Our Story:

Dreelside Woods, Anstruther is a community asset stewarded by Footprint East Neuk. The aim for Dreelside Woods is to steward the land supporting: · habitat management · biodiversity · trees and woods · a space to unwind · a multi-use public footpath · connected wildlife corridor · grassland meadow.

The area is half a hectare of former public open space, on the northern bank of the Dreel Burn, linking to the mouth of the burn at Castle Street Beach, Anstruther. The area is a mixture of woodland and grassland, it is gradually wilding, and is being managed to increase biodiversity.

In the woods it is great to see the coppiced trees springing back into life. We leave trees where they fall to decay and provide food and habitat. We also plant more trees.

In the meadow, volunteers manage an open area as grassland meadow: scything, raking and planting yellow rattle and meadow seeds. We are already seeing greater plant and flower diversity in the meadow area. The plant diversity will increase the variety of butterflies, moths and other insects.

The kingfisher is Dreelside Woods’ most special bird – a flash of blue on the burn. The kingfisher nests upstream but can be seen perching under the road bridge and fishing in rock pools. Kingfishers are ground-nesters, so we ask people and dogs to keep to the path.

Footprint East Neuk has been monitoring the butterflies weekly in the woods, submitting returns to the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Baseline surveys and monitoring of plants, moths and bats, along with training in woodland maintenance, have taken place.

Several other popular events have been held, for example a Red Squirrel walk, Gaelic Stories of Trees and children’s events. The new upgrade of the access path means that more people will have the opportunity to enjoy the woods.

We hope to focus more on developing the biodiversity of the wooded areas, planting the understory and introducing more native species.

Our Climate Commitment:

Bring the kingfisher home