Brief for Habitat and Boundary survey and action plans

Transcription

1 Brief for Habitat and Boundary survey and action plans Introduction The Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is the lead partner of the proposed Pendle Hill Landscape Partnership (LP). This exciting programme of activity looks to reconnect people with their landscape and their past, to safeguard the area's wildlife and heritage and to improve people's access to this popular countryside area. We will do this by providing opportunities for training and volunteering; by supporting research and devising digital interpretation to inspire a new generation about our heritage; by restoring important landscape features, and by working with communities to re-tell the stories of radical Pendle people. This programme will increase pride in this special place and raise aspirations amongst communities, and it will bring in new investment to support the environment and the economy. The Pendle Hill LP scheme has three themes: To improve the environment To build the local economy To provide opportunity for everyone to get involved These themes incorporate a number of projects, and you can read more about these and the area and its heritage at The themes will be gathered together with a series of creative and digital threads, bringing the two sides of the hill together and inspiring and involving people in this special place. This brief is to survey habitats and boundaries and to prioritise activity for the delivery phase which is planned to take place during Introduction to the work The principal aim is to carry out a phase 1 habitat survey, incorporating a survey of field boundaries, within the Pendle Hill LP area (120 sq km) see map in Appendix 6. Key objectives are detailed below, in summary they are to: 1. Carry out a field by field survey and mapping of habitats of the entire LP area, according to JNCC phase 1 survey methodology. 2. Survey and map all field boundaries (hedgerows, fences and dry stone walls) and their condition as part of the phase 1 survey, also noting any dominant or interesting species, heritage features, or issues caused by boundary condition, where appropriate. 3. Visit all County Wildlife Sites (called Biological Heritage Sites, BHS, in Lancashire) to record each site as a Target Note, or series of notes for large sites, to identify the presence of qualifying habitats and/or species. 4. Draw up an Action Plan for Biodiversity by identifying 12 to 15 priority sites which will maximise the opportunity to improve the area of land in the LP area in positive conservation management, and to provide the opportunity for habitat extension and ecological linkages. 5. Draw up a Traditional Boundaries Action Plan which identifies key lengths and clusters of hedgerow and walls requiring restoration, and plan out activity to be delivered over a four year programme. Forest of Bowland AONB 1

2 Background A Phase 1 survey for this area was last carried out in , and no District or landscape scale area of Lancashire has yet been re-assessed since these original surveys. Many BHS have not been re surveyed for years. Without this data it is difficult to prioritise where to deliver effective biodiversity activity according to a known baseline of priority habitats, species and important sites, together with the best potential for utilising ecological networks. Detailed Traditional Boundary surveys were carried out by the AONB in five parishes within the LP area between 2001 and 2007 (see Appendix 3) and whilst these areas can quickly be re assessed, hedgerows and dry stone walls in those areas not covered need to be surveyed so that they can be further prioritised for action under the proposed Traditional Boundaries project. The survey area (see Appendix 6), the entire Landscape Partnership scheme area is 120 sq km, of which 58 sq km is in the AONB and 20 sq km is Access Land. This area will need to be surveyed in detail during the 2016 season, with possible follow up visits in early The contractor will be supported by the LP Development officer and AONB staff. The survey should be carried out using the Handbook for Phase 1 habitat survey - a technique for environmental audit (2010) JNCC, available from www. jncc.defra.gov.uk Mapping and recording should be produced using digital media compatible with Arc GIS (v10) and Microsoft Office Reports should be prepared following the guidance set out in the latest version of the Guidelines for Ecological Report Writing published by CIEEM. All elements of the work should be undertaken by appropriately qualified, and experienced individuals. In undertaking the work the contractor should take all reasonable measures to be respectful and maintain good relations with members of the public particularly when dealing with land owners and managers. Timescale Contractors must be able to undertake the work in accordance with the proposed timetable. It is envisaged that survey work will commence in April The bulk of the survey work should have been carried out by August and a report and maps produced by December latest. If necessary sites can be re-visited in Spring 2017, subject to agreement from the project manager. Proposed reporting schedule April initial start-up meeting April/May monthly of issues and/or phone calls to discuss urgent matters June first review meeting July-Sept monthly of issues and/or phone calls to discuss urgent matters October meeting to discuss initial findings and submission of 1 st claim December submission of draft report detailing priority actions/sites Feb 2017 submission of final report as a presentation and submission of 2 nd claim June 2017 submission of data, maps and files, plus final claim 2 Forest of Bowland AONB

