Natural England

What are you and your family doing on Sunday 8th June? Why not come and help to save Britain’s third largest raised bog to celebrate National Volunteers Week??

There are many ways you can help protect and conserve our countryside. Volunteering is one direct way you can get involved. Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales are working to increase volunteering by improving access to information about a range of activities, and also by providing direct opportunities for people to get involved in conservation on National Nature Reserves.

Since it was saved from near destruction under commercial peat extraction in 1991, Fenn’s, Whixall & Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve has been restored to actively growing raised bog by clearing trees & scrub and putting the bog water table back to the surface.

So, as part of National Volunteers Week, Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales are asking families to come and pull birch and pine seedlings from a newly cleared area of North-east Fenn’s Moss, to help it to return to being a Wetland of International Importance.

Volunteers are asked to meet task leader Pete Bowyer at the Fenn’s Bank lay-by on the A495, a mile east of Bronington, at 10am on Sunday 8 June (opposite the brown NNR sign). Bring work gloves, Wellington boots, lunch and suitable old clothing. The task lasts till 3.30pm. To book and to get the instructions for the day please ring Caroline Evans on 01743 282000 in the week or Pete Bowyer on 07974 784 795 evenings and weekends.

The task is one of many events taking place in National Volunteers Week (1 - 7 June, www.volunteersweek.org.uk). This is the UK’s annual celebration of the work volunteers do. During the week, events are held across the country to recognise, reward and recruit volunteers.

Natural England Senior Reserve Manger Joan Daniels said, “We are very lucky to have a new Reserve Manager, Pete Bowyer, at the Mosses who can try to encourage more people to come out and help to save the Mosses. Volunteering is more fun and a much cheaper way to keep fit than going to the gym.”

“Once this area has been restored, it will start to build up carbon in the peat again. This will help to counter-act climate change, so the people who come on this task will not only help the environment but have a good time too”.

If you can’t make this task, but would like to help, the Fenn’s Moss Volunteer Group meets on the second Sunday and fourth Thursday of every month from 10am to 3.30pm, contact Pete Bowyer on 01948 880362 for details, or you can volunteer on other days for a wide variety of work from helping in the office to carrying out monitoring work, helping with visitors and other practical work.

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Notes for editors:

NATURAL ENGLAND

Natural England was established by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Its purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development. www.naturalengland.org.uk

THE COUNTRYSIDE COUNCIL FOR WALES

The Countryside Council for Wales champions the environment and landscapes of Wales and its coastal waters as sources of natural and cultural riches, as a foundation for economic and social activity, and as a place for leisure and learning opportunities. We aim to make the environment a valued part of everyone's life in Wales. More information about our work is available on www.ccw.gov.uk

For further CCW information/ Welsh language interviews, contact Meinir Wigley, Public Relations Officer on 01686 613416.

For further information contact: Dr. J L Daniels, Telephone: 01948 880362, Email: joan.daniels@naturalengland.org.uk