Environmental projects
BECKENHAM CLUB’S HEDGEROW SURVEY PROJECT
Progress report July 2010
- Hedgerows and ponds are a very good indicator of the biodiversity in an area and the changes that are taking place.
o Climate change
o Changed farming practices
o Pollution
o Development
- Hedgerows and ponds provide habitats for flora and fauna to live and breed and they provide cover and corridors for movement across the area.
o Flora includes indigenous species and introduced trees and shrubs and how these may be changing.
o Includes ground flora – low growing flowers and grasses which provide food for insects including bees and butterflies many of which may be in decline.( Peacocks and other common species of butterfly rely heavily on hedgerow plants such as brambles and nettles to feed their caterpillars)
o Breeding grounds, feeding and cover for insects, birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
If locally and nationally we know what changes have taken place, measures can be put in place to reduce any decline and improve the natural environment. (It shouldn’t be forgotten that without the bee, agriculture would be severely hampered.)
It is possible to find evidence of hedges on old maps and work is being carried out locally to look at the changes.
Some hedges have been planted in public areas which are poor with respect to diversity and some old hedges have been recognised and reinvigorated in the last few years e.g. one in Chelsfield which was previously a dumping ground.
Surveys
There are two hedgerow surveys being carried out and the survey forms that we are learning to use can be used to provide data for both.
London survey is collecting data from all the boroughs in London and obviously Bromley has an important part to play. The data can be entered in to this survey from our forms and this will be done from High Elms Centre.
The DEFRA survey is the national survey which I gathered was not so detailed but the data from our surveys can be used.
The immediate value to Bromley is that at present there is money for planting and improvement of identified hedges so where hedges in public areas are poorly maintained or lacking diversity this can be remedied.
Long term one can only hope that environment will remain on the national agenda.
Our surveys
- The survey we carried out was done correctly and there is very little we shall need to alter.
- Eva Prokop was very pleased that we had chosen Chelsfield because there has not been any work carried out in that area and there are quite a few valuable hedges both near public paths and on private land.
- It has been recommended that the hedge we have already surveyed should be visited at least twice more this year. It was a cold winter and some of the plants may not have been obvious when we visited in early June. This hedge was an example of a healthy hedge but with a very limited number of species so would benefit from diversifying.
- It would also be worth following the progress of this hedge in order to check whether there are any incoming species in subsequent years.
- There are several other easily accessible hedges that could be surveyed in Chelsfield and we have maps giving details of their location. It might only be possible to carry out one survey on each of these other hedges.
- Finally we had identified a very poor hedge in Norman Park which had not been formally surveyed and it would be useful to do a quick one-off.
Mary Clarke