Go dig up your own Christmas tree for nowt!
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Date: 2nd December
Event location: Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve
Organised by: Natural England
This event is being held to celebrate International Volunteers Day.
Meeting point: Meet at Fenn’s Bank lay-by on the A495.
Age group: Adults and children of any age
Registration: Required
More details avaliable from: North Mercia Team
Email: north.mercia@naturalengland.org.uk
Tel: 01743 282000
http://www.breathingplaces.org/public/place/10895
Went last week to a talk on the local meres and mosses, and it was really heartening to hear how efficiently these internationally important wetland sites are being reclaimed and managed. Some of the creatures who now live on the peat bog at Whixall are listed in Red Data Book 1 - in other words, if they were any rarer, they'd be extinct.
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I was able to pass on my summer water vole records to Dr Joan Daniels, who oversees the work there, and this morning she emailed with the news that one of her assistants has found what may be more field signs, so I'll go out and take a look.
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What struck me more than anything about the talk was how lay-naturalists like me tend to assume that trees have to be preserved at all costs, but actually there are times they need taking out to preserve specific habitat, eg wetland and heathland.
I was chatting to someone from SWT and they said they had a big problem with Birches on WEM Moss. They’re a dry woodland species and as the Moss dries out they move in so SWT are removing them. They’re also spending quite a lot on piling at the perimeter to retain the water. It seems quite an expensive and time consuming business getting the Moss back into shape and keeping it that way.
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