A Fact-Finding Trip from West Yorkshire

Apart from the conservation of habitats and species at Foxglove being one of the three objectives in managing the reserve, the other two are about research and advancing knowledge about local biodiversity, and promoting and fostering the educational use of the site. 

We aim to set examples of good practice in the work that we do, so welcoming 13 members of the Churwell Environmental Volunteers group to the reserve gave us a chance to show how Foxglove has developed and what we are doing now.

The group spent 3 hours here having travelled up from Churwell, near Morley in West Yorkshire.  There they are managing and developing their own reserve, so they came to find out examples of what they could do there. 

After a short presentation on the development of the reserve, they had a walk around to look at management of access and habitats.  Included in this was the use of the metal sheets to attract reptiles and amphibians.  This Greater Crested Newt had been found under one of the sheets the previous day.

Having had a good look around, they gathered back in the Activity Room to compare notes.  It was clear from the discussion that they had gained a lot from their visit, and they set off to head off back doen the A1 with an invitation to call in and see what they are doing when we are passing.