Without Rangers .........

Many a bag of litter is collected each week from our parks and nature reserves. Of course Walsall Council have dedicated teams employed on such tasks, but generally it is the volunteers and friends groups that collect most of the litter from our local nature reserves. This naturally has to be coordinated and it is one of the many tasks undertaken by the Countryside Rangers. If these posts disappear, there will be no-one to organise these important activities ....

A litter pick at a nature reserve normally only takes a Ranger with a few volunteers (maybe just 2 or 3) to meet on site and spend a couple of hours collecting cans, paper, bags and anything else that is not pleasing to the eye or that might be harmful to wildlife. The Ranger of course is key to this as they have access to the refuse bags, hoops and litter picking tools that are needed for this work. The Rangers also arrange for the bags to be collected from site by their estates department or Streetpride.

How do volunteers get to hear about litter picks and other perhaps more enjoyable pursuits at their local reserve. Below is the '2012 Programme of Events for Merrions Wood' And there is so much more than litter picking - Conservation Days, and Walks through different seasons, all led by a Countryside Ranger.

If Walsall Council dispense with the role of Countryside ranger, the above would rapidly disappear and we could be faced with the kind of problems pictured below ..... 

A quick phone call or tweet to a Ranger at Countryside Services soon resolved this fly tipping ...........  

This of course is but a small part of a Ranger's responsibilities. They are very experienced and gifted people, with a passion for nature and the outdoors. They have expertise in the management and conservation of wildlife reserves, from flora to fauna. They educate our children with walks and talks. 

More on a later blog but for now .........

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