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Flora Locale Training 2010: Grasslands and Conservation Grazing
For courses in Wales see the Grasslands in Wales webpage
Lowland wet grassland re-creation and management Ref E1
Tuesday 18 May
Great Steeping, Lincs
Facilitator: Roger Wardle, Roger Wardle Consultancy and Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes project
This is a practical look at managing, restoring and re-creating, on a field or landscape scale, botanically rich lowland grassland and wet grassland for breeding waders. The day is suitable for those interested in lowland and wet grassland in a variety of situations including Environmental Stewardship. Most of the time will be spent visiting three very successful projects:
- A species-rich ridge-and-furrow hay meadow restored 18 years ago from species poor grassland.
- A wet hay meadow recreation with sluices, scrapes and colonising green winged orchids.
- A large wet grassland for breeding waders, created in 2003 from arable land, using new ideas to provide a diverse and wet habitat with the use of on site precipitation only. Cattle management, seeding and construction methodology will be discussed.
- around 80 pairs of breeding waders occupy 45ha of former arable land.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Enhancement and management of grasslands Ref SE2
Friday 11 June
Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire
Facilitators: Pete Potts and Charles Flower
The workshop will take a practical look at different species-rich grassland sites: seeding new chalk banks, reseeding of neglected chalk down and enhancing an existing sward/hay meadow by a change of management techniques. The day will include a discussion of techniques for enhancing existing grasslands and developing new wildflower grassland using seed.
*www.hants.gov.uk/countryside
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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An Introduction to grasslands for butterflies Ref N1
Tuesday 15 June
Ferryhill, County Durham
Facilitator: David Wainwright, Butterfly Conservation Trust*
Based on a valuable wildlife-site in County Durham's magnesium limestone. This day will explore the species-rich grasslands are very attractive to butterflies, offering a variety of food plants for numerous species, but a traditional summer cut can be disastrous for all stages of their life cycle. How can a compromise be achieved between maintaining species-rich grassland and suitable butterfly habitat? This introductory course will look at the life cycles of butterflies and wildflowers and the management of grassland for the benefit of both.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Recognition and identification of common grasses Ref SW1
Thursday 17 June
Bournemouth, Dorset
Facilitators: Jonathan Crewe, ECOsense Ecology, and Robin Walls
This day will be targeted at trainee botanists, ecologists, environmental consultants and others working in the ecological and environmental sectors. This course will teach you to recognise 10 – 15 common grasses using keys to identify picked specimens. In the afternoon your new skills will be applied in the field, in the adjacent Stour valley meadows, which are recovering from previous intensive agricultural management. The significance of grasses as major components of the structure of natural habitats will be explained and guidance on further sources of further information will be provided.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Managing churchyards and burial grounds for conservation Ref M1
Wednesday 23 June
Ludlow, Shropshire
Facilitator: Sue Cooper, Hilary Smith and Andrea Gilpin, Caring for God’s Acre*
How can we manage these unique spaces in a way that enhances their wildlife value? The morning will cover how to run a churchyard or burial ground project with the local community, plants commonly found in churchyards and how to work out grass cutting regimes, including a lunchtime practical scything slot. The afternoon will consist of the following choice of sessions: care of stone walls for plant conservation, care of yew trees, recruiting volunteers, and ways to engage the wider community for heritage activities.
Caring for God’s Acre is the conservation charity for churchyards and burial grounds. The day will be run by specialists including Sue Cooper who founded the charity over 10 years ago.
For more information about Caring for God's Acre see www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Using wild seeds to enhance biodiversity landscapes Ref E2
Tuesday 6 July
Kings Lynn, North Norfolk
Facilitator: Richard Brown, Emorsgate Seeds
This day will review the use of wild seeds for landscaping and biodiversity projects. A 2-ha collection of stock plants, originating from as far apart as Northumberland and Cornwall, will be used to review issues of biodiversity and seed origin. Practical guidelines on specifying seed will be presented, covering selection of appropriate species and seed origin. The Countryside Stewardship scheme and extensive demonstration plots established on Emorsgate’s 52-ha farm will provide an opportunity to discuss practical issues of sowing and managing wild seeds as habitat based mixtures. *www.wildseed.co.uk
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Restoring arable wild flowers Ref E3
Tuesday 13 July
Horncastle, Lincolnshire
Facilitator: Roger Wardle, Roger Wardle Consultancy and Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes project
The day is devoted to the often overlooked and threatened arable wild flowers that have undergone rapid decline. Much of the time will be spent in the field looking at habitat management and identifying species. The site for the event is of national importance for scarce arable plants, made more interesting by the presence of two soil types, each marginally different and with virtually no overlap of species. The event is aimed at raising the awareness of arable plants and ways to address conservation issues on a farm with a tailored Agri-environment Scheme. It will be of interest to anyone interested in arable plants such as advisors, agronomists and farmers and links with many BAP and HLS objectives.
