Floodplain Meadows for the Future

www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk Tuesday 9th - Wednesday 10th May 2017 National Railway Museum, York

Day 1 Tuesday 9th May 2017

Practicalities and realities of site management in the Lower Derwent Valley

Two sites will be visited, exploring the different issues of site management. The Lower Derwent Valley or Derwent Ings are internationally recognised for their floodplain meadows, which support rare meadow grasslands as well as breeding, wintering and migrating birds.

The Derwent Ings have been awarded national, European and international conservation status: they form part of the Derwent Ings Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the Lower Derwent alleyV Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) and an internationally designated Ramsar site.

The LDV contains a greater area of high-quality examples of lowland hay meadows than any other UK site and encompasses the majority of this habitat type occurring in the Vale of York. It consists of a series of neutral alluvial flood meadows, fen and swamp communities and freshwater habitats lying adjacent to the River Derwent between Sutton-upon-Derwent and Menthorpe. The freshwater habitats are associated primarily with a section of the Canal, between and Storwood, and the dyke system. The Ings represent one of the most important examples of agriculturally unimproved species-rich alluvial flood meadow habitat remaining in the UK.

The abundance of the rare narrow-leaved water-dropwort Oenanthe silaifolia is a notable feature. Traditional management has ensured that ecological variation is well-developed, particularly in the transitions between this grassland type and other types of wet and dry grassland, swamp and fen vegetation.

The Floodplain Meadows Partnership have worked in the valley for many years, with Natural , Environment Agency, the Wildlife Trust, local landowners and others, and this site visit should enable discussion of many pertinent issues affecting floodplain meadows today. More information on the site designations can be found by following the links below:

Derwent Ings SSSI https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1002114&SiteName=&countyCode=13&responsiblePerson=

Lower Derwent Valley SAC http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0012844

Lower Derwent Valley SPA http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1994

Lower Derwent Valley Ramsar https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK11037&SiteName=River%20derwent%20&countyCode=&re- sponsiblePerson=

Google Map of East Cottingwith and Wheldrake Ings area https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir//53.8869959,-0.9294843/@53.89546,-1.0032893,12z/data=!3m1!4b1 Day 2. Wednesday 10th May

Natural Flood Management and restoration

Day 2 will also encompass two site visits. Clifton Ings and Rawcliffe Meadows are two adjacent sites which together were designated as an SSSI in 2013. The 56 ha SSSI supports Burnet floodplain meadow (MG4), Kingcup-carnation sedge meadow (MG8) and the critically endangered tansy beetle. Rawcliffe Meadows have been restored by the ‘Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows’ (FoRM) who have carefully managed and devel- oped the site since 1990. The whole area is also heavily used for recreational purposes, accommodating walkers and cyclists in significant numbers.

The SSSI and a further non-designated grazing marsh to the north (Rawcliffe Ings) form part of an impor- tant controlled washland within the City of York, between the outer ring road and the City walls. Rawcliffe Ings and Meadows are owned by the Environment Agency and in part managed by FoRM, whilst Clifton Ings are under multiple private ownership. The Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows are a group of volunteers who help to improve biodiversity on the sites, and protect the rare tansy beetle. They have managed that part of the Ings since late since 1990 and will be talking about their restoration work during a session at the conference. https://rawcliffemeadows.wordpress.com/.

The location of Clifton Ings and Rawcliffe Mead- ows SSSI (red lines) and the washland (blue lines), which provides floodwater storage for the city of York. @Crown Copyright. Open University, Licence No. 100018362

Additionaly, a Google Map of Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings can be found here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.9787525,-1.1238872,16.07z