A PROJECT to help populations of two animals in the Amman Valley has started.

The Initiative for Nature Conservation (INCC) has launched a project to help house martin and hedgehog populations in the Amman Valley and will be aiming to put the local communities at the heart of the nature conservation action.

The INCC will be creating a community wildlife garden which will be a base for nature conservation activities. Local volunteers and community groups will be able to learn about how to encourage and support the house martin and hedgehog – two species that are in desperate need of help to ensure their survival in Wales.

There will be hedgehog boxes and house martin nest cups distributed and installed on buildings throughout the Amman Valley to help improve the environment for the species.

Volunteers will also be trained to monitor the breeding success of the house martin. House martins arrive in the UK in late April to breed and make their return journey to west Africa in late August.

Alice Connell, community conservation officer, said: “I feel very privileged to play a role in the conservation of the Amman Valley’s house martin and hedgehog populations. I look forward to working with the project’s partners and the local community to raise awareness of how we can encourage and support Welsh wildlife.”

The project has been funded by the Waterloo Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Mynydd y Betws Community Fund.

The hedgehog boxes will be given to members of the community who wish to put one in their gardens to provide a place for hedgehogs to hibernate in the winter and raise their young during the spring and summer.

The INCC has been bringing local children into the project too, with a hedgehog box painting session for pupils from Ysgol Y Bedol. The session at the Community Wildlife Garden aimed to encourage the children to become more responsible citizens in the community and they learnt about threats hedgehogs face and how they can help to protect them.

Carla Williams, a local core volunteer, said: “Being part of the INCC and this project has been so beneficial for my wellbeing. It gives me the chance to be outside, to connect with nature and to learn more about the wildlife in the area I live. I have learnt how to enhance my own garden to attract more wildlife, giving me even greater access to nature on bust days.”

Alongside the hedgehog boxes – which the community will be able to build – there will also be guided walks throughout the valley in the spring to monitor the valley’s house martin population and to hopefully see the nest cups in action.

For more information about the work of INCC, the project or helping wildlife in your community, contact Alice Connell (alice.connell@incc.wales).