We have tended to concentrate our efforts to places where we can maintain the interventions we make. One such location is the Wildlife Trail. We also hold one off sessions such as an annual deep clean litter pick and events to keep entrances clear of bramble and nettles. We hope to start monthly nature conservation sessions again sometime soon.
Conservation volunteering
The greater part of our conservation volunteering is currently carried out by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), a national volunteer organisation, who organise activities across the borough of Haringey on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
“The Conservation Volunteers Haringey have been managing habitats across Parkland Walk Nature Reserve with volunteers from the local community for over 20 years. We work alongside the Friends of Parkland Walk and Haringey Council to help manage this diverse green space. Our amazing volunteers join sessions to meet like-minded people, learn new skills and be involved in the multitude of tasks their urban Nature Reserve needs to help maintain or improve the site for both wildlife and people.
Conservation tasks we get up to on the Walk include: Managing meadows, traditional woodland management techniques including coppicing, selective removal of fast growing or invasive species such as laurel and bramble, creating new habitats (ponds, stag beetle loggeries, dead hedges, hibernacula) and informal surveying of species to keep records on site.
We host 24 sessions a year in the Nature Reserve so if you want to join us to help out then just check our upcoming schedule HERE, sign up to receive our monthly newsletter of events or keep an eye on our social media page.
Open to ages 18+ of all abilities and backgrounds with no previous experience of conservation volunteering needed! Come along and try out a session!”
Become a litter marshal
In addition to larger organised litter picks our Litter Marshal scheme aims to tackle the build up of litter by ensuring regular litter removal. We this a far better strategy than having more bins. We provide a litter picking tool, gloves, bags and a set of guidelines which have been agreed with the two councils, Haringey and Islington, to ensure good practice and to avoid accidents.
Marshals litter pick at whatever times suit them. This makes a huge difference to the experience of users and also helps people realise that the Friends and the local community play an important role in maintaining the Walk. As we provide equipment and resources for this we do ask for a minimum level of commitment of at least one hour a week. If you get involved and decide at any point that you’ve had enough, just let us know and we’ll take the kit back so we can pass it on.
The Wildlife Trail – a biodiversity project
Our Wildlife and Nature Trail off to the side of the path at the Highgate end of Parkland Walk South needs both regular maintenance and guardianship. We now meet every Wednesday mornings from 10.30 until 12.30, weather permitting, to control, maintain and improve the area, weed paths, tie back plants that have fallen across the path, anything that benefits this lovely area. If you would like to get involved as part of this specialised group, please drop by. We have a selection of tools available.
The Trail also needs people who can commit to unlock and/or lock up the gate on a regular basis. Times vary according to the seasons. During the summer opening time is 9.00am to 6.30pm. Even if you only undertake one regular morning or evening, spreading the task across a number of people will make this less burdensome for all.
Surveys
We operate an annual survey of butterflies over half of the Parkland Walk every summer but are currently without anyone to perform a bird survey.
We carry out regular surveys of flora and invertebrates on the Wildlife Trail but need to extend these surveys to some other areas on Parkland Walk. All of these surveys provide useful information that help make the case for decisions about how to best manage the reserve in the interest of nature. All information is shared with London and National Ecological Data gathering organisations such as GiGL. Much of this work can be carried out by amateurs.
If you are interested in this type of activity please get in touch. If you don’t feel you have sufficient experience we can put you in touch with some of our volunteers who will happily take you under their wing.
Community involvement and education
We are currently looking for someone who would be interested in overseeing educational sessions. We would like to be able to offer short sessions for children so that they can explore and discover nature. Many children can be intimidated by creepy crawlies, but after a short fun introduction become enthralled by what nature has to offer. If you are a teacher looking for materials to use on the Parkland Walk visit our Education page.
Story telling
The Parkland Walk is a gift for a talented creative writer. It was formally a railway, is a home to wildlife and we shouldn’t forget the Spriggan and the heritage of folklore that is associated with trees and flowers. It’s Thomas the Tank engine meets Wind in the Willows meets Stephen King. We would love to hear from anyone who could write a story that could be read to children on the Walk and any storyteller who would take children on a story walk.
Guided walks
Do you have knowledge about nature or the former railway you would like to share? Guided walks give visitors a whole new perspective from their experience of the Parkland Walk. Walks generally range between one and two hours. We keep numbers below twenty so that we don’t completely clog the path up. We can offer up to £60 for our guides.
Charity status and fund raising
The Friends are a voluntary group not a charity. We would welcome the assistance of someone who works specifically in this area and also the area of fundraising to support our activities.
Website management, social media and Mailchimp newsletters
Help us stay up to date with technology. Our site is built using Wordpress, our newsletters are sent out using Mailchimp and we have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to keep up to date. We’d like to keep up with social trends and be able to provide more content. Would you like to become a web or social media master or do you have a gift for writing content? Get in touch if you do.
Conservation professionals
Tree management is extremely important but also extremely expensive. Haringey Council is only able to deal with emergency tree works but there are areas where tree thinning is required to meet the guidelines in the Management Plan. This has to be done by licensed professionals. Are you a professional willing to give one day towards work on the Walk? We would like to hear from you so that we can create a directory of professionals so that we can consider tackling tasks that are outside the ability of amateurs.