Tree collection a vital earner for zoo charity
OPTIONS remain open for islanders wanting to dispose of their Christmas trees responsibly, despite the fact that they are no longer considered suitable as animal feed.
After collecting the decorations for the last six years, the Golden Guernsey Goat Farm has stopped taking them because the fungicides and other chemicals which are often used in their production pose a health risk to their goats.
The Accidental Zoo has also stopped relying on them as a food source but the charity is still collecting them throughout the Christmas period after identifying a number of alternative uses.
‘Some of the trees will be used to make a windbreak to protect the site from strong easterlies,’ said TAZ co-founder Ryan Le Guilcher. ‘We’ll also make more wood chip. We made a massive mound of it last year to be used for the duck runs and to stabilise the land and it lasted until about October,’ said the charity’s CEO and co-founder Charlotte Le Guilcher.
In addition, the trunks of some of the larger trees will be supplied to craftspeople for turning. The objects they make will then be sold at the charity’s forthcoming open days.
‘We use every single tree to aid the charity, rather than them getting turned into soil stabiliser,’ Mr Le Guilcher said.
The used Christmas trees can be collected for a fee of £10. TAZ collected 500 last year and an even greater number is expected this year. A total of 40 were collected on Wednesday but with a borrowed flat-bed truck, it will be possible to collect 75 a day by the end of next week.
‘It starts as a trickle and ends in a flood,’ Mr Le Guilcher said, with Mrs Le Guilcher adding: ‘We’re in the calm at the moment, before the craziness.’
The tree collection is an important contributor to the charity’s estimated £100,000 annual running costs.
‘We have paid staff,’ said Mrs Le Guilcher, ‘and a lot goes on feed and maintenance, such as fence repairs.’
The charity makes use of its large and growing menagerie – now more than 300 creatures, including farm animals, reptiles and invertebrates – to support adult health and wellbeing through a 12-week programme and to deliver curriculum-linked and topic specific workshops at its premises in Ruette de la Generotte, Castel, and in schools.
Those who were hoping to go along to Route des Sages in St Peter’s and feed the goats at the Golden Guernsey Goat Farm again this year will still be able to do so.
‘When we decided to stop taking in the trees, we thought some people might be disappointed that they couldn’t feed them to the goats,’ said Mandy Girard, ‘so we wanted to put something in place to replace that. So bags of goat feed are now available for £1 per bag and visitors are welcome to call in, Monday to Saturday, and go and feed the goats.’
No fewer than 15 of the farm’s goats are currently pregnant and Mrs Girard expects the first new kids to appear in February.
The Accidental Zoo operates as a charity rather than a zoo. However, the public are able to access the site to view and learn about the animals on selected open days.
In 2022, these will be 21-22 and 28-29 May, 28-29 August and 3-4 September.
