Malvern Hills SSSI Citation: What would be the impact of more lenient grazing on SSSI cited plants, animals, insects and birds?
The case for more lenient grazing to give skylarks the chance to re-establish on the high hills and hang on to remaining territories on the commons was presented to the Trust Land Management committee on 9th December 2017. The submission made and report of the meeting is here. The committee expressed interest in how more lenient grazing could impact all species, not just skylarks. This initial assessment of the 81 animal, plant, bird and butterflies listed in the SSSI citation suggests that lenient grazing will benefit most species and not lead to the significant loss of others.
The Trust declined to engage with the assessment at the 12th July 2018 meeting, saying it was for Natural England to advise on this level of detail, and suggested that we should present it to Natural England which we will gladly do.