orchids, ox eye daisies and cowslips are also prospering there. But the find which has excited most experts is the grisled skipper butterfly seen along Nethermayne, Laindon, and not found anywhere else in Essex.

The explosion in wildlife follows a nature management plan devised by Basildon Council and the Basildon Natural History Society nine-years ago. It involves alternately mowing sections of grass on road banks, while leaving neighbouring areas to grow. The longer grass helps to create a winter home for animals and insects, and allows wildflowers to thrive.

Chairman of the Basildon Natural History Society, Gordon Reid, said: “It’s highly unusual to find wildlife growing in great masses alongside busy roads, and it’s terrific to find rare creatures among them. “These conservation areas give wildlife a chance to get going and are helping to boost bio-diversity within the district.”

Terry Simmons, parks manager from Basildon Council, said: “We are carefully managing the grass banks along our busiest roads using a plan drawn up by the Basildon Natural History Society. It’s been an astonishing success with miles of grass banks being transformed into nurseries for rare and unusual wildlife. “These conservation corridors, just yards from passing cars, are proving to be a magnet for all kinds of plants and animals, and we hope to create more of them in the future.”