24/11/16 - Birch removal

Since the start of November our staff and volunteers have been hard at work on Skipwith Common NNR, removing birch saplings from the heath. Silver Birch is the dominant scrub/tree species on the Common and without control it would completely take over, resulting in the loss of the open wet and dry heath areas with their specialised plants, birds, invertebrates and reptiles. The open heathland and ponds on the Common are important for a whole range of species but include specialists such as Woodlarks, Cotton Grass, Marsh Gentian, Black Darters and Adders. 

However we won’t be clearing all of it as many species also thrive in the young scrubby habitat that the birch provides. Many thanks to our team for all the hard work put in so far, loppering the saplings and spraying them is hard going - especially in the wet and windy days of late - and with so much birch to tackle we’ll be busy working on here until the end of March – by then the team will no doubt be ready for a change of scenery – although there are definitely worst places to work!