Latest news with #SussexWildlifeTrust
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Saving Britain's precious habitats from invasive grasses
Regarding George Monbiot's article (There's an invader turning huge swathes of Britain into deserts – and these dead zones are spreading, 9 June), yes, molinia (purple moor-grass) is a serious scourge of many of the UK's acidic upland landscapes. In 1999, while still residing in my home county of East Sussex, I began a conservation grazing initiative using Exmoor ponies to combat the growing threat to the South Downs' chalk grasslands from a very similar grass, Brachypodium (tor grass), which back then I estimated was affecting well in excess of 200 hectares. This grass is of little use to farmers and also seriously depletes biodiversity. In 2004, we began to get increasingly involved with the extensive acid grasslands in the high, acid heath and grasslands of the Ashdown Forest area, involving four different landowners – Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Police Authority, the Ministry of Defence and the Conservators of Ashdown. Here, pony grazing was mainly to combat the rampant spread of molinia. The most spectacular result was on the MoD's 200-hectare training area, which had not been grazed within living memory. This was transformed from mainly thick molinia to open swards within several years of grazing 32 Exmoors year-round. It also minimised the previous extensive fires caused by army pyrotechnics. I too consider the rampant spread of these two grass species as being due to nitrogen pollution, aided to a lesser extent by less grazing. I retired in 2017, then running 85 ponies. Today in East Sussex, there are in the region of 150 Exmoors carrying on what I initiated a quarter of a century LarkinSt Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire Having been an upland farmer for half a century, I share George Monbiot's concerns about the growing domination of molinia in some regions. However, a century ago, Robert Wallace, professor of agriculture and rural economy at Edinburgh University, explained in his book, Heather and Moor Burning for Grouse and Sheep, that control of this plant can be ensured through the time-honoured combination of rotational winter-burning and active shepherding. These ancient skills ensured that the growth of molinia was checked by managing the flock to graze off its early-spring shoots. After the animals had been moved to their in-bye lambing fields, the moor's later-emerging, more fragile plants were able to thrive. To prevent neglected moors from turning into lifeless deserts of overgrown molinia and tick-infested bracken, perhaps we should be paying more attention to the wisdom of our Harrison Snitter, Northumberland Far from crowding out other plants and wildlife, purple moor-grass is in fact a key indicator of an increasingly rare habitat – known in Devon as culm grassland and in Wales as rhôs pasture – that is home to rare plants like devil's-bit scabious and butterflies such as the marsh fritillary, which depends on it for food and reproduction. On our former farm in north-west Devon, we now manage the land precisely to protect this highly threatened ecosystem. George Monbiot is right to point out that walking over such land is far from easy, owing to the plant's tussocky nature, but I suggest he takes a leaf out of Devon Wildlife Trust's excellent short film about the culm, Never Mind the Tussocks (Here's the Wildlife). He might learn something NeweyPancrasweek, Devon Re molinia grass sucking the life out of biodiversity, the solution is hiding in plain sight: England's last semi-wild pony population – the iconic Dartmoor hill ponies. Studies, tests and surveys published in prestigious scientific journals confirm that Dartmoor semi-wild ponies not only eat molinia, but are also perfectly adapted over millennia of roaming Dartmoor to thrive in the highest and harshest parts where that job is needed most. George Monbiot and the campaigner Tony Whitehead should not despair for Dartmoor biodiversity. Instead, they should focus their efforts on asking Defra to ensure its policies nurture and sustain the number of Dartmoor hill ponies, and biodiversity will be burgeoning here once FaulknerDartmoor Hill Pony Association
BBC News
24-04-2025
- BBC News
Instagram hotspot boss faces Seven Sisters rewilding challenges
The new chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) has shared the challenges of managing the Seven Sisters due to its popularity as an "international hotspot". The SDNPA took over the management of the Seven Sisters Country Park in 2021 from East Sussex County Council. Siôn McGeever told Radio Sussex it has close to 850,00 visitors a year and the Seven Sisters was one of the top travel internet searches in China. "We have become a serious international hotspot but it comes with pressure in how we manage it," he said. "We have put in some great investments, we spent £2m investing in facilities and we are proud of that."The big challenge now is re-naturing the area. We want to show what the best natural landscape can look like."Mr McGeever said the national park authority's goal was to connect people with restoration and nature recovery."We want to focus on how we manage the land and how we manage the chalk grassland," he of the SDNPA's rewilding initiatives is conservation grazing where ponies, cows and sheep help protect and enhance the chalk grassland, he added. It is also working with a number of national trusts, wildlife trusts and local authorities to create a Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve (NNR).Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust, South East Water, National Trust, Eastbourne Borough Council, Forestry England and Natural England are involved in the scheme to create the "super nature reserve".The project's objectives are to protect drinking water resources, chalk geology and habitats, and protect biodiversity."We are waiting to hear back from National England, if they approve we would be very excited," said Mr McGeever."It would signal to people that the Seven Sisters isn't just a beautiful place to have a nice photo on Instagram, but it's also about the area's natural habitats and wildlife including the birds and butterflies."
