- Countryside round-up
- Environmental trial is under way to return our woodlands to their pre-war glory days
- What’s in season?
- Comment: Reasons to back the farmers
TUCKED away in a hidden woodland at the bottom of a secluded valley on the north coast, an innovative environmental trial is under way to restore the Island’s woodlands to their pre-Occupation glory.
The Environment Department and the Jersey branch of the Game and Wildlife Conservancy Trust (GWCT) – working with Jersey Trees for Life and Dr Glyn Young from Durrell – are more than half way through a three-phase woodland regeneration scheme.
The idea grew from Islander Robert Jones’s passion for Jersey’s countryside and country pursuits, which first gripped him when, as a child, he played in St Catherine’s Woods.
British woodlands are a huge draw in the spring, with carpets of bluebells that are promoted by regional tourist authorities to attract the early-visitor market.
There are snatches of such glorious vistas here, but nothing matches the scale or beauty of woodlands in the UK.
Moreover, Jersey’s neglected woods are having an adverse effect on the birds and wildlife that inhabit them.
The GWCT is not all about shooting and hunting – and field sports are not on Mr Jones’s agenda, though he does enjoy shooting in the UK. For more than 80 years the charity has been researching and developing game and wildlife management techniques, and conducting conservation science to improve the British countryside for the benefit of the public.
It works with conservationists, including farmers and landowners, with the aim of enhancing the biodiversity of the countryside.
Having raised £30,000 to bring GWCT experts to the Island to undertake research, Mr Jones secured funding over three years from Jersey’s Countryside Enhancement Scheme and is working alongside Enviroment’s John Jackson and his Rural Team at the trial site.
The Island’s woodlands were largely cut down for fuel during the Occupation and 70 years of neglect have severely compromised their natural biodiversity.
Mr Jackson explains that invasive trees such as sycamore have become dominant over the indigenous varieties, including holly, hawthorn, oak, ash and sweet chestnut.
Fresh local produce to look for at this time of the year includes strawberries, picked by hand every morning
This produces a canopy that shuts out the sunlight, stifling other trees and preventing anything growing on the floor of a wood, such as the carpets of bluebells that make British woodlands so appealing in the spring.
‘We want to create woodlands of different-height trees to allow in the light to encourage wild flowers and plants to grow, and to bring back the woodland birds and wildlife that have disappeared from Jersey’s natural woodlands,’ he said.
The project has involved cutting down invasive trees, clearing undergrowth and replanting with local species and plants while enabling natural vegetation and plants – and wildlife – to thrive.
The trial includes regular monitoring of bird and wildlife and growth.
Both men hope the current scheme will become the model to inspire woodland owners to undertake the work required to restore these assets and to improve the appearance of the Jersey countryside.
Where do you farm?
Brooklands Farm, Route des Genêts, St Brelade.
Where did you get your passion for farming?
Working and keeping animals as a hobby inspired us to keep more.
You took up farming when most people dream of retiring. What drives you to carry on working?
We have always started early in the day and without the pressures of business targets we enjoy what we do.
What do you produce and where is it sold?
Fresh pork and beef products such as sausages, burgers and pork pies, to name a few. These are available from our roadside farm stall on Friday and Saturday mornings, but most of our products are available at many of the Island’s resturants and retail outlets.
Like Tom and Barbara in the Good Life, you and Jenny set up a farm in the suburbs. How do you get on with the neighbours?
My family farmed on this land in the 1930s and 40s and grew tomatoes, when much of St Brelade was still rural. I started with livestock some 20 years ago, of which the pigs are now a landmark. One neighbour moved to the avenue, as he and his wife enjoy watching the piglets from their kitchen window.
Should the States be doing more to keep agricultural land in production?
Yes, but they have a difficult task of balancing housing, equine and orchard requirements.
You say if anyone can find an unhappy pig on your farm they can have it. Have you ever given one away and why not?
No. As we strive to ensure that our pigs live a happy and natural life free from stress.
Is there room for further diversification in the industry and should the States encourage it?
