Norfolk Conservation Corps - More Information

The History of the Corps: The Story So Far, Volume 1
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Rhododendron is also very difficult to treat with chemicals. The first area which we cleared at Winterton Dunes, in 1990 and 1991, was treated successfully, but that was because it was treated by a member of the Norfolk Conservation Corps who is an expert on conservation management techniques, and was treated by hand, i.e. a hand holding a paint-brush. For the most part, the rhododendron has been treated by professionals, using spraying equipment, and the treatment has, consequently, not been very effective.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, we have cleared a huge amount of rhododendron from the Winterton Dunes National Nature Reserve, doing it the very best way, i.e. with axes, billhooks, and bowsaws. This is the only efficient way to deal with established rhododendron, and we have dealt efficiently with large areas of it, and some excellent results have been seen, including considerable reinstatement of heather. (There have also been nightjars nesting on areas which we have reinstated, and the rare natterjacks have been heard, in the spring, singing merrily, presumably because of what we have done for them.)

Unfortunately, there are still the millions of seeds laying there, waiting for us to expose them to the sunshine, and then up comes the new rhododendron. Fortunately, Mr. Cawley is slightly more intelligent than rhododendron, and, on more recent visits, he has had us sneaking up on the new rhododendron and pulling it out of the ground, which it doesn't like at all.

Ideally, cleared areas should have the toxic, seed-filled humus layer removed and all herbicide treatment should be done by experts, not by professionals. Unfortunately, in nature conservation, the absolute ideal is rarely achieved, so Winterton Dunes has to make do with the next best thing to ideal, the Norfolk Conservation Corps.

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