Grazing project on Ludshott Common
Half of the fencing around the perimeter of Ludshott Common has been completed with the plan to complete by the end of summer 2024. This is part of the conservation cattle grazing project.
The aim of this project is to encourage the restoration of lowland heathland using grazing animals. Cattle will help to control grasses, scrub and bracken and increase biodiversity through browsing, dung and poaching of the ground with their hooves.
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Conservation Grazing at Conford Moor
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It was with great excitement that at the end of May 2023, three Longhorn cattle were released onto Conford Moor, seeing the return of conservation grazing to the site for the first time in around 70 years.
Conford Moor is made up of areas of fen, wet heathland, acid grassland and stands of ancient alder carr. Due to the hydrology and geology of the land and its historic management, it is a site of great ecological interest.
Up until the 1950s, the area was grazed and was home to many rare plants, and wildlife including the now endangered marsh fritillary butterfly. Since cessation of grazing, the site has dried out due to the invasion of scrub and trees, leading to loss of habitat and a decline in species.
The cattle on Conford are contained by temporary electric fencing and will be moved between grazing compartments on a rotational basis. They will be present on the Common for approximately six months of the year between spring and autumn and their numbers will never exceed four.
The grazing will ensure that areas that have been cleared already remain open, and will encourage the return of a diverse range of species that were last recorded in the 1982 Biological Report, steered by the extensive knowledge of the late Dr Francis Rose, who lived locally in Liss and was widely regarded as the greatest British field botanist of our time.
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N.B. Dog owners must keep their dogs under control, and not allow them to enter the enclosures where the cows are.
