Country Market & Sporting Sale - ready for the final fling?

The Country Market & Sporting Sale is poised for the final flurry of activity. We have a large range of exciting Lots on offer that have been attracting bids since the launch of the Sale on 22 April.  There has been some furious bidding for some Lots and we are expecting a large amount of activity between now and the end of the Sale at 7.00pm on Sunday 8 May.

Don’t miss out!  Have a look at the Lots on the Sale’s website and get bidding. There is something for every interest and every budget.

Asulam for Bracken Control 2016

The weather may be unseasonal, but I can confirm that should bracken decide to brave the conditions  this year, it will be possible to control it using asulam.

The Chemicals Regulation Directorate has issued an Emergency Authorisation that will allow asulam to be sold and transferred from 16 May 2016, and applied in the period 1 July - 12 September 2016.  There will be a use-up period until 31 October 2016, which will allow stocks to be applied or returned (if in unopened containers).  From 1 November 2016, it will once again be illegal to hold any stocks of asulam.

As the coordinator of the Bracken Control Group, I submit the application for the Emergency Authorisation for the UK and full details of the application are available on the BCG Website.

I urge anyone planning to purchase or apply asulam this year to read the conditions in the Emergency Authorisation, as it is important that the conditions are complied with.

Key Dates Summary 2016 

 

16 May 2016	Effective date for the Notice of Authorisation issued by CRD Start of the Emergency Authorisation period of 120 days. Storage, promotion, sales, and transfer authorised.
1 July 2016	Application of Asulam can commence.
12 September 2016	First expiry date: for sale & distribution of stocks. Storage and use of stocks can continue.
31 October 2016	Final expiry date: for disposal, storage and use of stocks. It will be illegal to apply or store Asulam after this date.

Scottish Land & Estates - Spring Conference - 25 May 2016

Scottish Land & Estates has announced details of their Spring Conference, which will be held in The Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh on 25 May 2016.

This conference offers delegates a unique opportunity to engage with Scottish landowners, representatives of land based business, rural professionals, politicians, policy decision makers and academics. The conference is designed to stimulate debate, introduce new ideas and approaches, explore challenges and identify potential solutions.

For more details about the conference and how to apply for a place, see the SL&E website.

Country Market & Sporting Sale 2016 - going live!

Starts: Midnight, tonight.

Closes: 7.00pm on Sunday, 8th May.

See the Website for details

We have a wide variety of great Lots and thanks go to all the donors for making the Sale so attractive once again.  Patrick and Samantha have done a great job putting it all together, and Patrick's artwork has added a unique quality to the promotion material.  We are all available to help answer any questions. 

Previously we have closed the Sale at 12 noon on the final Friday, but to accommodate those who can only bid at weekends, we have extended the Sale through until 7.00pm on the Sunday evening.  

You will hear much more about the Sale between now and 8th May so there will be no excuses for not bidding!  Please spread the word around the people you are in contact with.

Graze the Moor project - Molland Moor, Exmoor

Landowner, Christina Williams, in full flow

I had a good day yesterday on Exmoor, where I am project manager for the Graze the Moor project that amongst other work, is seeking to establish the impact of re-introducing winter grazing, principally by hill cattle, onto Molland Moor.

After a meeting in the estate office, it was a pleasure to get out onto the moor and see the benefits of the work that is being carried out by the project. Conditions were benign as the photo shows.

I am pleased that the University of Gloucester has shown a keen interest in this project and I am looking forward to introducing Prof Janet Dwyer and Dr Allan Butler from the Royal Agricultural University at Cirencester to the work of the project when they visit Molland next month.

Molinia starting to grow

One of the management challenges on Molland Moor is Purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea. In this photo you can see that the Molinia is already putting up green shoots after being burnt this spring.  Even in the Devon climate, heather cannot compete with this rate of recovery.  The project is considering how the dominance of Molinia on parts of the moor can be challenged.  We are thinking or raking out some of the mat of dead vegetation under the Molinia.  A dragged chain harrow has not been effective (and caused as much damage to the harrow as to the tussocks).  Has anyone had any success with this sort of approach?

To add an extra connection to the work, the cattle on the moor are mainly Galloway, and the farmer is seeking to upgrade them.  He bought the champion Galloway bull, and the runner up, at the bull sale in Castle Douglas, last year. These bulls came from Troloss Farm, which is owned by the landlord of the Heather Trust's office.  I drive through the farm every time I head north from the office.  

Golden Plover Award 2016 - applications

The application window for this year's Golden Plover Award is closing.  We have received a good range of applications but would welcome more.  If you have been wondering whether to apply or not, today would be a good day to come off the fence and make the decision to make an application. It is a simple process - a phone call would do to start with.

This year we are encouraging applications from those who have integrated sheep into the management of their moorland and this has raised some interest from the farming sector. 