BBC News
20-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Kelp forest project in West Sussex having 'remarkable results'
A marine rewilding initiative to restore an underwater kelp forest in West Sussex is celebrating "remarkable" results, a wildlife trust has project was launched after the implementation of a new bylaw prohibiting trawling in a 117 sq mile (302 sq km) coastal area between Shoreham-by-Sea and Selsey in March its fourth anniversary, Sussex Kelp Recovery Project (SKRP) researchers have reported positive signs of recovery, including an increase in the populations of lobster, brown crab, angelshark and short-snouted lead Dr Chris Yesson said: "We still have a way to go, but it's exciting to see nature begin to flourish once more." Kelp forests once covered vast areas of coastline in the county. But 96% had been wiped out by 2019, largely due to the great storm of 1987 and fishing practices known as kelp forests provided habitat, nursery and feeding grounds for marine wildlife, and held huge quantities of carbon, improved water quality and reduced coastal erosion, campaigners Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw was introduced in 2021, allowing fish habitats the chance to response to the byelaw, Sir David Attenborough said it was a "vital win in the fight against the biodiversity and climate crisis".Since then, the SKRP was formed to study and facilitate the return of kelp. A total of 400 kelp recorders are registered with Sussex Wildlife Trust's Citizen Science programme to collect project has shown the presence of oyster and honeycomb worms, as well as an increase in shallow-dwelling species, such as Atlantic mackerel, sand eels and mullets, since the implementation of the byelaw. Local freediver Eric Smith said: "I was apprehensive about what I'd find this year after such a stormy winter, but to my absolute delight, I witnessed a dramatic increase in marine biodiversity." Sussex Wildlife Trust's kelp recovery coordinator, George Short, said it had highlighted the expansion of mussel beds, the likes of which had not been seen for decades.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Two East Sussex beaches become 'smoke free'
Two Sussex beaches are among the first in England to become voluntarily smoke free. On Wednesday, Bexhill beach from the De La Warr Pavilion to the Coronation Bandstand on East Parade and all of Camber Sands became designated as smoke free. According to Public Health England, there are more than 57,000 smokers in East Sussex. Councillor Doug Oliver, leader of Rother District Council, said it was a "positive initiative to establish the first voluntary smoke free beaches in England". Rob Tolfree, acting director of East Sussex Public Health, said: "Second-hand smoke is just as toxic outdoors as it is indoors. "Creating two smoke free beaches in East Sussex will help protect our children and young people from the effects of smoking by encouraging people to think twice before smoking on the beach." Sussex Wildlife Trust said cigarette butts are one of the most littered items globally and take years to biodegrade. "They leak chemicals including nicotine, ethyl phenol and heavy metals into the sea as they break down, damaging delicate marine ecosystems," the Trust's spokesperson said. The Trust added East Sussex has two Marine Conservation Zones which protect rare underwater chalk reefs and vulnerable blue mussel beds, as well as diverse marine life. The initiative was launched by East Sussex County Council and Rother District Council, supported by Sussex Wildlife Trust on No Smoking Day. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. 'I felt I had smoked and deserved lung cancer' Mobile units detect 100 lung cancers in Sussex Rother District Council East Sussex County Council Sussex Wildlife Trust
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Two East Sussex beaches among first to be 'smoke free'
Two Sussex beaches are among the first in England to become voluntarily smoke Wednesday, Bexhill beach from the De La Warr Pavilion to the Coronation Bandstand on East Parade and all of Camber Sands became designated as smoke to Public Health England, there are more than 57,000 smokers in East Sussex. Councillor Doug Oliver, leader of Rother District Council, said it was a "positive initiative to establish the first voluntary smoke free beaches in England". Rob Tolfree, acting director of East Sussex Public Health, said: "Second-hand smoke is just as toxic outdoors as it is indoors."Creating two smoke free beaches in East Sussex will help protect our children and young people from the effects of smoking by encouraging people to think twice before smoking on the beach."Sussex Wildlife Trust said cigarette butts are one of the most littered items globally and take years to biodegrade. "They leak chemicals including nicotine, ethyl phenol and heavy metals into the sea as they break down, damaging delicate marine ecosystems," the Trust's spokesperson Trust added East Sussex has two Marine Conservation Zones which protect rare underwater chalk reefs and vulnerable blue mussel beds, as well as diverse marine initiative was launched by East Sussex County Council and Rother District Council, supported by Sussex Wildlife Trust on No Smoking Day.
