Over 150 volunteers – all staff from Bank of America’s Europe Card Services – have been working tirelessly with Flintshire County Council’s countryside rangers to clear around an acre of gorse by hand.
The volunteers have spent over four days working enthusiastically at the Waun y Llyn Country Park, Hope Mountain in Flintshire. Waun y Llyn is owned by the Council and is managed by the rural team at Flintshire Countryside Service. At present the site is dominated by gorse and bracken.
Over the last five years some of the bracken has been managed by the countryside rangers to keep it under control, using a quad driven bracken crusher which bruises the stems to prevent the plant storing energy for growth the following year.
Gorse management has proved costly to remove, as large machinery is the only option. The extent of the gorse is so large that the rangers themselves would not have had the time to remove it by hand. This is where Chester-based Bank of America Europe Card Services came to the rescue, successfully removing the gorse by hand and taking it to the burn site. By removing the gorse, more light is let in to the area, in the hope that heath land plants can then grow from the surrounding seed source.
The gorse and bracken are part of a heath land mosaic, so it was never the intention to remove it all, but large areas needed to be cleared to redress the balance.
Gilly Seddon, Flintshire Countryside Ranger said:
“We are very grateful to the volunteers from Bank of America. They worked continuously like an army of ants over a number of days, and they quickly made an impact on the site. Without their help, this task would have been impossible. It’s thanks to them that we were able to clear this area so quickly.
“It’s hoped that any re-growth next year will be sprayed to kill off the plant and enable heather and bilberry to dominate once again.”
