Building boardwalks: how volunteers can be a powerful voice for nature’s recovery
7th May 2025
The Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve covers more than 12 hectares and is home to diverse wildlife and habitat. We’ve been working with Hinksey Heights Reserve Volunteers since 2021, and the group are currently working to improve access to the site’s alkaline fen, one of the richest and most threatened habitats for freshwater biodiversity.
Here, Nick Thorn and Mark Clay from the Hinksey Heights Reserve Volunteers tell us about the Nature Reserve, the work they are carrying out to enhance the site, and the power of volunteering for nature recovery.
Can you tell us about the work you do at Hinksey Heights and why the new boardwalk is so important?
Nick: We started our work around five years ago, at the start of the Covid lockdown. Lots more people were turning to nature and visiting reserves at that time. Hinksey Heights was particularly impacted by this increase in footfall, and we were asked by the landowner to come in and repair a boardwalk that was in bad condition.
At the start, we were an informal group of about five or six people. Since then, we have evolved into a nature recovery group, and we work in close partnership with Freshwater Habitats Trust to protect and restore the landscape. We build boardwalks to prevent people walking on and damaging the fen, which also gives the public safe access and a view of the fen.
We have gone on to do other work for nature recovery, such as coppicing at various sites around the reserve and hedge laying. We have also just taken on the ownership of a piece of woodland, a deciduous priority habitat which will form part of the mosaic of the reserve. With the woodland, fen, ponds and a large wildflower meadow adjacent to the site, we are getting the best possible mosaic structure for the site which will really help to accelerate nature recovery.
Have you noticed any changes in people accessing the nature reserve since first starting the boardwalk construction?
Mark: In the last few years as news has spread around the community, we are noticing increased numbers of visitors to the trail which is terrific. We’re seeing lots more families, walkers and runners. We see lots of dog walkers as well, and the boardwalk keeps dogs on the path to protect the site.
The boardwalk gives people a safer, more secure, clearer path through the reserve. It keeps them out of the mud, gives them an easy route to follow, and the extra height gives people lovely views of the fens and the city of Oxford. It also helps to keep people in the right place, because while we want to give access to this lovely place, we also want to protect it.
People often stop and ask us what we are doing, and we can talk about the importance of the alkaline fen and our work to preserve and expand it so that it becomes a greater resource for nature. People will only care about the site if they can access and understand it, and the boardwalk is the means to that.
Are there any ways local people can get involved in or support your work?
Mark: We currently have around 40 people signed up to our group and always welcome new volunteers to join us. We provide training and equipment, so it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, we will make sure you learn in a fun, safe way.
We spend a lot of money every year on equipment and materials, so another way to support us is through donations through our website. This year, we will be taking up a lease on a neighbouring woodland and we will need to clear it of debris and make it safe and accessible for the public, and donations will make a huge difference to what we can achieve.
We are very grateful to the many individuals who have supported us already, as even small amounts of money have made a big difference. We have also been very generously funded by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, the Vale of White Horse Climate Action Fund, and the North Hinksey and Botley Parish Council.
What are the benefits of volunteering in a group like yours?
Nick: Nature is so beneficial to our wellbeing, which people really noticed during the pandemic. People who volunteer in nature really see the positive impact it brings to their lives.
We had one volunteer who hated her job and was finding no pleasure from it. She asked for our support in applying for a job to become an apprentice warden in a nature reserve in another part of the country, and she spent four years doing that and learning a huge amount about ecology and nature recovery. We recently learnt that she has been appointed as a permanent reserve ranger. For us, this is a real badge of what we can do for people who come to us, as we can nurture people and give them new opportunities or outlooks on life.
For some people the benefits can be a career, for others it’s a better understanding of the natural world around them. Every time we learn that there’s a Red Listed plant spotted on the reserve, it is a huge boost to everybody. We feel like we are playing our part during a time when the world often feels like it’s going in the wrong direction in terms of nature recovery and conflict. Individuals can make a stand through volunteering, and we have become a powerful voice locally for nature recovery.
What is it like to collaborate with Freshwater Habitats Trust at Hinksey Heights?
When we first came here, we were just a bunch of people looking for something to do during the lockdown. Now, we have really grown and enhanced our knowledge. Working with Freshwater Habitats Trust has taught us how everything is interconnected, so it’s stopped simply being about us fixing broken boards and become about how the work we do fits into the ecology of the site and how we can better protect and preserve it for the future. As a group of amateurs, how great it is to be working with a group of professionals and working to that standard.
Freshwater Habitats Trust have been incredibly supportive and taught us so much about the fenland, the plants that grow here, and how habitats like this are maintained. This has been incredibly enriching as it helps us to see the bigger picture and the difference that we can make by working together. We all bring something that adds to the jigsaw puzzle and the cumulative power of working together is so powerful.
To find out more about Hinksey Heights Nature Trail, including how to get involved or support their work, visit their website here.
And to find out more about the work we are carrying out to restore Oxfordshire’s alkaline fens, click here.