Roles:
Land owners and managers: follow best practice in managing scrub on their sites; take up opportunities to restore or create Wet Woodlands.
Natural England: administers countryside stewardship grant schemes
Woodland Trust: offers advice.
Environment Agency: assess areas in which woodland creation would reduce flood risk.
River banks
Barnsley Council as planning authority: sets conditions in planning applications to ensure that the biodiversity value of sites with scrub are maintained and enhanced;
Voluntary groups and volunteers: help with scrub management and control; help with information about the condition of sites with scrub and provide records of wildlife.
Scrub habitat: Key objectives [see actions below]
- Raise awareness of importance of Scrub for biodiversity
- Collate information on the type and extent of Scrub, especially in connection with the distribution of scrub-dependent wildlife
- Identify areas and linear features with important concentrations of Scrub, those deficient in Scrub, and those important for connectivity
- Analyse records of populations and assemblages of wildlife species in areas of Scrub, with additional surveys in selected places
- Minimise the loss of Scrub habitats caused by development, and where Scrub is lost, ensure that it is replaced by appropriate planting.
- Where appropriate, seek opportunities to increase the extent of Scrub, particularly where it is scarce and its presence would benefit wildlife.
- Work with owners of sites with significant Scrub habitat to bring it into positive conservation management and favourable condition.
- Work with owners of sites to prevent Scrub from encroaching on other priority habitats to an undesirable level.
What is being done
- Surveys for potential Otter lying-in sites
- River Dearne 2005 YWT
- Upper River Don 2007
- Management plans for Worsbrough and Elsecar country park willow carrs.
- Back from the Brink project with YWT managing Wet Woodland scrub sites to support Willow Tit. YWT; RSPB 2017-21
…
Proposed actions
- Publicity on value of Scrub and conservation measures. 2021 -annually
- Complete inventory of existing and potential scrub sites. 2021.
- Analysis of records of wildlife species in Scrub sites. 2020, every 3 yrs
- Wet Woodland scrub management as part of BftB Willow Tit project 2017-21
Marking progress
- No reduction in extent of Scrub habitat of significant value to wildlife
- Scrub habitat created and extended including as wildlife corridors
- Sites with significant Scrub habitat in positive conservation management and in or moving towards favourable condition.
continued
- Potential Scrub conservation management identified sites.
- Review riparian scrub habitat for Otter
