Land management update: 2019 was our busiest year yet
In Jan 2019 we completed our Oak Halo project
Our aim has always been to manage our woodland for biodiversity and longevity. Part of our land management plan is to support our oaks to become veteran trees (over 200 years old). Of all the UK’s native trees, oaks offer the biggest and most diverse habitats, with a mature tree able to host hundreds of other species. Creating space ‘halos’ around the larger oaks enables more sunlight to reach the forest floor. This stimulates all kinds of other growth but – crucially for the oaks – helps them branch out lower down, ensuring their long-term stability. We also coppiced some of our hornbeam trees, to help stimulate their growth.
In February we launched our Touchstones project
We weren’t sure whether our participants would relish the outdoors in the rain, mud and cold of February, but we were very pleasantly surprised! We had an amazing group of young people from Wealden Works, every one throwing themselves enthusiastically into a range of activities on the land.
Touchstones is all about building community, combatting isolation and creating a two-way mentoring process between younger and older people. Thanks so much to the group of dedicated elders who took part; as mentors, facilitators and participants.
Together the group helped create a new peace garden at Sacred Earth. We also managed to have a lot of fun – with archery lessons, fire-making classes and outdoor games.
March is when it all kicks off for the wildlife
In March the kingfishers, badger and fox families returned and we started to see migrant birds showing up. And of course we had our annual frog and toad mating frenzy – the noise they make is astonishing!
We started work on a new wildlife corridor; in partnership with permaculture project Rodmell Food Forest. Volunteers helped us plant new hedgerows and manage some of those parts of the site that needed some TLC after the wet and cold weather.
March is also the start of our annual Earth Steward Apprenticeship programme. Twenty-one teenagers braved the cold and wet and started their journey of deep nature immersion, interspersed with lots of games, crafts and skills development.
April is the start of our camp season
April onwards sees the start of our camp season, which runs throughout the spring, summer and autumn. We hosted our Earth Spirit Camp (running again this May, date TBC), we held a nature quest week in June and our regular August community connection camp, run in partnership with Cultivating Curiosity, was a major success.
September is our busiest month of the year
In September we held our Michael Hall School Camp, a five-day programme that develops young people’s social, emotional and natural intelligence. This was our tenth year running school camps and we are really seeing something extraordinary develop. Big thanks to all the team on this one.
We held a biochar workshop in September. Later in the autumn we helped run a biodynamic day at Rodmell Food Forest and hosted our North Star camp, which supports renewal of the each individual’s creative path in life. This, along with the Earth Spirit camp, is part of our Weaving Connection, Building Community series.
As the nights draw in, we start our winter dreaming time
Our last activity of the 2019 was a winter sweat lodge with one of our older mentors, Leo Rutherford. Twenty-one people of all ages took part in this traditional Native American ritual, designed to awaken our dreams for the future.
Now we’re into another year, and our 2020 vision is bigger and brighter than ever. It becomes clearer every year that positive change is happening – irrespective of what politicians and the media say or do.
Real change always comes from the ground up. Want to be part of it? Join our CBS and have your say in our future.
Phil Greenwood, Sacred Earth founder and land manager
