Restoration of species-rich hedgerows at Joan’s Hill Farm Nature Reserve, Checkley, Herefordshire

The project will restore three hedgerows at Plantlife’s Joan’s Hill Farm nature reserve. Hedgerows are a UK BAP priority habitat. The hedgerows are all shown on the 1843 Fownhope Tithe Map, and are species-rich, suggesting they are of considerable age. One of the hedgerows contains a hedgebank and is believed to be ancient. The hedgerows are outgrown and are developing gaps at the base, exacerbated where livestock are able to find a way through. Without intervention, they will continue to deteriorate and will eventually evolve to become a gappy line of trees of minimal value to wildlife. To address this we will coppice and lay these sections of hedgerow and as the hedge regenerates it will provide a greatly-enhanced structure with thick, dense cover at the base. Work on the hedgerows will also reduce shading of the adjacent meadow habitats, benefiting species including pepper saxifrage and dyer’s greenweed.