A vital programme to improve and prevent the loss of precious heathland and its rarest inhabitants, will start this autumn.
This important work, supported by Natural England (NE), will restore a rare and internationally important habitat which hosts a unique range of species. The restoration programme involves the felling of coniferous trees on 210 hectares of the Dorset Council owned Avon Heath Country Park and will help to improve and preserve this fragile, protected habitat.
The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Avon Heath Country Park near Ringwood, is recognised for its internationally rare lowland heath – highly protected under European and UK law. It is home to some of Britain’s rarest wildlife including Dartford Warblers, Nightjars and all six species of UK reptiles that only live on lowland heath and which are critically endangered. Living in Dorset, it is easy to forget how rare heathland is, but in fact Dorset is home to a significant amount of the remaining global resource, making it a priority to protect.
Pine trees are one of the main threats to the heathland and its wildlife at Avon Heath Country Park. Thousands of coniferous trees were once planted to be harvested for their timber, but through self-seeding they are now threatening to destroy the rare heathland habitat by degrading the delicate sandy soil. Dorset Council is required to reinstate the heathland to a ‘favourable’ condition, providing real benefits for the rare habitat and wildlife.
Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, Cllr Ray Bryan said: “We are proud to be carrying out work to help restore one of our rarest habitats. The tree felling is just one element of a wider restoration programme which has been agreed with advice from Natural England and other conservation partners. Other restoration work includes continued grazing by rare breed cattle and additional bracken and gorse management. Collectively this management work will help us protect the heathland for generations to come.”
The felled timber from Avon Heath will be used productively in many ways – from construction materials, to fence posts and wood chip for carbon neutral energy production. Using our own wood to help meet this demand reduces the need to import from around the world and at the same time it will help protect some of our rarest native wildlife.
It is to be hoped that sufficient trees will be left to keep down road noise from the A31. Habitat may be important but so is our quality of life.
This is an absolute disgrace. At a time of escalating environmental crisis around the globe we should not be destroying trees and saplings on this scale. All the major political parties have pledged to plant more trees as part of their election manifestos and the Brazilian government are regularly criticised for the devastation that is being caused by clearing large swathes of the precious Amazon rain forest, and yet the local council just go ahead and fells hundreds and hundreds of trees like this. Is it really to restore the land to heathland, or it that just a convenient excuse for the council to clear this land and pave the way for future housing developments?
The article makes it very clear why these trees are being felled. The environmental crisis impacts biodiversity and that’s exactly why the restoration of this heathland is so important. Removing trees to restore precious heathland – especially in this context – is not comparable to mass deforestation. There are absolutely no plans, now or in the future, to use this land for anything other than heathland.
Just been for a walk over to the area and it looks like worn torn Congo, a wasteland. The ground have been chewed up by the diggers and machinery, there is no soak away for the water and the place is flooded with water. Cut tree branches scattered all over as if the trees have been hacked to death.
Whats happened to our beloved Avon Park? ruined
A splendid bit of weeding that’s been badly needed. Now it looks more like it did back in the 1950s when I used to cut heather there to use for road construction. Excellent job, well done, great result.