Peterborough Green Talent Project

 

What is this project about?

Peterborough Green Talent is a new and exciting three-year project (June 2025-June 2028) funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project will transform wildlife habitats and green spaces across urban areas of Peterborough, with a focus on reptiles and amphibians. An important part of the project is to run a series of 3-month placements and longer-term Traineeships to support and develop knowledge and skills for those new to conservation.

It is about attracting new people to conservation from underrepresented groups or for those finding it difficult to enter conservation work through unpaid placements or academic routes.

Project Aims

The Green Talent project has two main aims:

• Improve habitats for amphibians and reptiles (herptiles) across Peterborough’s urban areas
• Train people in conservation who are not currently represented in conservation or who would find it difficult to get into conservation through unpaid placements or academic routes.

The Trainees and Placements will learn about habitat management and monitoring, and gain the skills and experience needed to support employment in wildlife conservation, plus transferrable skills for other employment options. The project will support them to build confidence and self-esteem to enable them to flourish for the future.

What are we going to do?

• Engage local communities, school students and volunteers to create or improve up to 100 wildlife habitats including ponds, hedgerows, wildflower areas and insect hotels
• Deliver a programme of taster sessions for conservation activities to support the recruitment of Placements
• Recruit up to 18 Placements and provide participants with experience in a range of subjects including conservation, wildlife surveying, and habitat creation
• Recruit up to 6 Traineeships that build on learning from the placements and provide additional experience including in fundraising, event management, volunteer management and recruitment
• Undertake access improvements for local green and blue spaces to support local communities in engaging with freshwater natural heritage

What have we been working on?

Our first cohort of placements have been working on improvements at Eye Green Nature Reserve, Boardwalks Nature Reserve and community visits around Peterborough. We asked each of them to write about some of the works completed:

Isla talks about access improvements at Eye Green Nature Reserve

Eye Green – Improving Access for People and Wildlife 

At Eye Green, our team and volunteers have been working hard to make this beautiful local reserve more accessible and welcoming for both people and wildlife. The site is rich in biodiversity, providing important habitats for amphibians, reptiles, birds, and pollinators. 

Our recent work focused on carefully cutting back overgrown bramble and vegetation to open up pathways and uncover hidden features of the site. By creating clearer walkways, we’re improving safety and accessibility for visitors while helping native plants thrive by reducing competition from dense growth. 

This kind of maintenance is a vital part of habitat management. It helps ensure that Eye Green continues to be a safe, inviting space for the local community to enjoy, while maintaining the balance that supports a wide range of species. 

The project has also been a wonderful opportunity for team building and public engagement. Volunteers, trainees, and staff have been able to see the immediate impact of their work, revealing old landmarks, reconnecting people with nature, and leaving the site a little more open for everyone to explore. 

Rukkaya talks about basking banks

The Green Talent placements have been busy completing plenty of work in restoring The Boardwalks nature reserve, with a large focus on restoring ponds and creating important habitats for native species of UK reptiles and amphibians. As part of their habitat creation the team has constructed a basking bank, that has ideal conditions for reptiles such as grass snakes and slow worms. By using spoil from a recently restored pond the team formed a raised mound and surrounded it with rocks and bricks from the surrounding area to build the bank. This demonstrates a sustainable approach to reusing waste material from pond restoration or creation; alongside creating a suitable environment for reptiles. Basking banks are an effective habitat for reptiles. As their north-south orientation allows for ample sun exposure, maximising reptiles’ opportunity for thermoregulation. Additionally, the crevices allow for refuge from predators. This makes the bank both functional and protective.

 

Noel talks about our visit to Itter Park

An award-winning local park offering a public green space for children’s play, outdoor exercise, tennis and table tennis games, garden lovers and everything in between, we hope to help Itter Park become great for our reptiles and amphibians once again. Restoring a pair of overgrown ponds here will take some problem solving and a bit of work, but having seen the love and care that the local community has for the park, there is no doubt that they can become flourishing habitats once again. 

