Maximum biodiversity minimum disturbance

Flanders Moss NNR

Last week we were cutting gorse on the western edge of Flanders Moss. The gorse is spreading in Ballangrew Meadow and threatening some of our special wildflower areas including where the rare and declining lesser butterfly orchid. If left we would lose some of our most species-ruich wildflower grassland.

It is a destructive process involving cutting down swaths of gorse and as there is so much, burning it. Our fantastic volunteers did a sterling job getting the task done.

But there is a conundrum here. Gorse is also good for wildlife, used by all sorts of invertebrates and a good feeding and nesting place for birds so nature reserve managers often have to come up with a plan that tries to accommodate a range of species.

In past times gorse was useful and so kept in check by regular cutting. Despite its extremely prickly structure is was used as a food for livestock (it was crushed to make it more edible) or as a fuel. But now, without management, it spreads unchecked. So we need to cut and dispose of it in a way that minimises the impact but maximises the biodiversity of the site. The way of working is as follows:

• Firstly we cut in winter when birds are not breeding and insect populations are low.
• We cut only a small proportion of the total gorse area each year so always leaving stands for the wildlife that likes it. The areas that are away from the wildflower patches are left totally uncut as a refuge.
• We do use herbicide of the cut gorse stems to reduce the amount that grows back but it is painted on so the minimal amount is used and is only applied to exact area needed.
• The area cut is not a known adder hibernaculum.
• The fire sites are kept to the absolute minimum and sited on areas where there are no wildflowers.

Uncut areas of gorse

Herbicide is carefully painted only on the cut stumps, using a dye for the most efficient and effective application.

Of course if you have a fire lit you might as well make use of it. So our brilliant volunteers were treated to sausages and Steve’s homegrown baked spuds round the fire at lunchtime. You might as well try to get as much fun out of the hard graft as possible!