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Heathland restoration at Long Running, Epping Forest
JEREMY DAGLEY AND AMANDA SAMUELS
Corporation of London, The Warren, Loughton, IG 10 4RW.
Abstract
Restoration of a small area of heathland in successfully maintained this flora. On the
Epping Forest, Essex has been taking place surrounding 1.6 hectares of heath the grazing
during the last 8 years (1991 - 1999) by the by English Longhorn cattle has significantly
use of soil-stripping and grazing. The three reduced the dominance of Purple Moor-grass
scrapes created by soil-stripping have all and its tussocks have disintegrated. This has
developed a more diverse flora than the created bare ground in which Heather and
surrounding heath, with Heather and Cross- scarce sedges have successfully germinated,
leaved Heath germinating abundantly. The Bracken has been relatively little affected and
subsequent grazing of the scrapes has future management will address this.
Introduction
The conservation of British heaths lias become a cause celebre amongst conservationists as they
form one habitat for which the UK is internationally important but which developers, especially
in Dorset, have regarded as prime construction land. Unfortunately Essex has very little
heathland (about 50 ha) fragmented across a dozen main sites (Dagley 1996). Nonetheless these
heaths have a special character and regional conservation importance without which Essex
would be a poorer place.
They have been neglected in favour of trees, as even where else, and to rescue the heathlands
restoration techniques need to involve brute force as well as careful planning. Where brute force
lias been used, such as inadvertently on Tiptree Heath to create a football pitch (subsequently
abandoned), the results have been spectacularly successful.
Despite such success, progress on restoration in the county has been slow even during this last
decade when the spotlight has been turned on the habitat. However, important steps have been
taken on a few sites in more recent years and this paper concerns a series of such steps in the
management of one of the ancient heathland plains in Epping Forest called Long Running (see
Fig. 1).
The study site
Long Running (TQ 433 997) is an area of lowland wetland heath cum mire at an elevation of
over 110 metres (360 feet), one of the highest points along the ridge of Epping Forest (see
Figure 1). About 6 hectares (15 acres) is open heath dominated by Purple Moor-grass (Molinia
caerulea) and Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), with stands of Cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix)
and Heather or Ling (Calluna vulgaris) (see Plate 7). A similar acreage of the site lies under
varying densities of Birch (Betula pendula), the most dense being blocks that sprang up after the
fires of the drought years of 1975 and 1976. Since then there have been other fires with a spate
of incidents in the springs of 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 16 (1999)