 If you would like to learn more, or help with the care and improvement of this beautiful green space, the Friends of Itter Park would love to hear from you at:  https://thefriendsofitterpark.org.uk/ 

Lana talks about our visit to Railworld

Restoring Ponds at Railworld Wildlife Haven 

In the heart of Peterborough, just beside the railway line, lies a truly unique green space created by people who love and appreciate both wildlife and trains — Railworld Wildlife Haven. Once a derelict coal yard, it has been transformed into a green sanctuary for people and wildlife alike, where an open-air railway museum meets a thriving nature reserve.

As part of our Placement programme, we are excited to be working in collaboration with the wonderful Railworld volunteers to restore and enhance site’s ponds and surrounding areas, creating healthier habitats for amphibians, reptiles, and other local species. Our work will involve clearing overgrown vegetation, restoring ponds and creating better access for wildlife — and, of course, ensuring the ponds remain healthy and resilient for years to come. This hands-on project offers valuable conservation experience for Placements, while supporting a local community initiative.

We are grateful to the Railworld Wildlife Haven team for their warm welcome, and look forward to seeing the ponds flourish and to sharing updates as the collaboration continues!

Jesse talks about reed and soil removal

At Boardwalks Nature Reserve, our Green Talent Placements have been working on restoring one of the ponds originally set up by the Dragonfinder project in 2016.

Since then, the pond had become overgrown with reeds, and a thick layer of soil had formed over the pond bed. Froglife identified this pond as a good candidate for restoration because the presence of reeds suggests there is still some water retention and that the liner may still be intact. However, the reeds were also likely absorbing any water that did collect in the pond, preventing it from refilling properly.

Over three days, the Green Talent team began by carefully removing the reeds by hand to protect the liner. They then removed the roots, followed by the excess soil covering the pond bed.

We hope these works will allow the pond to refill naturally and once again become a thriving habitat for amphibians and reptiles. The removed reeds and soil have been used to create new habitat features around the pond, supporting even more wildlife at the reserve.

Andrew talks about Nene Park, Hibernacula and Incubariums 

Nene Park 

Nene Park has an array of habitat, from marshland and wetland, to grassland and woodland. Within this mosaic of habitats there are also some medium sized ponds which are becoming established and are thriving. The Placements attended a site visit to establish what work could be done to help restore some of the more over grown ponds. With public access limited, the work will entail opening up the shaded areas, creating habitats in the form of dead hedges and hibernacula around the site and restoring a vital habitat for reptiles and amphibians. This work will help warm the ponds in the summer, alleviate leaf litter falling into the pond and ensure that these species have placed to hide and brumate in winter and somewhere to breed in summer. 

Hibernacula and Incubariums 

A hibernaculum (plural: hibernacula) is a shelter where animals; in our case reptiles and amphibians, hibernate. This can include various structures like log piles, rubble piles, the use of brash and branches or all of the above together. They provide protection for animals during winter months whilst they brumate and keeps them safe from harsh weather conditions. In the summer, these piles, if made of thick brash, leaf litter and soil can also be used by grass snakes to lay their eggs in a safe and warm environment. If the logs can be buried a little under the top soil, this can create even more habitats for fungi and invertebrates.    

Want to get involved?

You can volunteer to support the monitoring, management and creation of habitats for amphibians and reptiles across Peterborough.

To join our next volunteer day on the Saturday 15th of November 2025, contact Hannah on hannah.keeley@froglife.org or 07494 761307 

Or

If you are a community group who would like to get involved or have a green space you would like to develop to support amphibians and reptiles, please get in touch.

Please contact our Green Talent Project Manager at: hannah.keeley@froglife.org or 07494 761307 for further information.

Further updates will be added to this page throughout the course of the project, on Froglife’s social media platforms and our Croaks monthly newsletter

 

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. The Green Talent project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to transform habitats and transform lives across Peterborough – Thank you!