Cambridgeshire

• Woodlands; such as the cluster of ancient woodlands on the heavy boulder clay soils to west of Cambridgeshire.

• Grasslands; including species rich meadows found particularly in west of the county and along river valleys, limestone grasslands west of Peterborough and calcareous grassland on the Cambridgeshire chalk to the south of the county.

• Wetlands; including swamp/fen communities in Fenland and old gravel pits now providing a mosaic of wildlife habitats.

• Roadside verges & green lanes; which act both as important habitats and wildlife corridors.

The Wildlife Trust records all the County Wildlife Sites and aims to survey each every 5 to 10 years, allowing us to find out what wildlife is currently using the site and to understand how the site has been managed.

A key part of our role is to assist landowners in looking after their wildlife sites.

We offer free advice on the most wildlife friendly options for a site's management and information on the species to be found, as well as help and information on sources of funding for conservation-friendly management.

The Wildlife Trust’s Cambridgeshire Midweek Conservation Volunteer Team  work on a number of CWS. One of these is Caxton Moats CWS, a National Heritage listed earthwork where the team help to maintain the grassland through scrub clearance, raking up of hay cut and hand pulling of noxious weeds.

If you own a CWS or think you have land that qualifies please contact our Cambridgeshire conservation team

A Wildlife Sites Partnership oversees and develops the system for identifying and conserving Wildlife Sites in Cambridgeshire, as well as selecting and de-selecting them. In Cambridgeshire the system is managed by the Wildlife Trust on behalf of the Partnership, which includes local authorities, statutory conservation agencies, local naturalists and landowners.

All CWS are chosen for their conservation value, assessed against publicly available county-based criteria. The aim is to select a comprehensive (rather than representative) set of locally important sites for wildlife. Sites qualify if they provide a good example of a habitat or support populations of indicator species above a certain threshold.