Hersey Nature Reserve
Special Protection Area and Ramsar site,
unit 15 Ryde Sands and Wootton Creek SSSI
Notification of Management Works SEPTEMBER 2024
We have been informed that prior to the winter moratorium on disturbance in the SSSI which commences 1st October, IW Council are carrying out the following habitat management works:
- Cutting of fields in front of the Bird Hide [SSSI COMPARTMENTS C + D]
Week commencing Monday 2nd September, both fields will be cut
- Reedbed maintenance, southern sector marsh meadow. [SSSI Compartment E]
Week commencing Monday 9th September, weather permitting, work will commence to cut and remove vegetation from a 20% tranche of reedbed and grub out invasive willow shrubs.
The last time any reedbed management was undertaken in the Reserve was in 2018. This work is to prevent the reedbed habitat developing into scrub or woodland.
Reedbeds are very important habitats for birds in the UK and support a distinctive breeding bird assemblage (we know Reed Warblers and Cetti Warblers use ours) as well as provide roosting and feeding sites for migratory species. Five GB Red Data Book invertebrates are also closely associated with reedbeds.
Cutting small blocks of reed and removing as much leaf litter as possible prevents the build-up of nutrients and dead plant material, and ensures that there are both younger reeds where birds like to feed and older areas that are great for reedbed invertebrates and nest building.
Reedbeds are highly sensitive to changes in the quantity of water supply and require an above surface or near surface water table throughout the year. The willows which can be seen at the south of the lagoons as you look out from the bird hide, if left uncontrolled, will continue to grow, spread and dry out the reedbed.