A big cause of wildlife decline in Suffolk is the loss of what is sometimes called ‘marginal’ habitat. 

This is a bit of a catch-all term but basically means areas that fall out of the ‘classic’ habitats such as reedbed, ancient woodland or wildflower meadows. I like to call these habitats ‘Cinderella habitats'; they are valuable, can be beautiful in their own right but all too often overlooked and forgotten.

One such Cinderella habitat is known as 'scrub', a habitat of small to medium-sized bushes such as hawthorn and blackthorn best surrounded by areas of rough, long grass. The term is often used in a negative context, which is a shame as it's valuable habitat for wildlife.

These areas, where found in sizeable amounts and often bordering woodland or wetlands, can be incredibly important for nesting birds such as the increasingly rare nightingale and turtle dove, reptiles and insects. In the past, conservation work has undervalued scrub at the expense of other more well known habitats such as woodland, but here at Suffolk Wildlife Trust we recognise that to maximise the landscape for the maximum number of species, its important to have many different habitat types. That’s why on many of our reserves we leave large areas with no or very limited management, almost untouched by humans. We let nature take the lead. This often results in ‘messy’ scrub areas such as at Arger Fen and Black Bourn Valley, where we’ve seen at these reserves remarkable increases in birds and reptiles as a result.

Scrub is so important for wildlife, it provides a tangle of branches and leaves, perfect for many nesting birds such as blackbirds, wrens, robins through to the rarer turtle dove and nightingale. The leaves of many scrub species, such as hawthorn, provide a valuable food source for millions of caterpillars, that in turn provide food for blue tit chicks. The wide range of different scrub species also provide a valuable pollen and nectar source for many flying insects across much of the year. Mammals really benefit from thick scrub too, badgers will often gorge themselves on the abundant blackberry crop and hedgehogs find lots of ground invertebrates such as worms to feed on.

It’s not just on nature reserves where scrub can flourish and we can allow natural processes to happen. In fact, it’s vital more of Suffolk is left for nature and that’s why we work closely with many farmers who want to help wildlife, leaving areas to wild up. With your help and support we can help create more areas of wild across the county.