THE first steps were taking in the ambitious project to regenerate the ancient oak woodland at Wistman’s Wood on Sunday – when volunteers gathered acorns to grow into the trees of tomorrow.

The group of 27 volunteers joined charity Moor Trees and landowner The Duchy of Cornwall to gather over 5,000 acorns at the relic of ancient woodland with the trademark twisted branches in the wood near Two Bridges on Dartmoor. The plan is to expand the acreage of the wood by growing trees from seed gathered on the site, to maintain the genetic qualities.

The acorns along with the rowan seeds gathered last month from the site have been taken to Moor Trees’ Dartington Community Tree Nursery to be processed for germination. They will stay at the nursery for two years before being brought back to the site and planted on the periphery of the woodland and the valley opposite.

Helen Aldis, chief executive of Moor Trees, said: “It was an incredible turnout on Sunday and we were fully booked with local people from the community wanting to be part of this special project. Everyone had different reasons for why they wanted to volunteer and also shared stories and memories of special times in the ancient woodland. All were delighted to hear that Wistman’s Wood is being regenerated and expanded across the valley and that they could play a small but vital part in the process of making this happen.”

Geraint Richards, head forester at The Duchy of Cornwall and to HM The King, said: “Wistman’s Wood is a rare survivor of the type of woodland that would have once been commonplace on Dartmoor. We are excited to see this positive action taking place to expand this special habitat and look forward to seeing the gathered acorns germinate, grow and eventually be planted out to expand Wistman’s Wood.”

Wistman’s Wood is an ancient oak woodland which covers over three hectares of the West Dart Valley on Dartmoor, Devon. It is a National Nature Reserve (NNR), a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in recognition of its significance for nature conservation.

It is often referred to as one of the South West’s last remaining examples of temperate rainforest and this project is essential to carefully improving Wistman’s Wood’s resilience, where very rare Atlantic mosses and lichens reside in the small and isolated remnant.

Resilience is a measure of how quickly an ecosystem can restore itself following disturbance, such as fire or disease. With climate change causing increased summer drought, increased winter rainfall and more extreme weather events, the world’s woodlands are becoming stressed making them more vulnerable to disturbance

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Pictured left, the volunteers with their acorns after Sunday’s collection. In total they gathered around 5,000 acorns, which will now be grown into saplings to expand the wood.