Woodlands are an integral part of our countryside, they provide multiple benefits to society including acting as a filter to combat air pollution and they provide wildlife habitats for our rapidly diminishing local wildlife.  

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Long Wood has been a home for many decades to a wide range of creatures, great and small.  Our rangers have seen deer, fox, rabbit and a wide array of reptiles.  See Project 2 below where we are actively supporting and protecting our resident wildlife.  For our reptiles we have created log piles in warm and sunny spots as these creatures need somewhere warm and sheltered to rest and bask in the sun.

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Long Wood is home to an abundance of toads, frogs, slow worms, grass snakes and the odd adder.  All these creatures hunt in the long grass that is prevalent at the Eastern end of Long Wood.

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Wild Flowers have really become established over the last few years, there are lots of foxgloves, bluebells, purple heather looking radiant amidst wild grasses.  One of our key projects is to plant up a wildflower bed that includes thistle, poppy, daisy and cornflowers.  

Project 1. Clearing the forest floor

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The dense mass of coniferous trees at the Eastern end of Long Wood have been felled and a deciduous tree planting programme was started 10 years ago however, many of the young trees  were smothered by invasive species such as reed, bramble and gorse.  These invasive species caused the young trees to suffer and our rangers have cleared them to make way for other plants, trees and paths.

 

Project 2. Wild flowers

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Our rangers are keen to create a landscape of colour; beautiful wild flowers that can support insects for wild birds and pollen for bees and butterflies.  

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