SOUTH EAST WOODLANDS PROJECT

• Project Objectives
• Tytherley Woods
• Project Update

Work Party dates January to March 2009 (286KB PDF file) available HERE...

What's a practical conservation task really like? (1206KB PDF file) available HERE...

Official Launch

The South East Woodlands Project, which includes the Tytherley Woods Project, had its official launch in Bentley Wood on Wednesday 14th May, and both the weather and the butterflies performed brilliantly! Representatives from the project funders and partner organisations, as well as a film crew from the BBC, were treated to the sight of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries enjoying the sunshine, and even egg-laying in coppiced areas funded by the project through a SITA Trust grant this winter - a perfect demonstration of the project's potential.  
The project, which aims to use important landscapes like the Tytherley Woods to demonstrate effective woodland management for biodiversity across the region, has had tremendous support from Butterfly Conservation's local branches, including Hampshire & Isle of Wight Branch. The continued involvement of local volunteers, particularly in helping to record our rarest species, is crucial to the success of the project. See the project website for more details of how to get involved (www.southeastwoodlands.org) and watch the item on BBC South Today at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7401774.stm
David Lambert, Manager of Bentley Wood (2nd from left), explains how careful woodland management provides the perfect habitat for some of our rarest butterflies.'

Project Update

The project itself aims to address many of the issues surrounding woodland butterfly declines, not least of all supporting woodland owners, managers and workers in finding sustainable ways to deliver on site management. An advisory service to woodland owners/managers will be available along with various management workshops; there will also be more general training events for volunteers and public walks and talks. Additionally some funding will be available to support site management such as coppicing and ride widening.

In the coming weeks and months Kate hopes to meet many local members, however if you would like to discuss the project prior to this she would be delighted to hear from you at any time. She is based at Hampshire County Councils Eastleigh Offices, e-mail  kdent@butterfly-conservation.org  or telephone 02380 3834 455. 

Project Objectives

This project aims to provide new opportunities for people in the South East of England to become involved in preserving the region’s unique woodland heritage and conserving its biodiversity. Through a varied programme of training events at specially developed demonstration sites, the project will identify, train and support volunteers wishing to enjoy and conserve woodland wildlife, using threatened butterflies and moths as indicators of diverse, well-managed woodlands. Wildlife surveys carried out by this volunteer network will be combined with management recommendations and targeted grants to provide essential guidance on how biodiversity can thrive alongside sustainable woodland production.  

The project, which is being developed in partnership between Butterfly Conservation and The Forestry Commission, will develop three major demonstration areas for best practice management for wildlife, delivering direct benefits for biodiversity through enhancing the habitat quality of these sites. The Tytherley Woods on the border of Hampshire and Wiltshire, between King’s Somborne and Salisbury, is one of these demonstration areas. These demonstration areas will then be used to host free training workshops and public events for a range of audiences in each area to encourage people to value and enjoy the woodlands on their doorstep. In addition, the principles applied within demonstration areas will also be promoted more widely across the region through workshops involving project partners at key sites throughout the south east. Butterflies and moths will be used as flagship species to illustrate to local communities that sustainable management is essential to maintain and safeguard woodland habitats as a valuable, accessible resource for the region. The project will run for three years and use four tiers of training and advice to specific audiences to support and inspire people to make the most of our woodland heritage:

