Developing Wildlife Habitat - Regs

[Ade-Wales]

I have recently purchased approximately 15 acres of land in West Wales which is a mixture of farmland, poorer quality marshland and woodland.
I intend to improve access into this area and aim to manage the land in an effort to attract more wildlife. The area would be available to photographers such as myself and for educational purposes, ie schools, youth groups, etc by invitation. I would not intend opening up to the masses.
I would like to establish a pond on the low lying land and also give up approximately 1.75 acres for planting of native woodland species.
I have no intention of establishing any sort of commercial enterprise.
My question is, should I just go ahead and undertake the project, or do I have to obtain permission from any government bodies?
The range of organisations out there is staggering and whilst I would dearly love to get advice from them and ensure that I do things properly and don't fall foul of legislation, I am worried that they may take over and dictate to me what I should do on my own land.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Regards
Ade

[Gill Catton]

Hmm not sure, perhaps start with your local Natural England Team? They can help you identify if there are any protected sites nearby that may be an issue. (you can look for yourself using Natural England's 'Nature on the Map' website Nature on the Map :: Home).


There may be protected species issues (bats badgers newts) but so long as you avoid the use of heavy machinery close to badgersetts or ponds and don't fell any dead wood I doubt you'll have any problems there. Oh and don't clear vegetation if there may be birds nesting in it (as all nesting birds are protected)

Also are you certain the marshland is poor quality? This can be a tricky thing to judge unless you have some botanical skills?

It might be worth leaving and monitoring the site for a year so you can see if maybe you have any breeding lapwing, snipe or redshank that use your marshland and arable (these birds may be affected by the planting of woodland as they often need open habitats). Or if there are any bits of grassland that support interesting wildflowers - orchids etc.

Oh and I'd advise taking care where you plant your trees that you don't damage habitats that are already good for wildlife. In addition in relation to trees, if you just fence a bit off next to the existing woodland, the new trees are likely to 'plant themselves' (via bird droppings, jays/ squirrels planting seeds etc) meaning less work for you, a better developed ground flora (because new plantations are often too dense and shading) and a more natural species composition and structure.

Just thoughts. I certainly if I were you would do a bit of reading on best practice to make sure I didn't do any harm when trying to do good, something which is scarily easy to do. Conservation voluteers have been known to wipe out whole populations of rare dragonflies before now by trying to improve wetland habitats!

A very exciting project you have there! I'm very jealous

[tom00_uk]

your goverment body would be Home Page - Countryside Council for Wales

as long as there is nothing on the site (or expected) that is protected then there will be no issue getting on with it

if there is things on site with protection, both animal, plant and buildings etc then these will have to be protected whilst any works are carried out

[Gill Catton]

Oh god how thick am I? Of course the site is in Wales Natural England won't be any help will they!!

My apologies

[Ade-Wales]

Thanks for your comments Gill. I am very mindful of causing damage to existing wildlife on the site and am slowly working my way through and mapping out areas that should remain untouched. We have already found a badger sett and have cordoned off an exclusion zone of approximately 60 metres around it.
I do have some basic knowledge of conservation work and am keen to do things properly and with minimal impact on what is already there.
The land has been in my family for 5 generations, but latterly has been leased out and some areas have become neglected. When I mentioned poor quality I was speaking from an agricultural point of view.
I have spent a fortune on relevant books and found a lot of info on the web, so am going to fully research before undertaking extensive work.
Thanks very much for your advice and for taking an interest.
Best Regards
Ade

[Gill Catton]

That sounds fantastic, I hope to have the opportunity to do something similar one day

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

No Advice apart from contact the local WIldlife Trust, but thats what I always say. It's a fantastic project though and I really hope it all works out for you and the wildlife.

BWD

[connerlake]

wow thats really really cool, can i just suggest looking into some of the rare or declining wildlife aswell. what really interests me in the extremely rare british triops. if you could make a temporary pools that dry up and refill you could seriously help the species, there over 220million years old!

[fairplay]

In England, what you plan to do may be affected by 'change of use' regulations (even if the change is for the better) and it is possible that you might have to apply for planning permission (meaning you have to pay the appropriate fee to make your District Council richer! - administration fees)

If you do go ahead and it turns out planning permission is needed you will encounter all sorts of problems. I would think the Welsh system is very similar.

Do get in touch with your Council though as I am sure you will find them really helpful. Good luck.

Neil.

[Johnny Redgate]

Agree with Neil. Some councils have regarded tree planting on farmland as a change of use requiring planning permission and can then influence you as to the trees they want to see planted. Your tree planting area is sufficient to attract Forestry Commission grant aid who might also advise on the existing woodland. However, I guess you are likely to continue to manage much of the land as some sort of farmland (e.g. with some livestock grazing for some of the time?) so no change of use there. Your pond, if very large, may need planning permission depending on whether it would be created by excavation and what size it would be.

John