Background
In the late 1990s the
Suffolk Coastal Greenprint Forum began
promoting a voluntary hedgerow survey within the Suffolk
Coastal area.
The Forum recognised that hedgerows represent a significant
wildlife habitat, but that for many years Government had encouraged
farmers to remove them in order to make agriculture more efficient
and to increase production. The Forum also recognised that little
information existed on how many hedgerows remained, their structure
and what hedgerow species were present.
A small working group of Forum members was asked to produce
guidance that could be used by any community or interest group to
undertake a parish-wide hedgerow survey. Called the 'Hedgerow
Pack', the guidance, which has been regularly updated, improved and
simplified in response to feedback from survey co-ordinators in the
parishes, explains how to establish a survey team and surveying to
an agreed standard.
The current position
The survey soon spread beyond the Suffolk Coastal area and is
now taking place across the whole of Suffolk - over 400 communities
throughout the whole of Suffolk are involved and more are joining
every year. Six district councils, including Suffolk Coastal, are
now supporting the project and are represented on the Suffolk
Hedgerow Working Group.
Well over a hundred parishes have completed their surveys and
the data is being sent to the
Suffolk Biological Records Centre (new window).
A further 160 parishes are currently undertaking the survey and
around 150 more are preparing to start. The survey is one of the
most comprehensive surveys of its type in the country.
Why the survey is being undertaken
Species rich hedgerows
provide shelter for crops, are a feature in the landscape and
an important wildlife habitat in their own right, as well as
providing invaluable corridors for wildlife between other
habitats such as ponds and copses.
Until it is known what hedgerows we have, their hardwood species
content, age and structure, it is difficult to determine where the
priorities lie for enhancement, development and replanting. When
hedgerow planting and replanting takes place in a parish, the data
from the survey will give an immediate indication of what species
are best suited to a particular area.
The data can also be related to the Landscape Character
Assessment undertaken by Natural England and Suffolk County Council
and can help demonstrate the value of hedgerows in a particular
area. This may at best help ensure that sensitive sites remain
undeveloped, or if development has to proceed, that the hedgerows
are retained as part of the overall development pattern.
The Suffolk Biological Records Centre is already relating the
hedgerow data, to data it holds on the incidence of various species
and habitats, and clear correlations are already emerging between
landscape and species rich hedgerows to the favourable status of
those species and habitats.
Some experiences from the survey
Many communities have completed the survey and have commented on
how enjoyable the whole process has been and how it has brought the
community together. In several cases it has led to other
initiatives within the parish.
We have examples of small communities with a total population of
under 100 being able to recruit over a dozen surveyors to
successfully undertake the survey. We also have a few areas where
an individual has undertaken the survey of the whole parish in a
matter of a couple of months - whilst this is excellent and gets
the survey done, in most instances it is far better if the workload
is shared and it becomes a genuine community project.
On the negative side we also have some examples of often quite
large communities unable to find a single volunteer to either
co-ordinate the survey or work as a surveyor. We appreciate that
people are leading increasingly busy lives, but wish to stress that
the hedgerow survey, especially if a group of people share the
workload, need not be time consuming, can enable the participants
to see parts of their parish that they may never have seen before
and can be a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing experience.
A typical parish might have 150 hedgerows and a pair of
surveyors can easily survey 10 or more hedgerows on a weekend
afternoon of summer evening. With a team of half a dozen surveyors,
each team would only need to survey 50 hedges or 5 evenings over a
period of several months or even over two surveying seasons.
(We have decided that we must have an end date to this survey
and will not be promoting it after the beginning of 2010 so we
hope that most surveys will be completed by the end of
2010).
A few parish councils have been reluctant to become involved
because of the possible cost implications - we feel that parish
council support for the project in any community can be extremely
helpful, but is not essential if others are willing to undertake
the survey, for example the local Women's Institute or the parish
tree warden. There need be no cost to the community as the district
councils supporting the project provide all the materials required
apart from the volunteers time.
We are aware that some surveys have been completed on the
ground, but that the final mapping appears to be an obstacle to
completion. It is in reality quite simple and Guy Ackers, chairman
of the Suffolk Hedgerow Working Group, will be only too willing to
advise and assist - he has already helped a number of co-ordinators
overcome this hurdle.
What is involved?
Once a commitment to undertake the project is confirmed the
district council will send your co-ordinator a comprehensive
starter pack which includes the survey forms, maps and guidance
booklets for co-ordinators and for surveyors.
Whilst this may initially look quite daunting the survey is in
reality quite straight forward. The survey co-ordinator will
identify and number on a parish map (which will be provided) all
the boundaries in the parish. Surveyors will be allocated, or
volunteer to survey a specific group of hedges.
Once surveying from public access areas is complete the
co-ordinator will need to obtain the consent of landowners for
surveyors to go onto their land. Whilst a few landowners are
reluctant to co-operate, many are now becoming actively involved in
the survey and some are even volunteering to becoming
surveyors.
The survey involves selecting a 30 metre sample which is
representative of the hedge and identifying all the woody species
present. Many surveyors are now finding it just as simple to survey
the whole hedge and identify all the species present.
Surveyors will also need to give an indication of the hedge
structure and its relationship to its surroundings. They must never
voice criticism of how a hedge is managed, but simply record what
is there.
Training for co-ordinators and surveyors
Co-ordinators and surveyors need not worry about how to
undertake the survey as the project provides full practical
training every year for up to 250 volunteers. In 2009 this will
take place at:
Lackford Lakes, Suffolk Wildlife Trust
Reserve.
Saturday 9 May 2009 - 9.00am to 12.30pm.
Thornham Field Study Centre.
Saturday 16
May 2009 - 9.00am to 12.30pm (and 2.00pm to 5.15pm if
necessary).
Working Group members may also provide other training sessions
for groups of parishes in their own area.
The project also produces two newsletters each year and these
are sent to every parish council and to every co-ordinator. Not
only do they show the state of play in each survey, but also
provide contact details of each co-ordinator for more effective
networking - adjoining parishes working together can be extremely
effective.
What happens at the end of the survey?
When you complete your survey please contact Guy Ackers who will
arrange collection - we do not want completed surveys lost in the
post! Guy will check the survey and then pass it to the Suffolk
Biological Records Centre. It may also be copied for your district
and parish councils. As it is a snapshot at a certain point in time
and parishes recorders are increasingly interested in having a
permanent copy for the parish records.
How to get involved
If you are in the Suffolk Coastal district and would like to
find out more about the Suffolk Hedgerow Survey and how you can
help by becoming a surveyor or co-ordinator please contact:
Anne Westover,
Suffolk Coastal District
Council.
Telephone 01394 444420 or email
anne.westover@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.
Guy Ackers,
Chairman of the Suffolk
Hedgerow Working Group.
Telephone 01394 383264 or email
guyackersmelton@rmplc.co.uk.
You will find more information about the survey and contact
details for other council areas in these leaflets:
Please help by taking part in the survey in your
area (new window PDF 116KB)
The benefits of the survey and why you may like
to become involved (new window PDF 56KB)
Follow this link for help with downloading and opening PDF files.
The Suffolk Hedgerow Survey is supported by Babergh, Forest
Heath, Mid Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and Waveney district councils
and St Edmundsbury Borough
Council.