4 - Cheviots : Detailed Statements of Environmental Opportunity

This section expands on the Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity and provides further detail on each of the Statements of Environmental Opportunity.

SEO 1

SEO 1: Conserve, restore and enhance the blanket bog, wet heath, mire and other upland habitats of the Cheviots to ensure that they provide a well-functioning ecosystem that will be more resilient to climate change, reduce the loss of greenhouse gases and increase their ability to sequester further carbon, support nationally and internationally important species of wildlife, and further enhance the regulation of water quality, water flow and soil erosion, while maintaining the highly valued sense of wilderness, tranquillity and dark night skies.

For example by:

• Maintaining and restoring the moorland mosaic (including blanket bog, mires, flushes, wet heath and acid grassland) by securing sustainable grazing and heather-burning regimes which ensure diverse vegetative cover. This will help to conserve the important habitats and species, maintain soil and water quality, regulate water flow, reduce soil erosion, maintain carbon storage and promote sequestration, while continuing to support livestock farming and grouse shooting.
• Restoring areas of blanket bog and encouraging active peat formation by grip blocking to raise water levels where necessary, re-vegetating bare areas and encouraging the establishment of sphagnum to achieve a healthy and functioning peat bog. This should improve the soil’s capacity to store carbon and water, thereby helping to regulate water quality and contributing to climate regulation.
• Seeking opportunities provided by the restructuring of conifer plantations to remove trees from areas of deep peat, blanket bog, mire and wet heath, with compensatory planting of broadleaved woodland in more appropriate places.
• Working with farmers to ensure that grazing levels are appropriate to the site to maintain and enhance the condition of habitats: reducing stock levels in some areas, increasing numbers in others, and promoting grazing with hardy cattle, particularly on the extensive areas of grass fell. This should create a patchwork of habitats that will contribute to supporting and enhancing populations of upland waders, ring ouzel and black grouse.
• Managing sheep-grazing levels to protect and enhance the rare Arctic-alpine flora that is found on the andesite crags and ledges on the northern face of the Cheviots.
• Promoting rush management on lower stretches of the Cheviots Hills through cutting and/or cattle grazing, which is particularly important for upland breeding waders such as curlew, redshank and golden plover.
• Encouraging landowners and managers to manage the wild goat population in a sustainable way that prevents overgrazing but maintains a viable population of this rare breed.
• Preventing and responding quickly to uncontrolled wildfires through a collaborative fire control plan.
• Promoting management of bracken to improve the diversity of the moorland mosaic and reduce damage by encroachment, especially where it is affecting below ground archaeology and upland habitats.
• Encouraging and managing responsible and appropriate recreational use to minimise soil erosion, damage to archaeology, disturbance of wildlife and the risk of wildfires, and to protect the sense of tranquillity, while increasing understanding and enjoyment of the moorland environment.
• Minimising damage to semi-natural habitats and preserving the open vistas, sense of tranquillity and remoteness by carefully considering the impacts of any proposed built structures and tracks on the landscape, biodiversity, tranquillity and dark night skies.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Protect, manage and conserve the distinctive geological environment and the rich historic environment with its wealth of archaeological and built heritage assets, encouraging further research to improve understanding of the landscape and its cultural development, promoting access to, interpretation of and education about these valuable resources.

For example by:

• Identifying and protecting the special geological, glacial and postglacial features of this area, exploiting opportunities to accurately record geological sections in order to further knowledge and understanding of the local geology and geomorphology, and encouraging the designation of local geological sites.
• Encouraging and developing opportunities for earth science research to widen our understanding of the geodiversity of the area, particularly the important phase of igneous activity in the evolution of the British Isles, and processes such as ice-sheet evolution, dynamics of ice streams and cold-based ice preservation of summit forms such as tors.
• Improving access to and providing imaginative interpretation of geological sites and features, including designated sites and quarries, and exploring the possibility of geo-trails, to enhance the public’s understanding and enjoyment of the area.
• Encouraging sympathetic land management and use to protect the wealth of archaeological features from damage by people, livestock, land management practices and encroachment by bracken and scrub.
• Conserving and interpreting the historic landscapes which often contain evidence of multi-period occupation, recognising the exceptionally high potential in this area for identifying further archaeological evidence of settlement and use, and encouraging further research to identify these.
• Seeking opportunities to improve access to key historic sites, including those which act as local focal points and reinforce local distinctiveness in each of the valleys, and providing imaginative and clear interpretation to enhance the public’s enjoyment and understanding of the area.
• Maintaining the pattern of traditional landscape elements including stone walls, hedges, woodlands and traditional farm buildings which contribute to the character of the Cheviots.
• Encouraging the restoration of Scheduled Ancient Monuments, historic buildings such as bastles, traditional farm buildings and drystone walls, using local building materials and techniques where possible, and ensuring that new and re-developments respect the historic settlement patterns and reflect the local farmstead vernacular in terms of building materials, scale and location.

SEO 3

SEO 3: Manage and enhance the important upland and sheltered valley habitats associated with the Till and Coquet rivers and tributaries to ensure good water quality, improve habitat connectivity and resilience to climate change, protect the nationally and nternationally important species of wildlife that they support, strengthen landscape character and contribute to the regulation of water flow.

