Since 2008 the Malvern Hill Conservators (MHC) have used Higher Level Stewardship funding to work with seven local farmers and common graziers to reintroduce grazing livestock, fencing and vegetation management to the Malvern Hills. Last year they contracted Jonathan Brunyee of Cumulus Consultants Ltd to gather the views of the graziers, the Conservation Officer and Landlord and undertake a brief progress review.
The review concluded that good progress has been made in delivering the broad aims of the HLS agreement. The graziers appreciated the guidance and support from the MHC Conservation Officer and the field team. However dog worrying is a big issue and ongoing practical challenges such as more timely fence and sign removal, reducing fence cutting and dog attack and keeping on top of scrub re-growth on cleared areas of land still need to be resolved. Also there is a need to demonstrate and better communicate that grazing sheep and cattle on the Malvern’s does enhance and improve landscape, access, biodiversity, heritage and rural enterprise, and it is value for money.
The report has four areas of recommendations covering:
• Management prescriptions and monitoring –develop more robust monitoring systems
• Dog worrying – better signage and information leaflets, consistent reporting to the police, dog warden patrols at times when most dog walkers are about, local press and media
• Communications –improve communications between HMC and the graziers, and to public at large
• Business and grazing support- invest in infrastructure, training and marketing support
To read the full report click here
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Malvern Hills Grazing Report | 371.29 KB |
