Homes for furry friends

Hanson Aggregates are taking part in a national project to help protect dormice. Careful management of an ancient Somerset woodland may lead to an increase in the local dormouse population.

Hanson have reintroduced traditional methods of woodland management on their land at Asham Wood near Frome and hope this will lead to the regeneration of woodland plants and animals.

Fifty dormouse boxes have been placed in the wood and will be monitored during the summer by trained Hanson staff and volunteers from the Somerset Mammals Group. The provision of the dormouse nesting boxes is part of a 20-year management plan for Asham Wood which has been agreed between Hanson and English Nature. Coppicing has been reintroduced to help regenerate trees such as hazel and ash and to allow more light into the woods, creating better conditions for butterflies and woodland plants such as wood anemones and bluebells.

The Asham dormouse project will provide information for a national monitoring scheme and will complement similar work already being carried out on other Hanson sites in the Cheddar area.