HEATHER MANAGEMENT

Many moorlands have protected status, such as Special Protection Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because they host a species or plant community that is particularly valued, or for the beauty of the wider landscape, such as National Landscape (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).  

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Moorland is not a single habitat type, but a range of habitats, including dry and wet heath, blanket bog and rough grasslands and is characterised by low-growing vegetation and the wildlife and livestock which benefit from its open character. 

 

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) which flowers spectacularly in late summer, bell heather (Erica cinerea), cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix), bilberry, cottongrass (hare’s tail and common) and other grasses such as wavy hair grass, flushes of Sphagnum moss, sundew, cranberries and possibly cloudberry, crowberry and juniper are all common species that comprise moorland.    

 

Wading birds such as curlew, black grouse, lapwing, redshank and golden plover, some of which are dramatically declining in number but have found breeding refuges on moorland, as well merlin, short-eared owls, hen harrier, red grouse, ring ouzel, meadow pipits, field vole, mountain hare and adder, as well as a range of moths, pollinators and other insect life.  On some moorland edges black grouse can still be found too.   

  

The livestock which graze our moors are also a common sight and these include native upland sheep and cattle breeds as well as in some places ponies, such as on Exmoor and Dartmoor. 

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Globally, heather moorland is rare.  It is virtually confined to Britain and Ireland, where in the main it is maintained through cutting, grazing and/or managed burning.  In some places such as the far Northwest of Scotland, moorland is the natural state, but in most areas of the UK it would become scrub and areas of woodland without management.  

 

As such the Heather Trust is interested in the activities that will enable moorlands to continue to hold their unique place in a mixed mosaic of land uses and types throughout the country, and promotes that those activities should be undertaken in a way that is environmentally sustainable. 

 

Managing biomass and thus fuel loads on moorland is important to mitigate the increasing threat of wildfire and we support research projects that continue to explore and discover the impacts current management regimes have on these ecosystems. 

 

We advocate for wise use that helps support local communities and for well planned management activities coupled with ongoing robust research to ensure best practice in the following: 

• heather burning / muirburn 

• wildfire mitigation 

• heather cutting 

• grazing 

• bracken control 

• native tree establishment (e.g. moorland edge and gullies) 

• peatland restoration and management 

• carbon storage 

• water management 

• heather beetle damage treatment / recovery 

• responsible access 

• wildlife management 

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