Hay Time in Cumbria

Cumbria FWAG are delighted to announce their involvement in an exciting partnership project with the Cumbria Wildlife Trust which concentrates on hay meadow restoration and creation in Cumbria.  Bunty Wright, one of our Farm Conservation Adviser's in Cumbria, has been seconded to this three year project.

Cumbria is recognised as having a nationally important resource - ‘hay meadows'. Traditionally, the bulk of winter fodder production for livestock in the Lake District valleys would have been hay, and the meadows with globeflower, wood cranesbill and melancholy thistle would have been well represented.  A combination of ploughing, drainage, re-seeding and fertiliser have destroyed many of these gems and it is now thought that less than 500ha of Upland Hay meadows exist today.  The vast majority of these fall within the Lake District National Park and the Orton Fells -  the areas covered by this project. Thus, whilst historically, Cumbria would have been a stronghold for this diverse habitat, it is now increasingly scarce and fragmented, with little known of its current status.

The Cumbria Biodiversity Action Plan includes, as one of its 18 priority habitats, Hay meadows and lowland pastures. Hay meadows, as defined by this plan, are species-rich neutral grasslands that are cut for hay, which is used for livestock in the winter months. In Cumbria these are broadly considered as falling into two categories: upland and lowland. Both upland and lowland hay meadows characteristically occur around Tebay, Orton, and Ravenstonedale and throughout the Cumbria Fells and Dales.

The Cumbria Hay Meadows Project commenced in November 2007 and will run until 2010. It aims to identify and protect the hay meadow resource that we have, improve those of poor quality and identify opportunities for restoring hay meadows wherever possible. To do this the project will address issues of particular concern in Cumbria requiring us to:

• Restore hay meadows in targeted areas to improve connectivity between habitats.
• Identify seed donor sites to enable current and future restoration
• Identify the good quality resource we currently possess and ensure it is being protected and managed suitably.

• Re-visit the poor quality hay meadows and look to bring them into good condition.

The ambitious targets set will be achieved through the unique working partnership in Cumbria between ourselves and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. The project, based at the Wildlife Trusts headquarters at Plumgarths, Kendal, will make significant contributions to the recently updated UK Biodiversity Action Plan. It will achieve over 100% of the upland meadows restoration target, as well as a significant proportion of the lowland meadows and pastures restoration target.

Underpinning all of the work is a clear understanding of the status of hay meadows in Cumbria and this involves a degree of survey work. To this end Cumbria Wildlife Trust have employed an ecologist, Claire Cornish, who possesses the skills and knowledge to accurately assess the status and reach conclusions as to the appropriate management requirements for each individual site.  It is this survey work that will provide the foundation for the site-specific management plans essential to restoring, improving or simply maintaining a site. The individual nature of sites will require the ecologist to amend and adapt management plans as the site develops, in order to achieve the best possible conservation outcome.  As part of this process, almost 250 sites will be visited and have written surveys of their botanical diversity. This data will provide the basis for all future conservation work on hay meadows within the target area. It will make possible the designation of high quality sites and will produce a list of donor sites, to be utilised by all conservation organisations for future restoration projects.

It is at this point where Cumbria FWAG enters the fray. Bunty brings specific practical skills, understanding of farming systems and the knowledge of agri-environment schemes to the project. It is by working closely with the farmer, Natural England, environmental consultants and Claire, that Bunty will take the management prescriptions described and translate these conclusions into practical action on the ground, through one to one visits to farmers.  This synergy will ensure that each management plan is given the utmost chance of being turned into practical action.

It is recognised that hay meadow restoration and then enhancement is a long-term commitment.  During her role as project advisor Bunty will undertake Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme (HLS) applications on behalf of farmers and look at opportunities for derogations within the ESA. The current ESA scheme has been identified as too prescriptive and inflexible with regard to hay meadow and so it has been agreed with Natural England that derogations of current schemes will enable more site-specific management requirements to be written into agreements. Likewise upgrading from ESA tier 1 to tier 2 will enable these site-specific agreements to be put into practice, securing the longer term future of the meadow.

It is through agri-environment schemes that the long-term future management and financial backing of the sites will be secured. A species rich hay meadow under an HLS agreement has the potential to generate up to £300 per hectare for the farmer.  Natural England are very supportive of the project, as hay meadows are a priority target within ‘Cumbria High Fells', ‘South Cumbria Low Fells' and ‘Orton Fells', the Joint Character Areas which cover the project region. 

Along with surveying hay meadows and undertaking HLS applications for farmers, the project will also run hay meadow demonstration days throughout Cumbria. In addition there is a plan to produce a plant identification guide and a bi-annual newsletter, targeted at both land managers and other project staff (from projects in other areas), which will facilitate discussion and the exchange of best practice. The local community will be involved through the provision of specialist training courses in meadow surveying and, more widely, through linkages with the Wealth of Wildlife Project and inclusion of sites on their online database. This, along with leaflets highlighting walks adjacent to hay meadows, will encourage people to visit identified hay meadow sites with appropriate access. (insert pictures 1,2,3 & 4 where they best fit)

For further details please contact Bunty Wright on 01539 816324 or email on buntyw@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk

For a pdf version of this article, please click on the link.

• Hay Time in Cumbria (PDF 659KB)