This morning's event had been widely publicised with appeals on notices around the moor and also in the local Sheffield Star so it was interesting to see how many had turned up to respond loyally to the call from their local wildlife trust. The meeting place was the Strawberry Lee car park at 10 a.m. So, making our way there we were surprised to find barely more vehicles than normal for a fine sunny morning, at least one of which belonged to two men with children and dogs coming down from Lenny Hill.
On arriving at the top of Bole Hill it took some time before we located the party of keen bashers. A clue had been provided by the sight of deer hurrying away in flight from their favourite secluded woodland. The party of four volunteer workers were busying themselves with long handled clippers removing twiggy growths from birch in the woodland.
Two things puzzled me. One was the small number of volunteers. Of course it 's possible that dozens arrived later in the day but somehow unlikely. Secondly if the priority is keeping the areas of heather free from birch why were they nor removing the numerous twiggy growths visible in the heather instead of working inside woodland which had already established itself? It could be that the lower twigs were being removed to make it easier for SWT's trained chain-saw operators to cut down these trees in the coming week. But the whole thing seems somehow to suggest going through the motions of an unrealistic task.
If they are intending to cut more of this stretch of woodland I shall be very annoyed: these woods are a particular valued area where the deer retire during the day. But then when did SWT really care for the interests of wildlife?
1 comment:
I was shocked to see the extent of birch felling on your entry of the 29 October, but it is a familiar sight at managed heath locations. I take exception to the volunteer days being referred to as "birch bashing". It shows the contempt that conservation professionals have outside of their own narrow interest. It seems two of the key attributes of Blacka that make it so special are unsafe from them - the birch, and the deer for which they are habitat. I would be very concerned that SWT was making inroads into the established woodland on Blacka - which this post seems to indicate. The woodland on Blacka is mapped on the National Inventory of Woodland and Trees and thus it is perverse of SWT to seek to remove it. Even more perverse was the designation of Blacka as a SSSI for heath alone, without recognition of this woodland element. It may come as a shock to local people that under that designation, SWT could be enforced to remove over half of the existing woodland to comply with Natural Englands standards of monitoring for the condition of upland heath.
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