Shocklach - Biodiversity and The Environment

Biodiversity and The Environment

Shocklach has a range of biodiversity that the village takes pride in. The ‘Shocklach Oak’ is “a wonderful tree which has a girth of 6.5 metres and has been recorder with the Woodland Trust in their Ancient Tree Record”. The inside of the Oak tree is hollow, allowing generations of children to have played inside. The tree however is still healthy and continues to grow strong. The Shocklach village website provides a biodiversity survey, recording a vast range of plants and animals from March 2009 up to December 2012. The biodiversity survey recorded 138 species of flora (plant life) and 303 species of fauna (animal life). Species of fauna broken down include 59 species of birds, 11 species of mammals and 233 species of insects including 18 species of butterfly and 188 species of moth.

Furthermore, Shocklach seems to have connections and interests in biodiversity. Interests include being a Site of Biological Importance (SBI), a Site and an Area of Nature Conservation Value(SNCV and ANCV respectively) and lastly a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Shocklach churchyard and meadows are a Grade B Site of Biological Importance and a Site of Nature Conservation value. These meadows are very important as it is “an ancient hay meadow comprising species-rich grassland which has not been affected by agricultural improvement”. Cheshire Wildlife Trust (1996) undertook an inventory of grasslands which revealed “that the total area of unimproved neutral and acid grassland in Cheshire amounts to 2,865 hectares (1.36% of the surface area of Cheshire) in 284 separate sites”. This shows how valuable the SBI (sites of biological importance) at Shocklach churchyard and meadows is.

Shocklach still remains active in helping the environment. In 2012, tree Warden Martin Green and some of Shocklach's residents, planted 300 native trees in and around Shocklach. Some of the trees have not survived however many have and these are the ones that “will replace the ageing oaks and ashes which form part of the landscape which most of us take for granted”. For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, 50 native oak trees were planted. These trees were planted at Shocklach Primary School, St Edith’s church and also along the approach road to Shocklach. According to the villages’ website, “half survived and just before Christmas, 26 trees were replaced with strong, new saplings”.