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| GOATS THE MUNCH BUNCH |
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Berry
Head-Sharkham Point National Nature Reserve is nationally
important for its Flora, home to a range of species found
almost nowhere else in the UK. The delicate beauty of Small
Hare’s ear, White rock rose, Honewort and Small Restharrow
are under threat of invasion. Left to nature Blackthorn,
Wild Privet and Bramble would smother a community not found
anywhere else in Britain.
To date the balance between scrub (feeding and nesting for
birds) and grassland (flowers and insects) has been managed
by cutting, but this is expensive and time consuming. In
an age of technological innovation, mechanical marvels and
chemical wizardry what allies can we call on in this struggle?
Goats.
In October of 2002, a group of six “feral” goats
Capra hircus, were introduced to a specially constructed
cliff top enclosure with the aim of establishing a more sustainable
management regime. The beauty of grazing systems is that
they are self contained, the stock utilises the habitat for
food, gaining energy to move around the habitat, finding
more to eat! The benefit to us and to the wildlife of the
habitat is that this change is at a pace that everything
can adjust to, doesn’t burn fossil fuels and doesn’t
produce lots of material needing disposal. Why goats? As
sure footed, browsing specialists, goats are finding a home
on conservation management schemes all over the British Isles,
where they have proven to be the perfect tool in controlling
scrub.
Here at Berry Head the steep cliff sides and intimate mix
of grassland and scrub made them the only choice, able to
reach all parts of the enclosure, cope with everything the
weather has to offer and fitting the landscape. The added
bonus of “using nature”, as the seasons change
different plants come onto the menu, different parts of the
enclosure become more or less attractive, everywhere gets
a little bit of management all the time. Not just an annual
blitz. |
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