crag environment habitat conservation

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 08JepsonH 02 Oct 2014
I'm doing a research paper for my college habitat conservation course and one of the topics I'm looking into is how climbers, habitat conservationists and land owners work together to minimise negative impacts on habitats and the environment at, and around, crags.
I've had a look at the crag and habitat management document provided by the BMC which mentions the laws in place and I plan to touch up on crag etiquette such as not littering, sticking to paths, etc.
Does anyone have any points or information they think i should include?
Cheers,
Hannah.
 Doug 02 Oct 2014
In reply to 08JepsonH:

not quite the question you asked, but
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=rock+climbing+impact+cliff+vegetation

might give you some ideas & will put anything else into context
 Bulls Crack 02 Oct 2014
In reply to 08JepsonH:

Not many examples around for all 3 there but you'll have checked https://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmc-green-guides (eg Giggleswick South)? + the Best of Both Worlds website which has a case study http://www.bobw.co.uk/
 toad 03 Oct 2014
In reply to 08JepsonH:

My two penneth (and I think they will all have proper published material associated)

ilegal disturbance (very rare, but not unheard of) - destruction of nests, deliberate (rather than inadvertent) gardening of protected species

Seasonal disturbance - bird bans, flowering plants, also stuff like differening erosion rates in different weather, traffic pollutants behaving differently etc

physical erosion/ damage - boots on the ground, polish, crampon scratches etc

proximity (want of a better word) damage/ disturbance - disturbance of birds like ring ouzel/ golden plover/ some raptors which are sensitive to people in their territory, damage/ compaction to drainage uphill effecting erosion downhill, etc

physical pollution from people and their stuff - I give you the wasdale portaloos! but also vehicles, camping etc

As to postive practice - there's loads of stuff from the NT, RSPB, wildlife Trusts in the UK context and also some useable European examples. I remember from looking at this a few years ago, there isn't that much research actually quantifying damage/disturbance specifically from climbers - that might have changed though.

Also a lot of examples of climbers helping with roped access stuff for ringing/ nest counts/ habitat improvement

Sure there's loads I've missed. There's potential for a really good piece of work if you do the research!
OP 08JepsonH 06 Oct 2014
In reply to Doug:

Awesome, cheers.
OP 08JepsonH 06 Oct 2014
In reply to Bulls Crack:

Thanks! I'll check them out.
OP 08JepsonH 06 Oct 2014
In reply to toad:

Thank you, will help a lot.
 Bulls Crack 06 Oct 2014
In reply to 08JepsonH:

If you need any more info etc around protected sites eg SSSI's and access drop me an email

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