Sugar Loaf Woodlands Special Area of Conservation

The wind finally dropped, even so the weather was not very inspiring for the hills, with extensive hill fog forecast, so a visit made to an upland wood that I hadn't visited since 2014. The wood is part of the 2,136 acres of the Sugar Loaf Mountain Common, donated to the National Trust in 1936 by Sybil Margaret Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda.  The wood is also one of 4 unit areas that comprise the Natura 2000 site, the Sugar Loaf Woodlands. A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Oak Moss (Evernia prunastri) 

As with most woods the origin and history of the oakwood can only be speculated at; its name Deri, is Welsh for Oak; the nearby town of Abergavenny has an ancient association with iron working and leather tanning, industries that required charcoal and oak bark. There are also a number of charcoal platforms of varying floor/platform area. Many of the oaks show signs of coppicing and high coppice/low pollarding. The earliest Ordnance Survey 6" to the mile map show the wood extent similar to the present woodland. Some sessile oak trees have the look and character of veteran trees, with some possibly of ancient tree status. Woodland tends to pose many questions but few definitive answers.

A sessile oak that appears of some age with regenerating woodland as a backdrop.

A closer look

I thought there would have been some evidence in the more exposed aspects of the wood of storm damage, surprisingly aside from some windblown deadwood and twigs, there was only a cleft bough as testament to winter 2015/16 storms.

A wind blown bough

On the gentler slopes wind had scoured the woodland floor revealing patterned ground, with alternating curvilinear bands of moss and leaf litter in some areas of the wood, the attentions of a mole revealed clean soil with no stone fragments. As the features appear natural and not the result of any agricultural activity I am aware of,  I would hazard a guess at solifluction or hill creep as the process. In other parts of the wood there are lobes of stone, that hint at a more extreme climate in the past.

Molehills and patterned ground

The steepness of the hill slope encourages natural layering of branches for oaks in more open aspects of the woodland.

Natural branch layering

Even in winter it is an interesting woodland to wander around.

Trees with character

As of 15th February 2008 the wood has a core management plan after the Conservation Status Condition of this wood was assessed as Unfavourable (2007), due to:

• Grazing having a strong role in preventing some of the canopy regeneration and in creating a sparser ground flora; 

• Some areas within the SAC/SSSI remain as open areas, especially on the fringe of the site. Whilst having some open areas is beneficial for a range of species, not all these open areas are of benefit to either the SAC or SSSI features; 

• The even-aged and dense canopy in much of the wooded area. This is creating very densely shaded ground, field and shrub layers and is one of the barriers to regeneration of saplings and ground flora. However, more canopy gaps would be expected in the long term as the canopy trees die, or through storm damage in the more exposed parts of the site; Canopy regeneration is a key attribute for signifying the functioning, habitat quality and sustainability of most woodland types, including sessile oak woods. The grazing within all 4 units has suppressed the regeneration of native woody species and in combination with past coppicing has resulted in a uniform age structure. The areas of Sugarloaf woodlands not subjected to continuous grazing, appear to become densely populated with saplings of all species. This may demonstrate that the main factor restricting natural regeneration of woody species in Sugar Loaf Woodlands is grazing and that current grazing levels are incompatible with sustainable semi-natural woodland at this site. The conservation objectives state that the canopy should be composed of locally native trees and, apart from a beech woodland area within Unit 1, the canopy of Sugar Loaf Woodlands is currently dominated by oak throughout. Where beech is present its seedlings tend dominate the regeneration and without management to control these locally non-native seedlings, this will further cause parts of the SAC feature to fail.

From the Action Plan : Summary of Conservation Measures

All of unit is on Sugar Loaf Common and therefore open to grazing, restricting canopy regeneration and extent and luxuriance of ground flora, very difficult to achieve "correct" grazing levels with current tools available. 

I can find no further updates or reports subsequent to the 2008 report.

A Special Area of Conservation has legal protection to ensure that habitat is maintained in a favourable condition. However, the woodland falls within an area of common land, that allows registered members of the Sugarloaf Commoners Association (SCA) to graze animals on the Sugar Loaf Mountain common. A record exists in the Commons Register of a Commons Commissioner Decision dated 1988 "In the matter of Sugar Loaf Mountain Common, Llantillo Pertholey and Llanfoist Fawr Communities and Abergavenny Town, Monmouth District, Gwent." Relating to registrations disputes made under the Commons Registration Act 1965. The following is a screen shot copied from the document.

The Commons Commissioner report raises a few questions not addressed in the hearing, notably the Sugarloaf Commoners Association enthusiasm in 1988 to inflate the numbers of registered grazing sheep from an already unsustainable number of ~15,000 to 18,643, grazing 2,136 acres of land. The Commoners Association were notified by a letter produced in evidence that the woodland was registered as a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1985. Judging by a sampling of Decision reports in Commons Registers, the Commons Commissioner was unusually active in the 1980's ruling on Commons Registration disputes, noting the area of Common Land and the surprising numbers of livestock registered under Common grazing rights.

I am uncertain how much common land there is in Europe, but in Wales 8.4% of land is registered common or 175,000 Hectares and in England 3% of land is registered common or 370,000 Hectares.

The New Naturalist book 'The Common Lands of England and Wales' provides an insight into the history and rights associated with common land. The origin of common land is unknown with some suggestions of common land originating in Roman, Iron age, Bronze age or in the Neolithic. The rights of commoners to common land is complex and has even proved challenging to the authority of reigning Monarchs imposing their will.

In June 2006 The State of Common Land in Wales - an indicative study was issued by RSPB Cymru. The following extracts are from the Report Executive Summary

Reform of the management of common land in England and Wales is currently being considered in Westminster and new legislation is expected to follow. Reform has been driven primarily by (i) the need to secure attainment of the UK Government’s target to have over 95% of SSSIs by area in England in favourable condition by 2010 and (ii) the wish to facilitate entry by commoners into agri-environment schemes, and so help secure the sustainable agriculture management of common land in general. 

Various reports in the last fifteen years have set out the need for improved management and protection of our common land; however, there are few current data available to give a clear view of the condition of commons in Wales. This report is an attempt to collate sources on common land in Wales and to assess the state of a small number of commons in Wales. These commons are not a representative sample of commons in Wales; rather, they are presented as a series of illustrative case studies. We also draw some conclusions for the implementation of the new legislation in Wales. 

The report provided an insight into the correlation between common land and protected habitats

45% (79,000 ha) of common land is designated as SSSI
There are 57 SSSIs in Wales that are wholly or mostly (80% - 100% by area) on common land344 commons in Wales that are 80% - 100% by area SSSIs

From information available on 38 of the 57 SSSI's that were wholly or mostly (80% - 100% by area) on common land the following was reported :

• 71 Species Features of the SSSI - 1 was in a Favourable Condition, 3 were in Unfavourable Condition and 67 were in an Unknown Condition
• 85 Habitat Features of the SSSI - 17 were in a Favourable Condition, 39 were in Unfavourable Condition and 29 were in an Unknown Condition

In 2006 UK Legislation was introduced in the form of the Commons Act 2006. The Welsh Government implementation of the 2006 Commons Act appears to be progressing at a pace commensurate with the scale and complexity of Common Land in Wales and in 2012 issued some guidance on frequently asked questions of Section 46 Unauthorised Agricultural Activities. There are also incentives in place for commoners to manage the land to ensure favourable conservation status of SAC/SSSI features and it now remains to be seen if the Unfavourable Condition of Sugar Loaf Woodlands SAC woods improves to a Favourable Condition.