The dangers of trampling

[animartco]

Hi All
I would dearly like to take the opportunity of reminding people that disturbance to SSSI sites in the winter is far more damaging than it is in summer. Did you know? We are the only animals that walk unheeding over rough grass? All other animals avoid it and seek flat trampled ground to walk on.
Most hibernating animals do so under the roots of grasses and sedge, and sometimes leaf mould or heather. The point is that most reptiles amphibians, dormice, and insects will be only a few inches under the soil or even on top of it under grass. So if we in our crowded little island go trampling unheeded over a significant portion of our countryside every year, we are soon not going to have any wildlife left! Almost all our open ground nesting birds are gone. Do we wonder why? That is summer trampling of course. But winter trampling is more dangerous to everything other than birds.
I shall explain what made me feel so strongly about this issue. The first dormouse I ever saw was one I had practically cut in half, doing a tiny bit of tidying near my sunlounge in the winter. It was very traumatic, and I sort of feel I owe it to its memory to try to make people aware of the dangers of disturbing sites where something special may be hibernating. I was using a pair of shears, but I could as easily have trodden on that clump of grass and squashed it and I would have known nothing about it!

[artdemole]

Why trample on the sites.Finds are listed.Cameras have zoom lenses which can be used to great effect.rules ought to change to protect more...

[Simples]

It's a good point well made. I wonder as to the wisdom of marking SSSIs yet not bothering to fence them off. Surely it would be better to keep them secret and find some way of stopping people entering? I don't know ... I say this because there is a SSSI near where I live and there are signs all around it saying "SSSI - no public access" but the site is completely open! I see curious people and dogs and what have you all the time. It may be ugly, but a fence around the site would protect it from all trampling whether deliberate or accidental.

[diggleken]

Mind you, the snows done a lot of natural trampling this last few weeks!
Nice and easy to see the vole and other mammal tracks under it when it melted ...........
Cheers
Ken

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by animartco

Hi All
I would dearly like to take the opportunity of reminding people that disturbance to SSSI sites in the winter is far more damaging than it is in summer. Did you know? We are the only animals that walk unheeding over rough grass? All other animals avoid it and seek flat trampled ground to walk on.
Most hibernating animals do so under the roots of grasses and sedge, and sometimes leaf mould or heather. The point is that most reptiles amphibians, dormice, and insects will be only a few inches under the soil or even on top of it under grass. So if we in our crowded little island go trampling unheeded over a significant portion of our countryside every year, we are soon not going to have any wildlife left! Almost all our open ground nesting birds are gone. Do we wonder why? That is summer trampling of course. But winter trampling is more dangerous to everything other than birds.
I shall explain what made me feel so strongly about this issue. The first dormouse I ever saw was one I had practically cut in half, doing a tiny bit of tidying near my sunlounge in the winter. It was very traumatic, and I sort of feel I owe it to its memory to try to make people aware of the dangers of disturbing sites where something special may be hibernating. I was using a pair of shears, but I could as easily have trodden on that clump of grass and squashed it and I would have known nothing about it!

I think you are exaggerating the concern here. I do take your point about hibernating animals, but walking through dense, tussocky Heather, Purple Moor-grass, Tufted Hair-grass, Bramble etc is very hard work, and given a path in this sort of habitat then most people will walk on it. Even where people walk off the path I can't see that a high proportion of the habitat would be affected, especially on moderately sized sites and larger.

High stocking densities of livestock are much more likely to be a problem.

On the wider point, I don't believe that the interests of nature conservation are generally improved by denying people access to "wild spaces". A love of wildlife and the countryside is much more likely to come through direct experience of it (on and off the beaten track).

[Simples]

On the wider point, I don't believe that the interests of nature conservation are generally improved by denying people access to "wild spaces". A love of wildlife and the countryside is much more likely to come through direct experience of it (on and off the beaten track).

I think you are confusing 'wild spaces' with SSSIs. The latter must be protected, otherwise there is no point designating them as SSSIs.

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by Simples

I think you are confusing 'wild spaces' with SSSIs. The latter must be protected, otherwise there is no point designating them as SSSIs.

No, I'm not.

[Simples]

Originally Posted by Johnny Redgate

No, I'm not.

So you're saying it's alright for all and sundry to be allowed free access to SSSIs regardless of the damage that will do? Why waste public money identifying and studying these areas if you're going to allow Joe Public to walk dogs and stomp all over them?

[earthdragon64]

I think it depends on exactly why a site is designated as a SSSI as to whether public access needs to be restricted or not. If every SSSI was fenced off, there would be an awful lot of countryside inaccessible.

The following website, although dealing only with Scottish SSSIs where access laws are different to the rest of the UK, gives some interesting information.

http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/o...i2/default.asp

[earthdragon64]

My edit of my previous post didn't work.

If you use the following link, click the "Places" tab, then type Aviemore into the search box, search, then check the SSSI box, then zoom out a couple of times. The huge pink areas are the SSSIs, it would be impossible to fence all that area and there would be an outcry from all the skiers, walkers, wildlife watchers who come to the area, not to mention the landowners.

Scotlands Nature