On our second volunteering day we set out to another location a couple of side valleys up Glenmoriston from Dundreggan towards Loch Ness.
Here we found some more battens to add to the fence of a small exclosure that had been recently designated for planting.
Adding the battens took us little more than an hour and we were then tasked with removing any non-native trees that had taken root in the exclousure.
During this time a Deer stalker came and spoke with us, he was furious that he had not been warned that there would be a group of volunteers in the area because he had just 10 minutes ago shot a killed a dear not 400m from where we were working.
Unfortunately the rest of the day this sort of demi-chaos followed us around. It didn't feel like our tasks for the day had really been planned out and we were just told to clear non-native trees away from the road-side in a very unsystematic fashion. Perhaps most surprising - the PPE we were given for the task was wholely inadequate - namely gloves that were covered in holes and were in general not thick enough to guard against the spruce trees we were extracting.
Our guides appeared to be making the best of the situation we were in but there seemed to be a lack of organisation at some level and not for the last time on the tripit felt like we the volunteers were the product making money for TFL, rather than us being a resource that could drive ecological improvement in the area. I guess that is still a useful role and a great way for people to gain access and exposure to the TFL estate but somehow I would prefer it if this arrangement was more transparent.