Kingley Vale staff issue 'a plea from the trees' as dog poo bags thrown into branches

The social media team posted a series of pictures showing dog poo bags hurled up into the branches of trees and bushes and simply forgotten about – despite the fact that they were found within 100 metres of the dog poo bin.

"It's very simple,” a spokesperson said. "Pick it up and bin it. Don't hang it in our trees.”

Kingley Vale is home to one of Europe’s largest, oldest and most impressive Yew Forests, the trees of which are said to have been planted in the aftermath of a battle between local men and a Viking war party, and discarded dog poo bags can deal a great deal of damage to sensitive ecosystems. The thin plastic takes up to 1,000 years to biodegrade and has been known to cause illness and injury to wildlife.

The plea comes following the return of grazing livestock to Kingley Vale’s chalk grassland, according to staff. Regular grazing is an important part of preserving, conserving and protecting the grasslands, and so members of the public have been asked to help by steering clear as well as possible.

\\"We will be utilising this secure area to trial ‘virtual fencing’, to allow closer control of where the cattle graze when they are elsewhere in the Nature Reserve. You can help by keeping your distance from them,” a spokesperson said.