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10 Jan 2024

Behind the scenes in winter: Threave Nature Reserve

Behind the scenes at Threave Nature Reserve

Transcript

1 speaker: Dave Thompson


I'm Dave Thompson, Head Ranger for the National Trust for Scotland, based here at Threave Garden & Nature Reserve.
It's winter time, but it's the unseen work really that we're doing at this time of year.
We do more maintenance and a bit more habitat work.
Right now, we're focusing on tree planting on the Threave Landscape Restoration Project, which is here on Threave Nature Reserve.
We've got in about 4,000 trees so far this planting season.
And then we've got the other day-to-day stuff like footpath maintenance, drystone dyking, fence maintenance, any tree work ... the list is endless.
It's great though.


Working with volunteers is brilliant.
It's something I've always loved doing and we love it, especially that we get local people coming out and working on the reserve, or any of our other properties.
I just love that feeling that we've got that direct link with the community.
It's amazing to have that; it's great that they're doing their bit, and it all adds to the legacy of what we're doing in the Trust as a whole.
All the work that we do throughout the winter -- it all ties into what we're doing Trust-wide throughout the whole of the country.
We still want people to come out and enjoy our properties.
People getting out at this time of year is absolutely beneficial to your well-being.


As a charity, we're really thankful for all the support, donations and memberships, volunteering that you do for us.
The work we're carrying out at Threave Nature Reserve would not be possible without funders like HSBC UK.
It's absolutely brilliant that we're able to do all the work that we do, so thank you very much for your support.

Enjoy the second in our series of winter films that give a snapshot of the work that goes on at our places over winter.

Winter is a wonderful time of year to catch up on some maintenance tasks and strengthen our links with the local community. Head Ranger Dave Thompson shares why he is so grateful to the team of volunteers that are making such a difference at Threave Nature Reserve.

We are enormously grateful to our supporters for making this work possible – thank you!

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Please note that permission for drone flying was granted by the National Trust for Scotland. Please contact filming@nts.org.uk for recreational and commercial drone filming enquiries.

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