The Coombe Bissett Project with Heritage Lottery Fund is now officially underway! I’m Melissa Spiers, Project Officer at Coombe Bissett Down nature reserve. I’ll be running the community engagement events on the reserve over the next three years. So far we’ve been laying the ground work for the season to come.

In February four wonderful volunteers turned up to join us clearing paths in our education area and making way for new gates. This involved battling a lot of blackthorn and bramble but we were victorious in our efforts to make the paths safer.

The next volunteering session took place this month and was led by Matt. It involved clearing up our mess! Volunteers helped us burn all the brash we’d removed (which was quite a lot!). We’re looking to set up regular sessions going forwards and it would be great to hear from anyone interested in attending.

Since we have acquired former arable land we need to make sure it’s suitable for the chalk species we want to colonise it. Chalk species are adapted to more impoverished conditions and with too many nutrients will be rapidly outcompeted by other faster growing species like nettle.

The new field has been tested to check if it is chemically suited to the growth of chalk grassland species and results were positive. We’ve got one more crop to plant to remove even more nutrients from the soil. This will give the seeds we spread the best chance possible!

Local schools and community groups will be joining us in collecting this seed from other areas of the reserve. Part of my role has involved making contact with these groups and building our ‘Friends of Coombe Bissett’ group. This group offers support and valuable feedback as well as getting first look at training opportunities and promoting the reserve. Any interested party can become a member; we have 6 annual meetings to discuss progress and what the Friends can help with in the future.