An Unpleasant Incident

I have talked about the ‘woodpiles for wildlife’ that we have been creating in the Nature Area. There are several of them, mainly with large sawn logs from an old cherry tree but made-up to waist height with smaller pieces of dead wood and branches. They haven’t been in position for many months but it was already clear that they were well used by the birds and other smaller animals, and they had a fine collection of fungi, lichens, and mosses. Each had a small hand-made noticeboard on top saying what they were and “please do not disturb”.

Yesterday morning I discovered that almost the whole of one the woodpiles had been stolen and used in a bonfire in the adjacent privately owned copse of ancient trees. There were drinks cans and litter all around the still smouldering ashes and charred remains, and the ground vegetation had been extensively trampled both around the fire and within the reserve. Large stones that surround our new pond had been taken to build the fire, as had numerous large flint stones from the Nature Area and one of our hibernacula.

This was an act of trespass. It was an act of theft. It has resulted in criminal damage and destruction of large areas of wild habitat. Not only was it thoughtless and destructive but the risk of the fire spreading was very high. It has been a very dry couple of months here in Dorset. In the last two weeks there have been at least eight widespread and devastating fires at Canford Heath, Upton Heath, and Moors Valley Nature Reserves with catastrophic outcomes for the inhabiting wildlife, with warnings to the public not to light camp fires or use barbeques. What happened in our Nature Area could have had far reaching consequences if the fire had spread with so much dry material around. It was an act of wanton vandalism and I feel angry and sad. Many people in the village nearby were aware of what was going on but did not at the time inform anyone responsible for this protected area about what was going on. A group of about five young people are likely to have camped there overnight.

It took three Nature Area Volunteers to clear away the mess. Even their activities unavoidably damaged more of the newly emerging spring vegetation. In the UK a Nature Emergency has been declared because numbers of our native species are declining so rapidly. I would have liked to think that young people today were aware of how desperate the situation is, and how threatened are their own futures – the prospect of a very different and diminished world. In Charlton Down we have just this one small space dedicated to increasing our native flora and fauna; one small place where we are trying to protect all wildlife and improve biodiversity. I am not against young people having a good time over the school Easter holidays, but these chose to disregard the very real dangers of lighting a fire, they did it on someone’s private property, and they knowingly and deliberately damaged and destroyed our Nature Area property so that they could have a few hours of fun. It is disheartening to say the least.