Sunday 25 June 2017

To chop or not to chop - management on the small scale.

I have always taken a fairly hands-off approach to managing the small patch of wet woodland and meadow I look after. I've always believed in letting nature take its course and giving the plants and animals the opportunity to what they do best.

There are volumes and volumes available on habitat management and ways to improve the habitats but nature itself is capable of finding its own balance. Modern nature conservation requires habitat scale management in order to maintain species because quite often human impact has altered the balance of nature so much that more human intervention is needed to help them survived.

What we have ended up with is a range of heavily managed nature reserves that appear natural on the surface but in fact, the amount of work put into them illustrate that they are at least partially artificial. Do not get me wrong I am not knocking reserves by any means, they serve a very important purpose but in my situation, my small patch is not going to be a species specific site of intervention. 

The ethos of my patch is let it be free and do what it needs to. At first, I had attempted to control the spread of nettles on the site but soon found that once I had stopped that in wetter areas forget me not and willowherb out-competed them and elsewhere tall grasses and reeds have done the same. 

I must confess to some management. In the early days, I planted 20 trees of which today only 2 survive. I put up upwards of 10 bird boxes but these were nearly all predated by Woodpeckers or not used at all. There are more than enough natural tree holes for the bird species.

In the summer I also do some invasives management. The site is home to large quantities of Himalayan Balsam which spreads fast with its explosive seed pods it can cover riverbanks and crowd out native species. The problem I have with the presence balsam is how much the bees and hover flies like the nectar in the pitcher like pink flowers. Bees are in real trouble and so my approach is to cut the flower heads off after flowering and before the seed pods ripen. These seems to be controlling the balsam. Its is still present on the site but is not spreading.



Lastly, is pruning. By necessity, I have to get about the site and often I have to cut back the trees to keep the small paths clear. Yesterday I had to do this a willow that had split in a storm several years ago. Over time one of the branches has slumped causing an obstacle. Most pruning I do is just that, a quick trim, taking out the odd reaching branch but this one required the removal of a much larger branch. It took me awhile with my trusty hand saw but once it was done the path was clear. In line with standard practice, I have moved the fallen branches to one side where they can rot down and provide vital dead wood habitats. 

I guess what I am driving at here is that management needs to support wildlife, sometimes this means intensive direct action and in others little or no action. Ecosystems exist in a dynamic equilibrium and sometimes they need to be left to their own devices and sometimes we need to guide or support it. It is up to all managers to line up their management with their goals and find what works best for them, Sadly in the UK there is so little 'wilderness' or natural habitat that in most cases human intervention is needed to subvert the human impacts elsewhere.

Tuesday 13 June 2017

A short camera trap update

It's a little late this week but today's post looks at a couple of clips taken this week.

Firstly and most excitingly is the glimpse of one of this year's Badger cubs out with two of the adults.


Another regular - Half Tail the Fox has been about a lot this week too. He is looking in very good condition.



Sunday 4 June 2017

General Election 2017



It is now just four days until the General Election and some regular visitors to this blog spot may have noticed a lack of election posts this time round and there is a good reason for this. Usually, I take some time to investigate the environmental policies of the various parties, but in the case of this election, none of the major parties seems to have developed any environmental policies worth discussing.
Here, however, I try to highlight the key policy differences:

Transport
Conservatives - Committed to expanding Heathrow
UKIP – Oppose Heathrow expansion in favour of enlarging smaller airports
All parties are committed to HS2 except Green Party and UKIP

Clean Air/Global Warming
Labour – New Clean Air Act to legislate against diesel fumes
Liberals – Diesel scrappage scheme, Binding target of zero net green house gas emissions by 2050, ultra-low emission zones in many cities
UKIP – Repeal the Climate Act

Fracking
Labour – Ban on Fracking
Liberals – Oppose Fracking
Conservatives – Will allow shale gas exploitation but not fracking

Hunting
Conservatives – Will offer a free vote on the Hunting Ban


THE LABOUR PARTY - Musings on the Wild Score: 7/10
The party manifesto has specific sections on Environment and Animal Welfare, however, a good chunk just says what the Conservatives have done wrong without outlining what they would do right. They talk enthusiastically about safeguarding wildlife and the environment but do not say how and in what way. Most promisingly they oppose changes to the hunting ban and would end the badger TB cull.

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY - Musings on the Wild Score: 5/10
No specific sections in the manifesto. The party discusses the use of Shale Gas as a resource allowing non-fracking drilling accompanied with softening of the planning law. They will set up a specialist regulatory body and believe this will be a lower carbon resource than coal. 
Investment in developing low emission vehicles
In terms of the countryside, they want Natural England to offer more advice to farmers but do not say how they will fund this.
Disappointingly they will offer a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Ban.
They do however offer to produce a 25-year plan for the environment to focus legislation.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS - Musings on the Wild Score: 8/10 
The liberals have a dedicated chapter on the environment. They give detailed plans on reducing diesel emissions and reducing Greenhouse Gases such as the Zero Carbon Britain Act. They promote a greener housing programme with more efficiency standards. They are the only party to suggest more green spaces and a Nature Capital Act.They also have an ambitious plan to plant a tree for every person in the country. The Liberals will increase legislation on waste reduction.

I know the environment is only one theme people consider in an election but I hope that all people who vote on Thursday will factor these ideas into their decision.