The biggest event in the RSPB Arne calendar is looming – Pull a Pine. As a volunteer at Arne, I’m giving an overview of why Pull a Pine is so important and a behind the scenes look at how we prepare for the big day as a reserve.
What is Pull a Pine?
If you’ve never heard of Pull a Pine, every year at RSPB Arne we hold one of the biggest conservation events in the country. The primary focus of the event is to remove Scots pine trees from the heathland reserve, as well as raising money for our conservation projects at Arne and all over the UK.
So why do we want to cut down Scots pine?
Removing Scots pine is a big part of our lowland heathland management programme here at Arne. Heathland is a semi-natural habitat created by human activity around 3000-5000 years ago. It is an extremely important habitat for many key species including our iconic nightjars and Dartford warblers, many reptiles, insects, and rare plants. Over the last 200 years around 84% of the UK’s lowland heath has been lost, putting thousands of species in danger. It is not a static habitat and has to be constantly maintained to prevent it reverting to scrub and woodland.
We have an added challenge at Arne because the site used to be a Scots pine plantation. Scots pine is native to the UK but not to the south of England, and Arne is in danger of being dominated by these prolific trees. Although a few large pines dotted around can be a beneficial habitat, the pines can quickly dominate and eliminate the heath. It is a constant battle for the warden team here at Arne. But there are only a small team of them, and they cover the whole of Dorset!
So, Pull a Pine is essentially a fun way of getting some serious man power to remove as many invasive trees as possible. The key benefit of this for guests is that they can take home as many funky Christmas trees or pine branches as they like for decorating their homes. If 1000 people come to the event and everyone cuts down just two pine trees, that’s a huge area cleared.
It is also a massive fundraising effort, and the money that the RSPB makes from the event goes back into our conservation projects not just here but all over the UK and overseas. In fact, Pull a Pine generates more income for the RSPB than any other event run in Dorset.
Two members of the warden team with a recently cut pine.
The fun stuff!
To make Pull a Pine a really exciting day out for all the family, we also arrange a festive ‘village’ – including live music, food, drink, and craft activities for kids. We also have local bands and choirs playing to keep everyone entertained while they’re not sawing through pine trees!
One of many planning meetings - taking place at the site of Pull a Pine this year.
Volunteering at Pull a Pine
It might not come as a surprise that a two-day event of this scale requires a huge feat of organisation. This year the event is bigger and better than ever, spread over two days and expecting up to 1000 people. This requires a team of around 230 people (most of them volunteers) to run the event and keep everything going smoothly. This includes people to direct guests around the site, people to check tickets, people to supervise the cutting down of trees, people to run the activities, people to serve food and drinks, and numerous coordinators to make sure that everyone knows where they’re meant to be. I myself am going to be working in the food and drink tent, making sure everyone is fully furnished with snacks and mulled cider.
Some of the signs we will need for the event, many painted by our volunteer Derick.
The planning that goes into it all pre-event is also a mammoth task – months of meetings, buying supplies, organising resources, marketing, paperwork, and bringing it all together for the day. Last week I spent an afternoon with a small team numbering and testing all the tables and gazebos we would need for the day. Everything from saws to coffee stirrers needs to be accounted for. With only a week to go, excitement and tensions are rising. We'll see you all there!