North West Chilterns Young People Conservation LAF Project 2019/20

by diana | Feb 12, 2020 |

With one event to go, Chiltern Rangers engaged with 310 young people and 76 adult volunteers who contributed 645 hours of volunteering on 6 sites in the North West Chilterns. We are grateful for the support of Butterfly Conservation, Lindengate for the cowslips, BBOWT, West Wycombe Estate, other local private landowners, Bledlow Ridge School, Hughenden Primary School and Radnage Scouts for helping to make this project so successful.

We worked with pupils to design and improve their school grounds for wildlife and learning and then worked with pupils and staff to start the restoration of their ponds, turn parts of their school fields into meadow and plant trees for example.

Duke of Burgundy Butterfly Sites:

Far Kingdom

Butterfly Conservation were delighted with the impact of the work that we did at Far Kingdom following a summer survey. Eleven Duke of Burgundy butterflies were seen, plus Brimstone, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled skipper, Small Heath, Holly Blue, Green Hairstreak and Small Copper.

21 pupils from Bledlow Ridge School and some adult volunteers from Chiltern Rangers and Butterfly Conservation worked together to continue to enhance Far Kingdom’s site for the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly. The landowners were ‘delighted’ with the work we did.

Cowslip Planting at Deanfield Farm

Thanks to Lindengate who provided 1800 cowslips, the larval foodplant for the Duke of Burgundy, which were planted by volunteers from Bledlow Ridge and Hughenden Primary Schools, Chiltern Rangers and Butterfly Conservation over two days in October. See photo of the beautiful Duke of Burgundy butterfly on the right.

Larger chalk grassland sites:

Our partnership continues with BBOWT at Grangelands with scrub cutting to ensure that the delicate flora continues to thrive and the use of thorny scrub to create natural fences around delicate juniper saplings (a vulnerable amber species).

Radnage Scouts joined us at Buttlers Hangings SSSI at the February half term 2019 for a community session.

In School Sessions:

We introduced pupils from Hughenden Primary School and Bledlow Ridge School to how to redesign their School Grounds for Wildlife. They drew their designs under our guidance and we used their designs as a basis for a habitat development day at each school. All 180 pupils at Bledlow Ridge School worked with us in a very rewarding day, a smaller group of 40 pupils worked with us at Hughenden Primary school braving the elements at their school.