On Saturday 5th March, we headed up to Selside, in Yorkshire where we spent a day contributing to natural restoration work as part of the partnership project Wild Ingleborough.

Wild Ingleborough offered a true breath of nature, with views stretching from the renowned towering Ingleborough mountain to Pen-y-ghent, sweeping across vast Yorkshire plains and hills. The 1150 hectares conservation area was set up by WWF UK in partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the University of Leeds, the United Bank of Carbon, the Woodland Trust and local communities in order to restore native wilderness. This initiative had been put forward due to the dramatic decrease in wilderness after the intensive use of the land for farming.

Upon arrival, we were joined by Liz Coates, Wild Ingleborough Project Officer, and Project Assistants Abbi Woof & Dwayne Martindale, who facilitated the session. Whilst walking towards our tree planting destination, Dwayne shared some of the rich history of previous Viking settlements on Ingleborough. After a brief introduction and a tree planting demonstration, we then started digging and planted a mixture of bird cherry, alder, downy birch, eared willow, goat willow, and rowan, all native species that enjoy wet ground conditions. Volunteers were more than eager and we ended up planting more than 1700 trees!

We finished the day with a nice walk back to the lodge, with a stunning view of the sun slowly setting. After many thank-yous to the Wild Ingleborough Team, we were back on the coach, content and happy to rest our legs after this fulfilling expedition. To learn more about how to register for our upcoming ECOWild field trips or other events, visit the Green Lancaster website and don’t hesitate to follow us on social media!