Livestock on the Hills and Holes Sept 2018
By the time you are reading this article there will be livestock present on the Hills and Holes again. If all goes to plan this will include ponies as well as sheep this year. The mix of different types of livestock should help to improve the grassland quality and increase biodiversity. The impact of grazing, on the number and spread of rare plant species, is illustrated by the fact that we continue to see an increase in Pasque flower numbers in the monitored plots. These flowers have also now spread right across the reserve. Without annual grazing the coarser grasses and plant species will quickly take over followed by scrub and eventually trees.