In the early months of the year, our volunteers kicked off 2026 with huge efforts towards scrub clearance, coppicing and hedge laying. 

On our nature reserves in the East of the county, volunteers have been making fantastic progress coppicing hazel at Harholt plantation with plans to return in the spring and create a dead hedge to protect new growth from deer grazing. At Long Plantation, 4 volunteer days were spent burning arisings from this season's scrub clearance, which will continue into March due to the large volume of materials. Thanks to a new on-the-ground fire site, we should be able to move through materials at an even faster rate, freeing up time to cut and tree-pop scrub along the fence line ready for repairs ahead of conservation grazing animals being brought on site in the spring. 

Following on from the ride widening work we carried out in December at Graeme Hendry Wood, we have begun thinning a large block of sycamore that can be found at the western end of the now widened ride. This work should encourage more biodiverse ground flora, including native tree species, to take hold and flourish in this area. Over at Hill Park, excellent progress has been made on scrub clearance in the field known as 10 Acre. This follows on from the efforts we made in the winter of 2024-25. Some sessions have been booked in for the end of February and start of March to prepare another hedgerow for hedge laying, so do keep an eye out for these sessions as they proved very popular last year!

Last but not least for the East, we had our first ever scrub clearance session at Elm Farm in one of the chalk grassland compartments at the end of January with a team of 5 working to punch holes through the hillside vegetation to open the area up ready for a vast array of chalk grassland flora to take hold. 

In our Central sites, our volunteers have been busy helping staff with coppicing, deer fencing, invasive species removal, holly thinning and scrub clearance. Many hours have been spent at The Forest, Howell Hill, Wallis Wood, Pewley Meadows, Priest Hill and Cucknell's Wood. 

At Norbury Park on 5th February, staff alongside volunteer group leaders at Norbury Park Conservation Group led a very successful guided walk, sharing the beautiful site, discussing its history and highlighting habitat management and volunteering efforts with members of the Trust.

A group of experienced volunteers have also been supporting winter pruning works at Puck's Oak Community Orchard and Barn, proving to be productive and enjoyable days sharing technical skills and knowledge. Numerous members of staff came along to learn the ropes too!

On our nature reserves in the West of the county, lots of effort has been put into pine and birch clearance on our heathlands. 5 volunteer sessions of pine clearance totalling 248 volunteer hours were held at Elstead Common. Some areas were very dense and others had sparser growth, so it vas a varied and challenging process. Approximately 7 hectares is now clear of pine across the Common as a result. 

Over at Brentmoor Heath, 3 sessions spanning 195 volunteer hours were held to remove pine encroaching on the Heath Tiger Beetle scrapes and open up the butterfly transect route. The fire break has also been mown along the Pirbright fence line by the grazing team. Similarly, at Chobham Common a huge section of the fire break area has been cleared of pine and birch. All birch has been popped out, with approximately 0.28 hectares cleared over 4 volunteer sessions, totalling 336 volunteer hours. An additional 3 sessions were spent clearing pine at Chobham Common's Langshot Bog, which is close to one of the best and most extensive peat bogs in Surrey.

Whitmoor Common benefited from two winter sessions clearing approximately 2.15 hectares of scrub in this area. At Bagmoor Common we returned to the area where we were working before Christmas for two additional sessions. Volunteers have been removing the last clump of birch and an owl box is consequently being moved back to the original Pine tree as planned, with the area now open enough to hopefully entice the owl into its nice new home. All birch which couldn't be removed through tree popping has been cut and treated. 

The action doesn't stop beyond our reserves, and our Nature-based Solutions (NBS) team have been working in partnership with landowners and land managers across Surrey (and beyond) to deliver a range of volunteer tasks.

In mid-January, around 30 volunteers (a mix of SWT and Hampton Estate volunteers) came together to lay a stretch of relatively young hedgerow that borders the edge of the Hampton Estate’s hops field. Roughly 150m of hedge was laid on the day by a mix of experienced and beginner hedgelayers, and laying the hedge will help to keep it healthy and thriving for years to come.

In late January, the NBS team joined staff and volunteers from the South Downs National Park and the Lynchmere Society to support a task removing rhododendron from a woodland on Stanley Common. While this site falls outside of Surrey, this session was run as a partnership day under the Heathland Connections project. Removing the rhododendron from this heathy pine woodland helps to promote ground flora diversity and prevent this invasive species from spreading.

During February, two volunteer hedge planting sessions also took place - one at a farm in Bramley with a mix of around 20 SWT and corporate volunteers, and the other at a farm in Lingfield with SWT volunteers working in partnership with other local groups. Both of these tasks are contributing to larger-scale projects in those areas.

Thank you so much to all our volunteers across the county for all their hard work and dedication as we entered the New Year. We look forward to making more impact on nature recovery together in the spring and summer months!