Hands Off Hartlebury Common

We visited the common last night we walked up from poolands nursery.
As usual, there were land rover tracks up the sandy path. This path has become noticebly wider and deeper recentley. At the sides, evidence of serious erosion is evident where gorse has been removed, one of the few inland plants capable of holding sandy light strata together. As a consequence, the form of the landscape is changing as it acceeds to, rain, wind,pedestrian, traffic and motor vehicles. This process will be also accelerated by proposed grazing

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/stevemac2/dumpsoil.jpg?t=1309637033...

In this picture  you can see the stumps of gorse at the top which have been removed. This strata has collapsed as a consequence, the ground is drying out. A work party has tipped a trailer of soil on this spot in vain. The soil to add insult is top soil scraped from other areas of the site as part of the management process.  The soil structure has broken down and the disintergration is well under way as a consequenece. Gorse which is being removed elsewhere also,  is one of the few plants that will lock together this loose sandy soil in these conditions.

At the top of the path from poolands we walked around the birch, brash that had been laid over damaged areas and towards the iron age archaelogical site. We walked up the slope at the back and noticed recent soil eroision caused by rain, it looks like lava flow that has frozen, with a hole at it's source on the back of the sites circular enclosure.

Adjacent to this area are the ww2 pipes which supplied an army camp. The whole area here is severley under threat. The extreme dry spells and sudden torential rainfall have changed this area most significantley, there are areas of heather that are being undermined by this erosion. There is an oak tree that is being seriously undermined. Generally, the removal of gorse has had a negative effect on this as it has elsewhere.

The attempts to shore up this decline with brash- birch branches are not suceeding as the sand lef beneath simply blows away and continues to erode. Birch disintergrates quite readily anyaway and breaks down to fast to do any good. This form of management does work elswhere but is innapropraite here.

Hartlebury commons group have supplied what they call evidence of tree succession on the lower terrace. However, the earlier tucker photo is an ariel view, whereas the comparitive recent photo is taken from ground level accross the terrace. That is why the arial picture shows more open space. I used an extending camera mount and took a picture just eight feet above where I was standing and from the same vantage point. In my picture there is a lot more open space and paths visible though. If I had the benefit of an arial view, the same as Tuckers I do not think the comparison would be so dramatic. This arial photo of the common was taken in 2007

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/stevemac2/arielviewofcommon.jpg...

Elsewhere we noticed heather growing natrually through grassy areas, away from the managed areas. Astonishingly, between the pine plantation and the decidious plantations at the south end there is a moss carpet. This will only grow in the most stable of conditions. Light, shade, moisture, sunlight. It indicates a sustainable enviromenet and its growth is accepted as an indicator of such. This will not survive the changes proposed at the common. Generally mosses thrive in shady, cool, moist but well drained enviroments, a testament to nature at this site given this is at the highest part of the common on the top terrace.

The creation of a heavily dependant, unsustainable artificial at hartlebury common is a mistake as there are excellent interdependances and an enclosed viable eco system at present. To claim that it is justified because mans impact is widespread on the landscape is not a cogent excuse. There are many interevntions and acts that man has committed on the enviroment historicaly but that in is not a scientific argument for these works. Niether is the argument for so called bio diversity when in fact the opposite will be the outcome.

I have published  photos which show clearly the damage being done use this link to see for yourself

http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/stevemac2/

Best wishes, Steve