Volunteer Ranger Service
Young and old manage their own landscape and nature
Across the South Downs, 400 hundred volunteers now help to conserve the landscape and act as ambassadors for the area, delivering over 5,000 days of work. The Lifescape project has allowed the South Downs Volunteer Ranger Service (VRS) to expand over the last two years, helping many local people reconnect with their landscape.
The South Downs Joint Committee has created 3 community groups to look after local countryside sites, helped by the VRS. It trains and supports volunteers in habitat management and other traditional countryside management skills, including coppicing and hedge laying. In 2007 SDJC is launching a Youth Ranger Scheme for 16-18 year olds to acquire countryside management skills.
The VRS shares and improves its knowledge and expertise with Lifescape partners across Europe. It has welcomed Dutch volunteers to the South Downs and taught them hedge laying skills and has visited Main Apfelhaus orchards near Frankfurt to assist with a project to save the traditional apple trees and ensure future harvests.
Contact: South Downs Joint Committee
Read more:
