There is still a Forest on the Hill

Thanks to Natural England and its predecessors, Yarner Wood is still a forest (well, a wood) on a hill. It still mainly consists of sessile oak woodland with a rowan understory and bilberry field layer, as it was when it was bought 70 years ago and made a National Nature Reserve (NNR) in May 1952. This made it one of the first NNR’s to be declared. Now Yarner Wood lies within a wider resilient landscape including the addition of BoveyRead more

DIY Rainforest Restoration

On a blustery, wet Wednesday in the wake of ‘Storm Arwen’ more than 20 attendees, including landowners and woodland managers joined Plantlife, Natural England and the Woodland Trust for a participatory demonstration workshop on restoring habitats for rare communities of lichens and bryophytes. The high levels of rainfall and humid conditions the group endured was testimony to why the west coast of Britain supports one of the world’s rarest woodland habitats, temperate rainforest. The National Lottery Heritage funded partnership projectRead more

Helping Hands to Help Heathland

Students from Exeter College’s Supported Internship Programme spent two days this autumn working with Natural England to protect an important heathland area at East Dartmoor Woods and Heaths National Nature Reserve. They gained new skills, while helping to conserve the environment – this blog describes their time at the Reserve. We learnt about the importance of protecting heathland areas because it provides habitat for a variety of species such as the Nightjar. This rare bird travels from Africa in AprilRead more

The Kingdom Under the Woods

There’s another world beneath the trees that like many essential backroom functions is hidden and shrouded in mystery. It is the kingdom of the fungi, and the autumn is a great time to see them. The power of a name Mushrooms and toadstools are the fruiting spores of fungi and the distinction between them first appeared in print in the mid fifteenth century and reflects the dilemma about what is and isn’t safe to eat. So, while mushrooms were definedRead more

Marsh Tit in the Wood

May, the month when the dawn chorus will be starting to build up as resident species stake out their territories. These early weeks of Spring are actually the best time to appreciate some of our resident species contributions to the dawn chorus, as they will soon be quieting down to concentrate on nest building and raising young. Among these early singers are our four resident species of tit – Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Marsh Tit. This monthRead more

Step into Spring

“Come with me into the woods, where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what….” Mary Oliver, Poet With the lengthening days and Easter upon us spring is definitely in the air and accelerating in pace. The start of spring though is open to interpretation depending on how you measure it and for what purpose. The meteorological spring, for instance, is based on 4 three-month periods using annual temperature cycles providing consistent markers between the seasons to enable comparativeRead more