Conservation & Ecology
Conservation products
WoodStone® Swift Nest Box 90617
Insect Hotel 92050
Nuthatch in an abandoned woodpecker hole
serotinus) have been observed roosting in abandoned woodpecker holes. However, if you are lucky enough to have either of these bats in your woodland then it will become nigh on impossible to remove the tree, as both these bats are protected by law. Alternatively, if the tree did
not have any bats and had to be cut down because of health and safety concerns, then why not stack it as an eco-pile as close to its original location as possible. The woodpecker’s holes would then be used by members of the mouse family or maybe, as mentioned earlier, small birds, including wren and willow tit.
Conclusion
The chaps on the links courses will no doubt read this and think that it offers absolutely no assistance whatsoever “because we don’t have any trees!” I have to agree with that statement, but eco-piles can be made in your own garden, if you wish. I have a few in mine that I made from an awful leylandii I ‘had’ growing and they are decomposing nicely, thank you very much. Although I must admit that I have seen a rise in earwigs, woodlice and spiders of late, which is something I haven't mentioned to Mrs H! As with all wildlife, whether
it’s on a golf course, sportsground or within intensely managed woodlands, there is the need to keep the equilibrium balanced correctly. What I mean is that, if you remove all the decaying timber from the floor, then you remove
a significant amount of food from the web, including the soil food web. On the other hand, if you create too much, then you run the risk of introducing too much of a certain type of wildlife which, therefore, becomes unsustainable. The trick is to create a habitat where sport and wildlife can live together in congruence. Eco- piles are just one way in which we can achieve this, so what do you have to lose? This article is brief and in no
way exhaustive, but I just wanted to introduce you to eco- piles and how they are an option for your fallen timber on your sportsground.
About the author: James Hutchinson is currently Fairhaven Golf Club’s Ecology Manager and a former Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year. James has been instrumental in winning awards in the BIGGA Golf Ecology Competition (2007 and 2008) and also the Golf Course Environment Awards (2009, 10, 12 and 13) for Fairhaven. James is the proud holder of both an FdSc and a BSc (Hons) degree and is also an R&A scholar. He currently sits on BIGGA’s panel of experts regarding environmental matters on the golf course and is currently in the process of joining the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. He is in the early stages of developing his own eco consultancy and offers a range of eco solutions relating to golf courses and sportsgrounds. For further information on James’
consultancy and a snippet of his work please contact him via email:
jameshutchinson38@googlemail.com or 07590 512749.
PC APRIL/MAY 2014 I 99
Specialist wildlife products to protect and enhance
biodiversity, including build-in and external WoodStone® boxes for birds and bats.
For more information please visit
www.birdfood.co.uk/pitch or call 01743 708022
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