Local Action for Grassland in the UK

The UK Lowland Grassland HAP Steering Group is aware that most of the success of the HAP will be achieved by local action 'on the ground' and is keen to build constructive links with relevant LBAP personnel in order to meet the needs of both local and national groups.

The Steering Group held a workshop entitled 'Local Action for Grassland in the UK' on 3 February 2004 at the University of Lancaster, hosted by JNCC and UK Lowland Grassland HAP Group. The programme included five presentations from LBAP or local groups showing examples of projects in action, two cross-cutting presentations on communication and funding, and workshop sessions in the afternoon. The three workshops were as follows:

Raising awareness of lowland grasslands at both national and local levels
Achieving conservation on non-statutory sites
Involving the wider community in grassland conservation and restoration

Achieving UK targets through local action: the role of the UK Lowland Grassland HAP Group Tim Blackstock, UKLGHAP Group/CCW	Abstract	Presentation (PDF, 787KB) Notes only (PDF, 10KB)

Examples of successful LBAP projects:
Delivering grassland management through local grazing schemes - the Hampshire Grazing Project Damian Offer, Hampshire Grazing Project	Abstract	Presentation (PDF, 1.62MB) Notes only (PDF, 27KB)

Scottish Borders grassland restoration Mike Smith SNH/Consultant	Abstract	Presentation (PDF, 2.12MB) Notes only (PDF, 12KB)

Musselburgh project: Creating a meadow - pitfalls and profits Stuart MacPherson, East Lothian LBAP	Abstract	Presentation (PDF,1.20MB ) Notes only (PDF, 64KB)

Green Gateway - linking Devon's Culm Grassland and the rural economy David Leach, Devon Wildlife Trust	Abstract	Presentation (PDF,1.06MB ) Notes only (PDF, 66KB)

Use of the web for communications Ant Maddock, BRIG	Abstract	Presentation (PDF, 906KB) Notes only (PDF, 58KB)

Sources of funding for LBAPs Steve Clarke, English Nature	Abstract	Presentation (PDF, 51KB) Notes only (PDF, 10KB)

For further information please contact:

Vicky Morgan
Lowland Grassland LCN Officer
Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Carrie Rimes
Lowland Grassland LCN Officer
Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Achieving UK targets through local action: the role of the UK Lowland Grassland HAP Group

The HAP group coordinates work on five priority habitats: Lowland meadows, Upland hay meadows, Lowland calcareous grassland, Lowland dry acid grassland. and Purple moor-grass and rush pasture. It is responsible for the HAP targets which aim to conserve, restore and expand the priority lowland grassland habitats. Available conservation tools include policy work, work on special sites, agri-environment schemes and local initiatives. The UK group engages in a number of activities including review of research, target revision and progress reporting. Tim Blackstock
UKLGHAP Group/CCW

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Delivering grassland management through local grazing schemes - the Hampshire Grazing Project

How can we achieve appropriate grazing to deliver BAP targets? The presentation explains the roles of:

The Grazing Animals Project (GAP), a partnership of statutory and non-government bodies
Local Grazing Schemes, of which there are 33 in England and Wales of different types (the presentation explains these and gives examples)
The Hampshire Grazing Project, 1999-2006.

Damian Offer
Hampshire Grazing Project

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Scottish Borders grassland restoration

This undulating historic landscape formed from complex underlying geology in southeast Scotland supports a mixture of improved and semi-natural, acid and calcareous grassland, including a number of HAP priority habitats. This presentation covers the work of the Borders grassland restoration project since it started in 2002. It discusses the causes of grassland degradation and unfavourable condition, then considers actions to combat these causes including:

Scrub removal
Restoration of improved grassland
Agri-environment schemes
Habitat networks.

Mike Smith
SNH/Consultant

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Musselburgh project: Creating a meadow - pitfalls and profits

This presentation was not made at the workshop but was supplied for the website later, as the speaker was caught in flooding. It describes a project at Levenhall Links, where 10 ha of amenity grassland on reclaimed land over pulverised fuel ash were converted into a hay meadow 3 years ago. It was decided to diversify the grassland on the site after it was discovered that different recreational uses were in conflict, the area was not reaching its potential value for wildlife, and maintenance costs were high. A local farmer was prepared to harvest hay from the site. An experiment compared:

Using a mix of wild, local origin seeds
Scarifying and top-dressing to introduce seed
Slot-seeding
Using a growth-retardant

It is still early days for the project, but it has achieved some improvements for biodiversity as well as saving money and proving popular with site users.

Stuart Macpherson
East Lothian LBAP

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Green Gateway - linking Devon's Culm Grassland and the rural economy

The Wildlife Sites Advisory Service was set up as a mechanism to meet Devon's LBAP targets, especially for the 'CulmGrasslands', the purple moor-grass and rush pastures on the Culm Measures of north and west Devon. By 1999 the service had successfully brought 70% of their target sites into conservation management, by exploiting a good dataset and offering free advice and newsletters to landowners. Continuing funding was dependent on the project changing focus; it started to offer training for landowners to develop wildlife management and farm tourism skills. The local breed of Ruby Red North Devon cattle was used to market 'Ruby Country' farm businesses and Local Food initiatives. The presentation discusses the successes and constraints of the approach.

David Leach
Devon Wildlife Trust

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Use of the web for communication

Using examples from the UK BAP and JNCC websites, this presentation summarises how we can use the web to facilitate communication and to make the most appropriate decisions. The web has many advantages: drilling down through summary to detailed data, spatial display and uploading data. It can be used like a telephone directory (e.g. to find a lead partner), an encyclopaedia or to access databases (e.g. through the National Biodiversity Network NBN gateway).

Ant Maddock
BRIG

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Sources of funding for LBAPs

This presentation gives tips and encouragement to those hoping to obtain money from some of the over 8800 bodies which distribute funds in the UK. It stresses the need to consider the priorities of the funder, to plan and to be prepared to compromise. For example, many funders will look more favourably on project-based proposals, especially if they seem to be outcome-led and to be a response to community needs or demand.

Steve Clarke
English Nature