Grazing is recognised by Natural England as an important heathland management technique.

Grazing across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Cattle have grazed in our nature reserves for many years with great success. They graze many sites including Hengistbury Head, Canford Heath and Stour Valley.

Docile breeds such as Shetland and British White cattle graze our sites all year round. On sites such as Canford Heath, there is enough vegetation to keep the cattle on site 365 days a year, whereas some of our other sites are grazed on rotation for shorter periods of time.

Across the clifftops, you might spot some goats that help us by grazing the scrub. These are owned by a grazier. Their role is to control the non-native plants such as holm oak, garden privet and even pampas grass.

The introduction of grazing by Galloway cattle at Purewell Meadow in 2005 has helped increase wildflower diversity in the meadows and has attracted insects including the great green bush-cricket, hornet robber fly and raft spider.

A key component of management of Stanpit Marsh is the grazing done by a herd of semi-wild New Forest ponies, who are cared for by a grazier. There is also a seasonal herd of British White cattle that graze Priory Marsh over the summer months and return to other sites in the winter months.

Our cattle breeds have been chosen because they’re very hardy and calm by nature. When they graze, they help clear awkward areas that agricultural machinery cannot get to.

The benefits of grazing

The regular cropping of the vegetation by livestock brings several benefits:

• it helps prevent scrub and trees from taking over the ecosystem
• it creates a patchwork of different vegetation heights and bare ground that suits the widest range of wildlife species
• they naturally remove nutrients from vegetation, reducing the number of dominant plant species and allowing less competitive ones to thrive
• avoids the use of harmful pesticides and insecticides needed to control harmful, highly competitive and invasive species
• as they move, roll around and lie down in vegetation they create bare ground suitable for reptiles and allows plant regeneration from seed
• dominant grasses are reduced, giving rare plants a chance to grow
• dung is required in the life cycle of certain invertebrates, including the nationally rare hornet robber fly

Without it, heathland would quickly revert to continuous birch and pine woodland, with a thick understorey of bramble and rhododendron. The open conditions needed by heathland wildlife and the landscape enjoyed by so many would be lost.

Visiting grazing areas

If you’re visiting one of our grazed nature reserves, you should close gates you pass through. Gates that should be open will always be locked into position.

You should never approach the animals and always keep dogs on a lead when near livestock. You should never feed the livestock as they get all they need from the grazing provided.

Dogs on lead season is between 1 March and 31 July for wildlife protection.