Woodland Management and Scrub Control
9.1 The purpose of these general conditions is to
provide protection to all habitats and features on the unit
so that they are maintained in their current condition.
These conditions do not prevent work such as (i) work
normally undertaken as part of sound woodland management;
(ii) prevention of encroachment of gorse which would damage
the conservation value of rough grazing or a habitat being
managed or created under the scheme.
9.2 Any such control of gorse or broom must be by
mechanical means only, have SEERAD's prior written approval
and be used only to maintain the 'status quo'. For areas
being managed under the scheme, for example Management of
Species-rich Grassland or Management of Grass Margins, a
description of this control measure should be included in
the Environmental Audit under the relevant management
requirements. In order to minimise disturbance to wildlife,
in particular birds, any approved cutting back or trimming
of gorse or broom should be done in a rotation across the
farm or croft and timed for the autumn or early winter
(before 1 March).
9.3 Generally the planting of large areas of trees
would be considered a breach of the environmental
conditions, however an exemption can be made where the
planting will provide greater environmental benefit than
the protection offered by the RSS environmental conditions,
providing planting is not carried out on habitats outlined
on the Environmental Audit.
In reaching a decision on such cases consideration must
be given to the size of the area to be planted and the
conservation value of the area before and after
planting.
9.4 Even although assistance is obtained from the
Forestry Commission for the management of semi natural or
natural woodland, this habitat will still be covered by the
General Environmental Conditions and cannot be cleared.
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