Drumnaph Community Nature Reserve is an exciting collaboration between the Woodland Trust and Carntogher Community Association.

The Woodland Trust owns approximately 80 acres of Drumnaph Wood, which is located to the eastern side of the reserve. This section contains both ancient woodland and newly planted woodland as well as some wetland habitats. In early 2012 an opportunity arose to secure the purchase of an additional 130 acres in the western section of the reserve and within which is located the former O’Loughlin farm and a patchwork of ecological habitats including ancient woodland, wildflower meadows, ancient grazing habitats and wetlands. With the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and NIEA the Association was very fortunate to be able to purchase this land and carry out works to create an important additiona to the reserve.

Walking Trails

Welcome to Drumanph Trails which encompasses over 7km of walks suitable for all walking abilities. There has been 3 trails created to let you explore all Drumnaph Nature Reserve has to offer in terms of habitat types, archaeological sites and historic structures.

We offer guided walks for groups starting at £7 per person. The walks can cover Irish Folklore and Mythology, Wildflowers, Wildlife and Biodiversity, Local History and Archaeology and Wild food Foraging.

Contact Kelley 028 7954 9978 or email info@drumnaph.org to book.

Education

Drumnaph Nature Reserve is an incredible learning resource for school children, college/university students, community and conservation groups and visiting members of the general public.

Set within over 200 acres of mixed habitat including ancient woodland, bogland and traditional conservation farmland, the site boasts a wealth of opportunity for learning and educational purposes.

We are able to offer a wide variety of outdoor and environmental education opportunities that can tie in with Early Years Development through the Key Stages to Further and Adult Education. Topics we can cover include Plant and Animal Identification, Animal Tracks and Signs, Growing and Lifecycles and Minibeasts. These are an example of a wide range of activities we offer and we are happy to discuss your specific educational requirements to meet the needs of individual groups.

In addition to our educational packages, we can also provide trained instructors able to deliver outdoor activity sessions such as Archery, Orienteering, Nature Trails and Bushcraft. The term Bushcraft is used to describe a range of skills related to wilderness survival and traditional lifestyle practices. Our Bushcraft sessions include Natural Shelter Building, Fire lighting techniques, Wild Food Foraging and Animal tracking.
Throughout all the activities we run on the Reserve, we work hard to promote our ethos of care, responsibility and the sustainability of the Natural World.

However if you choose to spend your time here at Drumnaph Nature Reserve, our ultimate aim is for your experience to be interesting, informative and lots of fun!

Conservation

Drumnaph Community Nature Reserve offers a unique environment in contrast to our current intensive farming practices. Historically, Drumnaph has had minimal agricultural intervention which has resulted in a rich, diverse patchwork of habitats.

Our main objective is to maintain and enhance the rich levels of biodiversity found here on the Reserve through a varied approach of direct conservation, conservation grazing, monitoring and re-evaluation. We work in conjunction with several conservation groups including The Woodland Trust, Ulster Wildlife Trust, Irish Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Butterfly Conservation.

Our conservation grazing programme consists of utilising specialised breeds at particular times of the year to maintain optimal conditions to ensure the continuation of the rich, bio diverse landscape.

Our farming practices combine modern understandings with ancient/traditional methods that culminate in a sustainable, low impact approach.

We run conservation courses throughout the year for adults and children interested in learning new land based skills such as Dry Stone Walling, Hedgelaying, Coppicing, Invasive Species Removal and Tree Planting. Please contact us for more details.

Carntogher Community Allotments

Drumnaph Community Allotment Scheme sowed the first seeds in the polytunnel at the beginning of 2013 and each year the space continues to flourish.

Funded by the Public Health Agency the allotments were developed to allow individuals and groups the opportunity to ‘grow your own’ whilst benefitting from being a part of a community group.

The scheme aims to promote healthy living within the local community and offers a wide range of gardening courses and activities throughout the year particularly for beginners or, those wishing to develop existing skills. We also encourage the space to be used as a learning resource for children of all ages particularly school groups (see our page on Education). There are currently ten plots available to rent which we aim to extend in 2015.

The allotments are open all year round for visiting and everyone is very welcome to attend our special events including Community Open Day’s where the gardeners are available to answer your questions.