International occasional symposium of the European Grassland Federation (management for grassland biodiversity)
Published source details Tilzey M. (1997) International occasional symposium of the European Grassland Federation (management for grassland biodiversity). Warszawa-Lomża, Poland, 19-23 May, 1997., 379-390.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
| Action | Category | |
|---|---|---|
Pay farmers to cover the cost of conservation measures (as in agri-environment schemes) Action Link |  | |
Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland Action Link | |
Pay farmers to cover the cost of conservation measures (as in agri-environment schemes)
A 1997 review (Tilzey 1997) concluded that Environmentally Sensitive Areas had made a significant contribution to halting the loss of semi-natural grasslands in England, but were less effective in enhancing and restoring grassland biodiversity, a decade after introduction of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme. The paper made a broad assessment of the effectiveness of the scheme in protecting England’s lowland semi-natural grasslands. Among Environmentally Sensitive Areas of greatest significance for their lowland grassland, six were of ‘outstanding’ significance (containing >40% of the English resource of a grassland type) and two were of ‘considerable’ significance (containing 10-40% of 1-2 grassland types or 5-10% of three or more grassland types). Entry of land supporting semi-natural grassland was generally high (e.g. covering 80% of chalk grassland in the South Downs Environmentally Sensitive Area). However, there was evidence in some Environmentally Sensitive Areas that grassland habitats were declining in quality due to management being insufficiently tailored to biodiversity interest e.g. permitting use of inorganic fertilizers.
Maintain species-rich, semi-natural grassland
A 1997 review (Tilzey 1997) concluded that the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme made a significant contribution to halting the loss of semi-natural grasslands in England, but was less effective in enhancing and restoring grassland biodiversity. The paper made a broad assessment of the effectiveness of the scheme in protecting England’s lowland semi-natural grasslands, a decade after its introduction. Among Environmentally Sensitive Areas of greatest significance for their lowland grassland, six were of ‘outstanding’ significance (containing >40% of the English resource of a grassland type) and two were of ‘considerable’ significance (containing >10-40% of 1-2 grassland types or >5-<10% of three or more grassland types). Entry of land supporting semi-natural grassland was generally high (e.g. covering 80% of chalk grassland in the South Downs Environmentally Sensitive Area). However, there was evidence in some Environmentally Sensitive Areas that grassland habitats were declining in quality due to management being insufficiently tailored to biodiversity interest, such as permitting the use of inorganic fertilizers.
