Conservation for All project invites new groups to take part

Our Conservation for All project gives opportunities for underserved community groups and young people to learn practical woodland conservation skills. By offering the chance to help restore habitats in a hands-on environment, participants' sense of wellbeing can soar too.

Community Development Worker Mark Whitaker introduces the project and explains how community groups and colleges in the Low Weald are invited to get involved.

One of my favourite programmes as part of the Lost Woods is our Conservation for All for project. You might know that wooded habitats can no longer rely on the natural processes they once had to keep them in balance. They need management to ensure they're as biodiverse as possible. One of the ways we encourage woods to be managed positively for wildlife is by supporting people who might not otherwise try woodland conservation work to get down to nearby habitats and help out.

By teaching these woodland management skills, the groups we work with get to spend more time outdoors, learn about what makes the ancient woodlands in the Low Weald so significant, and get the satisfaction of a job well done!

We've introduced students from Plumpton College’s Foundation Learning course to a selection of woodlands. The students have cut down unwanted birch saplings on heathland, coppiced willow and hazel to bring light to the woodland floor at Ditchling Common (to allow a wider variety of plants to grow), built leaky dams, removed brambles encroaching on a meadow, and established paths.

The 16 and 17-year-olds had struggled with learning in school and benefited from extra support to prepare them for other college courses. During the sessions we saw them learn to use traditional tools, increase their knowledge about local nature, improve teamwork, and simply enjoy working outdoors.

As well as practicing new skills, they learn about the value of managing and caring for woodland. Importantly they are also experiencing the wellbeing benefits of being active in nature, contributing to a shared task to help the woodland, and gaining increased confidence about what they can achieve successfully. They talk about enjoying practicing their teamwork skills, communicating better, and their new conservation skills!

We’re constantly on the lookout for other groups who could gain the same kind of benefits from getting outside and contributing to a local project, and this winter we’ve been working with Woodlands Meed College in Burgess Hill. They support students with additional educational needs. We’ve linked-up to provide woodland work experience for their horticulture students, and we've gone out with the group to learn conservation skills on Chailey Common and Ditchling Common. (And I was really honoured to be invited to the Woodlands Meed Christmas lunch and help build our relationship with staff and students. I was impressed to see the amazing new facilities at the college which support the students there!)

Where possible we want the groups we’ve worked with to keep doing conservation work without our input, leaving us to support new groups. We’re really pleased that the tutor at Plumpton College is taking his current students to the woods we linked him to last winter, so that a new cohort can benefit, and the woods get ongoing support. BHT’s mental health group which we worked with is also now self-sufficient in conservation and making a difference.

Enrol your group into our Conservation for All project

We want to support more groups with our Conservation for All project. If you are part of or run a community group in the Lost Woods project area, particularly one that might not otherwise access woodland, then please get in touch. Our Community Development Worker Mark Whitaker can advise on eligibility and provide more information about our support. Phone Mark on 07968715105 or email lostwoodsteam@ruralsussex.org.uk.

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