We had a good wander around the now familiar, Callander Park. Lots of large trees down, forresters trimming back branches and removing lovely large logs. Lots of the large logs would be good for insect hibernation dens/homes but they were being shredded. The boys were keen to explore the trees, some with rotten heartwood, which was partly why so many came down before Xmas in the big storms. We showed the class roughly how old they were, by measuring the girth – outer circumference – (estimation) and counting the annular rings (very accurate).

The boys were keen to see a willow we had planted, just a small branch, 4 weeks ago. Willow can be broken off and stuck in the ground, it will then regrow. Few plants can do this. It’s water loving and is used for Biomass. The problem is that Biomass can take over ecosystems, having just one plant in large areas. An exmple is Indonesia, where Palm Oil plantations have been planted where jungle areas used to be. Now there are huge numbers of rats who eat fallen palm nuts, and large populations of Python, feeding off the rats. So having a range of plants is best, Biodiversity. Callander park has a good mix of wood and tree types, with wet and dry areas too, so has good Biodiversity.