3 Key Partners to liaise with: Lancashire Wildlife Trust Lancashire County Council Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN) Ribble Rivers Trust and Ribble Life Partnership Natural England Landowners and managers Key References Lancashire Local Nature Partnership Ecological Networks Report (2014) Making Space for Nature a review of England's wildlife sites, the Lawton Review (Defra, 2010) Biodiversity 2020, a strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services (Defra, 2011) AONB surveys of BHS grasslands and woodlands ( ) Original Phase 1 surveys of the LP area (Ribble Valley and Pendle borough council areas) held by LWT and LERN AONB Traditional Boundary Surveys Forest of Bowland AONB 3

4 Key Objective 1 Carry out a field by field survey and mapping of habitats of the entire LP area, according to JNCC phase 1 survey methodology. Carry out a field by field survey and mapping of habitats of the entire LP area, according to the approach and methodology set out in the Handbook for Phase 1 habitat survey - a technique for environmental audit (2010) JNCC, available from: The notional scale for the Phase 1 survey is 1:10,000. Access to digital aerial imagery will be provided to assist fieldwork. Aerial imagery should only be used for habitat classification where field classification is not possible e.g. due to refusal of access permission or feature not visible from PROW. For further details of mapping and digital recording see Appendix 4 1. A digitised copy of the phase 1 survey comprising three or more attributed GIS layers, in a format compatible with ArcMap 10 (shapefiles or File Geodatabase), to identify: I. Polygon features (e.g. habitats etc) II. Linear features (e.g. boundaries etc) III. Point features (e.g. scattered trees, dominant species codes, target note locations) 2. Spreadsheets (MS Excel xlsx format) identifying: habitat type, co-ordinates and area, field boundary type, length and condition; all species records; target notes; digital images Species lists must be presented as a shapefile or as an Excel spreadsheet (format to be submitted and approved in advance of report) containing Taxon name; subsite ID; Recorder Names (ideally one recorder per field or names separated by ','); Survey Date; Grid Reference (from subsite label point); Abundance (DAFOR inc LD LA or P (Present)) LKS records should be at 10m precision. If multiple tabs are used then the format of each must be identical. A matrix format is acceptable, single row/column for each site/species (Site = rows; Taxon = Columns) with no blank rows/columns. Taxon presence indicated by abundance value or 'P' (present) and any Taxon not recorded left as blank entries. 3. Digital images of relevant features and target note sites (, PhotoID.jpg file naming format) 4. GPS locations of digital images; direction; date with unique PhotoID (shapefile or File Geodatabase format). 5. Any potential new BHS should be highlighted and information presented in a similar level of detail as for existing BHS (see KO3) Resources Phase 1 Habitat Survey ( ) semi natural habitats and target notes GIS layers. Scans of Phase 1 Habitat Survey ( ) paper maps Deeper Peat Boundary Lancashire Key Species Records Lancashire Key Species Records not recorded within a 1km since 2003 Land ownership details (where known) MasterMap mapping and Aerial photography Lancashire Bowland Declining species and nationally near threatened or endangered in England (Vascular Plant Red Data List, 2014) 4 Forest of Bowland AONB

5 Key Objective 2 Survey and map field boundaries (hedgerows, fences and dry stone walls) and their condition as part of the phase 1 survey, also noting any dominant or interesting species, heritage features, or issues caused by boundary condition, where appropriate. Field boundaries should be mapped and classified according to the Phase 1 handbook. Additionally, boundaries (hedgerows and dry stone walls) should be classified according to their condition following the approach set out in the Forest of Bowland Traditional Boundary Survey (Appendix 5) To increase accuracy and facilitate vectorisation, the habitat classification should be applied to line features derived from the OS MasterMap Typography. 1. A digitised copy of the Traditional Boundary Survey comprising two or more attributed GIS layers, in a format compatible with ArcMap 10 (shapefiles or File Geodatabase), to identify: I. Linear features (walls, fences and hedgerows) to be classified and attributed to enable the application of symbologies to to show type and condition II. Point features (e.g. photo locations and trees) The traditional boundary survey attribute data could be included as additional attribute fields contained within the appropriate Phase 1 GIS layers. 2. Target notes recording, for example, unusual species; historic features; particular issues noted caused by boundary condition eg no longer stockproof, wall stile broken, flooding or landscape impact 3. Spreadsheets (MS Excel xlsx format) identifying: target notes, field boundary lengths, classes and condition. 4. Digital images of relevant features (PhotoID.jpg file naming format) 5. GPS locations of digital images; direction; date with unique PhotoID (shapefile or File Geodatabase format). Forest of Bowland AONB 5

