Curlews and Conservation: At Dovestones with Kate Hanley

A SERIES of weekly ecoEvents online is offering an informative and helpful insight for everyone interested in sustaining and improving the local environment.

The first session, hosted by Saddleworth Hydro on Zoom, saw Kate Hanley, Site Manager for the RSPB at Dovestone Reservoir in Greenfield, talk about the wildlife as well as the work of the volunteers.

In the twelve years Kate has been working at Dovestones, she has seen some remarkable changes. Wildflowers and bushes are growing where just sheep once grazed, pools have formed in the bogs, frogs are happily breeding and birdlife is (mostly) flourishing.

Kate gave a fascinating and uplifting talk about her work for RSPB, tenants of United Utilities who are the owners of 4,000 hectares of the land.

Working in partnership with them and other groups, the team’s aim is not just to beautify but to make a functional landscape.

Among other examples of their success, she praised the tireless volunteers who plant sphagnum moss needed to retain water and prevent peat runoff. Then, not only do insects on which birds feed return, but also the bogs prevent the spread of moorland fires.

It was a really positive demonstration of conservation work with clear benefits for everyone and everything living in the area. Upcoming ecoEvents are:

  • July 21: Warm Homes
  • July 28: Cycling in Saddleworth

To book for any event email ecoevents@saddleworthhydro.co.uk

One Reply to “Curlews and Conservation: At Dovestones with Kate Hanley”

  1. I’m surprised there are any birds left at Dovestone Reservoir after the mishandling of the number of visitors by the RSPB and United Utilities.

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