SURLINGHAM-VILAGE STAITHE-WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT NOTES

Introduction

The area of grassland, reed and hedge alongside the village staithe is being improved for use as a low key recreation (canoe launching, picnicking etc.) and wildlife area. The representatives of the Surlingham Parish Council have asked for advice on on-going maintenance for wildlife and my suggestions are as follows:

(a)Fertilisers and Pesticides - The use of these should be avoided, except possibly to control the bracken, if cutting (pulling) is not successful.(I can advice you further on chemical use as necessary.

(b)Grassland-Recreation Area - Cut as necessary every 2-4 weeks in the summer to maintain a short sward as discussed, leaving 'wildflower islands' where marsh flowers can grow e.g.ragged robin.

• Wilder areas - Cut as a hay crop, i.e.cut only once after the main flowering season later in the summer, rake up and remove or burn all cut material. If it is left, the cut material will return nutrient to the soil and this will encourage the growth of nettles, docks etc. Possibly leave 1-2 grass heaps for wildlife; these will be used for over-wintering and also as desirable breeding places. Burn only at 1-2 specific sites, again to limit the return of nutrients to the soil as much as possible. Depending on the levels of `weed' species growth it may be necessary to cut and rake again, either later in the autumn or in the spring.
• Bracken - It is very important that the spread of bracken should be controlled.Bracken is poisonous to most creatures including humans, it contains about 16 poisons,3 of which are carcinogenic(leaflet attached).The best way to remove it is by hand pulling or cutting when the fronds have just opened(late June-early July) and continue to do this as they regrow up until late Septemberearly October. It is important that all cut (pulled) material should either be burned or removed compietely.The bracken should not be touched with the bare hand(use gloves and also protect the skin and eyes),see the leaflet for further information.lt may take several years to remove the bracken,if is taking too long then I am happy to speak again about the possible use of chemicals.
• Reed - Whilst there is plenty of reed(Phragmites) in the area, it is quite an important wildlife habitat,it is also quite attractive in the landscape and thus possibly worth retaining?
• Dyke Edges - Wherever possible leave to grow as the wilder areas, and cut and rake as a hay crop.

(c)Pond Creation - It was mentioned that there might be a wish to create a new pond alongside the track. Ponds make very interesting habitats and I feel sure a new pond would be well appreciated(leaf lets attached).There would, of course,be a certain increased safety risk, but this can be lessened by careful positioning.) have some spare materials which might be used.As discussed, possibly children from the local school might be asked to help with pond creation work?Any pond would need a certain amount of clearance work each year to keep it in good condition.

(d)Willow/Alder Scrub - It is important to keep the scrub under tight control in this relatively small area, this should be done by rotational coppicing(cutting about one-fifth each year down to ground level on a 5-year cycle).New shoots will grow again and the trees will not be lost, and this work would provide a good habitat for nesting birds,willow warblers etc.

(e)Hedges - The surrounding thorn hedges are in good condition. They might be managed in one of several ways to maintain the wildlife interest, occasional trimming to maintain their shape with the removal of unsafe branches,annual cutting to a tall (2m.),dense, squared-off shape or by rotational cutting to a squaredoff shape at a rate of about one-third every 3-years.As discussed, I would stick with the first option for the time being.

(f)Taller Trees - At some stage the larger trees,mostiy willows, will need attention to keep them safe e.g.removal of unsafe dead or unsightly branches; although dead wood does have its own particular wildlife interest, public safety will also need to be considered in this case. From a wildlife viewpoint, I would like to see the removal of at least one of the major trees to allow more light into the area, but I appreciate that this may cause concern to certain people and there is no absolute necessity to do such at the moment. The trees will provide good nesting and roosting habitats for birds; possibly owls, and also possibly bats.At some stage bird and/or bat boxes might be set up in the trees.

(g)Wood-Heaps - Apart from the grassheaps mentioned earlier, it would also be desirable to leave 1-2 stacks of wood for wildlife.

(h)Information/Monitoring -I will try and find a moment to list the flowering plants on the site and this might be monitored(rechecked) in future years.All such biological information is valuable, for example, f suspect that there might be a surprising number of insects on the site and numbers may well increase as the work goes on; dragonflies, butterflies etc.Might there be any scope for producing wildlife information on the site?

(i)Management -As this is quite a small site there is no need for an elaborate management structure, but if it would be helpful I would be willing to meet every so often to discuss progress; say once a year?

The cutter you mentioned would be very useful( and there may be scope for using it for other nature conservation work in the village), the cutter would need to be properly maintained. Otherwise mostly only hand tools aree required, the tree work may need to be done with larger scale equipment or by a tree contractor/surgeon. liaison-as far as it is possible it would be helpful to maintain contact with neighbouring landowners,RSPB etc. Possibiy there might be opportunities to share equipment and expertise.