Habitat Management

Willow coppicing is carried out each year on an area of the Willow Carr at Foxglove. Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique whereby you cut a tree (typically Willow, Hazel, Birch or Alder) at the base from which new shoots will grow. A wood that is managed in this way is called a copse and is split into different areas called coupes which are cut on rotation. This leads to a mosaic of different aged trees and benefits a wide variety of wildlife. 

Rather than burn the cut stems, it has been turned into woodchips which is a more environmentally friendly way of dealing with the brash. The woodchips can then be put to good use around the reserve to top up footpaths and mulch newly planted trees.

This work is ongoing and will be one of the main winter tasks for staff and volunteers.

So far, winter work has concentrated along the red route which is the easy access trail. The ponds here are used for pond dipping in the summer months and had become overgrown with reeds. Gerry and Peter made the most of the unusually mild weather and set to task removing some of the excess growth by hand. You can definitely see where they have been!

Further along the trail the view has been improved up by removing some of the scrub that was overcrowding Juniper and Oak trees. The result is a wonderful view of the cascading pools from the footbridge at the head of the lake.

Volunteers are the backbone of the reserve and without them this vital conservation work could not take place. Please get in touch with the Reserve Managers if you would like to get involved.