CONSERVATION NEWS

Canterbury City Council designated No Man’s Orchard (Chartham Hatch), Tyler Hill Meadow, and Jumping Downs (Barham) in October as Local Nature Reserves (LNRs). In order for the designation to take place the KSCP had to write management plans for the sites on behalf of the communities who own them. Practical management work and surveys for invertebrates have taken place on all three sites and on one of the sites a survey for small mammals has taken place. Notable invertebrates were found on all three sites! Further surveys and management work will now take place and the sites educational value will be utilised. If you would like to become involved in the LNRs or have an idea on how they could be used contact Richard. Thanks to Canterbury City Council, English Nature and the community groups responsible for the LNRs.

No Man’s Orchard LNR in blossom

Thanks to all site managers and graziers who responded to our questionnaire on grazing. Many conservation sites in the Stour Valley require grazing to enhance or maintain a floristically rich sward. The survey found that only 2 conservation sites that required grazing in the KSCP area (15% of Kent) were not being grazed. The survey has now enabled us to find a grazier for one of these sites. Although the KSCP and other organisations have had real problems finding graziers for conservation sites in the past it seems at present, in the KSCP area, site managers have found solutions to this problem. English Nature, Kent Wildlife Trust, Wildwoods, and KCC have all helped with this issue.

Wildwood’s Hungarian screwhorn sheep grazing at Covet Lane Pasture

The KSCP, Whitecliffs Countryside Project and the Kent Downs AONB Unit have had their application for an Inter-Regional European Regional Development Fund (Interreg) grant accepted. The £117,000 allocated to the KSCP will be spent principally on Conservation Grant Schemes, Woodland Management and the Greenspace Project. Many new sites will be managed for conservation and existing site management will be improved for wildlife and people. The grant runs to September 2004.

Fly tipping is becoming much more noticeable in the Stour Valley. Although there has always been a certain amount of fly tipping it has never been to the level now being seen. Any sort of littering despoils our surroundings and makes walks and visits to the countryside less enjoyable. Please report anybody, and/or car registration plates, you see dumping waste in the countryside to the police and any waste seen to your local authority.

Builders rubble fly-tipped in Blean Woods

Due to the success of the Interreg application the KSCP is now operating its Countryside Grant Scheme throughout the KSCP area. If you would like to plant a hedge, dig a pond, manage your woodland or carry out any scheme to benefit wildlife or the landscape you might be entitled to a grant. Gardens and conditions attached to planning applications are not permitted.

English Nature has bought some Konik ponies, a rare polish breed. Modern farm animals are not able to cope with the wetland conditions at Stodmarsh but these ponies can. This brings the management of the site full circle. The earliest records show Augustinian monks used it as a flood meadow providing excellent grazing for mares in foal. As a result it was known as ‘Stud-marsh’, which has over time changed to ‘Stodmarsh’.

Konik ponies

With help from Brett Environment Trust and Interreg funding, the KSCP has funded the thinning of beech at a site know for its outstanding display of lady orchids. Horses carried out the work because it was feared that normal mechanised means might destroy the site’s floristic interest. As the beech canopy has closed creating more shade the ladies have become taller and thinner (etiolated) (not every ladies wish!) and weaker. By allowing more light to the woodland floor the ladies should become sturdier again!

Timber extraction using horse power

The KSCP volunteers have helped to manage 350 metres of hedgerow at Grand Acre Farm, Waltham. The hedgerow had become very thin and gappy; in order to rejuvenate the hedge it has been cut to the ground (coppiced) and the gaps planted with new hedge plants. The hedge forms a vital wildlife link between two woods and a pond. The work is part of a Countryside Stewardship Scheme on the farm, which lies in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Volunteers managing hedges at Grandacre

Hampton Alders a Site of Special Scientific Interest is a very wet mixed native woodland, near Brook. As part of the management of this site, sections of the wood are cut down in rotation. This creates a diverse woodland structure and allows more light to reach the ground encouraging more diverse flora. The KSCP volunteers worked in testing conditions to carry out this important work, well done all.

The Friends of King’s Wood have had a busy and successful year. The summer programme of guided walks was well attended with the Deer Walk attracting 46 people. Practical tasks have also taken place including adder habitat creation, Long-barrow vegetation clearance and woodland glade creation. Membership to the ‘Friend’s’ has risen to 92.

Dormouse monitoring in the forest was a great success, with the information fed into the National Monitoring Programme. The best monthly survey of 17 dormice made King’s Wood the third equal best site in Kent for dormice. The ‘Friends’ have applied to Ashford Community Chest for funding to create two new ponds, put up owl nest boxes and produce a promotional leaflet. Here’s to another successful year.

KSCP has helped enthusiastic owners of Heart's Delight Farm improve the wildlife value of their land by planting a new 200m mixed species hedge close to the Elham Valley Way. The new hedge helps extend an existing species rich hedge, linking it to nearby woodland and has been funded by a KSCP Countryside Grant.

Prompted by concern over the effects of the proliferation of horse paddocks in the countryside, KSCP has taken the initiative of running a pilot Horse Pasture Management Workshop in the project area. The workshop, funded jointly through the KCC Lifescapes programme and the AONB Kent Downs Around Towns Grant, aims to provide guidelines on managing pasture for wildlife and ways to minimise impact on the landscape with sensitive planting, appropriate fencing and siting of buildings. If you own paddocks and would like to hear more about this subject contact KSCP to book your place on the workshop to be held in Wye on March 2^nd.

Volunteers started work on the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for Anvil Green Farm this autumn by planting the first section of hedging. Further practical help will be given in fencing an area for arable reversion this summer. The creation of arable field margins and leaving overwinter stubbles followed by a spring crop should help boost local farm bird populations.

DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is aiming to target the Countryside Stewardship Scheme in key areas this year. Building on the existing success of CSS agreements in the Ash Levels, DEFRA is organising an evening event for landowners interested in the scheme who farm this area. To help promote arable reversion schemes, raised water levels and other arable options, DEFRA has invited a number of speakers on water voles, birds and CSS applications. KSCP will be there to outline how we can help with applications and implementation of the schemes.

Kentish Stour Countryside Project
Sidelands Farm, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5DQ
01233 813307
kentishstour@kent.gov.uk