Want to get outside and involved with our volunteer group to look after the Peak District? Not all our volunteering is maintaining trails. When working alongside our partners in the Peak District, we get involved in a variety of volunteer activities.
We’d love more help.
Earlier this year our volunteer group in the southwest Peak District were carrying out scrub clearance. The objective was to trim or remove some of the invasive tree species that were developing on Back Forest Moor above Gradbach Woods. This type of clearance is an important part of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s maintenance of the Roaches Estate. Jon Rowe from Staffordshire Wildlife Trust explains why this is important:
“Scrub clearance on the moorland of the Roaches helps to maintain areas of open habitat important for ground nesting birds, it also helps to change the age structure of the scrub forcing it to start again and preventing the scrub from developing into woodland. Scrub of different ages is important for invertebrates and the bird species that prey upon them as well as providing nesting habitat for those bird species as well. We undertake all our habitat management works across the Roaches with the help of volunteers and we could not achieve all we do for wildlife without the help of volunteers like Peak District MTB.”
On previous volunteer days the team helped plant sphagnum moss on the moors behind the Roaches outcrop to build more resilience against climate change. Read more about that here https://peakdistrictmtb.org/peak-district-mtb-volunteers-help-with-sphagnum-moss-planting/
Our trail maintenance days sometimes require skills you might not expect. When creating new drains on the trails above Gradbach, the team had to take down a portion of dry stone wall and then rebuild it on top of the new drain. Most of the gang had little or no experience of dry stone walling, so this was a great – and very rewarding – experience.
It’s not all about the trails. It’s about showing that mountain bikers are a responsible bunch who are more than willing to help maintain the beautiful Peak District countryside we are so lucky to have on our doorstep.
Get in touch and get involved.