Asulam

When Sheffield Wildlife Trust sprayed the bracken on this part of Blacka Moor in August last year they must have known that the spray they were using, Asulam, was about to be banned by the European Union; that ban came into force on January 1st. From what I’ve seen the result of bracken spraying is unattractive and should not be continued. Bracken, as I’ve written before, is a problem in areas where trees have been cut down and that have suffered over exploitation by humans in the past. Its spread is a sign that nature is regenerating. Eventually, if it is left, native trees will return and biodiversity will not be impaired. The photo above was taken this morning as was this one below of an area of bracken that has not been sprayed.



I can't think anyone would prefer the sprayed area. What on earth is a wildlife trust doing, preventing nature regenerating with poisonous chemicals?

I have only just seen this article in The Guardian from September. The comments below are particularly interesting, especially those from MarkNFisher and PondDragon. I quote the former’s contribution below.

More than one application of asulam is usually required. If it works, it just leaves a wasteland of thick decomposed bracken mulch that smothers any other vegetation regeneration. Like all herbicides, its use is the lazy route and it will kill many other ferns as well. Pretty much sums it up that it is both the conservation industry (spraying heathland) and the grouse shooting fraternity (spraying moorland) that favour its use. Spraying from a helicopter is a disgusting practice and more than a few walkers on moorland have been caught by it - including myself on the PUBLICLY OWNED Ilkley Moor. Like we were asked whether we wanted herbicide sprayed on our moor????
Bracken spread is a result of farming use of marginal land. The best solution for bracken infested areas is either to plant trees - or better still, take the grazing pressure off and watch the rowan spring up through the bracken after the seed has been pooped out from birds. That's what is happening on my local moor, now that the sheep don't graze. The life is returning to the landscape

Bracken is like every other aspect of wildlife in that it can be irritating at times. But it can also give immense pleasure at others. I'm not suggesting we either annihilate it or over-protect it. Simply allow nature to take its course.