Sulwath Connections

Action for Wood Pastures

Demonstration Events

Reports:

Partners:

Wood pasture is a type of land use that includes both the deliberate grazing of grassland or heathland, combined with the management of trees and shrubs. Many sites have a history of this kind of management, with both the livestock and the trees providing benefits for those who managed them, in terms of food production and wood products. In the modern farmed landscape this mix of trees and pasture has often been lost, either through conversion to pasture without trees or to enclosed woodland, and the extent and quality of this habitat has been reduced.

Designed wood pasture, Lower Nithsdale Parkland wood pasture, New Abbey

The conservation and enhancement and continued management of wood pasture can bring a range of benefits: its contribution to landscapes may be considerable; biodiversity can be extremely rich; many sites are important for the cultural and historical record they provide; and it is a habitat in which people sub-consciously feel comfortable.

Sulpher polypore fungus Veteran oak, Fleet Valley

Wood pasture is also often important for "veteran trees" - old trees that are valuable for their biodiversity, cultural heritage and contribution to the landscape. Once lost, such trees can never be replaced, but it is important that another generation of trees is encouraged to form the veteran trees of the future.

Wood pastures, Drumlanrig Wood pasture landscape, Cree Valley

Wood Pasture and Parkland is included in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and is listed as a priority habitat for conservation action in the Dumfries and Galloway Local Biodiversity Action Plan and the Annan Catchment Co-ordination Plan.

Coppiced alder, Corvend Coast Pollarded oak, Fleet Valley

Climatic conditions and knowledge of historical management regimes suggest that wood pasture was once a common land-use and habitat across the Sulwath Connections area.

New trees protected by fencing, Annandale Wood pasture, Ken Valley

The anticipated outcomes for the project will include:

The targeted promotion of natural regeneration to enhance moribund Wood Pasture and to ensure the continuance of tree cover over time.
The introduction of grazing management to enhance a site's ground flora.
The modification of existing grazing patterns where these are detrimental to the ground flora.
The appropriate clearance of under planted trees from Wood Pasture, removing any unsuitable conifer/broad-leaved understorey or invasive, inappropriate scrub.
The clearance of other invasive species such as bracken and rhododendron.
Pollarding trees where appropriate, to enhance their lifespan and to restore an old cultural practice where there is evidence that this has occurred.
Maintaining deadwood habitat for invertebrate, lichen and fungi communities.
Expanding areas of existing Wood Pasture where there is suitable neighbouring ground.

Whilst these conservation works are carried out the many opportunities for interpreting this resource to the wider public will be taken. This may include the establishment of a series of best practice sites, and the dissemination of information on suitable management techniques through interpretation panels, newsletters and publications.

Update at 20 September 2007

The project has experienced a delay in the start of the project officer and therefore has been unable to make much progress this year. However, by working in partnership with RSPB, 19 ash trees have been planted within enclosures at the RSPB Barclye Farm, Wood of Cree site. Different types of enclosure were trialled to find the most effective against grazing stock, as the photographs below show. By creating a new Wood Pasture site on existing farmland it is hoped that the location will be able to be used as a demonstration site for land owners, land managers and a variety of conservation organisations. The site will be accessible to the public and so appropriate interpretation could also be installed at a later point in the three year project. The part-time project officer will take up the post on Monday 15th October 2007.

Barclye Farm 1 by Paul Collin (RSPB) Barclye Farm 2 by Paul Collin (RSPB)

What's happening with the Dumfries and Galloway Wood Pasture Project in 2009?

Currently four sites are being managed as wood pasture. Three of these sites have had trees planted in natural-style tree enclosures, wooden tree enclosures and clumped tree enclosure (Figures 1, 2 and 3). The fourth site is an organic farm and has a problem with bracken. The bracken is preventing anything else from establishing. Because this farm is farmed organically no chemicals are allowed to be used to control the bracken, therefore a bracken bruiser was purchased (Figure 4).

Six other wood pastures have been identified in Dumfries and Galloway and work conservation works will begin this autumn. Most of these sites will include planting trees in tree enclosures.

A demonstration day will be held for landowners who are interested in protecting or creating wood pastures in August 2009. This demonstration day will include a bracken bruising demonstration and sites with successful tree plantings.