New Forest Heathland

	New Forest Heathland - Clayhill Bottom, Holmsley

This is New Forest Heathland at its best, a magnificent landscape and a wonderful place to find wildlife, much of it rare or threatened elsewhere.

Tiny Dartford warblers and conspicuous stonechats are present all year round – the New Forest Heathlands hold a large percentage of the national Dartford warbler population, and are important for stonechats, too.

In spring and summer, nightjars churr in the gloom, enlivening New Forest Heathlands with wing clapping displays and buoyant, acrobatic hunting flights; whilst by day, hobbys soar aloft on scimitar-shaped wings, searching for insect prey.

In winter, great grey shrikes perch atop gorse and birch, ever-watchful, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting bird or beetle; and hen harriers quarter the ground in low, languid, flapping flight, hunting for their own small birds or mammals.

Reptiles are active in the warmer months – adders, common lizards and the incredibly rare sand lizard, imparting to these New Forest Heathlands an ambience more often found in southern Europe.

	New Forest Heathland - a Great Grey Shrike

Lousewort, milkwort, heath bedstraw and tormentil all add colourful variety, whilst concealed in the bracken around New Forest Heathland margins can sometimes be found the beautiful purple blooms of the wild gladiolus, a species in Britain restricted to the New Forest.

Dragonflies and damselflies visit from adjacent wetlands, patrolling the Heathland in search of insect prey, and in July, silver-studded blue butterflies, rare creatures in much of Britain, are on the wing in impressively large numbers.

And so the list goes on, a roll call of species that once were common and widespread in much of England. But no more, for many lowland Heaths elsewhere have disappeared under carpets of concrete, have been lost to agriculture or else have simply been neglected and are now overgrown by scrub.
 
Yet here in the New Forest, there is still much to enjoy, despite local losses to 19th century forestry inclosures. Indeed, it has been estimated that Hampshire has around 1/3 of Britain’s remaining lowland Heathland, of which a large proportion is in the New Forest.

So here Heathland remains, maintained by commoners’ ponies and other stock animals, natural lawn mowers that through grazing help keep these wonderful places clear of the encroaching vegetation that would otherwise invade and start the natural succession to woodland.

The stock, though, need a little help, so stubbornly invasive species are removed by man during the Forestry Commission’s annual cutting and controlled burning programmes.

	New Forest Heathland - controlled burning

New Forest Heathland burning usually takes place from late-February to the end of March, towards the end of the October-March legally permitted period. Then, the worst of the winter weather is usually over, vegetation is likely to be quite dry, still-wet ground offers protection to the peaty soil, and the impact on wildlife, particularly breeding birds and reptiles, is minimised.

Around 36 hectares of New Forest Heathland are cut annually, compared to 400 hectares burnt, always in widely separated, relatively small blocks that create habitat diversity and ensure that places for wildlife remain untouched nearby.

In fact, a number of wildlife species benefit from the process. Woodlarks, for example, do well on newly bare ground, marsh gentians enjoy reduced competition from more vigorous plants, and reptiles and insects benefit from the ‘edge’ effect created.

And the stock also benefit. Fresh growths of purple moor grass are stimulated, whilst tough, old gorse and heather stems are destroyed, encouraging the regeneration or seeding of tasty young replacements that will go on to form an important part of the animals’ diet, particularly during the winter months when many other foods are not readily available.

References:
Hampshire’s Countryside Heritage, Heathland: Hampshire County Council
Heathlands: Nigel Webb
The New Forest – A Natural History: Colin R. Tubbs
Forestry Commission - Draft Management Plan: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7A3F82