Legacy Habitat Management have the expertise and equipment for fire break cutting on moorlands and uplands as a means of accidental fire control, or to aid the safe execution of a planned burn as part of a moorland management project.
At Legacy Habitat Management, we understand the sensitive nature of moorlands and heathlands, and the fragile habitats that they support. We can provide low ground pressure machinery to minimise impact on delicate soils and peat structures. We will constantly monitor cutting heights and machinery adjustments to avoid ground strikes which may damage the fertile but thin surface soils. Best methods of working and determining of access routes will be established to minimise disturbance by completing a thorough pre-work site visit and walkover.
Working closely with you and consulting site plans and data, we can use GPS location equipment to ensure that fire break cutting work meets your exact requirements.
We operate a range of tractor mounted or pedestrian operated chain flail cutters and strimmers, allowing us to access to the remotest of locations.
Fire break cutting can be a necessary part of effective moorland management. Accidental fires during hot and dry weather conditions can soon rage out of control, where the combination of tinder dry heather and dehydrated peat provides a perfect fuel. Strategic cutting of strips of ground vegetation in at risk areas can prevent the uncontrolled spread of such fires by removing the fuel source, helping to safe guard livestock, crops, dwellings and wildlife habitats.
Controlled burning or heather burning is often carried out on British moorlands to assist with heather regeneration. Aged heather can become woody and dense, harbour ticks, and will eventually die. Burning heather at this stage is an effective way of reducing bulk and enabling regrowth. The heat from a fire cracks open the heather seed that normally lays dormant in the soil and promotes germination. Young heather provides a nutritious food source for wildlife and the reduced heather bulk helps to promote regrowth of other flora such as bilberry and provide a better environment for nesting birds.
Cutting of fire breaks is essential to ensure that a planned burn for heather regeneration can be carried out in a controlled and safe manner. It also helps to allow burns to be carried out in a phased approach to maintain areas of habitat throughout the project.
