- Removal of old trees and dead wood and cessation of traditional management practices e.g. pollarding.
- Recreational pressures – too tidy and too safe.
- Uniform age structure and fragmentation of sites.
- High stocking rates – compaction, trampling, bark stripping and nutrient enrichment around trees.
- High grazing levels – species poor grassland.
- Intensive grassland management in areas that have the potential for habitat enhancement.
- Inappropriate use of herbicides and fertiliser.
- Machinery – trees damaged by collisions and bad tree surgery.
- Lack of knowledge
- Loss of hedgerows
Parkland & Veteran Trees
Parkland and veteran trees are not only valuable resources of
biodiversity, but are also of great historical significance, and this
double interest affords these environments a special place in Devon’s
natural and cultural heritage (The Nature of Devon: A Biodiversity
Action Plan, 1998; revised 2005).
The two main areas of parkland in Torbay are Cockington Country Park,
Torquay and Lupton Park, Brixham. There are also small areas of parkland (c 1.3 ha) at Primley Park, Paignton, Brunel Woods, Rainbow Estate, Torquay Cemetery (Barton Road), Oldway Gardens and Castle Tor.
Main Objectives & Key Actions:
1. Conserve and enhance the current extent, distribution and quality of parkland and veteran trees in Torbay.
2. Extend and improve knowledge of the parkland and veteran tree resource and research into best management options.
3. Ensure that the management of surviving sites acknowledges and incorporates the biological value of parkland as well as historical, cultural and agricultural aspects by 2012.
4. Restore, where appropriate, the quality of parkland by ensuring long term recruitment and by linking and buffering within existing sites.
5. Continue to encourage appreciation and interpretation of Torbay’s parkland and veteran trees.
Current threats to this habitat:
