Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, the county’s largest nature conservation charity, is asking visitors to remember to treat local countryside and green spaces with respect.
The charity says it is delighted that so many people want to connect with nature as the lockdown eases, but it is concerned that a minority of careless visitors are causing damage.
“There has been a surge of interest in wildlife during the lockdown and we welcome this,” said Jeff Sim, Senior Conservation Manager.
“Time spent in nature has huge benefits for people’s health and wellbeing and many of us have taken great comfort from a wonderful spring. But as people flock to the most popular sites, we are asking everyone to be extra cautious.”
Several sites, including the Roaches, Gentleshaw Common and Highgate Common, have quickly become crowded with parking areas filling by the early morning, and the local roads becoming impassable to emergency services. Some visitors have even left large amounts of litter behind them when they leave.
At the Roaches earlier this week, several wild campers left the ground smouldering, and could easily have spread and caused a huge wildfire.
Two years ago, almost 40 hectares of this internationally protected moorland went up in smoke because of an unattended campfire. The charity is emphasising that it is never acceptable to have barbecues or campfires in the countryside, and doesn’t allow wild camping on any of its reserves.
The charity is further concerned that messaging coming out of Government isn’t focusing enough on treating the countryside with respect and has written to MPs across Staffordshire urging them to help raise awareness of these points.
Jeff Sim added: “Our publicly accessible green spaces are so fragile, it only takes one careless act to cause large destruction. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is committed to bringing wildlife into people’s lives by providing local wildlife-rich spaces which everyone can enjoy but right now we need people to think twice before their visit to the countryside and to act with caution when doing so.”
