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Geojute is a landscape fabric which we use
over selected sites, especially the steep sides of eroding peat
hags where heather brash will slide off. This will provide surface
stabilisation and an improved soil microclimate.
Gully blocking is a relatively new technique
to block eroding channels within the blanket bog and raise the water
table. Following research into the best siting and construction
methods, this technique will be used from September 2004 on the
restoration sites.
Heather brash is both baled heather (cut
and baled in long stalks) and double chopped brash cut and bagged
by a forage harvester. Heather was harvested from other local moorlands
and has been applied onto the worst eroded areas of blanket bog.
This technique provides a soil level microclimate optimum for germination
and growth of the seeding technique and supplies fresh heather seed
within the brash. The spreading is very time consuming and has been
carried out by contractors using hand tools.
Moorland is a dynamic expression of wild
nature, although much of it is managed by people; it is the epitome
of a cultural landscape. Globally, heather moorland is virtually
confined to Britain and Ireland, where great tracts are managed
principally through muirburn (rotational burning) and grazing for
agriculture, field sports and amenity interests. This has maintained
distinctive landscapes rich in wildlife.
Open, semi-natural habitats with dwarf shrub
heaths are moorland. These areas typically occur above enclosed
farmland and reach up to around the climatic treeline (where the
heaths become ‘alpine’ or ‘montane’). Moorland
includes dry and wet heaths, blanket bogs, rough grasslands and
the many habitats associated with these.
The Dark Peak moorland is the nearest thing
to wilderness in England. Here the moors are dominated by cottongrass
on the wet blanket peat bogs and heather, bilberry and crowberry
on the drier soils. Sphagnum moss was once dominant in the peat
bogs and the peat was formed from its undecayed remains. It is now
rare, as a result of pollution during the industrial revolution.
The heather moorlands provide food and home for large numbers of
red grouse. The commonest bird is the meadow pipit. The most south-easterly
breeding ground for the golden plover, a bird which has been given
protected status by the European Community, is also in this area.
A fast growing grass species is applied to
provide initial surface stabilisation whilst the heather establishes.
This nurse crop species will eventually die off after about 2 -
4 years by which time native moorland vegetation will have established.
Peat has formed over thousands of years by
the build up of layers of plants such as sphagnum moss, cotton grass
and heathers. It is up to 4 metres deep in places.
Prilling is the addition of mass to seeds.
Some of the species that the Project uses for re-seeding have 30,000
seeds in 1 gramme (e.g. Calluna vulgaris, heather) and even the
largest seeds weigh approximately 1/500th of a gramme (Lolium spp.,
rye-grasses). As the seed has to be applied by helicopter, we need
to increase the weight of the seeds to prevent them from being blown
away from the site. The heather seed is mixed in with the rye-grass
seed because it is too small to be prilled individually. The prilling
is a mixture of clay, recycled paper pulp and a colour to allow
differentiation of the various species. It is biodegradable and
breaks down when the seed is rained on to release the seed onto
the ground.
There are over 4,000 Sites of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSIs) in England, covering around 7% of the country's
land area. Over half of these sites, by area, are internationally
important for their wildlife, and designated as Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) or Ramsar sites.
Many SSSIs are also National Nature Reserves (NNRs) or Local Nature
Reserves (LNRs).
SSSIs are the country's very best wildlife and geological sites.
They include some of our most spectacular and beautiful habitats
- large wetlands teeming with waders and waterfowl, winding chalk
rivers, gorse and heather-clad heathlands, flower-rich meadows,
windswept shingle beaches and remote uplands moorland and blanket
peat bog.
Natural
England works with over 26,000 separate owners and land managers,
who work very hard to conserve these important sites. Maintaining
goodwill and building upon the enthusiasm, knowledge and interest
of owners is vital to successfully manage these nationally important
sites.
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