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Wet Willow Wildlife Improved 51 Hectares of Wet Woodland and Connected 632 Hectares

Wild willow tit perched on a branch in Lancashire
Conservation · Restoration

A two-year wet woodland restoration project in northwest England improved 51 hectares of habitat and connected 632 hectares across its project area, with willow tit (Poecile montanus) as one of its central target species. The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside published the project’s final results on 15 May 2026 after work running from March 2024 to February 2026.

Wet Willow Wildlife worked across sites in Bolton, the Salford and Wigan mosslands, Trafford and the Mersey Gateway. The project focused on damp, scrub-rich woodland where willow, hazel, hawthorn and bramble form a dense understorey. These habitats can become less suitable for willow tits as succession produces taller, more closed woodland.

Restoration combined scrub management, water and new trees

Teams removed selected canopy trees to bring more light into the understorey, replanted scrub species and used lattice coppicing to increase low vegetation. They also controlled dominant invasive plants and installed features to slow water movement through the sites.

Slower drainage was intended to keep the woodland wetter and promote timber decay. This is especially relevant to willow tits because they excavate their own nest cavities in soft, decaying standing wood. Across the project, 9,462 trees were planted and restored habitat pockets were linked to improve movement through the wider wet woodland network.

Surveys covered 182 square kilometres

Citizen-science surveys covered 182 km² for willow tits. Volunteers followed survey transects — fixed routes walked systematically through the landscape — and initially relied on recognising the species’ call. A total of 1,934 survey records were submitted, of which 34 were positive willow tit detections. The project used these records alongside site assessments to help plan habitat work and improve knowledge of where the species remained within the project landscape.

Volunteer participation was a major part of delivery. A total of 538 volunteers contributed 6,689 hours, while the wider engagement programme also involved schools and community groups.

Willow tits depend on a particular combination of wet ground, dense scrub and suitable decaying wood, and these conditions can disappear when wet woodland becomes drier, more isolated or develops into taller closed woodland. Wet Willow Wildlife restored and reconnected these structural features across multiple sites rather than concentrating on a single patch, while also producing new survey records that can guide future work.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sunners, F. (2026, May 15). Wet Willow Wildlife: End of project blog. The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.First-hand final project summary for the March 2024–February 2026 Wet Willow Wildlife project, reporting habitat restoration, willow tit survey outputs, tree planting and volunteer participation.

Image: Francis C. Franklin / Wikimedia Commons — wild willow tit (Poecile montanus) in Lancashire, United Kingdom, 4 January 2015; representative regional image, cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Source

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