Moorland
The heather moorland is a major element of the landscape of the North York Moors and an important wildlife habitat. This is a manmade landscape maintained by the traditional businesses of sheep grazing and grouse shooting which require rotational burning or cutting of the heather to keep it in good condition. You can find out more about managament of heather moorland from the Moorland Association and in the Learning Zone.
Natural England (the Government’s statutory nature conservation adviser) has the legal responsibility to ensure that the 44,000 hectares of the North York Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) are managed to protect wildlife. You can find out more information on this from Natural England's website
Moor sheep flocks under threat
The North York Moors National Park Authority has been concerned for some time about the reduction in sheep flocks grazing the North York Moors. The Authority and Natural England commissioned Askham Bryan College to carry out a Hill Sheep Economic Study in March 2006. This concluded that, “For many hill farms the agri-environment schemes in general and the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) in particular are going to be critical in maintaining viability. For farms in the North York Moors it is likely to prove to be the defining factor on whether moorland flocks are retained.”
Lambing production and lamb prices remain well below the regional average. This is due to a number of factors, including the vast amount of heather on the North York Moors which has a lower nutritional value than grass, and high rates of ticks and tick-bourn diseases.
Hefted flocks – in which an awareness of a ‘home range’ is maintained over the generations on unenclosed moorland – are essential to conserving the moorland landscape. If moor flocks are lost they are unlikely to return and the study concludes that: “The economic costs and other difficulties in re-establishing hefted flocks are virtually insurmountable”.
The National Park Authority is working in close partnership with Natural England to secure funding for farmers to keep grazing the 100 moor flocks remaining on the Moors through Natural England’s Environmental Stewardship Scheme. These agreements are joint agreements with the landowner or shooting tenant to ensure that the burning management is also carried out to benefit wildlife.
Fylingdales Fire - Regeneration and archaeology
In 2003 a fire on Fylingdales Moor highlighted how devastating wildfires can be, as it burnt the vegetation and top layer of soils from a 250 ha area of SSSI moorland near Ravenscar. After a £135,000 partnership restoration project, managed by the Authority, the moor is recovering well and has largely revegetated, protecting the thousands of archaeological features which where uncovered by the fire. 'Fylingdales - Wildfire and Archaeology', written by the archaeologist involved in the survey of the Fylingdales Site is available from our online shop.
Local Biodiversity Action Plans
As part of the Authority's Local Biodiversity Action Plan we have developed a Moorland Habitat Action Plan which contains more detailed information on moorland and its wildlife. This contains a section on 'What you can do to help'. It also details the specific targets the Authority and its partners aim to achieve by 2012. The Moorland Habitat Action plan can be downloaded by visiting the Biodiversity Action Plan page of the website..
Help and Advice
From 1995 to 2001, the National Park Authority co-ordinated a Moorland Regeneration Programme. The Authority worked closely with farmers, landowners and shooting tenants to help improve their businesses, the landscape and wildlife. For a summary of the Programme visit our Moorland Programme page.
The Authority also provides helps and advice on moorland management to landowners, shooting tenants and farmers. It provides small grants for bracken control and research projects. The Authority co-ordinates moorland research carried out in the North York Moors. You can download them from the Publications Section (not available at the present time).
For further information on moorland issues, please telephone Rachel Pickering (Moorland Project Officer) on 01439 770657 or contact us.
