Harri Roblin

• Introduction

The ongoing climate change crisis makes monitoring and conserving environments more important than ever. These unpredictable climates make habitats such as Forrest Hills extremely vulnerable to loss. Winmarleigh Moss is a local example where a habitat has been affected by climate change whilst it was not protected by active human conservation efforts. There, inconsistent precipitation and rising temperatures led to its peat drying out and the bog becoming unhealthy (Start, 2015). Forrest Hills is a different type of habitat to this, but this example demonstrates the dramatic loss of habitat which is possible should conservation efforts not be implemented. These start with an extensive study of the flora and fauna to know the habitat’s strengths and susceptibilities. This data can be used to develop a multi-faceted management plan to help the area survive and prosper.

Forrest Hills is a habitat situated in the Northwest of England. It contains a wide variety of land types, including a golf course, agricultural land, ponds, rivers, grassland, scrubland, woodland and several buildings (Cameron Crook and Associates, 2018). This diverse habitat means it is a botanical and zoological rich ecosystem, making it an important site for conservation. This report will explore the approaches in which this can be achieved.

• Site Description
• Area

Forrest Hill is a 67 hectare site situated in Lancaster. It can be split up into three, smaller areas (A, B and C). These can be seen in the figure below.

As recommended, this management plan will focus on Sections A and C, which account for 39.4 of the 67 hectares.

• Geology

The bedrock geology of the site comprises the Carboniferous Millstone Grit Group. This included sandstone, alternating with siltstone and mudstone. Peat is present in the north of Forrest Hills. Running through the site is the river Condor which has layers of clay and sand along its bed. Gravel can be found on the top surface of these beds.

• Climate

Forrest Hills is situated in Lancashire, one of the wettest English counties. It has an annual precipitation level of 1307 millimetres (Climate Data, 2024). The same recording station found the area to have a yearly temperature of 9.3°C, with highs from June to August (15°C) and lows from December to February (4°C). The precipitation levels mean the local flora and fauna are rarely short of water. Species should not experience any temperature stress due to this mild weather, with the main threat being from freezing at extreme cold temperatures.

• Hydrology

The river Conder runs through the Forrest Hills site and holds significant ecological importance, supplying habitat for aquatic species. The rest of the site only has three natural ponds, with one being an oxbow pond. In the 1990s, two fishing lakes were also created on the site. This makes up 1.6 hectares of the area.

• Visitor Rationale

The area gets many visitors each year and their impact must be considered. For example, on the site, there is a building which holds functions; this attracts a large number of guests. There is also a golf course, which is shown in Section B of Figure 1.  This brings in more people and can also add factors such as amenity grassland disturbance through trampling on plants while playing golf. Naturally, people will come to the site for activities such as walking and observing nature.

• Features
  • Key Habitats
• Grassland

There is a variety of grassland types present at Forrest Hills, including improved, semi-improved, acid and amenity. These account for the vast majority of the area. The acid grassland is a BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) protected habitat. Section C has large parts of semi-improved grassland, whereas Section A is dominated by improved grassland with parts of acid grasslands on the east side. These areas are essential to preserve due to them containing lots of nutrients. Areas of these type have faced catastrophic declines countrywide for three main reasons. These are climate change, agricultural intensification and destruction of building developments. Therefore, future objectives should include accurately monitoring the health and area of each grassland. It is also important to reduce building in these areas. The number of pollinators can be used to indicate grassland health, as more insects present allow for a greater number of flowers. Many cattle and sheep also graze this land, so it is essential that this is controlled so the grassland is conserved.

• Woodland

The woodland situated in Forrest Hills is broadleaved. The majority of this can be seen in Section A, with small areas in Section C. This is a priority habitat within the Lancashire Biodiversity Action Plan (Lancashire City Council, 2024). These woodlands are dominated by ash, sycamore and alder trees. The veteran trees within the habitat also supply an excellent roosting location for bats, described in greater detail later. The woodland is currently in good health and supplies high ecological value for the site. It also provides area for the local fauna to forage, especially birds. Factors that could greatly affect the woodland are the cutting down of trees, climate change and air pollution. As an objective, the number of veteran trees must be increased to provide more roosting opportunities for bats. An accurate survey of the woodland area also must be conducted to ensure the diversity of the forest is known.

