Reserve Manager Oliver Proudfoot tells us what it is like working on a nature reserve from home during lock down.
We have all had to adjust to a new way of life recently, and spending the majority of each day at home has made me realise how lucky I am to be able to experience the outdoors on a day to day basis within my normal work routine. Still in my first year in this role, I was looking forward to seeing a full year cycle of the reserves and how they gradually wake up with the signs of spring. I have also missed the camaraderie of working in a group and seeing practical tasks from start to finish.
We are fortunate enough however, to still be working, and there is useful work for us to be doing behind the scenes from home. For example, there are some projects that have been on my wish list, but have been held back due to the often busy and time critical nature of management on our sites. Now, with all of this desk based work at home, I have been working on creating maps with GIS (Geographical Information Systems) software. This is something that I had learnt during my studies and it’s been enjoyable to refresh my memory of using it. We have a range of maps and data sets that had been produced, some dating back to 2006. With many changes to our reserves since then, they are in need of updating. When we return to a more normal routine, we can use GPS devices to record our management work, such as woodland structure, invasive species coverage, or monitoring ash die back, feed it into this software and see these changes from year to year.
I was happy to find that Wickes are still delivering and I’ve been finding other projects at home to keep busy on the weekends, such as putting a roof over an area of my yard to create a log shelter/ greenhouse. I’m just hoping that I don’t run out of ideas too soon.
Home improvements
It’s been great to see over social media the group of passionate volunteers and members of the public that live nearby to our reserves, sharing images and keeping those of us at home in the loop with updates during this time, and I look forward to returning there in the near future.