Conservation Management

What is conservation management?

Effective conservation management creates favourable conditions for a wide variety of wildlife.

It doesn’t always happen on its own, for instance:

• while brambles are good for wildlife, left unchecked they can rapidly choke out other plants.
• the more species of plants, the more food sources for a greater range of insects.
• uncut reeds can turn waterways into scrubland and eventually into dry woodland. While trees are great in the right places, they are not so good for wetlands and the wildlife they support.
• cutting flower meadows annually and removing the cuttings helps them to thrive. This ensures that thuggish plants cannot take hold and starve out the weaker species.

Who does the management and how to volunteer?

We thought you would like to know about some of the conservation management activities at Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve. . . #helpingnatureatportburywharf.

North Somerset Council owns and manages the reserve and they use contractors to do much of the heavy work. The Portbury Wharf Volunteers do many of the other jobs not requiring machinery. So if you would like to volunteer to help nature at Portbury Wharf, contact Mia at mia.calderan@glendale-services.co.uk

You can see the latest volunteering dates on our What’s Happening page.

Autumn 2024 – Conservation Management

Wetting up the scrapes in the South Pools field

This is a wetland so the more water the better! Creating a small dam to hold water in the South Pool’s scrapes already seems to be making a difference. It will still drain out but the scrapes should hold water for longer. This will benefit dragonflies and other invertebrates and it should also be good for wading birds.

Reed cutting in North Pools

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Good for people and wildlife!

There is a dual purpose to cutting the reeds here. It benefits the visitors by reopening views of the water and island.  However, it also helps to create a reed-mosaic of different ages. This mosaic of habitat types and ages is important in conservation management as difference species have varying requirements.

In addition, it removes any woody vegetation beginning to take a hold and allows the local farmer to access more areas of grass to cut for hay next summer. Volunteers, armed with scythes, will follow up the tractor. They will clear the areas nearest the water that the tractor can’t reach.

Topping of the fields where the cattle can’t get to

Cattle are good for conservation grazing as they stop woody vegetation taking hold.  They tear the grass in clumps as they eat, which creates tufts which are good for invertebrates and for sheltering birds, such as Snipe. They also break up the soil with their hooves and deposit nutrients!

Removing the newt fences next year will enable the cattle to roam freely again. But this year a tractor had to do the job instead. . . but maybe not as effectively as the four-legged mowers!