CHARITY FOCUS
Image credit: Ben Lee - Woodland Trust
and plants, and helps wildlife to thrive. Managed well, restoration can bring ancient woodland back from the brink and provide other benefits, such as income from timber. The Trust not only carries out this work in its own sites, but works with landowners and managers of privately owned woodland, to date committing more than 34,000 hectares of damaged woodlands back into a process of recovery. Fingle Woods, on the northern fringes of Dartmoor in the steep Teign Valley, is one of the largest woodland restoration projects the charity has ever taken on. The site is made up of eight different woods, which the charity jointly owns and manages with the National Trust. Carefully reclaiming the ancient site for nature, it’s a treasure for people to enjoy
too, with 28 miles of new trails in which you can take in stunning views and enjoy wonderful wildflowers. Wildlife is making a comeback at Fingle Woods. Some 36 species of breeding birds have been recorded here, including red-listed rarities. There are otters along the river, 12 bat species and threatened butterflies, including dingy skippers and pearl-bordered fritillaries. You may be lucky enough to spot fallow deer or kingfishers - and the protected hazel dormouse is also to be found in this wonderful woodland. Smaller sites in the Okehampton area owned by the Trust include Blackaton Copse at Gidleigh, Dishcombe Wood at South Tawton, Tramlines Wood at Okehampton, Riverbed Wood at
See our community website www.dartmoorlinks.co.uk
Drewsteignton and Westcott Wood at Moretonhampstead. And to ensure that everyone in the UK has the chance to plant a tree, doing their bit for the environment, The Woodland Trust is giving away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities. There are a variety of different packs that can be applied for, from a hedge or copse pack to a wild harvest or year round colour pack. The next deliveries will take place in November - to apply, go to /www. woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/ schools-and-communities/ For more information about The Woodland Trust, go to www. woodlandtrust.org.uk Jane Honey
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