Volunteers help at Chatelherault Environment scheme to enhance woods
Enthusiastic volunteers are being offered a unique opportunity to be part of an active conservation project at Chatelherault Country Park next month.
Volunteer conservation and heritage enthusiasts will carry out vital path repair work, vegetation clearance and carpentry projects to help improve the biodiversity value of the woodland and enhance the visitor experience in the most visited designed landscape in the Clyde and Avon valley.
Volunteering will take place on various Wednesdays from 10.15am – 2.30pm, from September onwards.
The work is being carried out as part of a larger Chatelherault Woodland Management and Conservation project, which will see the special and historic area returned to its former glory thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and LEADER supported Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP) and South Lanarkshire Council.
Nestled at the heart of a steep and densely wooded valley, Chatelherault Country Park is one of the most important and biologically diverse natural habitats in Scotland, containing the Cadzow Oaks, deemed a ‘national treasure’ through their status as one of the most significant remnants of ancient surviving woodland in Scotland.
This new volunteering project, managed and part-funded by Clydesdale Community Initiatives will enable volunteers from all walks of life to gain practical experience of conservation while carrying out essential consolidation and repairs at a unique heritage site.
Volunteers with an interest in conservation are warmly invited to join in with hands-on conservation activities.
Hands-on volunteer activities will include: clearing non(cci), native species (conifers and rhododendron), moving fence lines to create new link paths, clearing debris and improving pathways along National Cycle Route 74, helping with preparations for the National Nature Reserve 10th Anniversary Celebration event, and constructing and installing benches from timber milled at the NNR celebration event.
Helen Thomson, Placement Support Manager with Clydesdale Community Initiatives said: “Chatelherault is a wonderful site and we are grateful to South Lanarkshire Council for inviting our volunteers to make a valuable contribution to the site’s conservation. The work will be great fun too as our volunteer sessions are very sociable and enjoyable for any adult volunteers joining in. The volunteering sessions will run from September through to November this year.”
To volunteer to take part on the conservation activities at Chatelherault or to find out more, get in touch with Clydesdale Community Initiatives at colleen@cciweb. org.uk or call 01555 664211.