The John Muir Trust, a charity that looks after wild places in Britain, has announced a plan to regenerate Charterhouse Heritage Park ‘an unique wild place in the heart of Coventry’.
Although undermanaged for decades, and despite some anti-social behaviour issues and inaccessible areas the John Muir Trust recognises that the Charterhouse Heritage Park has considerable biodiversity value, lots of engagement opportunities and a huge potential for ecological enhancement, including areas of wetland, woodland and grassland.
The Trust’s Regional Development Manager Gareth Morgan has said that “It’s great to see the enthusiasm of local community groups, volunteers and school children as they discover the hidden corners of Charterhouse Heritage Park. With partners, including Coventry City Council, Historic Coventry Trust and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust we’ve already hosted wellbeing walks, river dipping events and sensory sessions. We look forward to engaging thousands more people in the future”.
The project fulfils the charitable objectives of the John Muir Trust including: to conserve and protect wild places for the benefit of present and future generations; to work with local communities and encourage them to live in harmony with wild places; to promote an awareness and understanding of wild places for their own sake and for their value to the benefit of humanity; and to encourage voluntary participation in the conservation and renewal of wild places. The project will be the Trust’s first project in central England.
Trevor Cornfoot, Chair of the Coventry Society, warmly welcomed this innovative regeneration project by such a well-respected conservation charity. He notes how it will contribute further to the opening up of hitherto hidden green areas and adding to the gathering interest in and recreational use of the Charterhouse and London Road Cemetery areas. He hopes that the Society will organise a visit to the work in progress next year.
The John Muir Trust cares for 60,500 acres of wild land, principally in Scotland (notably the summit of Ben Nevis, parts of the Cuillins on Skye and Knoydart) and Helvellyn in the Lake District. It is headquartered in Pitlochry.