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Cornwall nature reserve blighted by dog mess28/04/2009 23:26:49
Churchtown Community Nature Reserve view to Antony Passage, credit Peter Kent April 2009. Churchtown Farm Community Nature Reserve managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Friends of Churchtown Farm is a real gem in Saltash for locals and tourists alike but the actions of a minority are making the management of this important community resource ever more difficult. The 150 acre reserve (60 hectare), which lies within the Tamar Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is mostly made up of hay meadows and arable fields which are planted with crops designed to attract wildlife, but is also host to woodland, wetland, scrub, shoreline mudflats and an extensive network of hedgerows. The Reserve has an extensive network of footpaths which criss-cross the site, offering fantastic views of the Rivers Lyhner and Tamar, one very important path, the disabled access trail, is suffering from a particularly unpleasant problem, dog mess. The path runs from top of Church Lane in a westerly direction then turns south following the boundary of two arable fields and provides approximately a quarter of a mile of roughly surfaced access trial for wheel chair users. East Cornwall Reserves Officer Dave Salmon, a dog owner himself, says "Dog walking is a hugely popular activity on the reserve, and while Cornwall Wildlife Trust welcomes considerate dog walkers a minority of inconsiderate people are seriously spoiling the fun of other visitors". He continues, "Although this path has had problems with being washed out by the rain, and still requires maintenance it provides a unique opportunity for wheel chair users to gain access to the countryside". "Not only is it an unpleasant experience for people to walk down a path covered in dog mess, it causes problems for other dog owners by passing on worms and can be a serious human health risk in the form of Toxicaris, a disease that can cause blindness in people". A number of dog bins are provided at key access points to the site, making it very easy for people to pick up after their dog and deposit the mess in a bin. The problem with dog mess is not just restricted to this path, with people walking the whole site inevitably dogs will relieve themselves in the middle of the fields. To many people this may not seem to be a problem, however an integral part of the management of the reserve is to revert the improved grass fields to traditional hay meadows. Cause of abortion in cattle Dog owners are also being reminded that although dogs can be walked across the entire reserve some areas do have a dogs on leads restriction between May and September. The restricted areas are highlighted by a small green sign at the access points and are areas which are particularly valuable for wildlife. Ground nesting birds disturbed The message from the Trust is simple, please come, enjoy the reserve but pick up after your dog and please respect the wildlife.
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I note that dragonsgemcat could be Ms Gillian Miller, 51 of Berkshire, and a commentator amongst other things on a preference for fake fur and discrimination against Israel. Simple research by Ms Miller would have shown her that I am Dr Mark Fisher, and that I very much understand the hegemony of cultural landscapes in contemporary "nature conservation" orthodoxy, embedded as it is in the UKBAP, and in the SSSI system of protected areas. I don't agree with this inexorable bias, and an increasing number of ordinary people, not shackled to this orthodoxy, are vehementally questioning it when they are also dismissed as having no understanding - see
www.self-willed-land.org.uk/heath_madness.htm
Posted by: Mark Fisher | 01 May 2009 10:19:55
No-one is asking anybody to control dog's bodily functions but to clean up behing them, as they should do in the street. They also expect that dogs, as well as humans, should not disturb wildlife while they are mating, brooding or breeding and raising young. Plants should be left alone and not picked, dug up or trodden on.
This is a simple basic courtesy so that all people can enjoy the undoubted beauty of this nature reserve and that as much as possible can be saved and preserved for our future.
Mr/Ms Fisher obviously has no understanding of how the old fashioned farms worked and how useful they were to certain wildlife such as mice, kestrels or butterflies to name 3 of a very wide range. All forms of countryside needs to be preserved from the old-fashioned farms to woods, heathland, fenland etc.... each holds its own treasures.
We do need to be careful how we preserve these wonders and careful studies need to be made continuously to ensure that the best use and preservation is being made of each wild and man managed space.
Posted by: dragonsgemcat | 30 Apr 2009 20:45:42
I wonder how Dave intends to control the bodily functions of all the other beasts that cross this landscape? I point people to the comment made to one of Chris Packham's forum pieces, when Jiehue said:
"there is an element to which those who work in conservation now are getting bogged-down with the minutiae. Conservation has gone post-modern and this new breed of pedantic, myopic and frankly indulgent conservationists can pick and choose which particular era of biodiversity that they would like to preserve or hark back to and then set about re-creating it. ........ Is this level of control really necessary?"
What we see here is the typical orthodoxy of a contemporary nature conservation that is based on agricultural landscapes from the period of the Victorian era to the 1930s. I wonder why we can continue to use words like wildlife and wildflower when our landscapes are prevented from being wild by these pedantic, myopic and indulgent conservationists.
www.self-willed-land.org.uk
Posted by: Mark Fisher | 29 Apr 2009 10:02:26