Our European Solidarity Corps volunteers were training at Bog Meadows yesterday in hedgelaying, a countryside craft that was once widespread in Ireland.

It involves partly cutting through the hedgerow stems near ground level so that they will bend without breaking and continue to grow. This causes new growth at the stump, thickening the base and rejuvenating the hedge.

This method of rejuvenating a hedge can extend its lifespan almost indefinitely and it provides a great habitat for many wild birds, small mammals, plants and insects. ~ Deborah McLaughlin, Community Engagement Officer

Not an Ulster Wildlife nature reserve, but one of the many peatland sites we are helping to restore across NI as part of the Collaborative Action for Natura Network (CANN) project. 

Our European Solidarity Corps volunteers and Nature Skills trainees helped our peatlands team install coir logs/rolls within gullies of eroded blanket bog on Cuilcagh Mountain in Co. Fermanagh. This area of blanket bog has became badly eroded over the years with deep gullies and bare peat, which is being washed into the water and emitting carbon into the atmosphere.