Howth Peninsula, Dublin Bay

Howth Peninsula, Dublin Bay

In December, I was invited to visit the Howth Peninsula, which is on the northern side of Dublin Bay. Travel plans were disrupted by the cancellation of the key train to Manchester Airport for the satisfyingly brief encounter with RyanAir. The trusty car had to take the strain and I just made it, but using all available modes of transport, against the clock, is all part of the HT role.

On arrival, my host from Fingal County Council whisked me to a hotel and left me to meet representatives of the Irish Upland Forum. I have had some fleeting contact with this Forum before, but it was great to meet two representatives in person and exchange views about the uplands. I was intrigued to learn about the work they are doing to encourage cells of activity around the whole island of Ireland.

The following morning, I got on with the main job of inspecting the Howth Peninsula. The challenge was to review the state of the vegetation and come up with some ideas for how it might be better managed. Traditionally, the peninsula appears to have been managed mainly by grazing activity but this is no longer taking place at a level that has a significant impact. There is no planned burning, but there is potential for plenty of unplanned burning, and much of the area is inaccessible anything but the most rugged cutting machinery. Add into the mix that there are large numbers of expensive houses along the coast, a golf course, a rhododendron sanctuary, a quarry, many tracks and footpaths, critical infrastructure (in the form of radio masts and the instrument landing system for Dublin Airport, which is close by) and you can get a feel for why management of this area is a challenging undertaking.   

The Golf Course provides a diverse habitat 

There was an interesting range of people on the visit but there was a consensus that the re-introduction of grazing should form part of the future management plans, including the use of goats. Some burning could take place and those areas, where some machinery access is possible, should be cut. Health and safety is a major concern for cutting operations and it was suggested that the potential to use robotic cutting machinery, which can be very robust, could be explored.

This was a very interesting visit, as it required a bit of thinking outside the box. There is no standard solution to this sort of challenge, and I suspect that the best way forward will be to employ a range of approaches where they can be applied. The key point is that sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. This would lead inevitably to a big wildfire that will be difficult or impossible to control. I congratulate Fingal County Council for daring to address the challenge and I hope that their efforts to bring most, if not all, of the vegetation back under management are successful.

Part of the Management Challenge

A Scottish Demonstration Farm for GWCT

Auchnerran Farm.  Photo: GWCT

In a recent article on their website, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust provided the background to this new development:

"Having a demonstration farm in Scotland has been a GWCT objective for ten years. Demonstration is at the heart of the GWCT’s Allerton Project at Loddington in Leicestershire. Over 20 years this has become a showpiece for our farmland research, demonstrating that good arable farming and game shooting management sustain wildlife and countryside income."

The inclusion of upland and lowland within the farm makes this development of particular interest to the Heather Trust.  I like to avoid placing boundaries around different land types and separating upland from lowland issues is often unhelpful; much farm stock is moved between the two areas and wildlife moves freely up and down the hill.  Therefore, being able to demonstrate how game management and farming work side by side in lowland and upland areas will be very valuable.

An early fund raising target is £5,000 to cover tick treatment for the sheep flock for 12 months.  A JustGiving webpage has been set up to receive donations, which can be made anonymously if desired. 

Livestock grazing ‘vital’ to preserve uplands

Hill Farm, Arkengarthdale - Yorkshire Post

For a more authoritative report on the 10-year study described in the previous post, see the article published by the James Hutton Institute.

The ecologists are reported to have conducted a "long-term, landscape-scale experiment looking at the consequences of livestock management on multiple plant and animal groups that consume each other within an upland ‘food-web’".  The aim "was not to determine a single approach to livestock grazing that would result in a ‘win-win’ situation for all species, but rather an approach that provided the best possible trade-off between ‘winners’ and losers’".

Livestock grazing ‘vital’ to preserve uplands

Hill Farm, Arkengarthdale - Yorkshire Post

This may be another case of science being used to re-state the blindingly obvious, but all the same it helps to have the concept of the dependence of the uplands on grazing management restated.  The Yorkshire Post article provides a description of the work carried out over 10 years by researchers from the Universities of Hull and Aberdeen and the James Hutton Institute.

The article acknowledges that "these unique habitats have evolved as a result of traditional farming practices and abandoning such areas would have a huge impact on the internationally important plants and animals that live there."  It is comforting that this research applies common sense and avoids the trap of falling into the arms of the re-wilding lobby, which promotes the view that nature is best left to look after itself.  I think there is a need to be careful what you wish for; the natural balance without management is likely to look very different.

Management has shaped our hills, moorlands and uplands and therefore the owners and managers have an input into how these areas look and the services they provide.  I agree with the view that mixed livestock grazing at the right intensity is vital for the correct management and preservation of our uplands.

Tuesday: Bog-athon Cumbria

Today was not an ideal day for this, but a hardy team assembled above Mosedale on the east side of the Lake District to take on the worst that the weather could throw at us. In this area, the blanket peat sits on top of the fell and that was where we had to go.  The photo says it all!

This was the final planned Bog-athon visit.  The visits have served to move debate forward and demonstrate that, correctly applied, the Outcomes Approach being introduced by Natural England has value. It is a way of thinking, not a solution in itself, and involves in reaching a consensus about to objectives for the management of the area.  Extending the coverage to include Exmoor and the Lake District was well worth the effort.  If nothing else, these last two visits have served to emphasise how parts of the uplands can be so different, and how a 'one size fits all' approach to their management is a complete non-starter.

Today, grazing was the only management available, or required, for the area of (very wet) deep peat that we looked at, but it must be recognised that it is a delicate balance to maintain the appropriate levels of grazing while providing the farms with enough income to survive.  Also, it was clear that large commons require a large amount of staff input from Natural England to get them into grant schemes and then support the scheme through its life.  The Outcomes Approach that has been at the core of Bog-athon maybe desirable, but there is a question mark over whether NE has the resources to implement it fully.