Find out what happened on the Vegan Network’s volunteering day.

What did we do?

On Thursday 1 February a dozen members of the Suffolk County Council Vegan Staff Network took part in a volunteering day in East Bergholt. Our mission? Planting as many trees as possible to restore a hedgerow on land belonging to James Harris, a local farmer with a keen interest in regenerative farming.

Hedgerows are a vital habitat, providing food and homes to a large amount of the UK’s insects, birds and small mammals. But they also act as nature corridors, connecting important woodlands. It’s estimated that 118,000 miles of hedgerows have been lost since the 1950s, and while the loss is slowing down, it’s important for us to restore and properly manage our hedgerows.

And so on a bright, sunny morning in February members of the Vegan Network assembled in their finest gardening garb ready to do their bit for Suffolk’s hedgerows – and support local farmers.

Over the course of the day we planted around 230 metres of Hawthorn, Dogwood and Field Maple saplings, with our coordinator and fellow network member Greg Chester-Parsons from the National Landscape team estimating we’d planted around 1,000 trees in total!

What was it like?

Check out the images below to get a sense of how our volunteering day went.

What did our members say about the day?

Here are a few reflections posted on our Vegan Network Microsoft Teams site:

• “It was a really lovely day and so nice to put some faces to names. Bring on the next one!” – Kelly
• “It was a pleasure to spend time with members of the network and I’m already looking forward to the next opportunity! Well worth the nettle stings and thorn scratches.” - Lloyd
• “It was so lovely! Really enjoyed it. Can’t wait for the next opportunity!” – Brooke
• “Many thanks to Greg for overseeing all our efforts so easefully. A great day out!” – Lee

Why are hedgerows so important?

Here’s some more information about the importance of hedgerows for wildlife.

Hedgerows are critical to wildlife, particularly in agricultural landscapes such as the Dedham Vale as they provide corridors for animals and birds, food and shelter for many species, and once mature can support a wide variety of insects, plants and other things. They are a traditional feature of pastoral landscapes – historically to keep animals in fields – but as extensive grazing has become more limited in many areas, have often become fragmented and unmanaged. Replanting and ‘gapping up’ remnant hedges is great for nature recovery.

– Tim De-Keyzer, Head Of Natural & Historic Environment at Suffolk County Council

Hazel dormice are seriously endangered but there is evidence of them existing at a few sites across the Dedham Vale. They spend most of their life up in the trees or hedgerows and only descend to the ground when they hibernate during winter. As such, restoring and maintaining thick, healthy hedgerows is vital for their ability to spread and for their numbers to increase. Bats also hunt along hedgerows. Brown Long-Eared bats in particular use them as flyways, rarely crossing open spaces.

– Greg Chester-Parsons, Natural Landscape Nature Network Assistant

Further information

You can check out the Dedham Vale National Landscape website for more information on the work they do, visiting information and volunteer opportunities.

Want to join the Vegan Network? Find out more about us and how to get involved.

If you’d like to get in touch with any comments or questions you can contact us.