There is more information about the Award, and its development over the last three years, on the dedicated website: www.goldenploveraward.co.uk

Langholm Moor Demonstration Project - completion plan

This 10-year project completes in October 2017.  The project is set up as a company and it is run by a Board of Directors, which met, last week, to discuss how the project is to be managed between now and completion.  This follows the sad resignation of the Headkeeper, Simon Lester, earlier this month, and other reductions in the gamekeeping team.

See the news item on the Project's website for details of the plan that has been announced.

I am a member of the Science & Technical Advisory Group.  As this Group is a form of scientific watchdog for the project, many members are professors, but there are some members who have management experience.  I was invited to join the Group in 2013 to provide further support on habitat management, and it has helped to have had some direct output from the Project that I have been able to share with Scotland's Moorland Forum.

The Directors have acknowledged that the Project is not going to meet all the targets that were set for it. However, there have been many successes and I welcome the plan to write up properly all the work that has been completed so that the moorland management community can get full value from the project. Inevitably, there will be criticism that all the targets will not be achieved, but this should not be seen as failure.  Targets are always going to be at risk when dealing with natural systems that cannot be tightly controlled, and the final report from the Project will need to balance the successes against the challenges that still remain to be answered.

Will there be an appetite for a Langholm 3 project?

Landowners and Managers: what is the state of your peatlands?

Actively eroding peatland

If landowners and managers are unsure about the state of their peatlands, the Peatland Condition Assessment Guide, which has been published by the Trust, provides practical information to help assess their condition.

The assessment process does not require specialist botanical knowledge. Using easily observed features, and illustrative photographs, the guide identifies four categories of peatland condition: near-natural, modified, drained and actively eroding. Identifying these categories is the starting point for establishing the benefit to peatland condition that might result from changes in management and whether or not any restoration work is required. 

The peatland condition categories also link through to Defra-funded research associated with the Peatland Code, and the categories can also be used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands. This feature may be useful in making a case for funding peatland restoration projects (see note).

The guide summarises some key points about peatlands and provides some detail about their key features:

Key Points

• Peatlands are important for carbon storage, water regulation and biodiversity.
• The main peat-forming species are Sphagnum mosses and sedges like cotton grass.
• These species can be lost through drying of the peat surface as a result of natural and man-induced changes to drainage, burning and grazing regimes.
• The primary aims of peatland restoration are: re-vegetating bare peat and re-establishing peat-forming mosses and sedges through re-wetting.

Key Features

• Peatlands are not only important within the context of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change; they also support wildlife, food production and good water quality.
• Bare peat is worth nothing; it has little value for grazing, game, wildlife, landscape or access. 
• Peat erosion is not only a direct loss of soil; it also results in the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. 
• Eroded peat can end up in watercourses with implications for water quality, fish and private water supplies.
• The increased interest in peatlands is based on the growing global awareness of how important peatlands are for the range of natural (ecosystem) services that these areas provide.
• Improving peatland condition can provide multiple benefits for a range of natural (ecosystem) services.

Peatland after ditch blocking

The guide is available to download from the Heather Trust’s website.  I also have some printed copies; please contact Anne Stoddart at the Trust, if you would like some of these.  There is no charge for the printed copies, but I would welcome a donation to cover our costs.

I have long advocated that we need to direct more effort at raising the level of awareness within the land management community about peatland.  We need to consider peatland as a valuable asset.  We must accept that it needs sensitive management and landowners and managers are the people to provide this.  I hope this guide will allow landowners and managers to form their own opinion of the state of their peatlands.  If it is established that some management changes would be beneficial or some restoration work is required, I will be pleased to make suggestions about who might be available to help.

I am grateful to Dr Dick Birnie from Landform Research for providing the driving force to produce this guide and to Dr Mary-Ann Smyth and Dr Emily Taylor from the Crichton Carbon Centre for helping with the drafting process.  I am pleased that the Trust has been able to fund the production of the guide and I thank the Peatland Action project for the financial support, which has reduced the cost to the Trust. 

This guide has been produced as a companion guide to the ‘Field guide to Spagnum mosses in bogs’, which was published by the Field Studies Council in 2012, with support from the Trust and other organisations.  The sphagnum guide is only available in printed form – I have a few copies available and it can be ordered from the FSC’s website.

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Note: For further information, see the output from the Defra-funded project ‘Developing Peatland Carbon Metrics and Financial Modelling to Inform the Pilot Phase UK Peatland Code’:

·               Presentation given in October 2014 – outlines the approach

·              Full project report - June 2015

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. 

Wildfire: Be Aware

This is a “Wildfire – Be Aware” message issued by the Met Office. 

Further updates to this message will be circulated as more information becomes available.

