For the award we have worked with Surrey Wildlife Trust to clear areas of Wisley Common of Scrub and Trees. This encourages heathers and other lowland heath plants to grow.
We generally spend a weekend each year working on the common. An area of the common is selected by the Trust for clearance - we then move in with saws and choppers and start to fell the trees. We'll also remove any bracken we find. We build a fire on the site and burn the smaller timber. It's hard but enjoyable work and the whole Group come and help.
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Wisley Common is an important wildlife habitat and is recognised nationally as a Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI. The common is an area of Lowland Heath formed thousands of years ago when woodland was cleared from the area.
Grazing prevented the regrowth of trees in the area - the absence of trees and the acidic soil generated a habitat that supports a wide range of unusual wildlife. Without grazing, Birch and Scot's Pine rapidly invade the heath and without their removal the habitat is destroyed. Lowland Heath has been in rapid decline since the 1950's.
In order to preserve this habitat a land management programme has been introduced. Cattle once again graze on the common and trees are removed.