Who are Ash Wildlife Friendly Village?

Ash Wildlife Friendly Village is an organisation set up by local volunteers, with the support of the Parish council to manage areas for nature and wildlife recovery in the Parish of Ash.

What do we do?

We identify areas within the Parish that could be managed for wildlife both on public and private land. These include verges, footpaths, and other non-specific patches of land within the village.

We encourage volunteers to help survey and document wildlife activity in the Parish, using the I-naturalist App and we work with a professional ecologist to train volunteers to accurately record wildlife.

In conjunction with DDC and Ash Parish Council, we organise quarterly litter picks.

We try to raise awareness of ecological issues within the Parish and encourage residents to respect and reconnect with their environment. This includes raising awareness of what constitutes a rural crime and how to respond in such a situation, prioritising neighbourhoods in close proximity to development.

We provide signage for the major wildlife areas managed in the Parish.

We try to compliment the policies of the Ash Neighbourhood Development Plan with regards biodiversity and continue to develop this work.

We work with a local business to provide bat boxes and bird boxes around the village and also have some for private sale.

We organise wildlife conferences and talks by experts in areas such as British bees and the Asian Hornet Threat.

Current projects

We are currently focusing our energies on Footpath E112, Chequer Lane, which runs alongside the new Harfleet Gardens estate. Our aim is to create a wildlife corridor, along the length of the footpath, planting crab apple trees and other indigenous hedgerow species and wildflowers to enhance the area’s biodiversity.

How to get involved?

We desperately need more volunteers to join this exciting project. If you want to get involved with the initiative, then you can do this in a number of ways:

  • Offer a little of your time to help with maintenance and planting our designated areas
  • Donate plants
  • Purchase a bat box or bird box
  • Join our committee and be at the heart of decision making
  • Record wildlife in your back garden or local area, using the I-naturalist App
  • Offer your services to help raise awareness of and respect for the environment

For more information, you can find us on Facebook, at Ash Wildlife Friendly Village or

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