Bio-security training: 19-06-2018

BIO-SECURITY ALERT - 

NCVs OUT AND ABOUT!!!

When the NCVs were informed that we needed to attend 'Bio-security' training it conjured up visions similar to that shown above. Apparently the NCV’s were to be used as Guinea pigs! Sarah Clarke - Conservation Project Officer of the School of Biology at the University of Leeds - was to run the workshop to discuss possibilities and show us potential equipment we could have access to in the fight against INNS. (That's 'invasive, non-native species' to the uninitiated).

It was a sensible measure to take. As NCVs we visit many environmentally sensitive areas and we do NOT want to be the ones to introduce unwanted species. We should be ensuring, for example, that any Himalayan Balsam seeds  unwittingly picked up on our boots at Azerely are not transferred to a SSSI site such as Ellington Banks.

Apparently we don't need to go to the extremes shown in the top photo - there are simple measures that anyone who enjoys the great outdoors can take such as:

• Washing your boots before leaving the site (or at least when you get home).
• Brushing bits off your jacket before getting into the car and washing clothing when you get home.
• Washing tools before leaving the work site and allowing them to dry for 48 hours before re-using them.
• Not taking cars off the road unnecessarily.

We will do our best to follow this advice in the future. One plan is for each NCV to arrive on site with clean boots and a bottle of tap water. This can then be used with a scrubbing brush to help clean our boots, and the tools we have personally used, at the end of the day.

Firstly Sarah explained all the pitfalls and how to avoid them. 

Then it was off to the barn to look at the 
possible equipment we could use....

...and select a set of tools that may be likely
to get infected with organisms.

Not just tools - all this clothing can act as a vector for INNS.

A demonstration of the excellent 'Boot Buddy'.....

 ...led to a sudden stork impersonation competition.

Ros preferred the forward leaning position.

However - it was much easier if you asked someone else to help!

Of course it would be even easier if you 
simply changed out of your boots first!!

The boot buddy can also be a 'Tool Buddy'

Alternatively a 'Hozelock Pulser' could be used - 
this delivers the water at pressure if you pump the handle a few times first.

This squirter gets plugged into the car battery for extra sluice action.
After all - you don't want to take mud from one site 
to another on your car (or wheelbarrow) wheels.

As the training only took up the morning this left the afternoon free for a number of willing vols to move on to the barn to do a much needed tool inventory and tidy up. As you can see below, the time was well spent.

 At one point the wood burner was invisible....

...then suddenly it wasn't.

All the tools were counted and stored neatly - 
both on this side of the barn....

...and on the other.

Ros E and David pour over the inventory 
searching for items still to be counted.

The end section was as clean as a whistle.

A bottle of 'Windowlene' was discovered 
(other brands of window cleaner are available),
so Tony set to and gave the doors a much needed wipe.

And finally - in case anyone is wondering how the baskets turned out after the second day of the basket weaving course - here are the final outcomes.....

 Five proud basket weavers....

...demonstrating how their wares can have more than one use!!

So now there is absolutely no excuse for these particular individuals to use plastic bags any more!!