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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Conservation on nature reserves

I've been discussing with one or two members why we in our local group of the Wildlife Trust find it difficult to find volunteers for the many ways in which they can easily help both our local group and also the work on the nature reserves. One way may be to use our summer visit programme , see our diary blog, to get people out and to explain what jobs are there to be done.
The Trust has developed its web site quite well over the last year or so and now has a diary showing where help is required out on the reserves. Here is a copy of the current web page. You can see it and more on the SWT web site. ( see link on this blog):




PRACTICAL CONSERVATION AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Date
Time
Who
Where
What
March
Sun 30 10.30am SCV Greylake ST 399 348 40,000 reed seedlings to plant. Please bring garden trowels or hand forks. Wellies advised. Meet at main gate on A361.
April
Thu 10 10am TCV SWT. Fyne Court. Path and step repairs and surfacing. Meet car park GR 222321. Contacts: Jim & Jean Ayling
01823 337462.
Sun 13 10.30am SCV Catcott Heath ST 406 413 Cutting internal paths, internal ditch clearance and flap-valve repair. Meet at end of Higher Ropes Drove.
Thu 24 10am TCV NT. Wellington Monument. Step building and access work. Meet car park GR143167. Contacts: Jim & Jean Ayling
01823 337462.
Sun 27 10.30am SCV Chilton Moor Reserve ST 377 430 Lowering gutter ends, gate and fence repairs . Meet at end of Plain Heath Drove.
May
Sun 11 10.30am SCV Street Heath Reserve
ST 465 392
Bracken control, path cutting, fence repair. Meet on approach drove beyond Rose Cottage.
Sun 25 10.30am SCV Sharpham Moor
ST 465 389
Erect new stile, handrail and sleeper bridge, fence repairs and bramble cutting. Meet at reserve gate, reached from drove at Avalon Farm-Durston's Peat.
**This will be led by Mark Blake (07795 147910)
June
Sun 8 10.30am SCV Westhay Moor ST 453 436 Bracken control and removal, fencing works in the old mire. Meet at main car park.
Sun 22 10.30am SCV West Sedgemoor
ST 381 264
Clearing ragwort to allow graziers a hay cut to maintain the fantastic diversity of these meadows. Meet at Dewlands Farm.
July
Sun 6 10.30am SCV Street Heath ST 465 392 Bracken control, path cutting, maintenance of rare sedge pits, fence repair. Meet at approach drove beyond Rose Cottage.
Sun 20 10.30am SCV Stoke Camp ST 483 513 Helping Chalkhill Blues by removing thistle, nettle and ragwort. Meet at Draycott Sleights entrance, some 600m up New Lane between Old Chapel and Red Lion pub in Draycott.
August
Sun 31 10.30am SCV Catcott Heath ST 406 413 Clearance around decoy pond to open flight path for birds and to minimise leaf litter silting pond. A few trees to be felled. Meet at end of Higher Ropes Drove.
Contact details:
SCV: Sedgemoor Conservation Volunteers:Anne & Norman Lees 01278 641521
P&SCV: Polden Hills and Somerton Conservation Volunteers: Emma Daniel c/o SWT 01823 652400
TCV: Taunton Mid-Week Conservation Volunteers: Margaret Palmer 01823 337570
WSCV: West Somerset Conservation Volunteers: John Dixon 01643 703654
PMCV:Peat Moors Conservation Volunteers: Alan Brown 01458 223067
Swains Lane Residents Group: John Morton 01823 661996
BTCV Somerset : Tel 01935 415255; email: p.sherriff@btcv.org.uk
NP: Neroche Project: Sam Winzer:

Clearly there is a great deal that can be done and its obviously a good idea to ask other groups how they go about finding people. We really need a volunteer to volunteer to make a project of researching the problem!!