Heathland restoration day

, 25 October 2024
Heathland restoration day
© Abi Weeden

Natasha Sharma

Wilder Learning Officer

Where might you choose to live if you were a Grass Snake? Crawley of course! Well, especially after a local school has cleared a heathland area to create a warm sunny glade.
Not only did the children find a hatched snake's egg amongst the leaf litter, this was just the start of so much more.

Gatwick Greenspace Community Project Officer, Kevin Lerwill, introduced the area as a wildlife oasis for species that thrive in acidic soil conditions, including three species of heather.

Sussex Wildlife Trust Wilder Learning Team introduced the children, school staff and Forest School leaders as to how they could become wild within the landscape, in order to benefit the species they had just been told about. This meant acting like Beavers to fell Birch saplings, like cows to trample the bracken, and like responsible rewilders to work safely with sharp tools and timber.

During the day they measured tree ages; counted 135 trees felled within just one group; discovered fungi; identified five species of tree to fell the right ones; made spells with handmade wands to defend their friends against snakes; bashed the bracken with staffs made from twisted Birch…self-motivated, nature-connected learning.

As a reward for a tough day of physical work, the group were joined by Common Darter and Southern Hawker dragonflies, dozens of ladybirds and a host of Red Admiral butterflies taking flight through the glade.

Abi Weeden, Head of Wilder Learning, tells us what one young participant said: At the weekend, I’m going to bring my mum up here and show her what I’ve done, which captures our strategic aim of getting children so inspired that they wish to share their learning and inspire the wider community.

Find out more about our Forest School Training Programme here 

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