The area of the nature reserve known as Flora comprises 34 acres and provides a wide variety of habitats ranging from grazing pasture, hedgerows, wetland, ponds, and two woodlands, namely Little Wood and Pony Wood.
Flora is adjacent to Fauna, our well-established 16-acre reserve, and Lucy Brook marks the boundary between the two. The well-used public footpath which runs from Sunnyside Lane through the Fairfield Community Orchard continues on through Flora fields to Aldcliffe Road.
As with Fauna, work is continuing to increase the biodiversity of the Flora fields while also enabling some of the land to be farmed in an ecologically-sensitive manner. Alongside some notable mature trees, Pony Wood has been extended with the planting of many native trees, and our latest big project, the construction of new path skirting Pony Wood, was completed in 2019. This path boasts some spectacular views of Lancaster Castle as well as connecting the reserve directly with Aldcliffe Road and providing easy access to the canal path.
Flora is part of the Morecambe Bay Nature Improvement Area and will preserve a green corridor for wetland birds from Fauna to the Lune Estuary and Morecambe Bay. We have already been successful in attracting flocks of winter-visiting linnets to Flora, and maintain regular records of wildlife, such as snipe, willow warblers, redwing, tree creepers and reed warblers, spotted on the reserve.
