WildCRU has recently
launched an exciting new initiative to restore wildlife species and
their habitats across farmland. We believe that this is best achieved
through a landscape approach that aims to link local populations, by
enhancing the connectivity of habitat across neighbouring farms, rather
than by working at single sites and in isolation. This will ensure the
delivery of best practice, improved habitat management, enhancement
and creation at a landscape scale. Conservation advice and activity
at any one farm will consider not only the species and habitats found
on that farm but also the context of the farm in relation to species
and habitats on neighbouring farms and areas of wildlife importance
(County Wildlife Sites and Nature Reserves).
The driver and opportunity
that we have embraced is the uptake and delivery of the new Environmental
Stewardship Scheme. Previous agri-environment schemes have concentrated
on existing areas of high biodiversity value, and relied on farmers
coming forward to participate; this often resulted in disjointed conservation
efforts. Agri-environment schemes have now been revised to allow all
farmers to take part, and our project recruits previously excluded farmers
whose farms may be key to achieving better habitat connectivity across
farms, and, as a result, more effective biodiversity conservation. Our
success hinges on engaging farmers, and to do so our team (including
WildCRU, FWAG and BBOWT) uses an approach that proved enormously successful
in our pilot study on Chichester Coastal Plain (across 42 contiguous
farms); we offer farmers a funded service, including a Whole Farm Conservation
Plan (WFCPs) and advice on grants that may be available to them.
We aim to make real
biodiversity gains through the implementation of WFCPs, devised to maximise
habitat connectivity on a landscape scale. As the various habitat enhancements
are carried out, we will test their effectiveness through comparative
trials that measure their impact on biodiversity. The WFCP will ensure
that farmers are meeting cross-compliance standards under the CAP Reform
and encourage them to apply for the Entry Level Scheme (ELS) and the
Higher Level Scheme (HLS) where possible. The unique approach of our
programme is the combination of a) habitat management implemented within
large-scale experiments, to test and quantify its effects and b) monitor
the impacts of habitat management for wildlife over appropriate time-scales.
In these two ways we will test what works and what does not - replacing
supposition with evidence - and then publish best practice guidelines
for farmers and decision-makers. A Geographical Information System (GIS)
will be developed for predicting impacts of landscape change on priority
biodiversity habitats and species.
The formal objectives
of the UTTESA Project include:
- Developing a
landscape approach to habitat enhancement through a partnership project
working directly with farmers and other countryside stake-holders
in the Upper Thames and encouraging uptake of Environmental Stewardship.
- Providing baseline
surveys of key biodiversity indicators on farmland and monitoring
populations in response to large-scale experiments on habitat connectivity
and making the fabric of the countryside less intense, creating wildlife
corridors and buffers.
- Generating original
research results to inform habitat management policy and advice to
farmers and the rural community while establishing the Upper Thames
as a demonstration area of best practice promoting catchment sensitive
farming.
Targets and Outputs
- Over the next
five years the project has quantifiable and deliverable goals:
- Provide conservation
management advice on 50-70% of eligible farmland in the Upper Thames,
making this one of the largest demonstration areas in the UK .
- Complete 60-80
WFCPs each setting the individual farm in context of the local characterisation
of the area, highlighting important species and habitats
- Encourage the
uptake of the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme, and enhance existing
agri-environment scheme agreements.
- Design monitoring
and experimental programmes for conservation and management of a number
of indicator and priority mammals, birds and invertebrates, including
water voles, otters, brown hares, bats, lapwings, grey partridges,
together with species of dragonflies, moths and butterflies. We want
to demonstrate measurable increases in all these key species as a
tangible outcome of the project.
- Contribute measurably
to delivery of HAP & SAP targets within the project area as identified
in the LBAPs
- Specific targets
for habitat creation and enhancements to promote connectivity include:
200ha new wet grassland, 1000ha grassland restoration (MG4-5), 100km
riparian buffer strips, 50km riparian fencing, 10 in-channel enhancements,
50km hedgerow restoration, 30 new ponds created, 150 existing ponds
enhanced, 5ha new reedbed, 5ha wet woodland/carr, 20ha new linking
woodland. These habitats will then provide the conditions for a natural
recovery of our indicator species and much more besides.
Initial pilot work
has started within the Rivers Ray and Windrush catchments due to existing
partner initiatives, progressing on a phased basis in order to coherently
target resources. These two areas were identified in a recent report
commissioned by DEFRA as the highest priority areas for species-rich
grassland restoration in the Thames Valley.
To date, 9 whole
farm conservation plans have been written (totalling 2,688 hectares)
with a view to bringing all into the Environmental Stewardship Scheme.
These have been targeted to fill in the gaps between existing Countryside
Stewardship agreements and land under ESA agreement. Combined with these
previous agreements some 20,000 ha across the two catchments has been
influenced by agri-environment funding.
Adjacent catchments
of the other Upper Thames tributaries (Churn, Coln, Cole, Leach, Evenlode
and Cherwell) will be incorporated in subsequent years in a rolling
programme of advising farmers, writing management plans, implementing
management changes and habitat restoration and monitoring key biodiversity
species populations.
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