Nature reserve willows cut back
POLLARDING willow trees is helping to create a more bio-diverse environment at the Garenne Nature Reserve.
The Guernsey Conservation Volunteers returned to the site on Saturday as part of their annual tidying up of the area.
Group co-ordinator Angela Salmon said at the start of each year they spent a couple of weeks trimming back the trees.
‘Pollarding the trees means that we get new growth on the willows,’ she said.
‘But it also means more light will reach the woodland floor and new plants will grow.
‘And those plants will like sun rather than shade, so there will be a greater diversity of plants, which will attract lots of different insects and invertebrates.’
The branches the volunteers trimmed back are piled on the site, where they can create another habitat for wildlife.
The organisation works at various sites around the island on Saturday mornings, with volunteers helping out for a variety of reasons.
Jo De La Mare started doing so a few weeks ago.
‘I think Guernsey’s wild places need all the care we can give them,’ she said.
‘This is something I have wanted to do for many years. Now the children are off, I have a bit more time. This seemed like a fantastic thing to do – giving back a bit to the island.’
Bradley Davison recently returned to the island after doing some travelling.
‘I made a list of things to do when I came back to Guernsey,’ he said.
‘I have not experienced much of the natural habitat of Guernsey. I am very interested in nature and there is so much to see where we live.’
The volunteers will be back at the reserve on Saturday 19 January between 10am and noon for their second session there.
n For more details visit http://www.gcv.org.uk/.
