Volunteers needed to help maintain Dearne Valley’s verges

A landscape partnership is offering free training for people interested in maintaining road verges in the Dearne Valley.

The Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership (DVLP) is working with Baker Consultants to offer practical conservation training in wildflower sowing and verge management.

A series of conservation training days are being funded by the DVLP and will take place this month as part of the ‘On the Verge’ project. The training days on 12, 13 and 14 March are open to anyone interested in getting involved in the future management of road verges in the Dearne Valley.

Training in bulb planting will take place on Doncaster Road on 12 March and training in seed sowing will take place on 13 March on Lidgett Lane in Barnsley and on 14 March on Manvers Way in Rotherham. Each session will start at 10am.

Roseanna Burton, community officer at the DVLP, said: “We’re really keen to hear from anyone interested in taking part in verge conservation in the Dearne Valley, but particularly local volunteers who perhaps are already part of an existing group or would like to be actively involved with surveying, managing and monitoring plants and wildlife.

“Not only does verge management make neighbourhoods look more attractive, but it helps promote landscape connectivity for important wildlife to safely move across the fragmented landscape and offers refuge.”

The training scheme follows a survey conducted by Baker Consultants which identified 17km of road verges across the Dearne Valley that had the potential to be enhanced by planting, sowing, or changes in the way they are managed.

Baker Consultants and the DVLP have developed a start-up verge management kit for volunteers and the three local authorities to help them manage selected verges.

Jim Longley, ecologist at Baker Consultants, said: “Following our survey of road verges, we’re looking for people who can dedicate a few hours to take part in training but also to ensure the legacy of the project by continuing to work closely with their local authority to look after the verges well into the future.”

Anyone interested in attending a free training day in verge management conservation should contact Jim Longley at Baker Consultants for further details: j.longley@bakerconsultants.co.uk or call 01629 593958. It’s recommended that volunteers wear suitable footwear and clothing.

The post Volunteers needed to help maintain Dearne Valley’s verges appeared first on Barnsley News and Sport.

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