Thanks to the careful management of Chasewater Country Park, the area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) has been extended to an area of more than 180 hectares, and now covers nearly the whole park.

This SSSI extension means that more of Chasewater’s rare heathland is protected by law, so it must either be maintained or improved for its wildlife and habitats.

The habitat is so important because of its heathland, fens (mires and swamps), and artificial standing water bodies, which is home to a wealth of rare plants and animals.

Thanks to funding from Natural England, Lichfield District Council’s countryside team works to encourage the restoration of heathland through careful land management, including grazing some areas with cattle.

Without cows on the site, to maintain the acid grassland and eat the tree saplings that grow each year, the team has to manually cut and collect this vegetation. This is expensive and less effective.

The council has successfully grazed two areas of Chasewater - Anglesey Basin and the Heathland Translocation - for five years. However, because areas of the fencing, which keeps the cattle from straying off the site, have been cut through and removed by vandals, it has prevented the team from both bring the cattle back last year. It has also stopped the council from extending grazing to the north shore of Chasewater - the largest area of heathland on the site. 

Councillor Neil Roberts, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for Development Services, said: “We have a statutory obligation to manage the SSSI through conservation grazing.

“It is therefore really disappointing that, despite having installed large gates to make sure the areas for cattle are still accessible to walkers and cyclists, some people have repeatedly cut through the fences to save them the trouble of opening a gate.

“This is why are replacing sections of our stock fencing with moorland fencing, which is made out of hardened steel. As vandals won’t be able to cut through it, it will mean that we can extend the grazing area and be confident that the cattle are safe.

“We are looking forward to bringing a small herd of cows to the north shore for the first time, and are in the final stages of preparing the area.”

The council hopes to bring cattle to Chasewater Country Park in the near future.

“The presence of cattle on Chasewater does not mean the area is out of bounds to visitors. The footpaths will still be open to everyone, but please keep a reasonable distance to the cows and do not feed them. Also remember to keep all dogs under close control when near the livestock, as required by the Countryside Code,” continued Cllr Roberts.

The replacement fencing has been funded through the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme.