Provision of 60x 'no fence' cattle collars for the Lizard NNR

Descriptions

60 GPS cattle collars are required for the Lizard NNR to be used by a grazier as part of his higher tier agreement. The compartment totals 261 hectares and is a diverse mix of coastal grassland, lowland heath, ephemeral pools and ponds, wildflower meadows with some patches of scrubby Willow dominated wet woodland. Recent efforts from a large project have undertaken considerable habitat management in the form of winter heathland burns as well as the removal of most of the historical interior fences to graze the compartment as one large unit. Up to 60 cattle graze the site from late May to October and having GPS collars on each animal will considerably improve our ability to selectively graze specific areas at the right times. For example, recently burnt heathland becomes far more floristically diverse in the longer term if it is grazed in the early summer -reducing dominant grass growth such as Mollinia whilst also increasing the amount of bare ground and niches for rare invertebrates. On top of this, proper grazing pressure of burnt heathland reduces the need to burn so frequently going forward.

Additionally, the coastal grassland and wildflower meadows would benefit greatly from staying ungrazed until at least July to allow the majority of spring and summer flowers to go to seed before livestock can access them. Given the location of this compartment to one of the most popular coves in West Cornwall (Kynance Cove) and the sheer number of visitors during August in particular it would also add a flexible safety element to grazing if it was required by pulling cattle off the coast path section for the summer holidays.