IT’S the biggest Kirklees environmental organisation you’ve never heard of.

And without Kirklees Wildlife and Landscape Partnership (KWLP) the borough would be an uglier, less environmentally conscious and less ecologically diverse place.

KWLP was set up in 1990 to allow organisations with interests in the local environment, to share their skills, highlight problems and drive eco-projects.

As well as partnering Kirklees Council, KWLP incorporates regional and national organisations, including the National Trust and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and local interest groups including Friends of Beaumont Park and Shepley Conservation Group.

KWLP, whose members include lay people and environmental professionals, carry out environmental and wildlife surveys across Kirklees.

Indeed the partnership has been a driving force behind projects such as the regeneration of Beaumont Park, the extension of Upper Park Wood, Honley and the conservation of endangered wood ants at Upper Dearne Woodlands.

KWLP has also been helping boost great-crested newt populations along Kirklees Light Railway.

The partnership advises on environmental projects and the potential impact of planning applications.

KWLP member and Kirklees Council Environmental Officer for Biodiversity, Jeff Keenlyside, said: “I deal with a lot of planning and without the information supplied by the partnership, we just wouldn’t be where we are now.

“If we didn’t have the efforts of volunteers the state of this country and this borough would be a lot worse.”

Founding member and environmental consultant, Michael Brook, said: “Survey work takes a long time. There’s a vast area to cover and with plants, for example, it can only be done at certain times of year. I’d say the help the partnership has given has been immense.”

And with government cuts hitting council and agency budgets hard, volunteer partnerships like KWLP will be expected to take up the slack.

Chairman Peter Turner added: “We’re at a stage now where Kirklees Council is cutting back and we have to discuss how our partners can become even more actively involved.”