Our view is that diversification is very important, especially for the small producer/farmer, and consents by the States could be dealt with by way of licence.
Comment: Reasons to back the farmers
By Jim Hopley, former chief executive officer of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society and chairman of the Genuine Jersey Products Association
NOW we know the extent of the structural deficit, it is essential that the States supports and stimulates growth in the rural economy.
Although the agricultural industry contributes £50 million a year to the Island economy, this is small compared to financial services, so the States – and all of us – must support local producers, who offer so much more than simple tax revenue.
There are so many reasons to back farming – economic, cultural, social and environmental – and more than 2,000 people work in the agriculture and fishing industries.
Granted, it is a small number relative to finance, but we must strive for a balanced economy, which not only provides a degree of resilience but also varied employment opportunities.
And our farmers are custodians of the land, with 54% of the Island under cultivation.
A viable agricultural industry not only gives value – and therefore protects – Jersey’s open spaces, it also promotes bio-diversity and the natural beauty that defines our identify.
Competition between supermarkets, mass-production and cheap imports have certainly driven down the price of food, but at what cost?
A reliance on imported food leaves households more vulnerable to volatile prices and potential shortages, but fortunately the public’s appetite for local products is growing.
A recent independent survey commissioned by Genuine Jersey revealed that a third of residents said that seeing the Genuine Jersey logo – a guarantee of local provenance – would ‘definitely’ make them more likely to buy the product (up from 23 per cent from the when the last survey was carried out in 2010).
The survey also showed that 55% of local retailers felt that ‘locally produced’ was ‘very important’ (up from 24% in 2010).
Buying local products leads to more self-sufficiency, which brings greater security – and it only takes a few days of bad weather or problems with the ferries for the supermarket shelves to become bare.
Our over-reliance on imports is a growing concern, and in the 2014 Annual Social Survey, half of Islanders canvassed thought that ‘most’ of the food that Jersey needs should be grown in the Island, with some imports for variety.
Jersey will never be totally self-sufficient – it hasn’t been for centuries – but being largely reliant on imports is clearly unhealthy.
Buying local also helps us to rediscover the joys of sampling seasonal crops.
Our love of year-round food is having a deep impact on our environment.
We wait eagerly for the first Jersey Royals but we seem to have forgotten the pleasure of sampling that first mackerel of the spring, strawberries of the summer or leeks in autumn.
Fair do’s …
A HIGHLIGHT in the Island’s farming calendar takes place next month in Trinity when the RJAHS holds its annual summer fair.
Over the weekend of 13 and 14 June, the Royal Jersey Showground will be staging the Island Spring Cattle Show, the Early Summer Flower Show and for the first time, the Jersey Rosarians’ Rose Show.
In addition to displays featuring police dogs, Shetland ponies and farm horses – and a dog show – the popular small-animal farm will be back so children can pet chickens, sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs.
There are also baking and flower-arranging competitions for schools on the theme of the Island Games and Alice in Wonderland – plus stalls and vintage tractors.
The show is open both days from 10.30 am to 5 pm.
The closing dates for entries to the flower show is 3 June.
Call Louise Agnès on 860648 for further information.
The glories of May
MAY is wild flowers month, when the Island’s roadside hedges bloom with bluebells, three-cornered leek, celandines and campion, to name a few, under a canopy of new spring foliage and hawthorn blossom.
The National Trust will be celebrating Jersey’s wild flowers later this month when it opens the orchid field, Le Noir Pré, in St Ouen’s Bay and invites Islanders to join a walk to discover the plants and wildlife that thrive in the reserves of St Ouen’s Pond.
Click here for more information.
Litter louts
YOU can help keep Jersey’s countryside tidy by joining the band of the Islanders who pick up litter when they are walking.
We are fortunate to live in a beautiful island which is kept looking good by road-cleaning machines and parish road sweepers.
But they can’t be out every day and regrettably there are still people who carelessly discard litter along our roads.
As the branchage season approaches, look out for discarded drinks cans which become shards of sharp metal when in contact with hedge cutters, posing a threat for birds, wildlife, grazing beasts and horses and dogs been being exercised.
