COUNTRYSIDE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP Ltd State of the AONB Report Cannock Chase AONB March 2010 Front cover: Brindley Heath Cannock Chase AONB This page: Beaudesert bluebells Cannock Chase AONB State of the AONB Report ______________________________________________ Cannock Chase AONB COUNTRYSIDE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP Ltd Red Kite Environment Pearcroft Pearcroft Rd Stonehouse Gloucestershire GL10 2JY Tel: 01453 822 013 Fax: 01453 791 969 Email: [email protected] Cannock Chase State of the AONB Report Contents Part 1 State of the AONB.......................................................................................... 1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 1 Theme 1 Landscape ................................................................................................. 3 Heathland .............................................................................................................................3 Forest and woodlands ..........................................................................................................5 Valley wetlands.....................................................................................................................8 Flora and fauna...................................................................................................................10 Flora and fauna...................................................................................................................11 Geology and soils ...............................................................................................................13 Historic landscapes and features........................................................................................14 Fringe agricultural landscapes............................................................................................16 Development.......................................................................................................................18 Theme 2 People ...................................................................................................... 19 Traffic..................................................................................................................................19 Theme 3 Economy.................................................................................................. 20 Local Economy ...................................................................................................................20 Theme 4 Recreation ............................................................................................... 21 Peace and tranquillity .........................................................................................................21 Wilderness..........................................................................................................................23 Views ..................................................................................................................................24 Recreation ..........................................................................................................................25 Part 2 Future Condition Monitoring ...................................................................... 27 AONB State of the Environment Reports ...........................................................................27 Discussion and recommendations......................................................................................29 Appendix 1 – Relationship to national guidance ................................................. 33 Appendix 2 – Linking indicators to the Management Plan ................................. 34 Appendix 3 – Data sources.................................................................................... 37 i Red Kite Environment Countryside Training Partnership March 2010 Cannock Chase State of the AONB Report Part 1 State of the AONB Introduction This report presents a picture of the condition of Cannock Chase AONB in 2010. It uses as its base a State of the AONB report produced in 2004 which provided a framework of ‘special qualities’ of the AONB and ‘proposed indicators’ that can be used to measure these qualities. This first report identified ten ‘special qualities’ for the AONB and provided for each a comment on its nature, a current measure of condition, a proposed set of indicators and actions required to maintain or improve condition. Steve Welch The ten qualities are: • Peace and tranquillity • Wilderness – not able to see farmland, buildings or moving traffic • Views within, of and from the Chase floodplain Trent Valley • Heathland – importance for its wildlife and the contribution it makes to the landscape mosaic and feeling of wilderness • Forest and woodlands – including veteran oaks and ancient semi-natural woodland, beech belts and productive forest • Valley wetlands • Flora and Fauna – deer, reptiles, birds (eg nightjars), insects, plants • Geology and soils • Historic landscapes and features – ancient monuments, parkland, listed buildings and wartime uses • The fringe agricultural landscapes The report also identifies four ‘key activities and pressures’ that impact on the special qualities of the AONB. For each of these it provides a brief commentary on the activity/pressure, the current state of knowledge of the activity/pressure, actions needed and agencies responsible for management. The four key activities and pressures are: • Recreation – activities and infrastructure • Traffic – speed, volume and type • Development – extent/location, design/suburbanisation, eyesores/derelict land, agricultural change/horsiculture, quarrying, telecommunications and renewable energy • Local economy – employment generated by the AONB The AONB Management Plan is the key document for determining management action for the AONB. The purpose of the State of the AONB report is to provide evidence for the AONB’s condition which informs the development of objectives, policies and actions, and also to provide a baseline for future monitoring. The Management Plan considers the 1 Red Kite Environment Countryside Training Partnership March 2010 Cannock Chase State of the AONB Report management of the AONB under five themes which broadly embrace the attributes of, and impacts on, the AONB. These themes are: • Landscape – its landscape features, wildlife, habitats, historic features and rivers • People – the AONB’s accessibility and use by people, and people’s impacts on its features • Economy – the capacity of communities to maintain livelihoods through farming and forestry, tourism, small businesses • Recreation – the opportunity the AONB provides for activity • Support – funding, the role of legislation and the activities of the AONB Partnership in protecting and managing the AONB To maintain continuity with the previous State of the AONB report, and to provide an effective means of monitoring AONB condition for subsequent reviews of the management plan the ten special qualities and four activities and pressures have been grouped as follows under four of the five key themes. Landscape • Heathland • Forest and woodlands • Valley wetlands • Flora and fauna • Geology and soils • Historic landscapes and features • Fringe agricultural landscapes People • Traffic Economy • Local economy Recreation • Recreation • Peace and tranquillity • Wilderness • Views The fifth theme – Support – concerns itself with the administration of the AONB and is, therefore, not considered in this report. To help with aggregation of data at a regional or national level the themes contained within the AONB management plan have been regrouped to reflect national guidance on the scope of State of the AONB reports. This information along with the recommended datasets (or indicators) is shown in Appendix 1. 2 Red Kite Environment Countryside Training Partnership March 2010 Cannock Chase State of the AONB Report Theme 1 Landscape Heathland Indicator Percentage area of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in favourable condition Baseline data has been established Overview A major characteristic of Cannock Chase AONB is heathland, which is a remnant of an ancient hunting chase. The heathland provides a strong sense of spaciousness to the AONB and is an important habitat for a high diversity of plants and animals. It is associated with areas of native oak woodlands and wood pasture that were once AONB Chase Cannock widespread in the midlands. Current situation The Cannock Chase SSSI covers 1281.09ha, which is nearly 19% of the AONB area (6800ha). mosaic Heathland The SSSI consists of 919Ha of dwarf shrub heath, 19Ha of fen, marsh and swamp, and 326ha of broadleaved mixed and yew woodland. A survey of condition of the SSSI was undertaken in 2006 which identified the following: • Compartments 1 (Milford Quarry, 6.3ha), 21 (15.6ha), 31 (1.04ha), 33 (6.59ha), 34 (3.6ha), are considered to be in ‘favourable’ condition – a total of 33.13ha. • Compartment 26 (23.7ha), an area of fen, marsh and swamp, is classed as in ‘unfavourable no change’ condition, due to water abstraction. • The remainder of the SSSI (1224.26ha) is classed as in ‘unfavourable recovering’ condition although no reasons have been given for this status. This area includes both dwarf shrub heath and broadleaved mixed and yew woodland. It is not possible to disaggregate the heathland from the woodland data. Generally, significant management work has been carried out on heathland areas on Cannock