Ardvar Woodland SAC - Update

Following a visit in December 2015, I posted in January 2016 about why a woodland categorised as a Special Area of Conservation. is judged to be in an unfavourable declining condition due to 'overgrazing by large herbivores'. The post covered some history, background, news stories, articles, letters, quotes etc and ended -

It will be interesting to view the agreed Deer Management Plan covering the Ardvar woodland SAC and in a few years time visit to view what effect the deer management plan has on woodland regeneration.

A year on it seems appropriate for an update.

Natura 2000 Ardvar woods map - Special Area of Conservation

Firstly a clarification on nomenclature: The Ardvar woodland SAC area also covers the areas designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest SSSI, both are legally protected.

Illustration from the Deer Management in Scotland: Report to the Scottish Government http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/corporate/DeerManReview2016.pdf

16.6.2016 Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) issue a report Deer Management on the Assynt peninsula and of particular interest is the report background and an authorative timeline of events.

Background
6. The woodlands of Ardvar SSSI and SAC, notified for upland birch woodland and old, sessile, oakwood habitats respectively, are in unfavourable condition as a result of prolonged grazing pressure from red deer. This has led to an impoverished ground flora, poor age structure with senescent trees and little regeneration beyond seedling stage. The condition of the woodland has been unfavourable declining since formal monitoring began in 2004. A woodland age-profile study (Beck, 2007) indicated that much of the woodland was in urgent need of action to secure regeneration. In 2010 marked seeding monitoring suggested that a high level of deer damage was still occurring and that management measures put in place were not being effective. A recent survey (Clements, March 2015) shows that there has been a slight improvement recently in habitat condition with pulses of growth to sapling stage. These comprise approximately 15 - 20 hectares (5 - 7%) locally in pockets across the site and within the three main ownerships (although concentrated around Loch Nedd to the west of the site). However this is in areas that are fairly inaccessible to deer and the overall condition of the designated woodland remains unfavourable declining. 

Annex 4: Timeline
2008 - Woodland Profile Survey - highlights herbivore pressure at Ardvar.
2009 - Voluntary Section 7 Control Agreement (S.7) over 5 years established by the Deer
Commission for Scotland (DCS) between Ardvar Estate and John Muir Trust (JMT). (Assynt Crofters Trust) ACT declined to participate.
2012 - agreement breaks down and is deemed to have failed.
May 2013 - all three properties invited to join new S.7. Agreement is not secured and a
subsequent attempt at professional mediation also fails.
Early 2014 - Minister for Environment Paul Wheelhouse MSP informed that mediation
attempts between JMT and Ardvar Estate had failed and case was heading towards
imposition of a Section 8 Control Scheme (S.8).
May 2014 - SNH Board agreed Management Team’s preferred option to move the woods
into unfavourable recovering condition. Involved series of fenced exclosures on all three
properties accompanied by a S.7 across the whole of the APSG area. Key feature of
proposed approach was that it would address the long term woodland management needs
after fencing was removed. Accepted that if this was declined, S.8 may be required at some stage to implement proposed management solution. SNH Board wished message to be promoted to all parties and to include a clear steer about the possible use of Land
Management Orders and S.8.
September 2014 - relations re-established with the three properties; native woodland
adviser contracted to develop Woodland Management Plan, including fencing proposals.
March 2015 - Woodland Management Plan and fencing proposals agreed; negotiations
commenced for implementation of fencing plans with property owners (and crofting common grazing occupiers).
June/July 2015 - Assynt Peninsula Steering Group (APSG) failed to secure agreement for a Deer Management Plan across the wider Assynt peninsula amid disagreement within the group and between the group and SNH.
August 2015 - we notified our intention to seek a S.7 signalling the start of a statutory 6 month consultation period in which to secure a voluntary Agreement. Three months into the consultation, reservations about the S.7 process and distrust between parties was signalling that it would be difficult to get agreement.
October 2015 - SNH provided Environment Minister Dr Aileen Macleod MSP with a briefing on Ardvar situation in advance of giving evidence to the Parliament's RACCE Committee on the deer provisions within the Land Reform Bill.
November 2015 - SNH Chairman met with representatives of ACT to listen to concerns over S7 and explore underlying reasons. Chairman met separately with owner of Ardvar Estate later that month to listen to his views and concerns. Chairman also had dialogue with JMT over the Ardvar situation in August 2015 at a stakeholder meeting.
January 2016 - SNH Chairman and Director of Operations briefed the Environment Minister.
February 2016 - by end of the 6 month period we had only 3 signatories; broad consensus with S.7 underlying aims and objectives but members unwilling to commit until after a spring deer count.
March 2016 - count maps, figures and proposed cull targets provided to APSG. Members
again asked to sign S.7 but this yielded no additional signatories.
28 April 2016 - final attempt to get parties to sign S.7 to enable the SNH Board to consider whether further regulatory action required under S.8. No further signatures received and remainder confirmed their opposition to signing S.7.

