Strong Support

Sunday, February 27th 2022

Last week, Colonel Billings (Comd DTE UK) pictured here with Colonel Holden (Comd DTE North) visited Foxglove to discover more about the reserve and how it links in to the local community. The short visit was well timed with a welcome sunny spell between wintry showers; blue sky and a dusting of snow created a perfect photo opportunity.

Foxglove Covert is the only designated Local Nature Reserve on MOD land and has always benefitted from financial support from the Defence Training Estate. Not only does the Army help to fund the warden's salaries, it also assists with a vital forestry project each year. This year, the funding is being spent on making the Ash trees that are suffering from Ash Dieback safe. This type of arboriculture is highly dangerous and requires the skills of professionals. If you look closely at the picture here you should beable to make out the Tree Surgeon high up in the canopy.

Where possible, the trees are 'monolithed' which involves removing the largest limbs and leaving the main trunk standing. This is especially beneficial to the wildlife as many species of invertebrates, birds and bats can all live in the remaining wood. Although the trees appear to be healthy from the outside, you can see from the photograph below that they are completely rotten on the inside.

The Greenworks fund has also been spent on removing other 'dead, dying, diseased or dangerous' trees around the reserve. This is the motto of Tree Surgeon Sean Stockdale who has carried out the work!

Storm Arwen caused a huge amount of damage as the wind came from an unusual direction. However, the good news is that because of all of the forward planning and effort to make the biggest Ash trees safe over the past two winters, the other named storms have not caused a lot of damage which goes to show how valuable this generous support is.

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Friends of Foxglove

The Friends of Foxglove Covert is for those individuals, families and organisations who would like to support the reserve through an annual membership subscription. Friends receive a regular newsletter and invitations to attend our various activities and social events.

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