Members of our Young Persons' Network have been volunteering at Belhus Woods Country Park.
The volunteers spent time exploring the great outdoors and got involved with coppicing, creating brash hedges and trimming back woodland pathways.
Brash hedges are barriers made from branches and twigs. This is a way of using spare materials in a way which benefits eco-systems as it provides shelter for small mammals and birds.
Young Sycamore trees were coppiced at Belhus Woods Country Park. Coppicing is the process of reducing trees in a set area to stumps and is done to improve the diversity of the woodland by encouraging fresh growth at ground level. The material cut can also create brash hedges to create more wildlife habitats.
Cllr Peter Schwier, Essex County Council Climate Czar, recently visited Tarecroft Wood near Witham, which had also recently been coppiced.
Cllr Schwier said: “I’m really pleased to see the successful work of the Essex Forest Initiative.
“Seeing the wildlife, such as the orchids which had previously laid dormant, is an incredible sight and it is made even better knowing that it has come as a direct result of the coppicing carried out.”
The Sycamore which was being coppiced at Belhus Woods was being cut early to reduce its vigorous growth. This will facilitate coppicing of Hazel and Sweet Chestnut in December.
To help maximise the benefits of coppicing it is done on a rotational basis.
Our Essex Forest Initiative looks to plant hundreds of thousands of new trees as well as care for and maintain the woodlands across its estate, working closely with the Essex Country Parks team among many other partners across the county.
For any enquiries about volunteering with Essex County Parks please email explore.essex@essex.gov.uk with the name of the park in the subject line.
For more information about Essex Country Parks visit the Explore Essex website.