At the start of 2023, we launched a new Youth Rangers of the Fens group covering the Great Fen and Peterborough. Through joining Youth Rangers, young people aged 11 to 17 can make a positive difference to their local environment by taking part in practical conservation activities. They can also discover the wildlife on their doorstep through helping with surveys. It is a great way to spend time outdoors with new friends!

For our first session in January, we visited Dogsthorpe Star Pit in Peterborough. These former clay pits are now a haven for invertebrate and bird life. It was great to hear from the site’s Volunteer Warden about the history of the site and the fantastic array of wildlife found there. The Youth Rangers then got stuck in with cutting back encroaching scrub (primarily blackthorn) with a spot of bird watching whilst enjoying a hot chocolate. The group learnt to safely use tools such as loppers, bow saws and secateurs to effectively cut back and remove young bushes and saplings. If left, these may damage a much rarer habitat through shading and changing soil conditions. Hard but very worthwhile work! 

We welcomed spring with two sessions at the Great Fen. In March the group cut and transplanted willow along the Dragonfly Trail at New Decoy. Despite the damp weather on the day, it was very rewarding to see the results just a few weeks later with the transplanted willow already producing leaves. The willows were originally planted along this path to screen the nearby open fields and encourage birds to fly higher than the adjacent main road. It's great that the team has played a role in continuing this important safety feature for our wildlife. 

Our next session in April provided the Youth Rangers with a chance to meet Paul Trevor, a Senior Reserves Officer for the Great Fen. The group spoke to Paul about career opportunities within conservation and found out about our ongoing work in the Great Fen, including our paludiculture trials. They learnt that paludiculture, or wet farming, means to grow plants on rewetted peat and that we're trying to discover which crops grow successfully in these conditions. To help with the movement of water for the different crops on site, the group spent the morning digging new channels in the paludiculture beds. We had important discussions about the value of peatlands to carbon storage and climate change and it's brilliant that they've had the opportunity to participate in this exciting project. 

As we moved further into summer, the Youth Rangers began helping with surveys including at Thorpe Wood in Peterborough. In June, the group were joined by Sian Williams, a Senior Monitoring and Research Officer, to carry out a rapid grassland assessment. This provided a great opportunity to explore the site, develop botanical ID skills and provide valuable data for the management of the woods. They learned to use quadrats, hand lenses and keys to identify wildflowers, how to measure trees to assess age and about the layers of a woodland - ground flora, understorey, sub-canopy and canopy. These are skills we hope the young people can keep practicing day to day as they visit other woodlands and wild spaces around them. 

To kick off the summer holidays, we joined Natural England Reserve Manager, Tristan Colaco, at Woodwalton Fen to help with a water vole survey. A couple of weeks prior, I had been on site with Tristan laying log slices at points along the bank, hoping that the voles would get used to using these as feeding platforms. When we returned, we battled back through the reeds to retrieve these and to check these for droppings and food remains. Tristan explained that a clear indicator is vegetation that's been nibbled at a 45degree angle. We were also on the lookout for burrows and footprints. We were so pleased to discover droppings at many survey points, suggesting a healthy water vole population. These included new locations not seen at the last survey in 2016. This is important as their burrowing and feeding activities play such a vital role in encouraging biodiversity along the waterways. Once we had finished, we enjoyed a rainy walk around the wonderful national nature reserve to see what other species we could find, and we enjoyed listening to the bird song all around us.

I've absolutely loved our first few months and have been impressed by the hard work and curiosity everyone has shown. If you are or know of a young person who'd like to try out varied wildlife experiences like this, and learn new skills, for free, the Youth Rangers of the Fens is always open to new members!

We meet regularly throughout the year at reserves in the Great Fen and Peterborough. Sessions are designed for young people to attend independently. We meet on weekends during term-time and during the week in the holidays/half-terms. I hope to see many new faces in future!

For more information, please email laura.allen@wildlifebcn.org