Matley Bog
Matley Bog
This project focused on restoring Matley Bog, located to the north of the Beaulieu River running parallel to the riverine woodland.
The area had previously been managed as a forestry plantation, and although most of the plantation trees were felled in recent years, small areas of conifer were left standing. These remnants were subsequently seeding and regenerating across the bog. In other areas, invasive non-native rhododendron was also starting to proliferate.
The restoration work aimed to address this by removing the large stands of mature conifer, naturally regenerating conifer and non‑native invasive rhododendron, helping return the area to a more favourable ecological condition by restoring the natural bog habitat.
Bogs in the New Forest support a huge array of flora and fauna, so these interventions are expected to improve habitat quality and enhance species diversity.
What were the issues?
As its name suggests, this area is important bog habitat. However, Matley Inclosure Bog was assessed by Natural England, under their Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) condition assessment, as being in unfavourable ecological condition due, in part, to “high numbers of birch and pine seedlings in the open habitats with occasional dense stands of mature trees”.
Conifers are very thirsty trees and will take up considerable amounts of groundwater, so this will inevitably dry out the incredibly important wetland bog habitat. This can result in loss of biodiversity and increase in areas of dense bracken- dominated dry ground.
Invasion of Rhododendron ponticum throughout the bog was also contributing to the decline in habitat quality. Rhododendron will quite quickly take over large areas, out-competing native plants and negatively impacting the soil compositions.
'Restoration projects like this are really motivating as you can see an immediate transformation of the landscape. The natural backdrop of broadleaf native trees along the riverine corridor is now visible and there is a natural transition into the bog habitat'
Rebekah Bisset, HLS habitat restoration officer at Forestry England
What was done?
Mature conifers were removed during winter, ensuring minimal disturbance to the wildlife inhabiting the area and avoiding bird and reptile breeding season.
The timber was cross-cut to a suitable length for removal in late summer when the ground is drier and any ground disturbance can be avoided.
Rhododendron was cut and burnt on site, and small regrowth was sprayed with a herbicide to ensure complete eradication of the plant on site (see photo).
Vegetation surveys and fixed point photographs were collected prior to the restoration work, and follow up monitoring will be used to help assess the impact of the restoration work.