Celebrating our Volunteers
Written by Tir Coed / Thursday 30 August 2018
Tir Coed’s Ceredigion branch (excuse the pun!) have been running volunteering sessions every Monday at Coed Tyllwyd in Llanfarian, to carry out essential conservation tasks in the woods. The sessions have been running since the end of April, on 18th August we held a celebratory BBQ to say thank you to the volunteers for all their hard work and to recognise the effort and commitment they have shown.
We have had a total of 18 volunteers, who have contributed 840 hours of volunteering.
The volunteers have achieved so much in just 16 weeks, including improving access by sawing up and moving fallen trees that are blocking paths, clearing brash, deadwood and vegetation to reopen 2.2 miles of paths and rides, 0.13 miles of pot-hole repair on the road to the site, the path between roundhouse and fire pit has been cleared, edged, and timber stacks have been sawn into logs and tidied ready for firewood sales. This has revealed a flattish area where we have installed log stepping stones as part of a play/activity area we aim to develop for children.
The unstable wood stacks have been removed from the car park to open up the space for turning and make the area safer and tidier. 2 sets of rustic hand rails have been crafted and installed alongside the steps going up to the workshop and cabin area. Unsafe hung up wind-blown trees have been felled from alongside paths to reduce the risks to visitors. Installations and benches have been repaired or refreshed and ideas are being developed to enhance and improve the site over the autumn, ready for next spring.
We are really grateful to our dedicated team of volunteers who have enabled Tir Coed to continue vital conservation work started by Training course participants, which make the woodland safer and more accessible to visitors and the local community. The work done improves biodiversity by enabling ground fauna such as wild flowers to flourish and improves natural regeneration of native species by increasing light levels and reducing competition.
