RSPB Scotland manages over 72,500 ha across 79 reserves, making up about half of the RSPB’s total UK land holding. Many of our reserves in Scotland are on legally protected sites: this means nature is protected from damage and there are also obligations to manage protected sites in the best way possible for nature. As we face a climate and nature emergency, there is a significant opportunity to make Scotland’s network of protected areas better for wildlife and to enable key habitats to thrive.
Through funding from the LIFE programme of the European Union, NatureScot and other funders and supporters, LIFE 100% for Nature has enabled us to trial and implement innovative conservation techniques across 11 reserves, carefully selected for their internationally important wildlife and habitats. The project aims to not only improve biodiversity on RSPB Scotland reserves, but also to share evidence, techniques and learnings to promote use of conservation practices within wider protected areas that will benefit nature, climate and people in the long run.
One of the RSPB Scotland reserves included in the LIFE 100% for Nature project is at Mersehead: located on Scotland’s south-west coast and within the Solway Firth Special Protection Area (SPA) and Solway Firth Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The SPA is an important wintering ground, supporting a large number of bird species such as Svalbard barnacle geese and other birds of European importance. As well as being significant for bird species, Mersehead also has important habitat for rare natterjack toads, which live in the sandy dune areas of the reserve.
Threats to the dunes
Over the years invasive scrub and herbs have become overgrown on the dune system. If left unchecked, the scrub takes over and would eventually become woodland, impacting on the scarce dune-dependent flowering plants and making the area less favourable for rare amphibians like natterjack toads. Through LIFE 100% for Nature, we’ve delivered the first phase of work to remove the majority of the scrub. A local contractor used machinery to pull out large areas of invasive Japanese rose (Rosa rugosa) and other plants like gorse and broom that can be tricky to remove in other ways.
Conservation grazing
We know that these invasive plant species can quickly recolonise and spread again, so the second phase of the project relies on the help of some four-legged friends: hardy local cattle! Working with our neighbouring grazier, we introduced a small herd of 5 cows and their calves onto the dunes between July and September 2022. They will graze and trample sections of the dune, and we hope their grazing will keep the scrub in check over time. The cows have other benefits too, like creating bare areas of sand, providing a food source for invertebrates through their dung and encouraging more dune plant diversity.
“What you can see on the ground is where their hooves have been, where they’ve grazed some of the vegetation, and where they’ve made bare areas of sand in the dune”
– Colin Bartholomew, RSPB Scotland Mersehead Site Manager
Virtual fencing
The nature of the exposed dune system, and changing weather and tides, means that having a physical fence in the dune area is not practical. To ensure the cows are kept in the right place, for our conservation grazing needs and for their own safety, we needed to find a different solution. This is where using a ‘virtual fencing’ system called NoFence has been an innovative approach to grazing in the challenging dune environment. A virtual boundary, or pasture, is drawn using a mobile app, which can be done remotely and enable us to manage where the cows can go. The pasture can be created to exclude areas, such as ditches or particularly sensitive habitat to be avoided, or focus on areas to achieve an optimum vegetation height to benefit particular species. Each adult cow wears a collar which picks up the signal of where the virtual fence boundary has been drawn, using GPS.
Before the cows enter the virtual pasture, they are trained in a familiar location, such as the fields where they usually graze, to ensure that they understand how to stay within a virtual pasture and know where the boundary is. If a cow starts to cross the virtual fence, a series of musical noises or warning sounds are emitted to warn the cow, increasing in pitch as they leave the pasture. The cows are trained to recognise this noise and associate it with the edge of the grazing area. If a cow ignores the warnings and escapes from the virtual pasture, they are given a small electric pulse – lower than that of a standard electric fence. This technology is being used increasingly around the UK, transforming how grazing can be delivered in challenging environments without the need to install expensive or inadequate physical fencing. RSPB uses best practice management for livestock welfare, and the system is used in partnership with our local grazier at Mersehead, who also has access to the NoFence system. The technology enables the site team and grazier to track each animal in real-time, to monitor where they are and which areas are being grazed.
“The technology gives us the autonomy to move the animals as and when we want to, not just for conservation benefits but also as a safety net, so on a high tide or if there are dangerous conditions out here we can move the animals to a safe point. Just by moving your fingers around the app on the screen.”
Looking ahead
Now that our first year of grazing is complete, we will review the area the cows were in, and undertake monitoring to understand the impact of the cattle grazing on the scrub and dune vegetation. Data from the NoFence app can inform us about the virtual pasture and help us refine the conservation grazing approach for future years. For example, if the cattle tend to avoid a certain section of the dune or if there are any other areas we want to exclude from the next virtual pasture. Over the next few years, we hope to have an annual regime of grazing over the summer months. A perfect partnership to help the important dune system to thrive.
We’re keen to show how this technology could help other land managers benefit nature, so if you are interested in a visit to Mersehead to hear more about our conservation grazing, please contact: nicola.scott@rspb.org.uk
You can watch a short film about the project at Mersehead here, and also keep up to date with other developments across the LIFE 100% for Nature sites here.