*www.wildseed.co.uk
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Grassland restoration, management and creation under
Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Ref SW3
Tuesday 13 July
Bath
Facilitator: Emorsgate Seeds
Manor Farm extends to around 120 ha and consists predominantly of semi-improved, and unimproved limestone grasslands and neutral grasslands, with additional blocks of ancient woodland. The training day will be field based and will look at the options under HLS for maintaining, restoring and creating wild grasslands, including (for maintenance) grazing, mowing, weed control, and soil fertility; grassland management, overseeding, scarification and using yellow rattle (for restoration); . ground preparation, seeding and after-care (grassland creation). Field-scale examples of these options will be seen at various stages up to 14 years after being seeded. There will also will be an opportunity to see the methods used to produce crop grown wild seed, and see a demonstration of brush harvesting. Throughout the day there will be discussion of the science on which the practical demonstrations are based.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Ponies, wildlife and wonderful landscapes Ref SE4
Thursday 29 July, 10.30am – 3.30pm
mid Kent
Facilitator: Frances Clayton and David Burton for the Grazing Advice Partnership
This workshop will look at pony-grazing systems that maintain and restore wildlife rich habitats. Practical techniques that take into account the demands of equine management and landscape and wildlife enhancement will be covered. The workshop will review the use of volunteer pony checkers to support pony grazing on wildlife sites. We will also look at issues and solutions at an equine establishment which has developed innovative approaches to conservation grazing with ponies. In association with the Grazing Animal Partnership.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Management of wildflower grassland Ref SC1
Thursday 29 July
Aberdeenshire
Facilitator: John Malster
Based at Haddo Country Park this day will explore the introduction and management of wild plants in variety of habitats such as amenity grassland, meadow, pasture and woodland glades. The meadows range from a 200-year old species-rich grassland to a more recently created 20-year old wildflower grassland. This event is suitable for those who look after wildflower meadows and those who wish to restore wildflower grassland or start from scratch.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Restoring a lowland river Ref SE5
Tuesday 7 September
Hungerford, West Berkshire
Facilitator: Sue Everett
This day will provide a basic introduction to some of the issues and challenges facing one of Britain's most important chalk rivers. Two stretches of river on grazed common land 'before' and 'after' restorative work will be visited. We will consider issues such as riverbank grazing impacts, recreational disturbance, abstraction and over-widening, impacts of artificial water bodies and consider measures that can be taken to restore the in-river and bankside habitats. Event hosted by the Trustees of the Town and Manor of Hungerford.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Grazing with carbon and wildlife in mind Ref N3
Wednesday 22 September
Ingleforth, Cumbria / North Yorkshire border
Facilitator: Bill Grayson
This workshop will look at an innovative approach for grazing high environmental value land which takes account of the positive contribution grazing animals can make to climate change mitigation. The system involves the use of winter foggage to rear traditional single sucker beef animals while maintaining herb rich limestone grassland. The workshop will be of particular interest to hill farmers entering Higher Level Scheme agreements and their advisers. There will be a site visit to Ingleborough National Nature Reserve followed by an indoor session, covering the principles of this approach and how it can be applied on hill farms with extensive cattle enterprises. In association with the Grazing Animal Partnership
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Pigs for land management Ref M2
Wednesday 6 October, 10.30am – 3.30pm
Bewdley, Worcestershire
Facilitator: Mark Cleaver, Grazing Advice Partnership
Pigs can be very effective managers of bracken and other undesirable vegetation. This participative workshop will look at pigs in action and will touch on the wide ranging set of land management initiatives that are being developed to maintain and restore traditional landscapes in the Wyre Forest. We will also hear from some leading practitioners about pig projects on land of high environmental value across Britain. There will be a short session to discuss and identify key issues and solutions concerning the use of pigs for land management. The proceedings of this workshop will be disseminated through the Grazing Advice Partnership.
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Habitat management for lower plants and fungi Ref SW5
Tuesday 9 November
Chew Valley, North Somerset
Facilitator: Justin Smith
This course is aimed at trainee botanists, ecologists, environmental consultants and others working in the ecological and environmental sectors. Participants will learn about the diversity of lower plants and fungi, an often neglected group of plants, especially in the management and/or development of ecologically important sites. They will learn how to identify the basic groups of lower plants, including lichens, bryophytes and fungi and learn about why they are important. The day will provide an introduction to undertaking a preliminary assessment of a site for bryophyte, lichen or fungal diversity and discuss methods managing land for these plants
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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Community farming and landscape restoration Ref SW6
Wednesday 10 November
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Facilitator: David Burton
This course is aimed at trainee botanists, ecologists, environmental consultants and others working in the ecological and environmental sectors. Participants will learn about the diversity of lower plants and fungi, an often neglected group of plants, especially in the management and/or development of ecologically important sites. They will learn how to identify the basic groups of lower plants, including lichens, bryophytes and fungi and learn about why they are important. The day will provide an introduction to undertaking a preliminary assessment of a site for bryophyte, lichen or fungal diversity and discuss methods managing land for these plants
Fee £100 / £75 concessions (see booking form for more details)
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