Native trees and shrubs benefit wildlife greatly by providing food sources, shelter and the individual trees are mini habitats in their own right.
Create a Wildflower Meadow
Flower-rich grasslands are one of the most threatened habitats in Ireland and are extremely important for wildlife – they provide food for insects, birds and small mammals and can store 500% more carbon than fields dominated by one grass species.
Create a Pond for Wildlife
Ponds are great for wildlife and by providing one of the key needs of nature – water – can really boost biodiversity. They provide water for drinking and bathing, habitat for aquatic plants, invertebrates, frogs and newts, and will draw a wide variety of other wildlife.
Plant a new Wildlife Hedge
Hedgerows provide wildlife with food, nest sites and shelter. They are important highways for mammals, especially bats, birds and insects, as they move through the landscape. Woody shrubs and trees capture carbon and can help improve soil drainage.
Create a Dead Hedge
Dead wood is a whole ecosystem in itself, whether in the form of dead-standing trees, dropped branches, log or brash piles, and dead hedges. Spiders, slugs, snails, worms, beetles, springtails, flies and frogs will all use dead wood for shelter, with the invertebrates forming a key part of the food chain that will support amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Create a Nesting Habitat for Mining Bees
Around 80% of Ireland’s 80 solitary bees are miners which make their nests by burrowing in bare earth. You can create much needed nesting habitats for these mining bees by building, or managing existing, bee banks.
Plant an Apple Orchard
Fruit trees provide food for adult insects in the form of nectar, pollen and sap; and leaves for their larvae (e.g. caterpillars). They form and sustain part of the food web that will support birds and mammals.
Sow Yellow Rattle Seed to Encourage Wildflowers
Yellow Rattle can help to create, and speed up the development of, grasslands rich in wildflowers. Wildflower-rich grasslands are extremely important for wildlife – they provide food for insects, birds and small mammals, improve soil biodiversity, and can store 500% more carbon than fields dominated by one grass species.