Habitat Action Plans - Ancient and/or Species Rich Hedgerows
Ancient hedgerows are those that pre-date the principal parliamentary
enclosure period of around 1800, and species-rich ones are those with 5 or
more native woody species on average in a 30m length, and those with a rich
plant community at their base.
Photo Credit: Graeme Cresswell |
Click to view the draft Ancient and/or Species Rich Hedgerows Action Plan |
Current Status
National Status
- It is estimated that the UK has about 450,000km of hedge. The proportion that is ancient and/or species-rich is not known, but some data suggest that it may be in the region of 42%. Hedgerows associated with ancient roads tend to be particularly species-rich.
Norfolk Status
- It was calculated that in 1973 (Farmland Tree Survey NCC), Norfolk had about 16,500km of hedge, roughly 4km per km2. The Norfolk Hedges Survey (NCC and CEAS) in a non-random sample revealed that of the 46 parishes surveyed, 42 contained species-rich hedges, and in 23 of these parishes, more than 25% of the recorded hedgerows were species-rich. South/Central Norfolk (over 5km/km2) is notable for its ancient landscape which includes a significant proportion of Ancient and/or Species-rich (ASR) hedges. At the other extreme, North-West Norfolk is predominantly parliamentary enclosure landscape, and ASR hedges are less common, though hedge length per km2 was also over 5km. The Brecks area has the lowest length per km2 (excluding the Fens and the Broads) at less than 3, but overall it is a complex pattern.
Current factors causing loss or decline of the habitat in Norfolk
- The perceived increases in farm efficiencies facilitated by hedgerow removal are still a factor in hedgerow loss.
- Degradation of hedgerow flora and fauna by drifted and even deliberate applications of agri-chemicals is a major but unquantified factor.
- Ill-timed cutting affects breeding birds and winter food supplies for birds and other wildlife, and annual cutting limits flowering and fruiting, also affecting food supplies for a wide range of wildlife.
- Atmospheric pollution is suspected as a factor in poor tree health and may be expected to have an impact on hedges.
- Arable cultivation too close to hedges and more efficient field drainage are probably major factors in the declining hedgerow and hedgerow tree quality.
- The difficulty of establishing new species-rich hedges on banks, in Norfolk’s drought-prone springs. Roe deer can also create problems with hedge planting.
- Loss due to development, particularly in relation to road schemes.
- Use of inappropriate species and genotypes.
- Elm disease and premature die-back of other tree species particularly oak have caused significant losses of mature trees. (Regular trimming preserves elm as a hedged species where it was previously hedge or has regenerated from suckers from failed mature trees.)
Current Action in Norfolk
- The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 require landowners to consult District Councils prior to removing a hedge. This legislation protects probably less than 20% of Norfolk hedges, although the majority of these will be ancient.
- Cross-compliance under the Single Payment Scheme underpins the Hedgerow Regulations and requires hedgerow cutting to be avoided between 1 March and 31 July except for roadside hedges. Farmers are also required not to cultivate or apply fertilisers, manures or pesticides within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow on fields over 2ha.
- Defra's agri-environment schemes provide incentives for hedgerow management. Funding through Countryside Stewardship and HLS is available for hedge planting and restoration where ASR hedges are a feature of the landscape, while ELS offers incentives for on-going maintenance.
- Norfolk County Council provides comprehensive advice and grants, currently at 40% up to a maximum of £1,600 (total cost £4,000) for hedge planting and gapping up. This programme has been developed over the past thirty years.
- Norfolk FWAG provides comprehensive independent advice on farmland conservation, including sources of grants.
- Some District Councils provide advice and grants in relation to new hedging, and advice may be provided by the county’s Countryside Management Projects.
- Landowners are obliged to seek a felling licence for hedgerow trees from the Forestry Commission under the Forestry Act 1967.
Action Plan Objectives and Targets
National
- Halt the net loss of species-rich hedgerows through neglect and removal by the year 2000.
- Halt all loss of hedgerows which are both ancient and species-rich by 2005.
- Achieve favourable condition for 25% (c.47,500 km) of species-rich and ancient hedges by 2000.
- Achieve favourable condition for 50% (c.95,000 km) of species-rich and ancient hedges by 2005.
- Maintain the overall national number of individual hedgerow trees (estimated by CS2000 to be 1.8 million in Great Britain in 1998), by maintaining the number of such trees within each county or district, through ensuring a balanced age structure.
Norfolk
- Reduce the loss of species-rich and/or ancient hedgerows through removal to a negligible proportion of the resource.
- In parts of the county where trees in the hedgerows are a characteristic and traditional feature, ensure the establishment of replacement hedgerow trees at five for every one existing mature tree by 2010.
- Recreate 100 new hedgerow pollards per year, from young trees where these are a characteristic or traditional feature of the landscape.
- Ensure all roadside ASR hedgerows associated with Roadside Nature Reserves (RNRs) are in favourable management by 2010.
- Plant 1km per year of new Scots pine hedges in the Brecks.
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Send mail to scott.perkin@norfolk.gov.uk with questions or comments about this web site. This page was printed from the Norfolk Biodiversity Website : http://www.norfolkbiodiversity.org/