Birch wood, Ardvar SAC ~2015

28.6.2016 Scottish Natural Heritage posted a blog: Deer Management on the Assynt peninsula

30.6.2016 the 160th Scottish Natural Heritage Board Meeting discussed the Assynt Peninsula Deer Management and the open session minutes indicate that after some discussion it was agreed to

".. allow Assynt Peninsula Sub-Group (ASPG) a further ten months to demonstrate that it can manage the deer population collaboratively through the voluntary approach." With "two additional conditions, that an update on progress and delivery is presented to the Board in November 2016 and that SNH will reserve the right for early regulatory intervention if necessary."

On the same day SNH issued a press release - Last chance for Assynt deer management group

In October 2016 Scottish Natural Heritage issued Deer Management in Scotland: Report to the Scottish Government. Unsurprisingly Ardvar stands out as a notable failure to manage the deer population for conservation.

Deer Management in Scotland: Report to the Scottish Government 

In November 2016 Deer Management on the Assynt peninsula: Update on Progress report was issued.

November 24th 2016 The John Muir Trust generally welcomed the SNH Deer Management report to the Scottish Government. The JMT have previously written about the enthusiasm of Sporting Estates for high deer populations and the conflict of interest with conservation.

Ardvar SAC / Loch Nedd SSSI ~ 2008

On 6.1.2017 The Assynt Crofters Trust issued Response by the Assynt Crofters’ Trust (ACT) to the SNH Report ‘DeerManagement in Scotland’. The ACT employed a 'consultant' who sadly seems to have missed the salient point that the Ardvar woodland SAC designation is for its remnant old oak woodland :

91A0 Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles. This complex of woods represents old sessile oak woods at the extreme north of its range in Scotland. The site includes the extensive and diverse Ardvar Woodlands, which are mainly birch-dominated with oak throughout, and the woodland at Loch a’Mhuilinn, the other component of this complex, to the north, which has small areas dominated by oak. The area of woodland at Loch a’Mhuilinn lies on the north-west coast of Sutherland near sea level where the effects of exposure on the growth form of some of the oaks are particularly well-demonstrated. The oaks are of special interest because they are the most northern remnant of native oak woodland in the British Isles. Both sites are very important rich oceanic bryophyte sites with good examples of the macrolichen Lobarion community. 

The absence of oak saplings or signs of oak regeneration from the 'consultants' report at least provides further evidence to underpin the SNH condition monitoring reports of an unfavourable declining condition for the Ardvar complex of woods. No doubt the SNH will point that out to the ACT in due course.

A rare oak, Ardvar SAC ~ 2015

Hopefully the SNH will also report in due course on the success of the Assynt Peninsula Deer Management Plan for the Ardvar woods.

