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Frequently
Asked Questions
Q: What
is LIFE?
A: L'Instrument financier
pour L'environnement (LIFE) is a European fund to which organisations
from member states can bid for financial assistance to benefit
nature conservation management on Natura 2000 sites. The New
Forest candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) is one
such site.
Q:
What is the LIFE 3 Project
A: The LIFE 3 project
follows the successful completion of the LIFE 2 Project. The
LIFE 2 project developed a management plan for the cSAC, and
actions that cnocentrated on removing non-native species such
as Rhododendron and developing pioneering techniques to restore
mires. The LIFE 2 project highlighted that any restoration
of wetlands and stream habitats is considered as part of the
hydrology of the whole river catchment system rather than
restoration of individual mire systems in isolation. The LIFE
3 project seeks to develop a better understanding of the hydrology
of three catchments in the New Forest. The project will start
the process of restoration of some wetland and stream habitats
with the aim of allowing them to function and be sustained
by more natural processes.
Q:
Which organisations are involved in the LIFE 3 project?
A: The LIFE 3 project
team is a partnership of both government and non-government
organisations. The team comprises:
- Forestry Commission (FC)
- Environment Agency (EA)
- National Trust (NT)
- English Nature (EN)
- Hampshire County Council (HCC)
- Royal Society for the protection of Birds (RSPB)
The Forestry Commission along with the EA will carry out
most of the practical work on the ground. FC will effectively
deal with the woodlands and streamside margins while the EA
will undertake actions in the watercourse. The NT also have
actions to complete on the ground whilst EN and RSPB will
act as advisors and monitors with HCC action as the project
managers on behalf of the European Commission.
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Q:
Why are we undertaking the work?
A: The New Forest supports a complex mosaic
of wildlife habitats now rare and fragmented across Western
Europe. The forest supports one of only four sites in the
UK of bog woodland, of sufficient size and structure, to be
recognised as a European priority and one of the best of six
sites of ancient alluvial forests in the UK.
In 1996 the Environment Agency undertook a survey which identified
that more than 100km of river channels showed signs of degradation.
The most severely damaged areas of Forest river have lost
their 'self-mending' ability due largely to man's intervention,
resulting in numerous channels becoming deeply incised and
straightened. This has had consequent detrimental effects
on the associated woodland habitats along the river corridor.
Both ecological (macroinvertibrates, fisheries) & physical
(geomorphology, topography, hydrology) baseline surveys have
been conducted by the Environment Agency to provide a snapshot
of current conditions.
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Q: What works
will take place
A: The project will start the process of
restoring 604 ha of rare wetland habitats, including 261 ha
of alder/ash woodland, 18 ha bog woodland, 184 ha of mires
and 141 ha of wet grassland. Actions will include:
- River Restoration Work: (see
Environment Agency's role below)
- Work in the A&O woodlands: Holly
pollarding, removal of non-native species (Turkey Oak, Rhododendron,
Gaultheria), creating new pollards (ash, oak, beech).
- Inclosures: Felling of non-native
species along river corridors, removal of Western Hemlock
and Rhododendron, mire restoration work. Some habitats will
require grazing to bring them into favourable condition.
Some fence realignments will take place to facilitate access
by commoners' stock.
- Forest Lawns: The project offers
an opportunity to undertake some much needed work on Forest
lawns including the management of scrub.
- Mires: Using similar techniques
to those carried out under the LIFE 2 project, drains will
be filled in using a combination of spoil, heather bales
and birch faggots and scrub clearance will be undertaken
in selected valley mires. These actions will support water
levels and prevent further erosion of these habitats.
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Q:
What is the Environment Agency's role?
A:The Environment Agency is responsible
for the river restoration component of the project. River
restoration will focua on 10 km of the most severely degraded
stretches of the upper Lymington River: the rivers Blackwater
and Highland water.
The river restoration works aim to re-instate natural river
processes, increase channel roughness and optimise use of
the natural floodplain storage by restoring the connection
between the river and its adjacent floodplain. This will encourage
peak water flows to be held in the upper catchment for longer,
making use of the natural floodplain like a sponge, and release
the water more slowly.
Actions to be carried out will include re-connectiong meanders,
the replacement of bed material to increase roughness and
raise the bed level and construction of woody debris dams.
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Q:
What will be the outcome of the river restoration works?
A: The result will be a slower flowing,
more natural river system which has the ability to flow out
onto its floodplain. This will lead to improved conditions
for the rivers' associated wetlands, such as riverine and
bog woodlands, helping to secure their future.
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Q:
Will the work have an effect on flood defences?
A: The works may have potential benefits
to flood defence further downstream. Peak flows will be reduced,
as they will be spread over a longer period of time i.e. water
will take longer to move down the system from source. The
European Union is particularly interested in this aspect of
the project as it will be one of the first projects to tackle
flood defence issues at source.
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Q:
How will the damage to the rivers be repaired?
A: Restoration techniques will comprise
a range of measures:
- Construction & installation of debris dams. These
occur naturally in the forest, e.g. by a tree falling
over & forming a partial blockage which then impedes
transport of further woody debris, thus forming a woody
dam. They play an important role in maintaining water
levels in the adjacent wetland areas & slow down water
flow;
- "engineering" work aimed at re-installing
& connecting currently disconnected meanders. Many
of the modified river sections still have evidence of
previous meanders. The Agency will use these as a template
for their works, diverting the water away from the current
'drainage' channels & putting the water back in the
original river course;
- cutting new channels where no river analogues are in
evidence, using other evidence & information to inform
the design of these;
- increasing the roughness of the flood plain by ensuring
timber is left on the forest floor. This will also provide
an important fuel source for future debris dams;
- raising of river bed-levels using spoil originally removed
from the channels. Spoil banks can be seen along many
of the river banks.
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Q: Where
will the work take place?
- A: The work will principally take place
within the Lymington River, Avon Water and Hampshire Avon
catchments.
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Q: When will
the work take place?
A: Work will be timed to minimise ground
damage and other comstraints relevant to the site work. As
an outline, felling work and river restoration works will
be targetes towards the drier summer months with work on the
lawns, within the Ancient and Ornamental woodlands and the
restoration of felled sites occurring in the autumn and winter
months.
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Q: What
Consultation will take place?
A: Some of the work which is routine, has
already been consulted on and is contained within our approved
A&O and Inclosure plans. The partners will continue to
consult through established groups such as the Open Forest
Advisory Committee (OFAC) and the New Forest Committee, but
a new Water Basin Management Forum has been formed to advise
and guide the partners specifically on aspects of the project.
The Forum is independently chaired, with members representing
diverse interests including commoning, parish councils and
the district council, academic institutions, wildlife and
more specific ecology, and local interest groups. The project
partnership organisations are also represented. The Forum
will also assist in the development of a 10 year implementation
plan for each catchment on the Forest. This will ensure a
commitment to long term management applying the experience
learnt during the project.
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Q:
What is the duration of the LIFE 3 project?
A: The project will run for four years and
will conclude in June 2006.
Q: When did the New Forest become a National Park?
A: On 1 March 2005 the New Forest became
a National Park, the first in the South East.
The New Forest has long been recognised as a special and
important area that needs protection and it was felt that
National Park designation would bring greater protection on
a permanent basis.
The New Forest National Park Authority takes on its full
statutory functions from 1 April 2006.
Q:
How will the public be kept informed about the project?
A: There will be a series of public events
held over the period of the project which will be publicised
through the media, parish councils, Water Basin Management
Forum members and on site posters and flyers
Regular press releases will be sent out to the media by the
LIFE 3 partners to keep the public updated on the project's
progress.
Information will be published here on the project website.
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