Landscape Solutions Grazing Project
The Landscape Solutions Grazing project is underway in North East Wales.
The project is funded by the Welsh Government Sustainable Management Scheme and is hosted by the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
It is a cross county partnership led project, with 10 partner organisations, some of whom are land owners, conservation charities and local authorities. The project aims to bring 40 key sites scattered across the project area into sustainable management regimes. Most of these key sites are designated for ecological importance with many of them being SSSI, SAC, Ramsar, Country parks, Local Nature reserves or fall within the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB and one just reaches the edge of Snowdonia National Park. The sites habitat includes coastal dunes, heathland, calcareous grassland and support species such as black grouse, natterjack toads and great crested newts.
The project will use nature based solutions to address the multiple issues land managers face today and bring a more sustainable approach to the way the key sites are managed. The focus is on grazing animals as this is often the most effective and natural way to maintain certain habitats. Conservation grazing involves using livestock to manage sites for wildlife and to promote biodiversity. It can be carried out on many types of land including woodland, scrub, wetlands and grassland. Grazing animals have shaped our landscapes for generations and can be the most effective and sustainable way of maintaining habitats. Livestock used for conservation grazing are generally native breeds and we will be looking at using sheep, cattle and ponies for our sites. We have also used Oxford Sandy and Black pigs on one of our sites successfully. These animals are bred for their hardiness and will willingly graze on the more dominant plant species, this allows opportunities for a variety of other species to establish.
As well as grazing on faster growing, dominant species of vegetation, grazing animals also help open up the vegetation by moving around sites creating pathways and hoof tracks across the ground. This provides habitats for reptiles and invertebrates and creates spots for new seedlings to flourish. The traditional breeds are hardier than their more intensively farmed counterparts and this means they can manage the harsher conditions, as well as being able to tolerate lower quality grazing compared to grassland that commercial livestock have access to. The faeces the animals produce are beneficial with more than 250 species of insects having been recorded to be found on cowpats, which in turn then provides a vital source of food for birds.
We currently have Belted Galloways, Carneddau ponies and are about to introduce Soay sheep to a couple of the sites. The Belted Galloways are a small, quiet breed of cattle which are ideal for grazing some of the sites and due to their striking look and the beauty of the Carneddau ponies mean they have become a popular attraction for local walkers. The Carneddau pony is used to living out on the mountains over 3,000 feet high with cliffs, rocky slopes and lakes so are a very hardy breed used to eating soft rush, Molina, gorse and mountain grasses. Both have been quiet enough that they do not frighten local users and deter them from the sites but will move away from walkers when approached so they do not get too friendly and start following walkers.
The project will invest in infrastructure such as fencing, site access and the provision of water, as well as the removal of barriers to management such as scrub and bracken encroachment, which will help make these areas more appealing for graziers to bring suitable stock to the sites. Land owners and project staff will work with graziers to develop grazing plans to ensure that all grazing activities are to the benefit of the site and surrounding habitat and ensure the land does not become over or under grazed.
Another key part of the project is to engage with the communities surrounding these sites and provide volunteer opportunities in conservation and animal welfare. There will be opportunities for schools and community groups to get involved in looking after and checking stock. Training in traditional skills such as dry stone walling and hedge laying will be provided to try help narrow the skills gap within the farming and conservation sector and support pathways into employment for future generations.
We are working with local producers to create wildlife friendly branded products to increase the economic sustainability of conservation grazing after the end of the project. This will include meat products, honey production and wool products crafted by local producers.