Severn Hams Nature Recovery Zone

What the project is trying to achieve and works involved:

Ashleworth Ham
Willow pollarding - Re-pollarding old willows to create veteran pollards which will provide excellent habitat for a wide range of species and are a feature of the local landscape.
Scrub control - Removal of scrub to allow a more diverse range of vegetation to grow including some rarer wetland plant species. Also required to prevent willow encroachment into fen areas and prevent shading along ditch margins

Coombe Hill Canal and Meadows
Willow pollarding - re-pollarding old willows to create veteran pollards which provide excellent habitat for a wide range of species and are a feature of the local landscape.
Scrub control - Removal of scrub to allow a more diverse range of vegetation to grow including some rarer wetland plant species. Also required to prevent willow encroachment into fen areas and prevent shading along ditch margins.
Refresh shingle on breeding wader islands - To create additional nesting habitat for breeding waders, specifically Little Ringed Plover, Avocet and Oystercatcher. Two different size grades of shingle are required – a coarser layer at the bottom overlain by a finer layer on top.

Chaceley Meadow
Willow pollarding - re-pollarding old willows to create veteran pollards which provide excellent habitat for a wide range of species and are a feature of the local landscape. The willow pollards at Chaceley Meadow are particularly large and require re-pollarding soon before they start to collapse and damage the base of the tree
Ditch clearance - Required to promote plant diversity in the ditches and along the ditch banks, and also to allow drainage off the meadow after periods of flooding.

Value of the project to the environment:

De-silting will prevent succession and loss of open water linear habitats.

Removing old fencing and clearing vegetation and installing new livestock fencing will facilitate conservation grazing with cattle.

Scrub cutting will maintain open habitats for SSSI species of high conservation interest.

Willow pollarding will maintain veterans and increase the lifespan of trees.