Here are just some of the contributions HLF-funded projects have made towards HAP targets:

• The Tomorrow’s Heathland Heritage (THH) initiative, designed with English Nature to help restore the UK’s heathlands, has contributed to the attainment of 80% (46,429 ha) of the UK BAP heathland-restoration target and 41% (2,477 ha) of the lowland heathland-creation target. Read more…[a link to Katie’s press release, must post it on website first]

• More than 400 ha of wood-pasture and parkland has been created with the help of HLF grants, or 83% of the HAP target.

• HLF funding has also made possible the creation of a significant proportion of calcareous grassland (downland), equivalent to 64% of the creation target. Significant areas of meadow have also been created, meeting 34% of the joint lowland and upland hay meadow creation target.

• Native woodland HAPs include targets for lowland beech and yew, upland mixed ash woods, upland oak woods, wet woodlands and native pine woodlands. HLF has helped fund the restoration of 10,026 ha of native woodland (4% of the target) and the creation of 4,001 ha of native woodland (7% of the target). Read more in the Beaulieu case study below.

• Peatlands make up a significant proportion of habitats managed through HLF funding. Although the impact of HLF-funded management of peatlands such as blanket bog and lowland raised bog on the HAP conservation/restoration target is small (0.7% of the target), this is due to the size of the objective (858,000 ha). Read more in the Imriche case study below.

CASE STUDIES
Reviving Broadwater Warren
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Award: £553,000

Old maps of Broadwater Warren, near Tunbridge Wells, show a vast tract of heathland. This has been largely lost to conifer plantation, although the area still supports a mosaic of heath, valley mire, open water and ancient wood pasture.

Once earmarked for landfill, things are looking up for the 184ha site. The RSPB has bought the area with our help, in order to be able to safeguard its original features. 167ha of lowland heath (a UK BAP habitat) and 4ha of associated valley mire system will be restored and safeguarded, and the area will become a heathland and woodland nature reserve. But things didn’t always look so bright for Broadwater Warren.

The RSPB’s plans for the area are set to contribute 61% towards Sussex BAP targets to restore 280ha of heathland by 2010. People will also be able to enjoy the area much more, with improved access, visitor facilities, information boards, and a network of nature trails.

Imriche peatlands
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Award: £60,200

The peatlands of the Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland form the largest single expanse of their type found anywhere in the world. This fragile habitat of blanket bog interspersed with pools known as ‘dubh lochan’ in Gaelic, has been damaged by drainage and woodland planting, both of which dry the peat out and cause it to crack and erode. Peat, which takes thousands of years to accumulate, is globally rare and a UK BAP priority habitat. It is estimated that 60% of the UK’s blanket bog is very badly damaged.

Four years ago we helped the RSPB buy 180 hectares of peatland at Imriche. This ancient landscape has now been conserved by felling trees and blocking drains to raise the water levels. People can now walk the nature trail, look for the black-throated divers, hen harrier, greenshank and other birds which breed in the area, and take part in twice-weekly guided walks from May to August.

Beautiful Beaulieu
The Woodland Trust
Award: £91,400

Beaulieu Wood in the Wye Valley, Wales, was once part of a picturesque landscape intricately planned by a group of wealthy friends in the 1790s. This beauty spot was home to majestic broadleaved trees until the 1950s and 60s, when 75% of the area was converted to conifers.

The Woodlands Trust is now working to restore a large part of the 17-hectare ancient woodland site to its semi-natural state by reinstating native broadleaved woodland such as birches, oaks and beeches. This will bring back Beaulieu’s former glory and protect the natural heritage of this part of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Dormice and horseshoe bats, which rely heavily on broadleaved woodland for cover and foraging, are among the rare species which are also set benefit from the restoration of the ancient woodland.