managment for wildlife on SUSTRANS trails!

[eve miles]

Does anyone else use a SUSTRANS-owned trail ? I live near the SUSTRANS-owned Pheonix Trail from Thame (Oxon) to Princes Risborough (Bucks). The trail is used by walkers, cyclists and occasionally horse-riders. I have completely gobsmacked over the last couple of years at how the trail is NOT being managed for wildlife, and it's increasing litter problem. Does anyone else have this problem with a SUSTRANS trail or does anyone share my view that the PT, though in all senses a nature reserve in it's right (large numbers of garden and woodland birds breed, nest, feed and roost along the trail, there are a high number of red kites concentrated here, as well as farmland birds in the adjacent fields such as skylark and fieldfare, there are brown hares as well as badgers (though I've never seen one!)and foxes in the area (the trail is a disused railway line) and the trail also adjoins a small nature reserve with reed beds and reed bed specialist birds such as reed warbler and reed bunting. Snipe are also supposed to be present (though I have not seen one) and grey heron and kingfisher have been seen, bullfinch, and water vole too, amongst other species. The reserve has a mixed terrain of woodland, meadow, brook, boggy grassland and reedbed. The trail and the reserve both have good numbers and variety of butterflies including orange-tip, peacock, brimstone, small tortoiseshell, common blue, holly blue, ringlet, meadow brown, small copper, green-veined white, large and small whites, large and small skippers, comma, red admiral, gatekeeper, speckled wood, cinnabar and other moths as well as good numbers of other invertebrates such as grasshoppers and crickets, honey bees and bumble bees, etc - the list is endless!) Suffice it to say that the place is awash with wildlife but I have noted - and I believe it is probably down to bad management on SUSTRANS part - that certain butterflies - for example orange-tip - have stopped flying early. The problem seems to be an over-aggressive cutting regime along the verges and banks of the trail. A man with a tractor with a 'cutting arm' drives along the trail for day or more and cuts everything back within about 5 - 7 metres of the arm. This means that large amounts of important vegetation and shrubs are simply cut off - for example cow parsley, nettle and bramble, birds-foot trefoil, etc. This regime - which when finished represents a 'complete army haircut' is carried out three times a year in january, may and july, and I have to say it's the most depressing thing post-event, that I have encountered lately. SUSTRANS do have biodiversity action plan, but I cannot possibly believe that this is part of it. The trail is also awash with litter which is only ever cleared up by the odd church group or even desperate individuals - such as myself! I have contacted SUSTRANS before and they have not been very helpful. There must be a variety of plants in the hundreds along the 7 mile length of the trail, and ALL of it is cut off! I am not an ecologist, just a depressed nature lover - can anyone advise or share a smiliar experience. I want to go back to SUSTRANS again and get this practice changed......
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[maccyd82]

Ive not heard of the Phoenix trail before but it sounds lovely. I do know that Sustrans has a volunteer warden scheme where people can adopt a local bit of trail and then can report problems to sustrans, carry out minor repairs etc. Perhaps you could find out if there is already a warden, or if not you could become one and get a bit more clout with sustrans?

If there is a nature reserve nearby could it be them that are cutting back the path or is it definitely sustrans?

[healfdan]

Your concern is justified and you should seek out the people responsible for this poorly considered management. Not all of the agencies responsible for land management are nature lovers and it is not until concern is expressed about a particular procedure that the supervisor may be prepared to reconsider the cutting regime. However it is not always that simple and the reasons for such regular cuts may be on safety grounds, to improve the vista or combat known anti-social behaviour in the area. If this is the case it may well justify the action they are taking. On a personal level I always found that cutting verges in a scallop effect, which leaves sections untouched and of benefit to wildlife, usually satisfied the nature interest and our duty of care obligations on health and safety grounds. From experience it is often the poor old fellow cutting the verges who gets the flak but 9 times out of 10 he or she is just following orders. So I would suggest you look out for the guy doing the cutting and ask for a contact name and you can take it from there. Good luck.

