The Kickstarter campaign to help finish "A Simple Act", the documentary about us, has 12 more days to run and is a few £100 short. Please check out and share the link below, and donate if you can. Many thanks. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ony...

A Simple Act: Finishing a Film About Hardknott Forest

Follow a year in the life of Hardknott Forest as volunteers, researchers and local people work to rebuild a forest.

kickstarter.com

A bit more coverage for the documentary about us. cumbriacrack.com/2026/08/04/n...

New documentary shines light on mission to restore Lake District forest – cumbriacrack.com

A new feature documentary shining a light on a forest restoration project in the Lake District is nearing completion.

cumbriacrack.com

A lot of people are saying we don't have enough short films about juniper on our socials. Here's one which features 1695 of them. All carefully nurtured by staff & volunteers & gradually getting ready to be released into the wild. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryjournal.bsky.social

Felling trees can be an emotional topic. The Royal Forestry Society have made a short video to promote understanding of the forestry sector. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social youtu.be/SMUyqSZG6Xw?...

Branching Out: Healthy Trees Need Healthy People

YouTube video by Royal Forestry Society

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A lot of people are saying we don't have enough coverage of electrofishing on our socials. Luckily for those people we were out with Hannah (South Cumbria Rivers Trust) this week. One 25m gill had 14 trout in it. More on e-fishing here: scrt.co.uk/what-we-do/m...

A lot of people are saying we don't have enough footage of helicopters on our socials. So here's a clip from our recent heli-lift of (local, larch) fence posts. These will keep Harter Fell sheep free & allow montane scrub and wildflowers to thrive. @forestryengland.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

Here's the car park at Hardknott Forest. The day before this we'd had a group from Millom School, there was a large DofE group & a large group from the local outdoor centre. Not a scrap of litter to be seen! Nice to share good news! (There were 2 dog poo bags though, from forgetful owners I expect).

Summer newsletter out now: news on our first year of Landscape Recovery, lichens & temperate rainforests, update on our documentary, grassland monitoring and events & volunteering dates. @forestryengland.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social mailchi.mp/leeds.ac.uk/...

Did you know we're the subject of a feature-length documentary which after two years work is nearly finished? Neil Emery, the filmmaker, tells us all about it in the video below. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social youtu.be/CgoDqF6t2Nw?...

I'm Asking for Your Help to Finish My First Feature Documentary

YouTube video by Lake District Films

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It's that time again. A lot of people/a few of you/no-one at all* have been asking when the next newsletter is out! Chill! It's on the way & includes our fave lichen, citizen science, meadow monitoring & a look at Year 1 of landscape recovery. *delete as applicable 📰➡️ mailchi.mp/1dd189bd3314...

Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery staff have been celebrating the first year as a project by showing groups the work done so far. Lots of river restoration, wildlife news, leaky dams, work on farms & the odd chat about larch. Follow us to keep up to date. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

Climate researcher, global cycling legend, Hardknott volunteer and all-round good guy Ben Silver has an ongoing research project with us into "THE COOLING EFFECTS OF TREE COVER". Very topical this week, and his research is ongoing, with some earlier results here ⤵️ bag.leeds.ac.uk/projects/res...

Our monitoring officer Ishbel has been making the most of the weather to record the flowering plants we have in our grasslands. More about these in our next newsletter, for now just enjoy some of her photos alongside various invertebrates. Newsletter sign up here: bag.leeds.ac.uk/projects/res...

Come and help at our new community plant nursery and produce trees and wildflowers for the farms & fells of the beautiful Duddon valley. No experience needed. All welcome. @cumbriacvs.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @envleeds.bsky.social @lakedistrictnpa.bsky.social www.trybooking.com/uk/GNSZ

Nursery day: Tuesday, 14th July

Our nursery days run from Dale Head, which is slightly further up the Duddon Valley from the Hardknott Forest car park. Tasks will include building...

trybooking.com

Maths fans will realise that removing 1000s of tree tubes, with two zip ties per tube, is a lot of zip ties. Probably about double. As they are reusable, (but can't be recycled along with the tubes) we are offering them free to a good home. Get in touch - they literally have 103 uses. Or more.

What have we achieved in the first year of the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery project? Come to one of our site tours and find out. Booking links on our events page here: bag.leeds.ac.uk/projects/res... @universityofleeds.bsky.social @lakedistrictnpa.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social

We ran a couple of volunteer walling days last week. Really good quality work from both groups thanks to top teaching from Steve @nationaltrust.org.uk. Get the newsletter for info on future events: mailchi.mp/1dd189bd3314... @lanss-uk.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social

Exciting to see red squirrels & pine martens in the same woodland. This would once have been a common site in Cumbria. We saw many examples of this in the pine marten donor site in the Scottish Highlands. This camera was set up by Millom School pupils, the wildlife experts of the future.

There are still places left. Please share.

Restoring Hardknott Forest 🌎@hardknottforest.bsky.social · 2mo ago

There are spaces left to help get plastic tree tubes off the fell and allow a new woodland to thrive. We saw a red squirrel here last week. www.trybooking.com/uk/GIEE

There are spaces left to help get plastic tree tubes off the fell and allow a new woodland to thrive. We saw a red squirrel here last week. www.trybooking.com/uk/GIEE

Perfect conditions for removing tree tubes today! We're helping with the aftercare of this lovely bit of woodland creation at Brotherilkeld Farm in Eskdale, at the bottom of the Hardknott Pass. Red squirrel spotted enjoying the woods. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @nfudc.bsky.social

Fancy working with the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery team? The National Trust are offering a Level 2 Assistant Ranger Apprentice role. Deadline 22nd June. Click the link below for more information. Please share. bit.ly/43p5BGh

There are spaces left for our tree nursery day tomorrow. Help us produce the next generation of trees and wildflowers. Quick walk through video and booking link below. youtube.com/shorts/HFJTX... www.trybooking.com/uk/GHPO

Tree nursery walk through

YouTube video by Restoring Hardknott Forest

youtube.com

Come & help us remove (and recycle) plastic tree tubes from the beautiful Eskdale valley. All welcome. Please share. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social www.trybooking.com/uk/GIEA

Tree tube removal, Brotherilkeld Farm: 14th June, 2026

Join us on a volunteer day to help maintain and remove tree tubes in a new area of native woodland in Eskdale. You will need to bring lunch, a...

trybooking.com

A ubiquitous helium balloon found by Ewan on our volunteer day yesterday. At least this one has a warning sticker on it, so that's alright. @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social @keepbritaintidy.bsky.social

Great to spot a pair of ring ouzels on our heathland monitoring day this week. We like to think they'll appreciate the work that the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery project is doing to improve these habitats. Video by our new ranger Abbey. Photos below. @rspb.bsky.social @cumbriauni.bsky.social

Removing sitka spruce and ring barking larch in temperate rainforest today. Great work from our vols in the scorchio conditions. @forestryengland.bsky.social @guyshrubsole.bsky.social @cumbriacvs.bsky.social

Thanks to everyone who came to chat to us at the Ulverston Volunteer Fair yesterday & thanks to the organisers @cumbriacvs.bsky.social. A lot* of people were asking to see more of the #plinths we use to display photos, so here they are! Handcrafted from trees from Hardknott Forest! (* 🤷‍♂️)

Come & learn more about our butterflies from Francesca from Nature Rich Miterdale. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk @ukbutterflies.bsky.social