Moor Copse Nature Reserve

Work Parties

The Friends of Moor Copse, run by volunteer Reserve Warden Anne Booth, contribute a great deal towards the management of the reserve. The work parties are on one Sunday, most months. If you are interested in assisting with woodland management or another area of conservation, please contact Anne.

A range of woodland work is carried out at Moor Copse. During the winter months, work is usually coppicing. If you would like to come along and help, then you are very welcome, but if you are bringing more than one person, or a child under 16, do contact Anne first. Please meet in the carpark at 10 am, especially if you are new, so that you can find out where we are going.

All tools will be provided. You will receive instruction from the work party leader on the safe use of tools and equipment. This group is covered by public liability and personal accident insurance while doing practical conservation work. You must be covered by a tetanus injection when doing outdoor work. You need to wear old clothing, tough boots or wellies, old gloves and waterproofs (just in case). For day projects, you also need to bring your lunch. If the weather is very bad, a work party may be cancelled at the last minute. You can email Anne here

Coppicing

The practice of coppicing is a long established and once widespread method of producing quantities of even-sized, small timber, that can be used for such things as thatching spars, stakes and binders for hedging, making hurdles or to produce charcoal. Today, coppicing is the tool of the conservationist to produce the same environmental conditions that centuries of this management practice have created and for which many species of flowers and butterflies are now dependent for their survival.