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Projects
Thames Valley Meadows Action Plan Project date: 2004 Project description
Wild Meadows is an initiative that I have developed on behalf of Flora locale, the wild-plant restoration charity. It aims to promote the appreciation, good management and restoration of Britain's wildflower grasslands. The current focus for Flora locale is Wales, but it is intended that the resources developed through the Wild Meadows website will be UK-wide. See www.wildmeadows.org.uk for details. Step into the Meadow:
This project aims to exploit the wild flower heritage
of East Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales as a tourism asset, and at
the same time encourage farmers to maintain and restore wild flower
meadows. A project plan was produced during 2003-4 in association
with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Dales
Millenium Trust (YDMT), Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and
English Nature. The project was funded by the Yorkshire Dales
Sustainable Development Fund and Cumbria Leader Plus. Some aspects of
the plan have now been taken forward as part of a project called Hay
Time, which is coordinated through the North Pennines AONB, Yorkshire
Dales National Park Authority and Yorkshire Dales Millenium
Trust.
The new bestseller from Swamp Publishing is here! "Twitcher" is the "Private Eye" of the nature conservation world. For over 14 years, Twitcher (aka Peter Marren) has provided an alternative and satirical persective of British wildlife and of the antics of nature conservationists and countryside organisations. Twitching Through the Swamp, published October 2004, is the first collection of Twitcher's dribblings, originally published in British Wildlife. The book includes over 80 cartoons, as well as previously unpublished musings and cartoons by David Carstairs from the former Nature Conservancy Council's staff magazine Natural Selection. Price: £5.00 incl. p&p if ordered from this website (£12.50 RRP) BUY NOW WHILE
STOCKS LAST! (I need to get the car in the garage.) Bucklebury Common Heathland Restoration Plan
Post and pre-clearance. Pine invasion has proved a huge challenge to maintaining open areas of heather-heath. As fast as volunteers have cleared it, the pine has re-invaded. So the management plan has advised wholesale clearance of mature pines - which are the source of seed for invading the open heath. These pines originated from a handful of trees planted on the edge of the common in Victorian times. The heathland management plan was produced in 2004, and provided the basis for Bucklebury Heathland Conservation Group to apply for funding to implement a huge programme of heathland restoration. During winter 2004-5 a grant from WREN had enabled some 4 hectares of scrub to be cleared using a huge mulching machine. A further area is was cleared this winter (05-06). 100 years ago, and probably for the previous 1000 years, Bucklebury Common was an open heath. It was grazed by commoners' animals and provided an important source of bracken and furze for bedding and fuel. Since the first world war, livestock were removed and all livestock grazing was eventually abandoned, leading to development of birch and pine scrub and woodland over much of the heath. From the mid 1970s volunteers had managed to keep small areas of the heather-clad heath open, but faced a losing battle against the tide of birch and Scot's Pine invasion. The current management plan has enabled the clearance of most of the Scot's Pine, including mature trees which were throwing seed into the heather glades, as well as large areas of invading birch. The area of restored heath is still very small in comparison to the area of the common as a whole, but makes an important contribution to restoring this threatened habitat. Flora locale is a national charity, established in 1997, to promote the wise use of native flora. Initially developed thanks to funding from English Nature and the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the charity now has a permanent staffed UK base and a project dedicated to Northern England. Recent initiatives include Go native! guidelines for planting schemes using native flora and a series of advisory notes on habitat creation using native flora. Click on the logo to go to Flora locale's website.
Comparative costs of arable farming and chalk grassland restoration This project was commissioned by Hampshire Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group in association with Hampshire County Council and the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It aimed to look at the financial implications for arable farming of converting arable land to species-rich chalk grassland. A series of financial scenarios were developed using Excel worksheets, to compare the income and costs for converting a 15-ha site from arable to chalk grassland. Different costs for in hand and contract farms were considered over a 10-year period. Income included payments from the Higher Level Stewardship options for species-rich grassland creation. For contract farms the income from creating chalk grassland appeared to be significantly greater than if the land was maintained as arable. However, for in-hand farms the cost-benefit would depend on whether farm fixed costs could be reduced. These had to be allocated across the whole farm if arable farming profits were not to be reduced on the remaining arable areas.
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