Friends of Big Wood Nature Reserve
Newsletter - February - 2026
Glorious Big Wood
Dates for your diary:
Our next Practical Conservation Activity Morning with traditional woodland crafts on:
Saturday 31st January, 10am to 12.30noon
Additional Activity Mornings this season:
Sunday 15th February & Saturday 7th March
FoBW AGM: Tuesday 17th March, 7:30pm
Our volunteers have already been busy this year, starting to organise events and continuing the practical conservation work to protect and improve the wildflower glades and nature recovery areas in Big Wood.
Please put Tuesday 17th March in your diary for the Friends of Big Wood Annual General Meeting, which will be at Fellowship House and feature a talk on traditional woodland management by renowned and entertaining tree specialist Edward Milner.
Upcoming Practical Conservation Activity Mornings
Big Wood Volunteers, please join us again this Saturday 31st January, 10am. As usual, there are no special skills required, just a willingness to muck in and enjoy the company of like-minded people making a positive difference to their community. We meet at the Big Wood Temple Fortune Hill entrance in time for a 10am start. Work takes place over a couple of hours with a tea break. Please bring gardening gloves and cutting tools if you have them. Supervised children are very welcome!
On Sunday 15th, there will be a second practical conservation activity morning in February, to finish work in the glades before the wildflower growing season really gets going.
For further specific updates on volunteer events, feel free to join Friends of Big Wood Volunteers WhatsApp group, or contact 07712 704 164, friendsofbigwood1@gmail.com. Please also take note of the volunteer handbook, link below.
For further specific updates on volunteer events, feel free to
join Friends of Big Wood Volunteers WhatsApp group,
or contact 07712 704 164,
Please also take note of the volunteer handbook, link below.
Friends of Big Wood Membership Renewals
Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who have already renewed your 2026 membership, including your kind donations, and are supporting our joint work and lovely community. If you haven't had a chance to renew yet, please do so now.
You can renew easily by following this link, or the one in your Membermojo reminder email.
Any questions, contact friendsofbigwood1@gmail.com
Thank you! We wouldn't be able to look after Big Wood without the support of our Friends!
Volunteer Handbook
The Barnet Greenspaces Volunteering Handbook includes straightforward health and safety guidance to ensure that all volunteers remain safe while working in the borough's green spaces. If you take part in the activity mornings, please click on this Volunteer Handbook link and take note of the guidelines. Get in touch if you have any questions.
LITTER IN THE WOOD
Litter remains a problem and some of us regularly pick up litter as we go round the wood. If any one else wants to help and would like a litter picker, please contact us. We have a number of Friends who are regularly are picking up litter but please can all the Friends help to keep the wood clear of litter.
MORE ABOUT DEAD WOOD
We reported on the importance of dead wood. The official UK standard for healthy woodland habitat requires 20m3 of deadwood per hectare and most woodlands in the UK, including Big Wood, is below this level. It is important therefore that all dead trunks and fallen branches are left where they fall or are left standing.
A reminder that ageing trees and dead wood are vital for a healthy woodland habitat. A huge swathe of the woodland ecosystem relies on tree wear and tear- hollows, dead branches and fallen trees.
TREES INFO
There is a marvellous short clip about the management of oak trees and the importance of not compacting the roots in Kew Gardens following the great storm of 1987. Anyone who is interested click on the following:-
WEB SITE
Remember that all details are here on our web site so do signpost your local friends and neighbours to visit the site and encourage them join the Association and to be Friends Of Big Wood.
DATA PROTECTION
The Friends of Big Wood Organisation is aware of the new General Data Protection Legislation. Organisations such as ours, which keep a register of names purely for recreational reasons, are exempt from the new regulations. We would advise you all that the data stored is purely to enable us to provide information about Big Wood and no information will be passed to any third party. If, nevertheless, you would like your details deleted from the list, please email us