Ne'er cast a cloot till May be oot

Atmospheric highlands

A weeks holiday in Strontian, in the West Highlands of Scotland and a fickle jet stream unerringly changed its track to line up Atlantic lows with accompanying wind and rain, directly at the West Highlands, sigh. Still, I had plans in place to cover all eventualities, I'll also mention that the oh so cunning planning had failed to anticipate the effect on flora of a spell of below average temperatures and dry weather in late April and early May, deeper sigh.

Temperate rainforest

After an early start from the Forest of Dean, we arrived at Glencoe for midday to take in the scenery, stretch the legs and do some spring flora 'ground truthing' with an excursion up into the Coire Gabhail (Lost Valley).  The rain started as we crossed the footbridge over the River Coe. Still, at least the Allt Coire Gabhail was fordable, unlike on a previous visit.

Coire Gabhail (Lost valley)

The flora 'ground truthing' revealed early dog-violets, with wood sorrel and anemones in flower in the woodland below the landslide, but up into the Lost Valley and a more montane microclimate with only early dog-violet's and the emerging leaves of alpine lady's mantle and saxifrage. Aside from savouring the scenery, the excursion showed the effect of a delayed spring and any aspiration of photographing highland alpine/arctic flora was shelved for this trip. It probably explains why June/July is scheduled for paid and guided alpine botanising tours in the highlands.

Atmospheric Glen

The holiday accommodation was excellent with views over Loch Sunart to the Morvern hills giving a pretty good idea of wind direction and strength by the Loch surface and visual indication of the cloud base for a real time hill weather forecast. During the week, I could peer out the window at dawn, take in the view, reset the alarm clock and go back to sleep. The Mountain Weather Information Service forecasts held hope only for those aspiring to practise micro navigation skills in challenging weather and little hope for summit photography, so that ruled out the high summit potential itineraries, unusually for Scotland there wasn't a single dawn that warranted a photographic excursion from a hill summit and dusk excursions were likewise curtailed. Nonetheless, the plan had woodland, glens and minor summits to explore, with 'lichenscapes' and geology as a last photographic resort and I chalked up some brownie points accompanying Nic on wildlife spotting excursions. Wildlife sightings always add something to the Highland experience and this trips highlights being a Golden Eagle hovering about 60m away on a low hill col and a Pine Marten ambling across the road on a return journey from a fruitless vigil for Otters at a hide.

River Strontian 

During the week, winds were fresh from the North and West with accompanying windchill and combined with a warm May sun meant in the space of minutes you could go from full on winter wear and gloves to keep warm and dry, to a base layer to keep cool, a notable feature of the holiday was the number of stops to put on or pull off clothing and rainwear, as the weather changed.

Cladonia diversa

The determining factor for outdoor photography is the wind strength, some effects can be mitigated against, but sustained exposure to strong winds have a dispiriting effect on ambition and with low angled rain it makes a demoralising combination. On higher ground the combination of wind and rain, can generate advection fog, upslope fog or a lowering of the cloud base, all of which make for poor visibility and a signal it is time to descend. In woodland and flower photogeaphy any wind is problematic.  So the wind effectively determines where a day will be spent and for the holiday week it wasn't at altitude or on west/north facing slopes, the sheltered glens and SE facing aspects were visited.

Where the Highlands score so highly as a photography destination is the combination of scenery and lighting courtesy of changeable weather. Weather which provides the atmosphere, air clarity and rain that brings out vivid colour in the landscape and streams cascading down hill and valley sides. Even on a miserable day, there's the tantalising prospect of some dramatic fleeting light.

The Morvern and Loch Sunart oak woods are classed as temperate rainforest, the high rainfall and humidity, create a habitat where moss and lichen communities thrive, producing a woodland with no little visual appeal and are well suited to photography in the rain. Which was just as well given the weather.

Ariundle oakwood

The highlands as a photography destination, often frustrate due to the vagaries of weather, but that's their intrinsic nature and a big part of their enduring appeal.

Ardgour Hills