26th January 2023 • The HERALD • Page 29 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v P M HAYDEN REMOVALS ● House Removals & Clearance ● Office Removals & Clearance ● Man & Van Service ● Covering the UK and the Channel Islands Fully Licensed & Insured Contact Paul on 07384 886889 pmhayden@hotmail.co.uk JIM GRASSICK Double Glazing Repairs • Locks • Handles • Hinges • Glass Over 40 years experience Tel: 07712 718343 Email: jamesgrassickSO45@gmail.com Put Your Repairs in Safe Hands Your Local Professional Electrician • Complete Rewires • Periodic Inspection Reports • Fault Finding & Repair • New Consumer Units • New Circuits • Central Heating Wiring • Extra Sockets/Lights • PAT Testing • No Job Too Small • Part P Registered • Fast & Efficient Service • Free Estimates Telephone Gary on 07788 865081 forestelectrical@gmail.com Cattle Return to Graze and Help Restore Secret Forest after 100 Years National Park. This scheme is a fantastic example of the collaborative work around the New Forest, ensuring our precious habitats are bigger, better and more joined-up, extra back up grazing for the Commoner’s livestock and supporting local food production.” A fantastic new woodland restoration scheme has launched at RSPB’s 1,200-acre nature reserve - Franchises Lodge - located in the north of the New Forest. e scheme has seen cattle brought in to graze the reserve’s woodlands, building a mutually- bene cial relationship between commoners, the land and the animals grazing there. Practically untouched for over a century, the woodlands at Franchises Lodge had previously been described as a ‘secret forest’ when purchased back in 2018 with contributions of £200,000 from the National Park Authority and £50,000 from the Friends of the New Forest. e area had not seen natural grazing from livestock in that time, until RSPB Site Manager Richard Snelling and New Forest commoners Andrew and Sarah Parry-Norton set out to change this. e Parry-Norton’s Ruby Devon Cows now have the privilege to be the forerunners of the reintroduction of natural grazing into the woodlands, getting rst pick of the reserve’s unmanaged growth. e presence of the cattle in turn helps maintain a healthy woodland, keeping invasive species at bay, eliminating competition for growth on the forest oor and allowing some of the Forest’s rarest and most valuable ora to ourish. “The grazing habits of the cows will play a vital part in the RSPB’s hope to restore the woodlands back to mostly broadleaf trees, helping spread the seeds and keeping back the growth of invasive plants such as rhododendron and conifers which aren’t as good for wildlife.” said Richard. Commoners need back up grazing to support their animals when they are not on the open forest Franchises provides a welcome addition to this back up land, and the Devons will now have a fresh area to munch away competition-free. It’s not just the land that bene ts from this freeroaming grazing. e more natural diet leads to healthier cows, in turn producing higher quality beef, said Andrew, who is a member of the New Forest Marque local produce scheme. “The beef producedby theDevons grazing at Franchises Lodge will have a fine texture and marbling in the meat thanks to more natural growth” he said. “This beef will then be sold stamped with the New Forest Marque which is awarded to produce which has been grown, reared, caught, brewed, produced or processed within the New Forest.” e cattle had previously been grazing in the elds in the reserve to help restore the grasslands, something that hadn’t taken place for over 30 years. e bene ts Cattle Pictured left to right – Richard Snelling (RSPB), Sarah and Andrew Parry-Norton (New Forest Commoners) are already being seen, with a wide range of wild grasses and owers returning. Paul Walton, Head of Environment and Rural Economy at the New Forest National Park Authority said: “Franchises Lodge is a key area for wildlife, linking the open Forest habitats with a nature reserve on the edge of the
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