Making space for native trees, butterflies and birds
A pair of rare breed horses are helping to take the parkland at the National Trust’s Oxburgh Estate in Norfolk back to its roots by turning a 50-year-old pine tree plantation into a haven for wildlife.
The striking horses, a Suffolk and an Ardennes Comtoise cross, will help make space for native broadleaf trees and create new habitats for butterflies and birds by opening up the area’s dense canopy and increasing flora biodiversity.
The National Trust says using horses and specialist equipment to drag the pine logs out of the plantation ensures minimal disruption to the local soil and wildlife located throughout the current pine plantation.
They add that unshod hooves allow for a less invasive distribution of weight compared to heavy logging machinery.
The area of the pine plantation, which was planted in the 1970s for timber production, will be repopulated with native mixed broadleaves including hazel, oak, walnut, and sweet chestnut.
The idea behind the scheme is to increase the woodland’s resilience to climate change and disease. Planners say it’ll also help to lessen the risk of trees being wiped out by one single illness and preventing severe damage like that caused by ash dieback.
‘This is a crucial time for us to double down on our parkland conservation efforts,’ says Tom Day, the National Trust’s Area Ranger for Oxburgh Estate.
‘Right now, the area of the pine plantation is severely lacking in biodiversity and contains 50 per cent less wildlife than in the rest of our woodlands.’
‘By repopulating it with mixed broadleaf trees, we not only increase the structural diversity of the woodlands which will help maintain them for the long-term, but also vastly improve the quality of the habitat to attract more species and more diverse wildlife.’
Mirroring work from hundreds of years ago
‘In other parts of our parklands, we are already seeing the positive effects of this kind of work in the form of dark green fritillary and silver washed fritillary butterfly sightings.’
‘As we are able to open up the dense canopy of the woodland allowing light onto the woodland floor, such sightings will become increasingly common, and with some luck we might even be able to spot purple emperor butterflies in the future.’
‘Including a Suffolk Horse in the management of the property’s woodlands the project also serves as an important contribution to contemporary conservation efforts for this rare breed and mirrors how such work would have been carried out, as long as 400 years ago.’
Suffolk Horses, also historically known as the Suffolk Punch, are native to the region, and is one of only four English breeds of heavy horse bred specifically for ploughing and pulling loads.
The National Trust says it’s these ‘gentle giants’ that helped to shape the area’s rural landscape.
The charity adds that the mechanisation of farming led to a reduction in the numbers of Suffolk Horses. They add that there are less than five hundred horses registered in the UK today they are classed as critically endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and listed on the priority watchlist.
During select phases, the Suffolk Horses’ work will be accompanied by a modern timber harvester.
The project is part of the National Trust’s ten-year sustainable woodland management plan for the region, which will run until 2029 across various locations in East Anglia.
