Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, the county’s largest locally based environmental charity, has today hailed the dedication of the staff and volunteers who helped navigate a testing lambing and calving season during lockdown.
The Trust utilises a number of breeds of sheep and cattle to carry out traditional grazing management on its nature reserves across the county and lambing and grazing takes place each year at the Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford, its largest site. Whilst working with livestock is always a challenge, the fact that the team’s busiest time of year coincided with the strictest period of lockdown made the work, even more, testing this year.
Thankfully the dedicated team, which includes a number of experienced volunteers did an amazing job and 7 Lincoln Red calves, 63 Hebridean lambs and 73 Herdwick lambs have been welcomed.
Whilst born at the Idle Valley, an expansive network of wetland and other wildlife habitats alongside the River Idle, the animals will help to graze nature reserves the length and breadth of the county, helping to conserve and restore traditional wildflower meadows, heathlands and other habitats.
Speaking about the efforts of the team, Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said: “Keeping our staff, volunteers and livestock safe and well is always a high priority and this has been especially so during the lockdown. Carrying out the essential task of lambing and calving whilst at the same time managing the risk of COVID-19 was very challenging but the team have done a tremendous job. The effort of the volunteers involved also underlines just how important volunteers are to our success.”
The COVID-19 emergency has also meant finding an alternative team to shear the sheep before they can all resume their grazing duties across Nottinghamshire due to the usual team being unable to travel from New Zealand as they do each spring.
Paul added: “The added difficulty of needing to find a new team of shearers illustrates the global nature of the Covid 19 emergency everyone had been coping with, but once sheared our sheep will be back out on our wonderful nature reserves, helping us create a wilder Nottinghamshire.”