For example by:

• Preserving and restoring natural fluvial processes and morphology, recognising the importance of the dynamic nature of the rivers which provide the wildlife and landscape interest.
• Promoting land management practices that reduce or prevent water pollution, such as updating sheep-dipping facilities and managing flocks to minimise pollution from sheep dipping, managing stock movements and, where appropriate, fencing watercourses to reduce erosion of banks.
• Ensuring that the application of manure/fertiliser is at appropriate levels/times/locations, introducing buffer strips along watercourses where appropriate, encouraging good soil management and carrying out land management operations in appropriate weather conditions.
• Securing sustainable moorland grazing and heather-burning regimes that do not damage the peaty soils or associated habitats.
• Encouraging the restoration of wetland systems, in particular blanket bog, to achieve good vegetative cover that will improve water interception and storage and reduce soil erosion.
• Managing, expanding and connecting the fragmented relict woodland and scrub in the steep-sided valleys, particularly alder, ash, oak, hazel and juniper woodland and gorse scrub, creating more ecologically robust habitat networks, re-establishing important wildlife corridors, strengthening the character of these key landscape features, improving water infiltration, stabilising banks and reducing soil erosion.
• Restoring and enhancing the traditional hay meadows of unimproved and colourful herb-rich grassland which survive in the Coquet valley by encouraging later cutting dates and aftermath grazing, supporting traditional hay-making and avoiding the use of artificial fertilisers.
• Ensuring the planting and felling of conifer plantations does not contribute to the sedimentation load or acidification of watercourses and that the implications for biodiversity and landscape character of felling and replanting schemes are considered.
• Continuing to monitor the spread of invasive species and to control as appropriate; Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and signal crayfish are all problematic in the lower stretches of the Till and Coquet catchments and signal crayfish in particular have the potential to spread upstream.
• Ensuring populations of the European Protected and Biodiversity Action Plan species found in the rivers and streams such as otter, freshwater pearl mussel, brook and river lamprey, Atlantic salmon, water crowfoot, river jelly lichen and the diatom Didymosphenia are maintained and increased by improving water quality, controlling nonnative invasive species and enhancing riparian habitats.
• Ensuring that the streams and rivers continue to support high quality angling, and exploring opportunities to enhance the amenity provided by the watercourses and valleys for other recreational pursuits such as wildlife watching, encouraging the quiet enjoyment of these resources without detriment to the designated features and habitats.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Protect, restore and extend native woodland cover by managing existing woodland, restructuring and increasing the broadleaved component of conifer plantations, and restoring woodland in the cleughs. This will improve habitat connectivity, enhance landscape value, improve water quality and soil erosion, manage water flow, contribute to climate change mitigation, and provide timber and wood fuel.

For example by:

• Protecting existing semi-natural woodland and scrub, securing management that ensures their long-term survival and productivity, to increase carbon capture, improve water infiltration and soil protection and enhance diversity interest while strengthening landscape character, contributing to sense of place and increasing the local provision of wood fuel where access permits.
• Seeking opportunities to restore and expand relict areas of alder, oak, ash, juniper and hazel woodland and gorse scrub in the cleughs, controlling grazing to encourage regeneration and improving connectivity by linking fragments of ancient semi-natural woodland and helping stabilise river banks.
• Exploring opportunities for large-scale planting of oak and ash woodland, creating areas of woodland that extend from the valley bottoms up onto the hillsides as one of the preferred approaches to managing flood risk in downstream NCAs, increasing water infiltration, stabilising soils and increasing carbon capture while potentially increasing the provision of wood fuel. New planting must take account of the impact on the smooth, rounded lines and open vistas that are characteristic of this area, and avoid areas of deep peat and damage to significant archaeological sites.
• Encouraging further restructuring of conifer plantations, ‘softening’ their outlines to make them less obtrusive in the landscape, increasing the proportion of broadleaf trees and improving heterogeneity by introducing open spaces. However, manage key plantations for red squirrels: in areas designated as red squirrel reserves (Kidland and Uswayford) or that buffer these reserves, the clear-felling of areas and replanting with large-seeded deciduous species should be avoided and grey squirrels should be controlled to maximise the chances of red squirrels persisting in this NCA.
• Using opportunities presented by the felling of conifer plantations to restore native broadleaved woodland where appropriate, or priority open habitats such as grassland and heath with compensatory planting elsewhere.
• Identifying the occurrence of ash dieback and potentially resistant trees, working collaboratively to control the spread of the disease and managing woodlands to improve their resilience to it.
• Encouraging access to and appropriate recreational uses of forests and woodlands and extending access into new areas where appropriate.

Additional opportunity 1

Additional opportunity 1: Improve public enjoyment and understanding of this wild and remote landscape, enabling people to experience the peace and beauty of the area and learn more about its biological, geological and archaeological assets while managing visitor pressure to conserve the highly valued tranquility and protect the extensive semi-natural habitats.

For example by:

• Promoting, protecting, managing and enhancing the extensive network of public rights of way, creating more links to the Pennine Way, St Cuthbert’s Way and open access land, improving signage, parking and other facilities where appropriate, providing clear interpretation on access to the Otterburn military training area, and ensuring that paths and tracks do not become eroded.
• Improving access to and providing imaginative interpretation of key geological and archaeological sites to improve people’s appreciation and enjoyment of the area and strengthen their connections with the landscape. Encourage the use of these resources for education and research.
• Continuing to engage the public in innovative activities that enable them to experience, enjoy and learn more about the wildlife of the area.
• Encouraging voluntary groups and local people to help with monitoring wildlife and detecting the impacts of climate change.
• Enhancing access opportunities for less mobile people, such as wheelchair users and people with pushchairs, and encouraging and facilitating recreational and educational visits by groups such as ethnic minorities that are poorly represented among visitor numbers.
• Encouraging and promoting the continued production of traditional food products such as lamb, mutton, beef and game, using methods that support a healthy moorland environment and marketing them with reference to the special landscapes that their production helps to maintain.
• Supporting farmers, craftspeople and other primary industries to make and market high-quality products that reflect local identity, bringing socio-economic benefits to local communities.
• Ensuring that the remoteness, tranquillity and dark night skies are maintained by avoiding inappropriate development of built structures, incorporating careful lighting design in developments both in this and adjacent NCAs, and removing redundant structures.