6 Key Objective 3 Visit all County Wildlife Sites (called Biological Heritage Sites, BHS, in Lancashire) to record each site as a Target Note, or series of notes for large sites, to identify the presence of qualifying habitats and/or species. Locate and contact landowners/managers to arrange survey permission if public access is not available. Desk based preparation and assessment including use of aerial photographs, base line mapping/os mapping, records of existing subsites, previous BHS surveys and existing species lists see Appendices 6 and 7 It is not intended that a full site survey is undertaken at this stage. The BHS visits should be carried out by undertaking a walkover of the site such that sufficient coverage of the site is achieved and the presence/absence of qualifying features adequately assessed. This will be variable depending on the size of the site, the complexity of the vegetation communities present and the guidelines under which the site is identified. As full a species list as practical should be made, with relative abundancies (using the DAFOR scale) made for each qualifying BHS feature. The species list should be adequate to enable the qualifying features to be assessed using the BHS Guidelines for Selection. Where sites cover different parcels of land (which can readily be or have already been divided into subsites), a species list with relative abundancies should be made (DAFOR scale) for each parcel/subsite. Where the site comprises a habitat mosaic, species lists should be taken for specific areas of qualifying feature. For example where a site supports species rich flushes and these flushes are in mosaic with other habitats, a separate species list should be taken for each discrete flush. Target notes should be made and GPS readings taken of any particular areas of interest/management issues etc. Take a GPS reading for any LKS records (Appendix 7), to greater than 10m precision. During the survey take a good number of photographs (across site, close-ups of sward and any damage, possible site extensions or deletions etc.) Note grid ref and direction taken. Target notes and images relating to BHS visits should be incorporated into the Phase 1 survey map and data (KO1) Resources Appendix 6: BHS sites map Digital BHS Boundaries BHS ownership details (where known) BHS summary descriptions BHS species lists 6 Forest of Bowland AONB

7 Key Objective 4 Draw up an Action Plan for Biodiversity by identifying 12 to 15 priority sites which will maximise the opportunity to improve the area of land in the LP area in positive conservation management, and to provide the opportunity for habitat extension and ecological linkages. Analyse the Phase 1 survey, BHS data, Ribble Life data, the Lancashire Local Nature Partnership Ecological Network maps and reports, the AONB Climate Adaptation Study, and other relevant data to prioritise 12 to 15 sites which would benefit from positive management and lead to 'bigger, better and more joined up' sites or habitats For each of the sites identify: I. Landowner(s) and/or manager(s) II. Priority habitats or species present III. Draft management guidelines to conserve existing habitats and/or species IV. Opportunities to extend the site, the area to be included and management required V. Draft timescales for activity and outline costs VI. Opportunities to source suitable match funds, eg Countryside Stewardship, landfill tax, etc 1. A comparison of the results of the Phase 1 survey with the original survey from A brief Action Plan for Biodiversity, consisting of: I. a priority list of sites to bring into positive management II. maps showing the key sites, potential for extension and linkages utilising ecological networks III. broad land management recommendations for these sites IV. an outline delivery programme and budget Forest of Bowland AONB 7

8 Key Objective 5 Draw up a Traditional Boundaries Action Plan which identifies key lengths and clusters of hedgerow and walls requiring restoration, and plan out activity to be delivered over a four year programme. Using the boundary map layer, calculate the total length of different boundary types in the LP area, and the percentage in each condition class Using the Phase 1 survey, Traditional Boundary survey and the woodland ecological network and other data identify priority lengths or clusters of boundaries requiring management and/or restoration taking the following issues into account: a. In identifying priority lengths or clusters of boundaries consideration should be given to the relationship between hedgerows and the mapped elements of the woodland ecological network to highlight where hedgerow improvements may enhance woodland connectivity. b. Consideration should also be given to the impact restoration of walls and hedges can have on landscape integrity, views from roadsides, the historic landscape and other issues such as reduction of soil erosion and flooding c. Identifying clusters within particular areas or landholdings may offer opportunities to reduce costs and to have a higher impact on landscape restoration. There may also be potential to deliver restoration through farmer co-operation For each identified priority length or area identify: I. the length and type of restoration required, eg wall gapping, re building, hedge laying or re planting II. the landowner(s) and/or manager(s) III. if the length may be appropriate for volunteers or training course activity IV. outline costs for the restoration activity to be undertaken V. potential sources of match funds eg CS capital funds for boundary restoration, Catchment Management funds, landfill tax etc 1. Priority boundary features should be appropriately identified within the attribute tables of the GIS layer(s) 2. A brief Action Plan which identifies the baseline condition of boundaries in the LP area, and a set of maps and spreadsheets which identify priority restoration project sites, a proposed timetable and outline budget for a 4 year delivery programme, including potential volunteer and training opportunities, and proposed funding sources as appropriate. 8 Forest of Bowland AONB