River Warriors is a dynamic and proactive youth group set up encourage local children to take part in green tasks.
The group, run by Tamyn Long, maintains a green corridor along the Abberd Brook. This includes: planting, litter picking, constructing and beautifying bug hotels, and biological recording.
The River Warriors original launched on 1 November 2018 and has gone from strength to strength. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the group has grown to include adults, who assist in taking on some of the more difficult projects, such as making repairs to the boardwalk along the spring-fed pond and in the creation of the log circle and robust bug hotels further up the Abberd Brook.
Along with improving the local area for wildlife, the project is fantastic for the children's self-esteem and wellbeing.
The Knapp Rewilding Area and Orchard
One of the more recent projects River Warriors have undertaken is one land provided by GreenSquareAccord at The Knapp, Calne. This area includes two areas of grass that have been very regularly cut, but are now being managed in a different way. One area is being rewilded with carefully selected plant species and under a different mowing programme. The other area is being turned into a five-tree orchard, to be planted during the 2021-22 planting season.
Here is the management plan, which is a living document and will change as the area develops.
Here is a list of species that have been uploaded to iRecord, to be checked by County Recorders, and submission to the National Biodiversity Network.
To get involved, email Tam or check out the River Warriors Calne on Facebook.