[eeyore]

I'd also just mrention that sustrans (like highway authorities and other trail projects) largely doesnt own the land their trails pass over - therefore they can only do trails mainitance tasks - wider habitat mgnt rests with the lanowner

[eve miles]

Thank you all for your very helpful views. I will think about the best approach
now, and have been researching the UK Biodiversity Action Plan to see if we have any protected species along the trail - and we do. The ideas of becoming a warden / scalloped cutting method seem excellent and gives me some suggestions to go back to SUSTRANS with (they are definitely responsible for the management and are the land-owners, I've double-checked this- but thanks for the point) There is a small amount of anti-social behaviour on the trail - some graffiti on the railway bridge and fly-tipping now and again, littering, and the occasional joker riding a moped along the trail, but on the whole it's quite peaceful and used well. The vegetation is copious but strangely the only plants that seem to encroach on the tarmac are the nettles, and the trail could probably be safely used with a once-yearly cut in august or september and cutting back of protruding nettles on a regular basis - which I could perhaps do along with a volunteer group.
Thanks again, I feel I can get my thoughts in order on this one now and go back to SUSTRANS with some pro-active suggestions.

[maccyd82]

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by eve miles

(they are definitely responsible for the management and are the land-owners, I've double-checked this- but thanks for the point) .

*bonk* that was me whacking my head on the desk in frustration - sustrans are not the landowner - their remit is to establish long distance cycling routes through either dedicated or permisive rights - they dont own any land to speak of - and they are only responsible for the management of the trail not of the wider land

and actually even with regard to trail management if its on a dedicated right of way the primary responsiblity for overseeing trail management will rest with either the County PRoW team (bridleways/restricted byways or byway - or footpath that also has permisive cycling rights) or the transport team (cycleways).

In the specific case of this part of the phoenix trail its mostly on an old rail bed so the underlying landowner is probably network rail / the strategic rail authority - while the thame end appears to either be a long a road or on the verge - which in either case makes the landowner the highway authority ( in this case occ) while at the princes risborough end it runs along a bridlepath so the underlying landowner will be the farmer (probably manor farm horsenden) and the primary responsibility for management will rest with the BCC PRoW team

Also whoever the managing authority is will have a legal responsibility to maintain refuge areas for pedestrians along the route - which are usually defined as a 1m wide strip of verge either side - so the chances of a once a year cut being sufficient are minimal - plus it is doubtful that a volunteer group could carry out this work without a lot of back up (you would need scythe bar mowers - which are about a grand each, and brush cutters about 300 notes a pop - plus transport for all the kit, storage, insurance etc) cutting that length of trail isnt something you can undertake by hand or with a garden mower

[eve miles]

Thanks Eeyore for the very helpful information. I certainly hope that smack on the head didn't hurt too much. I feel like I've been given a verbal one by OCC and SUSTRANS themselves - having contacted first SODC then OCC last year and been told by both that SUSTRANS was land-owner and responsible for management, and then contacted SUSTRANS and spoken to the local 'manager' (this was about litter, and he expressed little interest, and faint surprise that I was calling about litter that had been uncleared for 9 years, though still reluctantly said he would 'send someone out to have a look') - I feel that I've truly been given the run-around. And last summer after the final cutting in July I e-mailed SUSTRANS and was told that they 'would be employing an ecology officer, who would be surveying the trail, and (he) (the local manager) would pass my comments and concerns onto them' - but there's been absolutely no sign of that happening at all. No-one has ever visited the trail from SUSTRANS to my knowledge. In the light of this, what you've said makes sense, but I remain confused and will contact OCC once more to try and get some answers. Thanks for your comments about the costs of cutting machinery and the 1 m verge required. I wonder what the best practice is on other such off-road trails is and I also wonder why SUSTRANS have a BAP in place if they don't get involved in management. All very confusing, and that's just the acronyms. Back to the phonecalls and e-mails and I hope I manage to get something changed - the recent cutting has left bits of tree all over the trail. The hedgerows and free-standing trees - albeit relatively small ones - have been 'gouged' all along and there are actual logs lopped off and left on the verges.
Thanks so much for your enlightening comments. If I achieve anything on this (unlikely I know) I will post it here.
Thanks all for being so helpful.

[wanlock dod]

I feel that whilst the wildlife aspect might be nice, it is (or at least ought to be?) something of an aside for an organisation that aims to provide sustainable transport solutions. If people decided not to use the trail sometines because nettles were encroaching onto the path at the sides then that migth (ought to?) be more important to them than a few butterflies. If they were in a position to spend a little more money on a more wildlife friendly mowing option migth than money be put to better use (in terms of developing sustainable transport) in building a cycle path somewhere else?

I regularly (well sometimes if it isn't raining) ride part of the Sustrans network (I think) and would far sooner that they dealt with hazards to using the route first, like glass, mission drain covers, etc.

I would say that if a mown verge is the most depressing thing that you've experienced lately then you are doing remarkably well, keep it up.