Wednesday 13 February 2008

A common conservation task "Rhodi Bashing" 3rd Feb

It is a well known contradiction in "conservation managment" that some of the most popular conservations tasks for volunteers appear to be higly destructive. The prime example of this is "rhodi bashing". The detrimental effects of Rhododendron ponticum on uk wildlife and biodiversity are well documented. Over recent years the public have become better informed and the number of people complaining about this type of work has dropped.

Working on a steep slope with a group of local volunteers at Lyme Park we removed a significant area of "Rhodi", this is only first step, further work by National Trust Staff will allow the regeneration of that area with native broadleaf species. It was windy but the sun shined, a good day for those who didn't believe the weather forcast.

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