Restoring an ancient replanted woodland to a temperate rainforest involves making a little space for the natural saplings to recolonise.

• Where: High Wood, near Liskeard, Cornwall

• Date: 18.11.23 - 19.11.23

• Time: 10.00 - 16.00

Come and help in the early stages of restoring High Wood to its former glory as a temperate rainforest.

Last Winter we began clearing and thinning some of the young conifers that had been planted just before we bought High Wood. We need to remove more of these conifers now whilst they are still small, to avoid having to wait 50 years before we can get on with the important work of restoring this woodland to benefit wildlife and carbon sequestration.

For decades High Wood has been managed as a commercial timber plantation, with Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, and Western Hemlock dominating the landscape. In order to give native species a chance to recolonise this ancient woodland we’ll need to make some space. The large conifers will be removed by professionals over the next few years.

That’s right, we’re going to be cutting down some trees! It might sound counter-intuitive, but this is all following advice from our ecologist and forester, folks at the Woodland Trust, and with permission from the Forestry Commission.

So why not come and enjoy a slightly different day out, helping us to remove these Christmas tree sized conifers. No experience is needed and tools will be provided. You can volunteer for a couple of hours, stay all day or even come on both days, it's up to you!