A group of young people have built new homes for wildlife at Wilder Little Duxmore, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s first rewilding site on the Island.

The group were part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service’s (HIWFRS) Prince’s Trust Team programme, a 12-week course for 16-25-year-olds who are unemployed and not in education or training.

It offered participants the opportunity to build their confidence through team challenges, work experience and a community project. Additional support, mentoring and training aimed to help them overcome barriers that stand in the way of them achieving their personal and professional goals.

Arriving on site

“By the time the young people arrived at Wilder Little Duxmore, they had carefully planned and researched the work to enhance the area near our office and barns for nature,” said Wilder Communities Project Officer Tina Whitmore.

“Team members had been assigned roles and fundraised for the materials they needed to complete the two-week project, which mainly consisted of outdoor work.

Under the guidance of Trust staff, the young people worked on:

• Digging and creating a new wildlife pond
• Building an enormous bug hotel, which was creatively named the ‘The Critz’
• Building a stumpery providing habitats for insect larvae such as stag beetles
• Creating a hibernaculum – a winter refuge for hibernating reptiles and amphibians
• Assembling hazel dormouse boxes
• Building a bespoke trough planter planted with native herbs for pollinators
• Designing and illustrating some beautiful signage for each of the nature stations

Natural materials, timber and logs from the reserve and recycled materials were used as much as possible.

Zoe, a Team programme participant said: “I really enjoyed the community project. It was lovely to engage with nature and create a space for the Wildlife Trust team. I really liked doing different jobs each day and it was great having the Wildlife Trust staff there to support us in completing our project by answering any queries we had and by getting stuck in as well. I’m really proud of our completed project”.

Overcoming hurdles

The weather conditions were less than ideal. The island was seeing some of the worst local flooding in recent history, but this didn’t stop the young people from getting their hands dirty and feet wet.

Keeping their spirits high, the group worked through the rain to create a variety of different habitats for local wildlife.

Tina added: “There was a great deal of rain, which very quickly churned up the clay underfoot making working extra difficult.

“As the project progressed, the weather deteriorated. However, the young people showed commitment and great resilience – digging wet clay in the pouring rain is not a fun job.”

Despite the second week bringing floods to parts of the site, the team was determined to get back to work and made it safely through the floodwaters to continue the project.

The heavy rain meant the pond quickly filled, and the wildlife wasn’t far behind. Solitary bees and a common darter dragonfly have since been spotted using the pond and various insects have taken up residence in the bug hotel.

The impact

“The HIWWT staff were really impressed by the attitude of the young people towards the project and towards the sensitivity of the nature reserve here at Wilder Little Duxmore,” Tina said.

She hopes that the young people’s work will inspire other groups to start similar projects. Tina and her team intend to give tours of the site to groups with an interest in starting their own project, giving them ideas and confidence to do something similar with their green spaces.