Needham Market and Saxmundham rail stations among winners of wildlife awards

Rail station volunteers across Suffolk have received a 'Wildlife Friendly' accreditation for their community work to improve biodiversity.

Needham Market, Saxmundham, Somerleyton and Westerfield stations were given the award from Greater Anglia which recognises volunteers' efforts to support nature at the stations.

Each station is looked after by voluntary 'station adopters' who have worked on projects including planting wildflower meadows, a 'stumpery' made from recycled logs and planting floral havens for the local wildlife.

James Hogg, development officer at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: “The alarming decline in the abundance of wildlife and the plight of species under threat means that just protecting the nature we have left is not enough; we need to put nature into recovery, and to do so at scale and with urgency.

“This project with Greater Anglia is a fantastic example of how people can transform nature-poor areas into new nature-rich places and change the way we think about land, seizing opportunities to help nature outside traditional nature reserves.”

At Westerfield rail station near Ipswich, volunteers Sandy Burn, Yvonne Maynard and Laura Hadgraft transformed a 72 square metre plot into a rich habitat of pollinator-friendly plants to support bees and insects.

Needham Market and Saxmundham both have seen the addition of large wildflower areas and the Needham Market volunteers also installed the stumpery which will provide refuge for insects.

Station adopter Sue Cox planted a buckthorn hedge at Somerleyton station to support the rare Brimstone butterfly which was supported by the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership.

Rail stations in East Anglia are becoming wildlife safe havens as more than 300 volunteers in the last year transformed over 7,400 square metres of land into wildlife gardens.

Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s customer and community engagement manager, said: "We’re delighted to partner with the region’s wildlife trusts to formally recognise the valuable work of our station adopter volunteers in supporting wildlife and improving their local environment.

“I’d like to congratulate the volunteers at these stations on receiving this recognition and thank them for the incredible work that are doing that makes each station a wonderful place to be, and also contributes to supporting biodiversity locally.”