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Grazing with livestock is an important tool for the management of many habitats, providing a preferred means of removing vegetation over mowing or burning in many situations. Grazing is not without its problems. An analysis of two recent questionnaire surveys of conservation site-managers carried out by a team from Liverpool John Moores University and English Nature has revealed the key constraints, problems and successes. The first questionnaire sought to determine the extent and success of using grazing animals in habitat management for conservation; the second, which was supplemented by other sources, identified the constraints on the implementation of sustainable grazing schemes.
With such a diversity of grazing schemes revealed, it is useful that the report of the analysis includes much of the original detail in its 257 pages, allowing the reader to track down the experiences of people with similar vegetation and livestock. The most commonly used stock were sheep and cattle. The most widely used sheep breeds were Hebridean and Beulah Speckled Face and the most widely used breeds of cattle were Highland and Friesian. Ponies were also frequently used, the Exmoor being the breed used most, and goats and pigs were used on relatively few sites. Tables relating breeds to the site-managers' opinions on their effectiveness in achieving conservation objectives, their preferences for particular plants (sometimes in relation to age and gender), tameness, the use of supplementary feeds and health problems provide a wealth of comparative experience. The differences revealed in both preferred and 'disliked' plants suggest that species and breed of grazing animal should be chosen carefully to achieve the best results at a particular site.
By far the most frequently reported problem was obtaining suitable stock in the right numbers and at the right times. Second to this were continuing adverse public reaction and scrub/weed invasion and control. The solutions to these problems used by the site-managers are given, as are actions being undertaken to deal with the constraints identified. The questionnaire analysis has been published by English Nature for the Grazing Animals Project as English Nature Research Report number 316, Towards sustainable grazing for biodiversity: An analysis of conservation grazing projects and their constraints. It is available free of charge from the EN Enquiries Service, telephone 01733 455101.
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