Life in the hedge: how to manage hedgerows for wildlife

Only 14 per cent of hedgerows in England are in good condition. There is immense potential for managing hedgerows for wildlife and people.

Native hedgerows can play a major role in helping nature recovery and mitigating climate change. The government wants the post-Brexit agricultural subsidy system to encourage farmers and landowners to better maintain hedges to meet these aims.

Hedgerows can prevent flooding, soil erosion and are important carbon stores. They provide dispersal corridors across the countryside and are vital to the survival of much farmland wildlife. A well managed healthy hedge can become an amazing ecosystem, with an astounding species-richness, providing shelter, nesting habitat, wildflowers and berries for a wide range of wildlife. Many priority species for conservation action are associated with hedgerows.

Speakers:

Rob Wolton - Why hedges are good for wildlife and for us

Devon has the best hedges in the world, says Rob Wolton, Chair of the Devon Hedge Group. A native hedgerow's ability to support wildlife well is immense. Rob's talk will focus on the great importance of our hedges for farmland wildlife plus some of the other reasons they are so valuable to us, such as for crop pollination, removing pollutants, soil conservation and carbon capture.


Nigel Adams - Hedgerow Management - a life cycle approach

Good management is vital for maintaining healthy hedgerows. Nigel looks at the good the bad and the ugly of hedgerow management and suggests that we need to allow hedges to slowly progress through a natural lifecycle before being rejuvenated. Once we recognise this life cycle, and use it to influence our management decisions, we will be able to maintain a healthy stock of hedgerows throughout the country, for wildlife and people, that we can pass on to future generations.


Mike Ingram - Useful by-products from a laid or coppiced hedge

Many people burn the brash produced from a cut hedge as a way of disposing of the material but there are other options. Mike Ingram from South Brent Hedges and Woodland Group will share information on the useful products that can be utilised from the arisings, from woodfuel to biochar.