Bodenham Lake: Lugg Wetland Gem - delivering the nutrient management plan

In 2018, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and European Regional Development Fund for our project at Bodenham Lake nature reserve.

Bodenham Lake has long been a favourite amongst wildlife lovers and this project created a true wildlife haven at this reserve in the heart of the Lugg Valley. Over two years, the project focused on key aspects of restoration as well as providing more facilities for wildlife watchers of all ages.

Bodenham Lake, formed by the extraction of gravel, is the largest water body in Herefordshire. It is crucial for breeding otter and wildfowl. However, the value of Bodenham Lake as a nature reserve is limited by the habitat; aquatic vegetation grows in very small quantities as the Lake is steep sided and extremely deep. The project addressed this in a number of ways.

Transforming the lake's islands

In autumn and winter 2020, we completed work to three of the islands within the lake to make them better for wildlife, working with JPR Environmental. Large, new areas of shallows created as well as a vertical sandy bank suitable for nesting sand martin and kingfishers.

We were awarded £84,164 of European Regional Development Funding towards this and have raised an additional £8,000 through generous donations from our supporters so we can achieve even more for Bodenham's wildlife!

The first stage of the works was to remove trees from the islands to allow earth works to take place. The islands have not been managed since they were formed in the 1980s resulting in dense cover of willow and alder and sparse ground cover for nesting birds and otter. This is how we altered the islands:

• Island 1: Win spoil from the bottom section of the island and add it to the old road that runs underwater to create shallow waters suitable for aquatic plants and wading birds.
• Island 2: Create three islands of a larger surface area. Two of these islands will be below the water level to allow reedbed to establish. The remaining island will be allowed to scrub up, to provide cover for otter.
• Island 3: A trench will be dug through the centre of the island to win spoil to create three islands with a larger surface area. These islands will be capped with gravel to create habitat suitable for ground nesting birds. Island 3 is in front of the new bird hide. 

What are the benefits to wildlife?

Islands are vital for nesting birds, as they provide increased levels of protection from land-based predators, improving survival of chicks. Bodenham Lake has five islands equating to 1.75 hectares, providing fantastic potential to conserve species such as oystercatcher and snipe (which are are on the RSPB Amber list as they have experienced a moderate decline of 25-50% in UK breeding population over last 25 years).

Since gravel extraction finished in the 1980’s there has been little ecological management of the islands, allowing them to form immature woodland which is suitable for very few ground nesting bird species; they require good visibility to spot aerial and aquatic predators approaching the nest.

The aim of the re-profiling work is to increase habitat diversity, to support a wider range of species. Removing trees from two and a half out of the five islands will encourage birds such as little ringed plover, oystercatcher, lapwing and snipe to nest, helping to conserve these species. Research by the RSPB has shown that several small islands will hold more nesting birds than a single island of the same total area, so we plan to transform three islands into eight.  

The remaining two and a half islands will remain unchanged to support populations such as herons, cormorants and greylag geese.