Friends of Berrylands Nature Reserve are film stars!

Posted on: 15th March 2019

Late last year (28th November 2018) Karolina Peret the Environment Trust’s Nature Conservation Manager ran a conservation volunteer day at Berrylands Nature Reserve as part of the Thames Water funded project to help improve the site after years of neglect.

The Friends of Berrylands Nature Reserve volunteers were out in force helping, and together we planted loads of new trees (provided by IKEA!) around the wildlife pond.

During the session Emma from the London Friends of Green Spaces Network (http://www.lfgn.org.uk/) came along and interviewed some of us about the work that the volunteers have been doing on the project.

Well done guys for speaking so proudly and passionately about your work!

Karolina also wrote a blog post for the Environment Trust’s website after the event, and they have kindly allowed us to reproduce it here.

Good things come in Trees

by Karolina Peret

Published: 7th December 2018

What a mission the Friends of Berrylands Nature Reserve were on last Thursday, the 28th of November! The clock was ticking after Karolina arrived on site, armed with shovels, heavy boxes full of tree saplings, and a whole lot of spirit! We had only a mere few hours to get most of the trees into the ground, and with only 7 individuals, we were concerned about the plausibility, especially since Emma from London Friends of Green Spaces Network was there to interview and film us for the upcoming film festival.

Thank you to Emma from LFGN for taking the time to consider us and coming to site! We hope you didn’t get too soaked!

Despite the limited amount of time available that day the group of 7 hustled down and planted nearly 70% of the seedlings brought on site. We organized into two’s, created a quick strategy and got down to business.

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Four areas were targeted- the entrance way to the pond, the trenched area connecting the entrance to the rest of the shrubbery, the back area adjacent to the fence, and the stream bank. Most of the trees were planted in a way as to provide a barrier, connect existing green spaces together, create a natural fence and most importantly, to form a natural filtration and sediment barrier to scrub the overflowing water of excess particulate matter and ultimately, help keep the pond and tributary clean! This, of course, helps insects, fish, and wildlife in all sorts of ways!

As always, the planting days with the volunteers was an absolute blast! Fresh air, physical activity, great chats and laughs, and of course, having the satisfaction that our collective effort makes such an immediate and wonderful impact!

Thank you, Andrew, Phil, Kay, Paul, Derek, Jeremy and Emma for your time and effort! Well done. Until next time!

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