National Trust to use Stone Age technique in bid to boost nightingale numbers in Suffolk
The project will take place at Sutton Hoo
The National Trust is launching a new project at Suffolk's Sutton Hoo - in a bid to help out species of 'at risk' birds.
They're going to change the way they manage trees which are grown on the site to encourage the growth of brambles and other plant species on the forest floor.
The nightingale population at Sutton Hoo, a site considered to be one of Britain’s most important archaeological discoveries, could be boosted by an ancient system of woodland management, conservationists hope.
Sutton Hoo is thought to be the final resting place of King Raedwald, who ruled in the seventh century.
Now, the National Trust, which looks after the site, has announced plans to reintroduce the woodland management technique of coppicing to the site.
It will be the first time the technique has been used there since the majority of the original woodland was felled after the Great Storm in 1987, the conservation charity said.
Coppicing, which dates back to the Stone Age, involves the cutting of trees close to the ground on a regular cycle, encouraging fast new growth.
The process would allow more light into the woodland floor, which in turn would boost flowers and bramble, which is the “perfect nesting habitat for nightingales”, said Jonathan Plews, National Trust ranger at Sutton Hoo.
“Currently, there are a small number of nightingales on the estate, limited to one area of woodland,” he said.
“Last year we recorded four singing males at Sutton Hoo and the hope is we can attract many more in the future through this form of woodland management technique.”
The songbirds have seen a population decline of 90% in the last 50 years and are now listed among the UK’s most threatened birds, featuring on the UK red list of conservation, according to the National Trust.
Mr Plews said rangers this year are working in an area of woodland where the “dense tree canopy means there is very little ground flora”.
“As we begin coppicing, we would expect to see flowers such as bluebells, wood anemone and foxglove grow, along with bramble, which is the perfect nesting habitat for nightingales,” he said.
“It will take a few years for the bramble to establish, but in approximately four years we hope to see more nightingales moving in, as well as other protected and ‘at-risk’ birds such as spotted flycatcher, wood lark and nightjar.”
The coppicing will be carried out by a team of staff and volunteers using chainsaws and a mini tractor to limit disturbance to the woodland floor when extracting the timber.
This will protect the archaeological features in the woodland, which include a Roman quarry and Second World War anti-air platform.
Wood felled as part of the coppicing work will be used to build fences, gateways, benches and sculptures across the estate, as well as to build bird boxes to further support the endangered species.