Sounds a bit extreme!!
Relax, its all in the name of conservation!!
​Our first Friends of Nevis Conservation Work Party of the spring got under way today, focusing on bracken control around our planted trees in the 'Future Forests exclosures at Polldubh, aka 'bracken bashing'. The bracken fronds are young and pliable at this time of year which means they can often be removed by hand, without tools. Holly and Patrick, who were out volunteering in the Glen today show how its done, below.

What about the beating up?? Well a percentage of the trees planted in the exclosures last season will not have survived. Sadly that's a fact of life. Beating Up refers to replacement planting for these trees.
If you fancy a bit of beating up and bashing then book up for our next conservation work party on Saturday 1st of June when we will be working through the remaining exclosures in the Glen.
(You don't need to bring you boxing gloves.....)

Leading Lichenologist Andy Acton lead a very popular lichens workshop, with an introductory indoor session followed by a field trip to Glen Loy to look at some  'Atlantic rainforest' lichens (above) on oak,  hazel and birch and also some rarer species on the veteran scots pine at Puiteachan. 
The following weekend expert Bryologist Gordon Rothero ran another popular and fully booked workshop, this time looking at mosses and liverworts in Glen Nevis (below). This included a search in Samuels cave for a rare moss species, Schistostega pennata aka goblin gold due to its glowing appearance when lit up. No goblin gold was found but the cave proved to be a dry refuge for lunch  after a fairly 'driech' morning.

The annual Friends of Nevis Spring Litter Pick, held at the end of April, had better luck with the weather. Over 20 Friends of Nevis regulars and a number of new 'friends' did a sterling job clearing litter throughout the glen. A big thanks to all who turned out and in particular Joy, Paul, Fiona and Hughie who organised the day.

As always check out our events page for details of upcoming work-parties and workshops.
Sadly, Conservation Officer Rowan Doff left NLP at the end of April. For the rest of the summer the conservation work parties will be led mostly by NLP Volunteer Coordinator Rory Stewart and also NLP Footpath Officer Dougie Sinclair.
Conservation tasks for the spring and summer will focus on bracken removal, beat up planting in existing exclosures, litter removal and tidying up around the Lower falls car park, some remedial work in an established 30 year old exclosure on the south side of the glen. 

Fresh bracken growth in the glen