£43k for corncrake friendly crofters
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) paid out more than £43,000 to 126 crofters around the Western Isles last year, in return for their efforts to improve habitat for corncrake in key areas.
The payments were made under two corncrake schemes designed to provide the corncrake with suitable habitat throughout the breeding season (April to October) and minimise any conflict with modern agricultural practices. In the Uists and Barra the Corncrake Special Protection Area (SPA) Management Scheme compliments and fills some of the gaps left by the current Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) scheme. It covers a total of 98 hectares in classified SPAs and involves 44 crofters.
Meanwhile a demonstration project at the Ness and Barvas Corncrake SPA in Lewis is an experimental scheme designed to provide a wider range of management options to crofters who are interested in corncrake management with incentives, as there is no ESA in Lewis. This involves 82 crofters covering 143 hectares. In return for the payments, crofters following the schemes agree to a number of management practices. Later mowing of meadows using corncrake friendly techniques — from the centre out, or from side to side — ensures a better survival amongst both chicks and adults towards the end of the breeding season. Crofters also agree to provide and maintain small areas of long, ungrazed vegetation to provide early cover for the birds when they arrive back from their wintering grounds in spring. Late cover is also vital for the birds to hide at the end of the season. In the Lewis project delayed and rotated grazing practices are also included as is the cultivation of cornfields, with additional money available for those that use seaweed or farmyard manure as fertiliser.