A high pressure system is dominating the UK’s weather, with the potential to bring dry continental air to parts of the UK at times. This situation is likely to persist for the coming week. Historically, this weather pattern has been linked to elevated wildfire behaviour, at this time of year.

Whilst no specific wildfire warnings are in place, wildfire conditions have the potential to change markedly from day-to-day, depending on the wind direction. The wildfire community should be vigilant of an increase in the frequency of wildfires whilst the high pressure continues to affect the UK.

Karl Kitchen, Met Office


If you have any questions relating to this advice from the Met Office, please contact Rowena Jeremy:

Rowena Jeremy
Business Development Manager - Government Services
Met Office FitzRoy Road Exeter Devon EX1 3PB United Kingdom
Mobile: +44 (0)7717815812 Fax: +44 (0)1392 885050
Email: rowena.jeremy@metoffice.gov.uk Website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk

Wildfire Conference 2015 - Presentations available

Prevention Better than Cure

November 2015

The presentations from last year's wildfire conference are now available to download.  

The actions and lessons learned during the conference will provide a focus for the work of the wildfire forums, this year, and work will soon need to start to prepare for the next conference, which is likely to be held in 2017.

With the weather set fair this week, there is a good chance for the muirburn, heather burning & swaling plans to be put into action.  Even after all the wet weather of the winter, the vegetation can dry very quickly at this time of year and I urge care so that we do not end up with a spate of wildfires.

The Role of Fire in UK Peatland and Moorland Management

A paper has been produced that reflects on the role of fire in moorland management and it is due for publication in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, in May.  A copy of the report, which is marked 'For Review Only', has been circulated and to prove that this is an emotive subject,  comments have started to fly.  However, much of the rhetoric is based on the merits, or otherwise, of commenting on a report before it has been published.

One of the authors of the report, is Professor Rob Marrs, the Trust's President.  After discussing the report with him, I have agreed that I will not comment on the report until it has been published by the Royal Society.  At this stage, I will ask Rob to provide his comments on the report and I will add a post to this blog.  I will also aim to include a more in-depth review in the Trust's Annual Report that will be published in early August.

Golden Plover Award 2016 - Integrated Moorland Management & Sheep

We are working with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to promote our Golden Plover Award for Scotland.   In addition to an integrated approach to moorland management, which is carried out to a high standard, this year  we are seeking applicants who use sheep as an integral part of their management regime.

We will welcome applications from all parts of Scotland, the more remote the better! Applicants are not restricted to estates or landowners; we will value applications from tenant farmers and crofters.

If you value the management that your sheep provide for your moorland, you will be eligible to apply for the award. 

There is more detail about the Award on the dedicated website. 

The deadline for applications is 23 March 2016 so that we can review applications and select the winner in the for the award to be made at the Scottish Game Fair on 1 July 2016.

We are grateful to Lindsays - who are Edinburgh based solicitors - for sponsoring the Golden Plover Award, this year.

England & Wales Wildfire Forum

Alex Bennet, the Chief Fire Office for the Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service, is due to retire in July.  Alex is also the Chairman of the England & Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF), and I have enjoyed working alongside him as the Vice-Chairman.

The combination of my rural background alongside Alex's dedication to the fire Service has been a good combination, and I hope that we can find a similarly effective formula for maintaining the momentum of the EWWF, which has developed under Alex's leadership.  There is no doubt in my mind that we need to take the threat posed by wildfire more seriously.  After a very wet winter, it is difficult to remember that we could easily be into a wildfire season by the end of April.  The national conference, held in November last year on the outskirts Glasgow, had a title of 'Prevention better then Cure' and I think this is something that the EWWF must continue to promote, alongside the Scottish Wildfire Forum.

Peatland Management promoted in London

I was part of a delegation that briefed the Defra Minister, Rory Stewart, MP in London yesterday about peatland management and the application of the Peatland Code.  The others present included Edward van Cutsem (Mossdale Estate), Tom Surrey (Defra), Alex Lawson (Savills), Alastair Martin (Duchy of Cornwall), Roddy Gow (Canongate Partners + IUCN), Clifton Bain (IUCN), the Minister, Johnny Hughes (IUCN), Peter Nixon (National Trust).

The numbers about peatland are compelling: if 100,000ha of degraded peatland is restored, over 30 years the restoration work will result in a net reduction of about 30MT CO2 equiv of emissions to the atmosphere, at a cost in the region of £300m. These are scary numbers, but against the scenario of the Government's commitment to reducing CO2 emissions the figures represent a cost of £13.50 /T CO2 equiv removed.  When compared with the cost of reducing carbon emissions by other means, the peatland option becomes more attractive.

