GWT’s Wild Traineeship: launching careers into land management

GWT’s Wild Traineeship: launching careers into land management

Rob Lacey

An insight into the Traineeship so far with Jess.

For many people aspiring to work in land management, getting the required experience can be challenging, especially if you aren’t from a land management background. Even if you are, land management for conservation purposes is different to other types of land management and therefore requires a different perspective. 

There can also be socioeconomic challenges, as the best way to get experience is to volunteer. Not everyone may be able to afford to do this without financial support, which this Traineeship offers. 

The Wild Traineeship aims to remove barriers preventing access to the sector, and equip trainees with the skills and knowledge they need to get their first job in land management.

This blog is my insight into the traineeship so far, since its beginning in September 2021. I’ll be talking about what we have got up to from the perspective of a current Trainee.  

 

Felling trees at Stenders Quarry

GWT (C) Felling trees at Stenders Quarry, increasing open space to achieve conservation grazing.

The teams

There are a total of eight Wild Trainees split across two teams, east and west of the River Severn. 

On the west team, myself, Andrew, Ella, and Amy, work regularly with Kevin, Land Manager West, and Tom, Land Management Officer. We also work with other members of the Land Management Team, external volunteer groups such as the Dean Green Team (DGT), independently as a team of Trainees, and occasionally the east and west join forces to work on a task together. 

Hedgerow management at Clarke's Pool Meadow

GWT (C) From left to right - Tom, Andrew, Amy, Ella, and Jess. Managing hedgerows at Clarke's Pool Meadows. 

A typical day

We meet at our car parking spot at 9am where we switch over to our very own Trainee van. We then go to the workshop, which involves driving off road down a quarry track which is really fun. We're briefed on the tasks for the day, go through a risk assessment for the tasks and sites, decide what tools we need then load them into the van and head off. Some are just down the road and others can be about an hour away, but we enjoy getting time to chat and take in the scenery on the way. 

We have regular breaks and snacks throughout the day to keep energy reserves topped up as the work is physically demanding. When we have bonfires, I warm up my soup in the fire so I can have hot food on a cold winter's day to keep me going. This caught on with the other trainees and led to a soup revolution! 

When we’re finished for the day we pack up, leave the site tidy and safe and head back to the workshop. After we've finished maintaining and putting away the tools we back up the quarry track, usually getting back to our cars by 5pm. 

A Whatsapp group is used to communicate what we're doing next so we can come prepared each day. We also use it to share pictures from the day and extracurricular information or events we find interesting.

West Workshop

GWT (C) Learning to hitch, tow, reverse, and unhitch the livestock trailer at the West Team workshop.

Lancaut River Wye

The habitats

In the Forest of Dean, the habitats we work with are mainly different types of woodland, ranging from ancient, natural, semi-natural and plantation. We also work with heathlands, wetlands, grasslands and some freshwater environments.
My favourite is the large ancient woodlands on the banks of the River Wye at Lancaut. I love seeing all the ‘maiden’ trees which exude such character and mystery. 

Surveying for water voles at Greystones

GWT (C) The West and East Teams surveying for water voles at Greystones Farm.

The species 

My most recent and possibly most exciting nature spot has been a snipe which I saw while Kevin was taking us on a tour of a lovely bit of heathland on Edgehills Bog. I’d never seen one before and it surprised me when it flew out of the undergrowth.
We've also surveyed for water voles and dormice. Although we haven’t seen them yet, we do know the signs that indicate they are present which increases our chances of seeing one!
We’ve seen impressive badger sets, families of boar roaming the forest, and a variety of shield bugs and ladybugs. My favourite things to spot are rare plants, so I’ve been thrilled to find water-crowfoot and spurge laurel while out on reserves.

Felling at Gwen and Vera's

GWT (C) Amy and Ella felling cherry trees at Gwen and Vera's Fields, allowing the daffodils to thrive.

The tasks

The type of work we do depends on the time of year. Since the start of the traineeship we have been completing winter tasks, such as cutting and burning, tree felling and thinning, birch clearance and treatment. These tasks make way for the conservation grazing herds of Highland cattle, Exmoor ponies, and sheep to work their magic. 

We’ve also learned river restoration techniques as a joint task with the east team.

Highland cattle

A few of our conservation grazing Highland cattle - always very curious!

Please do remember to give them 10m space if you do see them while you're out and about.

Faggoting

GWT (C) Faggoting to reduce bank erosion and encourage the deposition of sediment. 

Volunteers 

Every other Tuesday the DGT joins us to complete a task. They're a friendly and passionate bunch with lots of experience which they're more than happy to share with us. Most of them have been part of the team for many years so they have really unique insights into the progress that has been made over time on each reserve. 

One of the highlights was when we all went and got fish and chips for lunch, and harvested our own Christmas Trees to celebrate the last task before Christmas!

 

Deen Green Team at Woorgreens

GWT (C) The Dean Green Team helping us with heathland restoration at Woorgreens. 

We've already learned so much in such a short space of time. The list of skills we can add to our CV's gets longer every day, bringing us closer to our dream jobs!

The best part is we have so much fun as a team and get to see some of the most beautiful green spaces and wildlife Gloucestershire has to offer.