As is detailed in the consultation document the programme centres around removing internal fencing and installing a new perimeter fence line, along with cattle grids, to allow livestock greater access to the reserve. Their movements and grazing will have a significant impact on gradually retaining and reinstating a more open Breckland landscape.
As the Exmoor ponies will have access to the roads within the reserve, our first priority is to improve visibility along the roadside for motorists. This involves removing scrub and small trees, and raising the canopy on larger trees so that livestock can be seen approaching the road from some distance.
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| Visibility here is greatly improved by removing scrub, whilst mature trees that have had their canopy raised still line the roadside |
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| The area in the foreground has just been completed with the scrub in the background demonstrating the visual impairment it would cause to motorists. |
The team are undertaking the work sensitively, leaving standing and lying dead wood to provide natural habitats, and leaving trees with berries on until the birds have cleared them. Some of the wood is set into log piles whilst the majority is chipped on site to be sold at nearby Redgrave and Lopham Fen.
To find out more please read the consultation document in the post below, or contact the ranger Samantha Gay. We also always welcome new volunteers if you are interested in joining the team, and as always keep up to date with work on the site through this blog.
