The Coastal Tree Care team is currently engaged in some scrub clearance work for Natural England at Hog Cliff National Nature Reserve, near Maiden Newton. The work involves removing extensive overgrown areas of bramble and gorse to give the grazing animals a bit of a ‘head start’, and encourage recolonisation by the host of diverse grass, wild flower and orchid species that are present on this SSSI site.
This spectacular reserve is noted for its areas of unimproved chalk downland, with good populations of the Adonis Blue butterfly and the Marsh Fritillary, which is scarce throughout Europe.
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- Sean cuts down the bramble stems while Chaz clears up
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- Chaz on his way to the fire site
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- Ian and Paul tackle a large area of bramble
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- Fire sites are kept to an absolute minimum to prevent unnecessary soil enrichment