Conservation in Revesby Wood

Every spring for the past 3 years we’ve teamed up with Sutton parks team and other volunteer groups to do one big conservation day in Revesby Wood.

This year we had our biggest turn out yet and were joined by 30+ volunteers from Veolia, Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers, Sutton Tree Wardens, IdVerde and Sutton Council teams.

Butterfly egg hunt

Some volunteers were on the look out for the eggs of the Brown Hairstreak Butterfly. The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive species that flies high among the tree canopies or in thick hedgerows feeding on aphid honey dew. We’re very lucky to have a small consistent population in Revesby Wood.

These butterflies lay their eggs on young blackthorn shoots and their caterpillars look like blackthorn leaves. The eggs are like tiny spots of tippex at the juncture of branches. Keen eyed volunteers identified trees with eggs and marked them so we didn’t cut them down while doing other tasks.

Coppicing blackthorn

Other volunteers worked on thinning the thick stands of blackthorn that line the paths of Revesby Wood. We thin the blackthorn for a number of reasons:

• to provide more young shoots for the butterflies’ next egg cycle. They can sense new growth by the increase in nitrogen
• to allow more light to the woodland floor and encourage more wildflower and other species’ growth
• to give other species of trees, like our mature oaks and ash, some more room to breath
• to make the paths passable for our park users, particularly anyone using a wheelchair or buggy.

Volunteers cleared a record volume of overgrown blackthorn, creating stacks of wood and piles of woodchip for insects and our resident hedgehogs.

Massive litter pick

As a group, we do regular litter picks in Revesby Wood. But as it has such a long history of fly tipping we still frequently come across historical dumps. Add to that, large volumes of rubbish blowing into the dense woodland from the streets, domestic and commercial fly tippers, and there’s always more to find.

This year was no exception, we filled over 47 large bags worth of rubbish and collected numerous tires, broken bikes, electrical goods, furniture and carpets.

There’s still a lot more to get, so we’ll be dedicating one of our spring litter picks to the site. Sign up to our mailing list to hear more.

Huge thanks to our volunteers

Massive thanks to our mega team of incredible volunteers. And a big welcome to the management team from Veolia who joined us in the brambles. As ever, we love working with the Tree Wardens and Nature Conservation Volunteers and are looking forward to next time.

Meantime, we hope everyone is super proud of the amazing job they’ve done in Revesby – and come back soon to see the difference they’ve made for wildlife!