Shelter
What?
Wildlife needs safe, undisturbed places to rest, feed, nest, hide and overwinter or hibernate. Sheltered spots — whether a hedge, a pile of logs, rubble, or an ivy-covered wall — provide refuge from weather, predators and disturbance. Dead and decaying wood, too, is full of life, offering food and shelter for countless species. Together, these quiet spaces are some of the richest habitats you can create and they are so easy to build!
Where?
Everywhere: gardens, churchyards, school grounds, farm margins and business sites. Even a single well-positioned log pile or compost heap connect your space to the local and wider Island ecological network. For site-specific actions, check out the Isle of Wight Habitat Map, and find out what is particularly special around your garden or space.
How?
Keep what you can. Retain standing dead trees, stumps and fallen branches wherever they are safe to leave.
Build log and branch piles. Stack different sizes of wood to create a wide variety of nooks and crannies, delivering the widest possible range of niches for wildlife. You also bring in material from elsewhere to build better stacks and piles.
Add variety. Mix dry, sunny piles with shady damp ones, stacks above ground with some buried beneath.
Leave wild corners. Long grass, scrubby edges and bramble thickets create permanent and invaluable shelters. You can combine these refuges with many of the other projects in this section (pot gardens for example)
Use cut branches and prunings to create “dead hedges” along boundaries — they provide instant structure, cover and food and are a great way to recycle garden waste in a way that can add interest for people and wildlife alike.
Drill holes in logs or posts for solitary bees to nest in. Create clusters of different sized holes (between 5mm and 10mm in diameter) to attract a variety of species.
Install wildlife nest and roost boxes. Add bird, bat or insect boxes trees or walls. Bird and bat boxes need to be as high as possible to be safe and secure enough to be used.
Let ivy and other climbing plants grow where safe — they offer cover, flowers and fruit for many species and are often the best of the ‘flowers for free’.
When?
Sheltered corners and wildlife refuges of many different kinds can be added year-round, but carry out pruning or tree work in winter to areduce disturbance to wildlife. Once built, leave refuge structures in place and let nature take over — they improve with age.
Why?
Refuges support hundreds of species, from beetles and bats to birds and fungi. They recycle nutrients, store carbon and can be easily made from reused waste materials. Creating piles and heaps from salvaged wood, rubble, garden waste, deadwood and leaf litter is often the simplest of all the wildlife interventions you can choose and you can keep coming back to them to improve, adjust, experiment and extend!
Actions for Isle of Wight Species
Stag beetles, a flagship Island species, need buried and decaying wood for their larvae.
Hedgehogs use piles of logs, leaves and brash for nesting and hibernation.
Bumblebees will often nest in compost heaps, especially if they are mixed with woody cuttings to create voids within.
Robins, wrens and dunnocks forage for insects among logs and shrubs.
Fungi and mosses thrive on shaded, moist wood, supporting invertebrates that feed reptiles, amphibians and birds.
Slow worms will burrow into compost heaps and hunt for earthworms while common lizards use sun-warmed log piles for basking.
Observe and Record
Keep a photographic record of your project, it helps to record both the natural changes and your own improvements and additions.
Turn over logs and poke about from time to time to see what you can find.
Share what you find, and what you have learned, with others; spread the news that action for wildlife is easy and works!
Resources
Hedgehog Street – Create a Hedgehog Highway
Woodland Trust – Deadwood Wildlife Guide
“Aligns with LNRS measure to retain and enhance deadwood habitats and provide shelter for wildife: TW1.1 Woodland conservation management | TW1.5 Buffering Ancient Woodlands | TW1.9 Woodland Park and Pasture | LGH3.1 In-Forest Grassland Conservation | CR6.1 Pond conservation and creation | LP1.6 Conservation headlands | UGG1.1 Urban habitat enhancement.”