• Ponds, rivers and streams

As mentioned earlier in the Hydrology section, there are both ponds and rivers on the site. Ponds are listed as UK BAP priority habitats, meaning they are important to conserve. The ponds and streams on the site are in good condition. They are well-vegetated, with many common aquatic species including rushes and water mint. There are also otters at the site and despite never being sighted, it is hypothesised in surveys there could be water voles and great crested newts too. The main adverse factor affecting these features is water pollution caused by pesticides. This is caused by modern farming methods and leads to species fatalities and abnormalities. The objective of the pond and river is to establish a survey of them. This encompasses both the area of the water and the species within. Pesticide use should be limited or not used near the ponds. To maximise biodiversity, the connections between the water bodies should be improved to reduce dispersal constraints for the animals.

• Key Species
• Bats

A total of five different species of bats were recorded in the 2018 survey of Forrest Hills (Griffiths, 2018). They are the following: Common bat, soprano bat, Natterer’s bat, brown long eared bat and noctule bat. The noctule bat is the only species that does not roost at the site, with the rest roosting in the barns located in the north and south of the area. All the bats are rated as ‘Least Concern’ in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List categories, with the brown long eared bat being the only UK BAP priority species. These animals are known as crevice dwellers, meaning they often cannot be seen and their droppings are hard to find (Crowley et al., 2020). This makes predicting their abundance in an area very challenging, so an exact population count is unknown. With much of the site being grassland, there are few roosting spots; the main possibilities include the barns and the woodland. This makes them especially suspectable to human disturbance, with adverse population effects very likely if the veteran trees are not conserved. Therefore, it is important to monitor the bat population and maintain or increase it through providing environments to encourage roosting.

• Otters

There are also otters on the Forrest Hills site. These are a UK BAP species but are assessed as ‘Not Threatened’ in the IUCN Red List categories despite their decreasing numbers. These animals have never been surveyed in depth, thus an accurate prediction of their abundance is not available. However, their presence makes the protection of the hydrology within the area a top priority in the management plan. Therefore, several objectives should be met to support this species. The availability of possible holt sites (where otters sleep) needs to be explored. This can be achieved by looking at the bank of the river for landmarks such as trees or wood piles. Water quality has to be recorded and if below required standards, improved. In addition and linked to recording, adequate food sources by way of prey for otters are essential to study. A better water quality will bring more prey.

• Birds

A diverse array of birds can be sighted in this environment. These include both waders and woodland birds. Some of the species include sparrowhawks, robins and oystercatchers. All of these are classified as ‘Not Threatened’ on the IUCN red list categories. Each of these birds have healthy populations in Forrest Hills, but new rarer species can be encouraged to nest on the site. Therefore, there are a few important objectives that need to be achieved. As with other species, it would be useful for a contractor to carry out an accurate survey of the bird population in the area. Secondly, the grassland can be made better suited for the wading birds that come to the area. This will involve vegetation control and ensuring there is enough water. Finally, the woodland must be maintained and optimised for birdlife. This involves planting a diverse set of vegetation and creating nesting sites by leaving features such as dead trees and creating a multi-layered canopy. The grassland should not be allowed to grow above a certain height in areas to benefit birds like the skylark, as they only normally nest in grassland below 60cm in height (Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, 2024).

• Management Objectives

Due to the high number of features in Forrest Hills, it is not only a crucial habitat to conserve but quite a complex one. It is therefore important to place the exact management objectives into a coherent plan, with each having a performance indicator to judge progress.

