The Blackdown Hills. Part 2: Conservation

The primary purpose of the Blackdown Hills AONB is to “conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area”. It includes 16 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering a total of about 640ha. Some of the larger ones are a mosaic of habitats (e.g., Blackdown & Sampford Commons, Hense Moor, and Gotleigh & Southey Moors), others are good examples of one particular habitat (e.g., wet heathland on Ashculm Turbary, unimproved mesotrophic grassland on Long Lye Meadow) or are of specific interest (e.g., geology at Furley Chalk Pit; scarce butterflies in Buckland Wood at Quants). In addition, one site (Quants) is a candidate Special Area of Conservation. However, not all these SSSIs are in “favourable condition”.

Local nature reserves, typically managed by the Wildlife Trusts, include Licombe Bottom and Yarty Moor. There is also a growing number of County Wildlife Sites, selected for their ecological value, but over which very little control of management can be exerted. Conversely, management prescriptions are intrinsic to the Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) scheme that embraces virtually the whole Blackdowns AONB; within this, flat-rate payments are on offer to farmers to work the land in an environmentally friendly manner. Effects on wildlife are hard to appraise, in part because the ‘success’ of the ESA is estimated by take-up of the scheme and, in the Blackdowns, take-up has been poor. Countryside Stewardship is similar in concept. It is too soon to judge the contribution, particularly of Natural England’s Higher Level Scheme, to wildlife conservation in the Blackdowns.

The Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme, handsomely funded by the Heritage Lottery for the period 2006-2009, includes a natural heritage programme which will “enhance and restore wildlife habitats” of the northern scarp of the Blackdowns; already, some 150 ha of conifers have been cleared. Fencing is in progress, ready for grazing with English Longhorns. Similarly ambitious was the HLF-supported Tomorrow’s Heathland Heritage (THH) programme which, in East Devon, was run by the RSPB in the period 2000-2006.

Sites in the Blackdowns that benefited most from THH included Hense Moor, the Stockland, Ashculm and Clayhidon Turbaries, and Culmstock Beacon. Work has typically involved birch scrub clearance from spring-line mires followed by fencing to facilitate grazing, either by moorland ponies or cattle. The re-establishment of grazing on these sites is critically important but has proved a serious bottle-neck; it is hoped that the Grazing Animals Project will lead the way forward. Preliminary monitoring of the effects of management on both Hense Moor and the Stockland Turbaries indicate that biodiversity is being regained.

The Axe Vale & District Conservation Society, whose “centre of gravity” is more coastal, has been lured into the Hills on various occasions to work on the Stockland Turbaries, on Clayhidon Turbary and, with startling success, on a bank of the Yarty where Small Teasel has its Devon stronghold. Butterfly Conservation is active in the Somerset Blackdowns. Hedgerow restoration has been encouraged by the ESA scheme and the Blackdown Hills Hedge Association. Catchment sensitive farming has been championed by the Cycleau Project, which has tried to reduce soil erosion and nutrient enrichment of rivers, including the Yarty.
In view of the range of conservation initiatives in the Blackdowns AONB, it is worrying that there is very little monitoring of the effects of management practices on plant and animal populations. This seems an area that could profitably be taken up by universities in the region.

See http://www.blackdown-hills.net for details of events in the Blackdown Hills. This article follows that in  Newsletter No. 66.