ENVIRONMENTALLY aware students have been rolling up their sleeves and mucking in to help improve Epping Forest.
Teenagers on Redbridge College’s ESOL programmes (English for Speakers of Other Languages) have been helping out the Epping Forest Centenary Trust on various conservation projects, using industry equipment such as loppers and bow saws to carry out a range of tasks.
The programme started in 2007 with students working on projects such as Sycamore Clearance - an ongoing habitat improvement scheme which involves the clearing of non-native and ‘invasive’ species.
Since then an increasing number of students have been participating in the ongoing Heathland Restoration Project, involving the safeguarding of the natural habitat of several reptile species, including adders, slow worms, common lizards and grass snakes.
Ben Cope, ESOL Curriculum Manager said: “Our students are often less than enthusiastic when they’re told about it, but once armed with a lopper or saw they’re always keen to get stuck in.”
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