• Introductory Events. Introductory guided walks and events will allow anyone interested in wildlife to find out more about the fascinating lives of butterflies and moths, to see them at close hand and learn how their survival is linked to how we use the woods in which they are found. Through this programme we will engage with new audiences in and around the demonstration areas and encourage them to take an active role in the preservation of their local woodlands.
• Training Workshops. Training workshops will recruit and teach volunteers to monitor woodland butterflies and moths, providing vital information on these threatened species to aid their conservation and informing future management work. We will help existing volunteers develop new skills and provide opportunities for continued involvement in countryside activities. Training workshops will include both biological recording and practical management tasks such as clearing derelict coppice.
• Management Workshops. Woodland owners and managers from each region will be invited to management workshops at their nearest demonstration site where they will be shown how sustainable management can allow wildlife to thrive within an active, working woodland. Advice and support will be available to link landowners up with grants for management, woodland workers and markets for their woodland products.
• Site Advice Visits. The project will offer one-on-one visits to the most important woodland sites for biodiversity, using project staff, volunteers and partners to survey wildlife and provide individual advice for woodland managers tailored to the unique characteristics of their wood. The project will also help woodland owners establish links with local markets for wood products, promoting sustainable management and providing benefits for the local rural economy.

Tytherley Woods  

The Tytherley Woods Project Area lies between Salisbury and the Test Valley at King’s Somborne straddling the border of Wiltshire and Hampshire. This rural landscape comprises a mosaic of semi-natural habitats including ancient semi-natural broadleaf woodland, unimproved chalk downland and the neutral meadows of the Test Valley, and is dotted with small villages. Arable farming has shaped much of the open character of the area, but it is punctuated by extensive patches of woodland, the remnants of a much larger forest. At its heart lies Bentley Wood, a 665ha SSSI notified for its exceptionally rich butterfly and moth fauna, which makes it one the most important lepidoptera sites in the country. The complex and neighbouring woods support one of the largest populations of Pearl-bordered Fritillary in England, making it a high priority for safeguarding the future of this species.  Surrounding this core site is a network of smaller woodlands in conservation or private ownership which have the potential through restoration to form a more connected wooded landscape in which co-ordinated management enables wildlife to thrive within productive, sustainable woodlands. Much of the surrounding countryside is in arable farming, and the suitability of this wider countryside for wildlife could be significantly enhanced through targeted management advice and encouraging landowners to take up Environmental Stewardship agreements.  

To the west of Bentley Wood lie the woods of Clarendon Park, formerly a royal hunting lodge from Saxon times, and to the east of the project area lies the Mottisfont Estate, managed by the National Trust, which is a SSSI and SAC designated for the nationally rare Barbastelle Bat. The latter is one of only six known maternity sites in the UK for this species and the only one in Hampshire. Mottisfont contains a mix of woodland types including hazel coppice with standards, broadleaved plantation and coniferous plantation which the bats use for breeding, roosting, commuting and feeding. A key part of the project will involve integrating suitable management for bat roosting and foraging areas into woodland management plans that enhance the rich moth fauna upon which they depend, as well as benefiting butterflies and other wildlife. The project will seek to reconnect these two major woodland blocks with the Bentley Wood complex by restoring intervening private woods and enhancing habitat quality in the arable countryside.  

The Tytherley Woods project area also contains significant unimproved chalk downland along the route of the Clarendon Way long-distance trail, including Broughton Down SSSI, supporting important butterfly populations including Duke of Burgundy. Working with land managers across this area provides a unique opportunity to restore Duke of Burgundy to the network of downland and woodland edge habitats that it would once have occupied across much of the country.  

Project Area: 15,520 ha  

Area of Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland: 2,008 ha, 72 fragments.  

Key Species: Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Marsh Fritillary, Purple Emperor, Grizzled Skipper, Dingy Skipper, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Argent & Sable, Drab Looper, Lunar Yellow Underwing, Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, Common Fan-foot.  

Key Sites: Bentley Wood (Bentley Wood Trust), Mottisfont Abbey and Spearywell Wood (National Trust), Blackmoor Copse (Wiltshire Wildlife Trust), Clarendon Park (Clarendon Estate), Broughton Down, Pitton Down, Dean Hill. Nearby important Lepidoptera sites outside the immediate project boundary include Winterdown Copse, Windovers Estate, Ridge’s Grove.  

A leaflet giving a general summary of the project is available here:

• General Summary Leaflet (485 KB PDF File)