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Timeline of Action
Planned Action for 2005
Generic Actions for 2006-9
Habitat Action Plans 2006-9
Species Action Plans 2006-9
Evaluating Habitats & Species
Monitoring Progress
Monitoring Habitats & Species
Role of Steering Group
Role of Action Groups
Communications Strategy
 
DARWIN SAID:
“It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing in the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.” Charles Darwin.

VISION:
To sympathetically manage all chalk grasslands in Bromley, over one third of London's total, and to care for species important to Bromley, including orchids, butterflies and lizards.

To maintain species-rich neutral grasslands, a small reminder of a once widespread habitat before improvement for amenity or agriculture and supporting the evocatively named cuckoo flower, adder's tongue fern and ragged robin.

Bromley's cherished commons support fragments of acid grassland providing a flavour of one of the most extensive semi-natural habitats in Britain and our aim is to care for those species important to Bromley, including the adder.




   

Action for Habitats

Grassland

The character and components of our acid, neutral and chalk grasslands and heathland are shaped by the soils on which they grow and their past and present management.   Many plants and animals are dependant on these habitats and need sensitive consideration.
Our...

  • Shimmering  seas of grass
  • Clues to underlying geology
  • Summer sounds of insects
  • Link to farmers past

Because action speaks louder than words, we can...

  • Promote plants by managing existing habitat through timely hay-cutting and grazing
  • Expand these areas by creating new habitat
  • Record species such as reptiles and butterflies.
Click here for further information about Grassland & Lowland Heathland. Visit BARS to find out about current action for Grassland & Lowland Heathland.

The common link between these grasslands is that they are 'unimproved', so supporting a rich variety of less common grasses and broad-leaved herbs. All survive due to sensitive cutting or grazing, which prevents trees and shrubs from colonising. They differ in that they occur on different soils with varying pH and mineral balances, but all soils are nutrient poor.

Chalk grasslands develop on shallow, lime-rich soils, derived in Bromley from chalk bedrock. They contain an exceptional diversity of wild flowers and other plants, many of which are restricted to lime-rich soils. Consequently the invertebrate fauna is also very rich. Downe Bank, a Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve, is internationally known for its association with Charles Darwin.

Species-rich neutral grasslands, unaffected by agricultural improvement, are rare and threatened in the UK. These grasslands are mainly managed as hay meadows or pasture and are colourful because they contain a high proportion of broad-leaved herbs relative to grasses. In Bromley, they tend to be found on soils over London Clay in pockets of small fields with hedgerows.

Acid grassland occurs on acidic, nutrient poor, generally free draining soil. They are characterised by fine-leaved grasses such as common bent and fescues, with typical herbs such as sheep's sorrel, tomentil and heath bedstraw. In Bromley they are generally found on the gravels and sands of the Blackheath Pebble Beds and Woolwich Beds. In the UK lowlands, acid grasslands are now rare and those of Bromley are limited in extent and much fragmented. Acid grassland tends to be restricted to open areas of the remaining commons, sometimes associated with lowland heath and mire communities.

The BBAP aims:

•  To protect the current area of unimproved and semi-improved grassland.

•  To enhance the quality of these grassland areas by appropriate management.

•  To increase the extent of species-rich grassland in the Borough, especially where they connect existing areas.

To monitor, survey and appraise grasslands quality.To read a full copy of the Grasslands Habitat Action Plan, click here.


 

 
             
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