It has been a busy couple of days: on Thursday, we organised a briefing about the Moorland Forum's Understanding Predation project for MSPs in the Scottish Parliament. See the the Understanding Predation blog for details.  It is good that the Trust is getting into the 'corridors of power'.  We know that our ideas have value but this is of no benefit unless we tell people.  These sort of excursions allow us to get the HT message direct into the heart of policy formation.

The Understanding Predation Project - launched 8 February

Battleby Conference Centre

The Scottish Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Aileen McLeod, MSP, launched the Understanding predation report at the Battleby Conference Centre, near Perth on Monday.

This project was commissioned by the Scottish Government, supervised and funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and delivered by Scotland's Moorland Forum.  I am the Director of the Forum and have also been the Project Manager.  It has been a huge effort to get the work done in the time available, but I think it has been worth it. 

Ian Ross (Chairman SNH) The Minister &
Lord Lindsay (Chairman, Moorland Forum)

If you would like to know more about the project and its findings there is much more information on the Moorland Forum's website and in the Understanding Predation project's blog.

From the Heather Trust's perspective, there are some important messages.  First, it is possible for people with local knowledge to work alongside scientists and to contribute equally to the discussions.  Second, a collaborative approach to issues can be very effective.  This is very much in line with the Trust's approach to 'promoting integrated moorland management'.  Every view should be treated with respect and every voice heard.

The project has produced a shared view of the issues and the next question will be how to apply this knowledge to the best effect.  The key point will be that it may take longer and be more expensive to adopt a collaborative approach, but the results are likely to be much more effective and longer lasting.

North Wales Moors - Stakeholder Workshop - 10 February 2016

I am looking forward to attending the stakeholder workshop at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel, on 10 February.  The workshop is being organised by the RSPB as part of the bid, which is due to be submitted in September 2016, to the EU LIFE Nature Fund for the North Wales Moors.

If approved, the project will focus on: restoration of blanket bogs across the project area, establishing favourable condition on dry heath and aim to achieve favourable conservation status of Merlin and Hen harrier in the Berwyn and Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt SAC & SPAs.

I hope that the Trust will be able to support this project and build on the contacts we re-established in Wales as part of the meeting held on the Rhiwlas Estate last October, in conjunction with the Trust's AGM.  I understand that the numbers attending have been kept small, but it would be good to see other members and supporters at the meeting.  If you are attending, please let me know.

Scotland: Land Use Strategy Consultation - closes 29 January

The consultation closes on 29 January

All those with an interest in land use in Scotland have been invited to give their views on the draft Land Use Strategy 2016 – 2021. Information on how to respond is available from the SG website: and also on the Scottish Government Land Use Strategy webpages.

any questions will be answered by the Land Use and Biodiversity Team on landusestrategy@gov.scot or 0131 244 7968.

Scotland - Land Reform

Photo: The Scotsman

An article in today's Scotsman states that "The Scottish Government is to make almost 50 changes to its flagship land reform legislation".  Follow the link to read the full article.

England: Hen Harrier Joint Action Plan launched

The Hen Harrier Joint Action Plan was launched by Defra, on 14 January.

The plan was developed by Defra in conjunction with the RSPB, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Moorland Association, National Gamekeepers Organisation, and National Parks UK.  Natural England will lead on the six point plan, working with the partner organisations to: 

• Monitor hen harrier numbers in England and the UK via satellite tagging and tracking;
• Share best practice with land managers and gamekeepers, encouraging the provision of food for birds of prey;
• Work closely with the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) to analyse intelligence on persecution and deliver more effective enforcement and deterrence measures;
• Monitor and protect nests and winter roosts from disturbance and destruction;
• Work with landowners to reintroduce hen harriers to suitable areas in the South of England;
• Scope out feasibility for trialling brood management.

Other documents are:

• Defra news story: New plans to save England’s hen harriers - 14 Jan 16
• Joint action plan to increase the English hen harrier population

It is interesting to note that the Joint Action Plan contains details of the most recent full survey of the UK population of Hen harriers, which was carried out in 2010 .  This found 633 territorial pairs in the UK, and estimated 505 pairs in Scotland; 57 in Wales and 12 in England. The Plan states that "it is reasonable to conclude that there should be more pairs in England than currently exist".

 

For those who have not been following the development of the Plan, the Guardian article from 14 January provides a good overview.

I welcome the publication of this Plan and the objective approach it offers.  I encourage the partners to work hard to implement it  fully.  Yes, this is sensitive territory but we should not let the arguments be fuelled by self-interest.  

There has been a lot of discussion around introducing a brood management scheme, and I draw your attention to the details of Action 6 on page 11 of the Joint Action Plan, which explains this.  No lethal control is proposed and as someone without direct involvement in this debate, I take the view that if brood management would help to defuse the tension around Hen harriers I think this approach should be trialled.  I am sure there are different views and I would be delighted for the errors of my position to be pointed out - use the comment form below.