Pull a Pine 2022!

The mulled cider has been drunk, the Christmas wreaths have been made and the pines have been pulled… at least for this year!

Pull a Pine was over the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th December and was a raging success.

This year, Pull a Pine was on our Hyde’s Heath. Hyde’s heath is the most recent patch of heathland we have bought, and therefore needs the most help to restore it. This former plantation was once heathland, the ‘missing link’ in the Arne peninsular, like a jigsaw piece of missing habitat. Since it was bought in 2019 with help from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been managing the land to encourage the heathland habitat to regenerate.

A large part of this regeneration is the removal of Scots pine. Scots pine on lowland heathland are an introduced invasive species. Every winter, RSPB staff and volunteers cut down and pull up thousands of pine saplings that are growing on the heath to protect this incredibly biodiverse and rare habitat. On one occasion each year, we ask the public to come along and help us with this gargantuan task. The result is a win-win-win-win; we get significant areas cleared of small pines and a healthier heathland, the public learn more about the work that goes into maintaining a heathland, we raise money for our conservation work, and visitors go home with their very own hand-picked, sustainably sourced Christmas tree.

This year, over the two-day event:

• 1651 people came in festive spirits assist conservation efforts
• Upwards of 13,000 invasive Scots pine trees removed from Hyde’s heath
• 35 new RSPB memberships made
• 120 volunteers joined staff to manage the smooth-running of the event

With such a large area of pine cleared from Hyde’s heath, we have vastly improved the habitat for the species that call Arne’s lowland heathland home. Some of these species include:

Birds: Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Nightjar

Reptiles: Sand and Common Lizard, Smooth Snake and Grass Snake.

Insects: Green Tiger beetles, Grayling butterfly.

The above colossal figures are a testament to the achievements from all who helped with the hard work and planning to make this event such a wonderful success.

We’d like to give particular thanks to:

• Our RSPB Dorset volunteers who rose to the task of planning and coordinating the event as well as assisting with the running of the event on the day.
• The RSPB staff who don’t usually work at the Dorset Reserves, who came and helped with various tasks across the event.
• Dorset Search & Rescue (DorSAR) for helping so brilliantly with the car parking.
• Wareham Fire Station for coming along and raising awareness of the heathland and its fire hazards, for bringing their Unimog and for their continual assistance throughout the year when fire emergencies do occur.
• The Urban Heaths Partnership, Dorset Dogs, Diverse Abilities, Bournemouth University students and Bird and Recreation Initiative (BARI) for coming along in festive spirits and volunteering in numerous roles across the weekend.
• Nordic Walx for manning their stall and for volunteering where help was needed.
• Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) for manning their stall and teaching visitors about the heathland species resident to Hyde’s heath.
• The Purbeck Quire, 16 String Jack and Quinns Quinney for their live music across the weekend.

The biggest of thank yous goes, of course, to each and every individual who came and cut down pine trees, and joined our festivities in the largest event of the RSPB Arne calendar. We truly couldn’t manage the heathland for nature on the scale we do, without the year on year pulling of pines that this event sees each December.

We hope everyone enjoys their hand-picked, sustainably sourced Christmas trees and we hope to see you next year for Pull a Pine 2023!

Thanks all!

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(Photos thanks to Pam Bowyer-Davis)