Welcome
Click on our Christmas Tree to enlarge it!
Our work has continued through 2020…..
Our EuCAN groups have been active during the spring and summer fulfilling as many of their tasks as possible within the constraints of the Covid 19 guidelines. Have a look at these albums of photos showing a selection of our activities.
The EuCAN Dorset Midweek Volunteers
Dorset Midweek Volunteers Hedgelaying course. Click on photos to enlarge.
Scrubcutting on Hogcliff National Nature reserve
To see more photos of the EuCAN DMV group at work click on this link. And for more info click here.
The EuCAN Somerset Volunteers
Clearing the biomass at Combe Hill, nr Street. What a view! Photo: Malcolm Halfacre
and West Coker fen for the Somerset Wildlife Trust, September 2020. click to enlarge.
Coppicing the overstood hazel hedge on the western boundary at West Coker Fen
Stacking peasticks, bean poles and cordwood. Photos: Malcolm Halfacre.
Our other work using volunteers and contractors:
Haymaking on the Terrace Meadow SNCI summer 2020. Click on photos to enlarge.
Poundbury grass cutting Nov and Dec 2020 – we are helping to create a wildlife-rich grassland on this slope.
logsplitting and stacking November 2020 – we have made a good profit on our logging business this year and last – to spend on our other conservation activities.
Background to EuCAN EuCAN originated in 2007 as a scheme to take volunteers to different corners of Europe to carry out habitat management work alongside our European partners. These visits were generously funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme but the grants have come to an end. However, we are still keen to maintain our contacts in Europe and are able to arrange a number of study tours and placements each year (though sadly these are no longer free!).
Have a look at our Flickr site to get an idea of the range of activities we have been involved with!
Cerne Valley group lunch break with bacon butties November 2017
Through the year: habitat management contracts in Dorset and Somerset – we are looking for volunteers, trainees and sub-contractors. Summer is generally a quieter time for contracts but there are opportunities throughout the year to get involved in scrub cutting, haymaking, hedgelaying, dry-stone walling, Himalayan Balsam removal, ragwort pulling and cutting, and ongoing habitat management work for Butterfly Conservation, Natural England and other landowners. Click here for more info.
strimming Himalayan Balsam on the slopes of the Beaminster Tunnel
Our regular Volunteer groups are always on the look-out for new members - join in, it’s great fun, costs nothing and you will learn new skills, visit lovely places, get healthy exercise and fresh air – and at the same time contribute to the improvement of some of our best wildlife habitats.
The EuCAN Mid-week Volunteers meet every Wednesday for a variety of different tasks, mainly in south Dorset. Minibus transport is provided from Weymouth and Dorchester.Contact the group leader, Dave Searle, via this link to our website: http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/dorset/dorset-mid-week-group/
The EuCAN Somerset Volunteers generally meet every Tuesday .Based in south Somerset, the group carries out tasks on a great range of sites in Somerset and north and west Dorset. http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/somerset/somerset-eucan-volunteers/ . In addition to practical work, we also have a programme of walks and visits planned for the summer.
The Milverton Conservation Volunteers meet monthly and are based in the west Somerset area. See http://www.eucan.org.uk/uk/somerset/milverton-local-volunteers/
Cerne Valley Community Landscape Project This project is now in its eighth year, and are always on the look out for more volunteers.
Cerne Valley Community Landscape Project volunteers working at Yelcombe, Cerne Abbas.
We created a glade in the woods at Nether Cerne to improve the habitat for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly