River Alyn clean up with the Wild About Mold project (c) Flintshire Leader
With support from the BIG Lottery Fund and HDH Wills Charitable Trust, the Wildlife Trust are running a series of workshops, guided walks and volunteer days in and around Mold – which are open to anyone and everyone, regardless of where you live!
Sophie, a student at the University of Liverpool working towards a degree in Environmental Science, recently spent a week with us to gain some work experience – these are her words:
I have spent the week focused mainly on the Wild About Mold project, which has seen me learn a new skill – scything! Volunteers and I have been scything an area at County Hall in Mold (the main base for Flintshire County Council) due to its status as a Coronation Meadow.
Scything is important in a meadow as it can help prevent over-domination of certain grass species while also creating some shorter areas where grassland wildflowers and lower-growing plants can get enough sunlight to flourish.
The cut grass is removed from the area to avoid additional nutrients returning to the soil which would encourage competitive dominating grass species to grow. This allows less-dominant species the chance to compete, and creates an area of rich plant diversity. The plant cuttings can then be placed onto compost or even made into hay bales should the weather allow!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my week volunteering with the Wildlife Trust. It has enabled me to gain numerous new skills while also meeting other volunteers who share an interest in supporting the wildlife in our community.
Scything with Wild About Mold project
