Stockton Borough Council employs a team of 14 experienced and skilled countryside staff to look after and manage Country Parks and Nature Reserves throughout the Borough, made up of 6 Assistant Countryside Rangers, 5 Senior Countryside Rangers, 2 Animal Keepers and a Visitor Centre Co-ordinator. Site-based teams can be found at Wynyard Woodland Park, Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park, Preston Park and Billingham Beck Valley Park and sites with shops also receive support from Visitor Information Assistants.
The job of the Countryside Ranger is varied, interesting and often challenging, and no two days are ever the same.
Environmental Education
Country Parks provide an ideal forum for youngsters to study nature and Rangers are instrumental in fostering an awareness and appreciation of the many plants and wild animals that can be found on Stockton’s country sites. Activities are designed around the requirements of the National Curriculum, painstakingly risk assessed and carefully planned and prepared for.
It is essential for countryside staff to have an understanding of the needs of the various Key Stages within the curriculum to enable teachers to get the most out of a visit. Games and activities are incorporated into education programmes to make learning fun and in the hope that children will want to return. The beauty of learning outdoors is that the children enjoy themselves without even realising that they are being taught and the value of a countryside experience for inner city children cannot be underestimated.
Conservation
Conservation management is an essential part of the Ranger’s role. Practical skills are an essential tool of the trade and are gained through work experience and through training and development courses. New woodlands are created where possible and thousands of trees planted every year in Stockton alone. Future management such as weeding, thinning out and re-planting, can be very important for the health and well being of woodland areas, particularly where public access is permitted.
Other common tasks include strimming paths, chainsaw work, fence construction, step and bridge building, small scale maintenance tasks such as litter picking and repairs, hedge-laying, meadow management for wildflowers and breeding birds such as cutting and hay-raking, planting wildflowers and bulbs, pond management such as removing algal blooms for the benefit of aquatic invertebrates, weed clearance and de-silting of ponds, installing signs and hanging gates and much much more that often goes unnoticed, but without which our sites would become unkempt, overgrown and often less valuable for wildlife.
Sites are carefully managed and Stockton’s main parks have Management Plans which specify exactly what work needs doing, when where and why. Monitoring change over time and evaluating the success of conservation work is an essential part of conservation management. Different animal groups such as butterflies, amphibians and birds are surveyed and monitored and results analysed year on year to establish success rates and patterns of usage. Findings are fed back to the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and into the Biodiversity Action Planning process to help guide future planning and targets for the region. Ecological knowledge and identification skills are all essential for this part of the job.
Recreation
Country Parks are fantastic resources for local communities and much of a Ranger’s work focuses on encouraging visitors to sites and in helping them to enjoy their visit. Public events are organised throughout the year and publicised through events leaflets, press releases and posters. Requests for Rangers to provide live radio interviews are not uncommon and even the odd TV interview crops up now and again.
Guided walks and talks, craft events and country fayres, practical conservation tasks, local history events and children’s nature clubs are just a few of the activities organised and run by Stockton’s Countryside Team. Most events are free and everyone is welcome. Rangers undertake regular site patrols and ensure paths are well maintained and clear of obstructing vegetation, regularly litter-picked and safe to use and staff are usually available on site to deal with queries, answer questions, provide information, solve problems and generally trouble-shoot.
Interpretation
Raising awareness of the countryside and promoting the value and diversity of the wildlife that parks support is as important as the actual management work. This is done through the delivery of talks and presentations to local groups, and through the production of information, walks and site leaflets, articles for newsletters and magazines and by producing information panels which can be installed out on site for visitors to see.
The management of Country Parks is supported by Tees Valley Nacro work teams and by a group of dedicated volunteers who help the site based Rangers in all aspects of their work. Volunteering is an important step towards a career in countryside management and can be very rewarding. To find out how to volunteer with the Countryside Ranger Service, or for further information on a career in conservation, have a chat with any of the Rangers on site, or call the Countryside Recreation Officer on (01642) 526877.
