Early summer 2020 update from Wolf Fields

Although activities planned for Wolf Fields have been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nature is in full swing at our urban nature reserve in Southall, west London. Reserve Manager Kailean, who has continued essential maintenance and development work throughout the lockdown period, gives an update on some of the reserve’s key areas:

• Wildflower Meadow. Established last year, over 20 different varieties of wild flower have been identified, in an area that was once filled with rubbish and asbestos.
• Bee hives. Two newly installed bee hives are doing really well thanks to our volunteers Tanna and Karen. More of our core volunteers have expressed their interest in coming back; their help is so needed at this critical time particularly during this very hot and dry period.
• Allotment area. Food that we are growing includes broad beans, mint, coriander and strawberries.
• Pond area. Created last year to further benefit and encourage nature in a heavily built up urban area, we have frequently spotted damselflies and dragonflies, including the Large Red damselfly and Emperor dragonfly.

Our Wolf Fields reserve is on land that we lease for a ‘peppercorn rent’ – ie effectively free – from Ealing Borough Council. The lease was due to run out in autumn 2020 and our attempts to renew it have suffered multiple delays beyond our control. So we are very pleased to share the news that A Rocha UK has passed the relevant tests to renew the lease. Although the land belongs to the local council, approval for a new lease actually has to be signed off by the The Secretary of State (SoS) for Local Government and Communities. The SoS’s team confirmed last month that our application’s success was due in part to A Rocha UK’s success, with a team of dedicated local volunteers, in transforming a piece of urban waste ground into a flourishing community hub. Praise God that we have been entrusted with this site for another six years. Please pray for the conservation and management team as they continue and plan site work during a period where the country is coming out of lockdown but still has to observe strict social distancing.