Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

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Tips for reducing poaching
– Wherever possible include the fen as part of a larger grazing unit,
allowing livestock access to drier areas to which they will instinctively
move during wet weather.
– Position gates and fences away from the edges of the fen and where
possible choose places that are firm and well drained.
– Place sleeper bridges over ditches on the fen to provide crossing points,
close to where stock enters the site. Slats attached to the deck of the
bridge can encourage stock onto bridges and reduces slipping.
– If supplementary feeding of stock is required, use sacrificial feed areas
well away from the fen, ideally on hard standing.
– Whatever the season, exclude stock from the fen during prolonged or
extreme wet weather.
6.2.10 Monitoring grazing
Sleeper bridges will reduce poaching but need to be
sited in relatively dry areas as they are a focus for stock
movement (A. McBride).
Grazing needs careful monitoring, both from a conservation perspective to ensure
that it is achieving the desired management objectives, and from an animal welfare
perspective. Most grazing animals are selective, and some plants are not palatable
or are only eaten when at their most tender in early growth stages. Rushes, though
important components of some fen communities, may become dominant if the site
is grazed by animals that find them unpalatable. Section 10: Monitoring to Inform
Fen Management includes further guidance on monitoring techniques and analysis.
6.3 Mechanical cutting and mowing
The following notes provide a very brief introduction to mechanical cutting and
mowing. Detailed advice on reedbed management is provided in “Reedbed
Management for Commercial and Wildlife Interests” (Hawke and Jose, 1996).
6.3.1 Commercial cutting and mowing
Marsh hay can be commercially cut, although its production is highly weather
dependent. The more common commercial cutting and mowing of fens is for high
quality reed for thatching, which is an age-old tradition which has helped maintain