Embrace Environment

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Embrace Woodlands! project in Dulwich Upper Wood

This one year Heritage Lottery funded, Embrace Cooperation Ltd project (started September 2009) and was run in partnership with Trust for Urban Ecology (TRUE).

Heritage Lottery Fund Website: http://www.hlf.org.uk/english

Embrace Cooperation Ltd Website: http://www.myembrace.org

Embrace Environment Blog: http://embraceenvironment.wordpress.com/

TRUE Website: http://www.urbanecology.org.uk/index.html

The project focused on traditional woodland crafts, environmental conservation, increase awareness of, and encourage participants to maintain and preserve the Dulwich Upper Wood (London) nature reserve site for future generations. These traditional woodland crafts have been developed over many years and the local native wildlife has also adapted slowly over time. As the wildlife benefits from these practical crafts they have become part of the site management.

The following woodland crafts and environmental conservation techniques where covered by the project:

* Wildlife Surveys / Walks
* Small Tree Felling / Coppicing
* Hedge Laying
* Dead Hedge Creation And Maintenance
* Traditional Wooden Fencing
* Glade Maintenance
* Wildlife Pond Maintenance
* Making Bird And Bat Boxes

All these techniques are traditional, sometimes ancient methods of conservation and it aims to encourage wildlife and native plants to thrive.

Project Films

Four project films where created with oral history film interviews being organised for our history film. The interviews where about woodland conservation techniques and the site history. With wildlife experts and local community members being interviewed by project volunteers. Also project practical conservation events where filmed to show the techniques involved in management of the site and woodland crafts.









Site History

The present day shape and composition of Dulwich Upper Wood can be traced back to the Great North Wood (12th to 15th century) and the rapid land use changes in the Crystal Palace area since the mid 1800s. Within the wood lies two old woodland boundaries – a line of ancient coppiced and pollarded trees and a ditch – marking subdivisions of the Great North Wood.
In 1981 the Dulwich Society, together with the GLC and the London Borough of Southwark arranged for the Trust for Urban Ecology (then the Ecological Parks Trust) to manage the wood as a nature park. Since 1988 a number of improvements have been made to the site to enhance wildlife value, improve educational facilities and disabled access.

Site Wildlife

The site has stag beetles which is a globally threatened species, protected under the Wildlife and CountrysideAct 1981 (as amended), and listed as a priority species in the London Biodiversity Action Plan.The site has a small fragment of ancient oak woodland, surrounded by secondary woodland of oak, sycamore, lime and ash with a good variety of other trees and shrubs. Ground flora in the ancient part includes wood anemone, bluebell and yellow pimpernel. A good selection of breeding birds are present, and some interesting migrants have also been recorded. Fungi are particularly well recorded, with over 250 species noted.

Local community groups & schools

On the project we worked closely with local community groups and schools, including developing tailor made events / sessions for community group members & school students.

Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10568

2nd Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10600

3rd Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter now available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10623

4th Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10609

5th Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10637

6th Embrace Woodlands! Newsletter available for download: http://www.ecomotion.org.uk/?id=10693

Project Manager John Cannell being interviewed on Generation Radio about Embrace Woodlands! project
http://www.upload-mp3.com/files/149352_dv35x/John%20Cannell%20Interview%20%20%20FM.mp3]

Nature Conservation project (Embrace The Wild!)
in Abbey Wood

Embrace Cooperation Ltd (registered not for profit company) is pleased to announce a new community nature conservation project (Embrace the Wild!) based in Abbey Wood and starting in October 2010. This 3 month project has been awarded £ 7,875 by Big Lottery Community Wildlife grant to run nature conservation activities in Lesnes Abbey Wood. Attached is the project poster.

The project will involve 8 FREE public (open to everyone) & 6 tailor-made (for young people) events. The following public events have been scheduled on the project.



Events open to the public

1pm to 4pm Saturday 30th October 2010 Nature Photography Walk

1pm to 4pm Saturday 6th November 2010 Glade Clearing

1pm to 4pm Saturday 13th November 2010 Fungi ID Walk

1pm to 4pm Friday 26th November 2010 Nature Photography Walk

1pm to 4pm Saturday 4th December 2010 Tree Coppicing

1pm to 4pm Saturday 18th December 2010 Traditional Wooden Fence Making

1pm to 4pm Saturday 15th January 2011 Traditional Wooden Fence Repair

1pm to 4pm Saturday 29th January 2011 Glade Clearing

The project will also run 6 FREE tailor-made events for young people will be run with local youth organizations &/or schools and will be run at suitable times/dates for the participating groups. Embrace is interested to hear from local Bexley and Greenwich schools and youth organizations regarding organizing tailor made events in Lesnes Abbey Wood for them.

Lost Stories of Ruskin Park
in Ruskin Park, Lambeth, London This year project will increase awareness of the historic and natural heritage of Ruskin Park and the local area surrounding the park. Historic heritage research techniques will be taught in order to preserve the heritage of Ruskin Park for future generations. In the past 3 years, Embrace ran 2 very successful Heritage Lottery projects focusing on the natural heritage of the respective sites.

Differences from previous Embrace Cooperation Ltd Heritage Lottery projects:

With this new project, our main focus will be the historic heritage with a much lighter focus on natural heritage.

The project will concentrate on researching historical facts and designing educational outputs (booklet, film, podcast, time capsule & park sign) for future & present generations.

We will also offer new workshops based on poetry writing to connect past and present around the writings of John Ruskin.

We will be presenting the researched heritage information and other project outcomes in new exciting ways to help local communities engage with their local heritage.

Heritage skills training for project participants/volunteers: Archival research skills to research documents about the park’s history will be taught by Lambeth Archive staff.

Participants will also be sent on training to gain skills to conduct oral history interviews. Development of project book, podcast and film: The information and interviews collected through applying these heritage research and interviewing skills will be used to create a project booklet, podcast and documentary film. These will contain historic and natural heritage information about Ruskin Park and the surrounding area. The project booklet and film will also be put into a time capsule (provided by Lambeth Council) with other material collected from local community groups and placed in Ruskin Park for future generations to find. By doing these activities we are linking the past, present and future of Ruskin Park and our target beneficiaries (young people, BME, local communities) get to explore the history, making it relevant to the present using modern media.

Increasing awareness of heritage significance of John Ruskin: This will be done through researching facts and analysing his historical role with an emphasis on a “Message for the Now”. We also will develop an Information Sign about John Ruskin that will be placed in Ruskin Park.

Activities to increase local communities awareness of the heritage of the park:
Awareness of the historic and natural heritage of Ruskin Park will be increased in the local communities through free public guided walks, a time capsule, workshops and information stalls at local events. Awareness of how to protect the parks natural heritage will be increased through free public practical nature conservation workshops. We will also raise awareness of the park’s heritage through organizing tailor made events for local community groups and schools.
The project will include:
Tailor made events for community groups & schools
Poetry writing workshops
Guided historic heritage walks
History research at local Archives / Libraries
Visit to Tate Britain
Photography walks
Guided nature walks & surveys
Practical nature conservation events
Creation of project film & pod cast
Oral history interviews
Project booklet about Ruskin Park
Create of park information sign about John Ruskin
Creation of a time capsule
Final exhibition