Hedgerows are a precious asset. It is important that they are properly maintained
Hedgerows mark boundaries, provide stock-proof barriers to keep farm and wild animals in or out of fields and, in days gone by, served as a source of firewood and ingredients for blackberry jam and sloe gin. Hedgerows also play a role in flood control and erosion, climate regulation, screening and noise reduction.
Of course, hedgerows are also tremendously important for wildlife. They are complex ecosystems and provide shelter, food and movement corridors for mammals, birds and insects. It is estimated that there are about 400,000km of hedgerows in the UK and, of this, about half are ancient or species-rich.
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee say: “Hedgerows are the most significant wildlife habitat over large stretches of lowland UK and are an essential refuge for a great many woodland and farmland plants and animals.” But hedgerows need maintaining, and it is up to the estate or land manager to decide how and when.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2018-Ausgabe von Country Smallholding.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2018-Ausgabe von Country Smallholding.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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The Good Life captured the public’s imagination when it first aired in 1975. On Country Smallholding’s 45th birthday, Jeremy Hobson looks at this and other programmes with a self-sufficiency slant that have captivated urban and rural dwellers alike over nearly half a century
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1975 And All That
Country Smallholding is 45 this month. To celebrate, Jeremy Hobson takes a look at some of the changes — both good and bad — to small-scale farming over that near half-century