Montgomery Canal Conservation Management Strategy (1.2MB PDF)

30) Management will be by careful machine trimming, supplemented by a programme of hedge-laying, and retention
of standard trees. In suitable locations a taller hedge or woodland fringe will be allowed to develop.
Length specific proposals will be incorporated into maintenance plans and procedures.
31) Summer towpath mowing will be confined to a central walking strip, in order to continue to promote species rich
grass margins. Full cuts will be undertaken in late summer and early spring.
32) Offside buffer zones will be encouraged, and used to develop wider marginal vegetation and new hedgerows or
woodland strips.
7.3.6 Managing Undesirable Species
Aquatic habitats are prone to sudden infestation of introduced plant species such as Floating Pennywort and Water
Fern.
33) The canal will be regularly monitored by canal staff in the course of their normal work regime to enable a quick
response to any occurrences of undesirable species.
34) Steps to eliminate Japanese Knotweed along the canal will be taken, through a planned spraying programme.
Elodea species are generally a sign of poor water quality, out-compete the ecologically valuable species, and are a
major hindrance to navigation.
35) Annual weed cutting of the canal will continue, and expand if necessary, with removal of cuttings. Steps to
investigate better collection systems will be pursued.
This will help remove nutrients from the system, and further optimise habitat conditions.
Fish introductions will not be allowed. Partnership with local angling clubs will provide a mechanism for ensuring
this. Measures to control mink will be reviewed if the water vole populations appear to be declining.
7.3.7 The Wider Corridor
It is a continuing theme of nature conservation in canals that management is seeking to protect a habitat that is both
man-made, and subject to rapid ecological succession if unmanaged. Modern propeller craft are more damaging than
the original horse-drawn traffic, and management is therefore often a compromise between conflicting aims. Looking
to the wider canal corridor is an increasingly important way of addressing these issues. This is not to negate the value
of the canal, or its protection, but does point a way forward for the long term development of a complementary
strategy to seek to re-create suitable habitats for these species beyond the canal system.
Creation of new off-line habitat areas is a start to this process, but it is pertinent to review a range of other initiatives
in the local canal corridor, which have links to both this strategy and shared interests with the Montgomery Canal
Partnership. A summary of these schemes is given in Table 7.5.
36) The Montgomery Canal Partnership will actively support wider environmental schemes which have shared or
complementary objectives.
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