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Leave low trees and shrubs on the buffer strips of the lighting strip

Habitat Function Type of work
Forest
Living environment
Pre-commercial thinning

Open landscape buffer strips will be established and maintained to maintain biodiversity and ecological connectivity. The buffer strips will also protect the forest from pesticides and chemically synthesised mineral fertilisers used on agricultural land. The recommended width of the open space buffer strips is an average of 5 metres, with an optimum of 1-10 metres.

Description of the action

Leave low trees and shrubs in the buffer strips of the open landscape to the extent that they do not impede the growth of the target tree species.

Why?

It is also worth leaving some of the lower trees (e.g. hawthorn, grey alder) and shrubs that are more typical of the verge to grow in the buffer strip. The buffer strips provide habitats and movement corridors for birds and mammals.