Feature	Management Objective	Rationale	Performance Indicator
Grassland	Control the amount of cattle grazing in the grassland. Allow normal grazing on 50% of the land to keep areas of grass below 60cm in height for birds such as skylarks.	Over grazing will cause the destruction of the grassland. Grazing on part of the land encourages birds to nest in the area.	Regular field surveys and aerial photography should be utilised to monitor length and health of grass.
Grassland	Plant flowers within the grassland such as lavender and rock cress in order to attract pollinators to the site.	Attracting pollinators will make the grassland healthier and increase the biodiversity of the area.	Regular field surveys should be conducted to see the number of flowers growing in the grassland and if there are many pollinators present.
Woodland	Increase the area of woodland by 5 hectares. Try to increase the abundance of veteran trees in the forest, while teaching locals and volunteers about the importance of them. Within the teaching, volunteers should be taught how to conserve the trees.	Increasing the woodland cover will lead to more nesting sites for birds and roosting spots for bats. This will encourage new species into the area and provide more area for individuals, reducing competition and allowing the habitat to hold more birds.	The monitoring of area and health of woodland will be achieved through regular aerial photography to monitor the growth process.
Woodland	Reduce the grazing in the woodland by limiting the deer population in the woodland.	This will allow for the forest to become denser as grazing reduces tree regeneration. The forest will then form a multi-layered canopy, helping birds to nest.	Monitoring will be achieved through surveys and local sightings of deer, while also performing quarterly surveys of tree cover in the area.
Woodland	Plant native shrubs and plants to connect forests within the site. Create microhabitats using features such as log piles within these.	This allows for species to travel easier between woodland areas. These hedgerows can act as wind blockers and also reduce factors such as soil erosion.	After planting, the growth of these will have to be regularly monitored and maybe have to be trimmed on a yearly basis if become overgrown.
Hydrology	Avoid the use of pesticides around the ponds and river. Conduct education to the locals and volunteers about how damaging water pollution can be.	This will ensure that water quality stays at a high level in the area and encourages the aquatic flora and fauna to grow.	As an indicator for this, the pond and streams water quality shall be tested regularly, with a pH meter being installed to constantly measure the acidity of the water. Ensure the pH levels stay consistent between 6.5 and 9 (Spyra, 2017).
Hydrology	Plant reeds to facilitate a reedbed in the pond.	The reedbed provides a place for species to nest, while also improving the water quality. They do this through filtering and purifying it. Even if pesticide is used near the lake, a reedbed can act as a barrier against this, stopping the substance from polluting the water.	This can be monitored through visually checking on the reedbed growth.
Hydrology	Dredge the bank of the ponds to make them shallower	This allows for more species to easily access the ponds and makes the habitat more suitable for new animals such as Great Crested Newts.	The extent the verge of the pond has to be dredged can be judged visually.
Bats	Set up motion-sensored cameras which have infrared to measure bat activity in the barns and veteran trees.	This will give a more comprehensive idea of the bat population within the area if the cameras are placed where bats roost.	These cameras should be reviewed every month to study the findings and extrapolate the data to predict the bat population.
Otters	Increase the population of otters by double within the area.	This can be achieved through setting up more holt sites. This will already be helped with the reedbed. However, the habitat could be made more ideal for otters by increasing vegetation cover and sustaining a good water quality.	The otter population can be recorded through regular surveys for sightings while also asking the public for help with recording of sightings.
Birds	Improve the suitability of both the grassland and woodland habitat for birds	The water table of the grassland has to be high enough to be suitable for wading birds. Creating artificial pools to hold water can help with this. The grass should also be kept below the 60cm level for birds like skylarks. From a woodland standpoint, dead trees should be retained to maximise nesting places while vegetation should be planted to create a botanically diverse area.	Consistently monitor the birding populations with the capture cameras and local sightings (create a board for the public to write which birds they have seen

• Management Action Plan

The management objectives have been assessed and a task list proposed. A system to the measure the priority level of these tasks is created (Low, Medium, High) and an action plan is presented which shows these tasks, their urgency and importantly a proposed time period for completion.

Task	Time period to complete	Priority Level
Allow grazing on 50% of the grassland	Indefinite	Medium
Plant flowers within the grassland	1 week to do the initial planting, following surveys on a monthly basis	Low
Plant trees to increase the area of the woodland by a total of 5 hectares	1 month to plant and then following surveys every three months to check on growth	High
Plant native shrubs and vegetation to create hedgerows to reduce dispersal constraints within the woodland	2 weeks	Medium
Install a pH monitor in the lake to consistently measure the acidity	1 week to install, following testing is consistent. Requires a weekly studying of the data	Low
Plant baby reeds in and around the ponds and river	1 week to install, regular check on progress required to see the speed of growth	Medium
Dig up the edges of the pond to make the verge easier to traverse for animals	1 month	Medium
Introduce a small trial population of Great Crested Newts to the area after the above objective is completed	1 week	Low
Set up the infrared cameras to monitor the bat population	1 week to install, a constant review of the images	Low
Monitor the population of otters while introducing new holt sites	2 weeks to set up new holt sites, monitoring of the population is constant	Medium
Create artificial pools within the grassland for the wading birds	2 weeks	Low
Conduct teaching around the importance of nesting sites and protecting possible locations such as dead trees	1 week	Medium

The key stakeholders to be involved in this action plan would include the public, benefactors of the site, volunteers and more specifically local people that live in the area.

• Conclusion

The completion of all objectives can lead to the Forrest Hills site become a more ecological stable area while supporting a diverse range of flora. The success of this plan requires all stakeholders, public to volunteers, to join and their coordinated action can protect the local environment. Factors such as climate changing, and growing population pressures mean the ecosystem can change very quickly. Therefore, this management plan needs to be reviewed every annum to ensure the objectives are up to date and are the best options to make the habitat as healthy as possible.