The Sefton Coast Woodlands
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Final Version January 2003 the Sefton Coast Woodlands A 20 Year Woodland Working Plan, 2003 - 2023 Volume I Overview Co-ordinated by The Mersey Forest on behalf of the Sefton Coast woodland owners CONTENTS FOREWORD __________________________________________________________ I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ________________________________________________ III PREAMBLE___________________________________________________________V SECTION 1 ___________________________________________________________ 1 Background ___________________________________________________________________________ 3 General History___________________________________________________________________________3 Geology, Topography, Soils and Climate ______________________________________________________4 Coastline Development ____________________________________________________________________5 Ownership of the Woodlands________________________________________________________________5 Woodland and Scrub Types _________________________________________________________________6 Woodland and Scrub Age Structure___________________________________________________________7 Statutory Designations _____________________________________________________________________8 Nature Conservation______________________________________________________________________12 1.2 Management History, Issues, Constraints and Opportunities __________________________ 12 History_________________________________________________________________________________12 Issues__________________________________________________________________________________14 Statutory Constraints _____________________________________________________________________17 Opportunities – Approval and Funding _______________________________________________________19 1.3 A Hierarchy of Objectives _______________________________________________________ 22 Common Vision _________________________________________________________________________23 Goal___________________________________________________________________________________25 Management Objectives ___________________________________________________________________25 Forest Operations ________________________________________________________________________26 The Red Squirrel_________________________________________________________________________33 Production Forecasts and Yields ____________________________________________________________35 Marketing and Utilisation__________________________________________________________________36 SECTION 2 __________________________________________________________ 39 2.1 Sefton Coast Woodlands by Compartment _________________________________________ 41 SECTION 3 __________________________________________________________ 65 3.1 Proposed 5-year Plan of Operations _______________________________________________ 67 SECTION 4 __________________________________________________________ 87 4.1 Review and Indicators___________________________________________________________ 89 4.2 Cycle of Monitoring_____________________________________________________________ 90 4.2.1 Annual Monitoring and Review ___________________________________________________90 4.2.2 Five-year Monitoring and Review _________________________________________________90 4.2.3 Ten-year Monitoring and Review _________________________________________________91 4.3 Responsibility for Monitoring ____________________________________________________ 91 4.4 Indicators _____________________________________________________________________ 91 4.4.1 Vision _______________________________________________________________________91 4.4.2 Goal_________________________________________________________________________92 4.4.3 Management Objectives _________________________________________________________93 SECTION 5 __________________________________________________________ 95 5.1 Bibliography ___________________________________________________________________ 97 A Working Plan for the Sefton Coast Woodlands, 2002 - 2022 Final Draft iii October 2001 A Working Plan for the Sefton Coast Woodlands, 2002 - 2022 Final Draft iv October 2001 A Working Plan for the Sefton Coast Woodlands, 2003 - 2023 Foreword The Sefton Coast Woodlands are a special part of the Sefton environment. Beautiful in their own right and much loved by most inhabitants and visitors, they provide an important refuge as the national habitat of the Red Squirrel shrinks to isolated areas of England and perhaps eventually the UK. The writing of the Sefton Coast Woodland Working Plan for a partnership of diverse landowners is a significant event in the history of the management of the woodlands. The pinewoods were established early in the 1900s by several of the large landowners in the area. It was a collaborative response to the encroachment of the sand dunes onto private and public land. By the turn of the Millennium, ownership of the woodlands had been broken up and distributed between 27 landowners and the pinewood habitat was being threatened by the new pressures of ageing, lack of management, under-funding and a national decline in the Red Squirrel. The fact that in the new Millennium the majority of the owners have been able to come together with the help of the Forestry Commission and the Mersey Forest Team to manage the woodlands as a whole once more, is a credit to this partnership. Those participating and giving their support should be congratulated for the hard work in accomplishing this very complex task. However, it is still not enough for all those concerned to be aware of the problems. It is not enough for people to know how to address the problems and it is not enough for there to be a ‘plan of action’. In order that all the information contained in this document can be put to good use and for the ideas to be fully implemented, funding needs to be put in place to assist the landowners and woodland managers, and technical advice must be made available to support them over the period of the Plan. The work, once kick-started by grant funding, must be monitored to ensure that the vision and objectives articulated in the Plan are met and quality of management is maintained. Only then will this initiative be considered to be truly successful. The Partnership and its supporters should be strongly encouraged to maintain this excellent initiative, building on the initial investment of time to create what could become a national model of excellence in partnership and habitat management. Final Version i January 2003 A Working Plan for the Sefton Coast Woodlands, 2003 - 2023 ii Final Version January 2003 A Working Plan for the Sefton Coast Woodlands, 2003 - 2023 Executive Summary This is a 20 year plan compiled "to provide a coherent, comprehensive and long-term view of the woodland management” (Forestry Commission, Oct 1999). There is a 20 year vision with 10 years of management activity specified to help the owners work towards the vision. The Working Plan was commissioned by a partnership between the Forestry Authority, owners, managers, interest groups and local residents. In its full form it is three volumes: The first being the background, the basic data and a summary of the management; the second being map and tabular background information about the woodlands; the third being the detailed management activities for up to ten years, from 2003 to 2013. Finally the three volume Working Plan has provided the basis for the Forestry Commission to develop a single volume document known as the Forest Plan to be used for approval of grant funding and felling licences this document is limited to the 5-year cycle of management and does not go into the detail of annual management activities. There are 419.4 hectares (ha) of woodland of which 263.0 ha is designated as pinewood and is distributed between 27 distinct ownerships. Of the ownerships, 1 declined to join the partnership and 7 were not contactable, leaving only 10 hectares remaining outside the Plan. The pinewoods were largely established by private landowners at the turn of the 19 th and 20 th Centuries and have been subject to various natural and manmade influences over their history. Originally planted to counter wind erosion of the sand dunes, management has since become driven by recreational and conservation objectives, though in more recent times, a lack of investment has generally lead to underthinning and inadequate management of regeneration. Major issues to be addressed therefore include: o Over-mature and underthinned pinewoods o Red squirrel refuge o High levels of public access o Important conservation objectives o High landscape value o Dynamic coastal environment The plan provides clear management principles to address the issues: 1. To work towards a ‘normal’ age profile using ‘coupe’ felling to minimise canopy disturbance and use patterns 2. It develops a regular schedule of thinning, cleaning and coppicing to maintain health of woodlands 3. It maintains a focus on pine as a red squirrel food source and maintains broadleaf content at about 10% to discourage grey squirrel invasion 4. It fosters a mosaic of species, age and vegetation type to retain landscape character and interest 5. It recommends the retention of deadwood and the provision of nesting and roosting boxes where possible to improve habitat range 6. It schedules regular review of management and natural processes, with the view to adjusting management to deal with issues as they arise 7. It provides for an economic return where possible and promotes work in partnerships to reduce unit costs and improve