Himalayan Balsam: Group pulling day

Himalayan Balsam: Group pulling day

Saturday 19th June 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Meet at Meerbrook Village Hall, Meerbrook, Staffordshire, ST13 8SL

Maximum number 20

Volunteers will be identifying Himalayan balsam plants and pulling them out from the base to help control this invasive non-native species.

Schedule:

Morning: Searching through rushes and bramble using (gloved) hands, shears and litter pickers to remove the plant from Oxhay Field.

Lunch in the scenic Oxhay Field.

Afternoon: Split into groups to search other areas of Meerbrook.

Please bring clean wellies (essential to stop the spread of water borne diseases) gloves, lunch and drinks, water proof clothing, thick/ snag proof clothing (balsam frequently grows near nettles and brambles), hi vis jacket if you have it. Apologies no toilets are available in this location, the closest are available at Severn Trent Visitor Centre at Tittesworth Reservoir.

Skills needed:

All skill levels welcome.

Willingness to walk along stream beds or ditches,  climb fences (with landowners permission), and boldly go anywhere balsam might hide.

For the afternoon it would be useful to have some volunteers who can map read, assess risk, record location of balsam found especially if unable to remove the balsam.

This event is part of the SWPLP Upstream Thinking project and is supported by a Water Environment Grant.

For any questions contact:

Helen Betts

Vocational Training Officer

07970 237 094

Helen.Betts@peakdistrict.gov.uk

To sign up for this activity please register as a volunteer through our volunteer portal by clicking here.