Heather story
My evening trip to the North Yorkshire Moors a couple of weeks ago was rather disappointing, I think I’ve alluded to this in another post. The disappointment was mostly down to the condition of the heather, I was on one of the biggest moors in the area and it was a dry and dead wasteland, where it should of been bouncing with thick heather and cotton grass. The condition of the moor has mostly been blamed on the heather beetle by expert bodies like the moorland association and local press. However I did find healthy heather on the outskirts of the moor as this posted photo will testify. Are we saying these little insects don’t like the more sheltered areas and would be rather in the wind swept open moor. I have no reason to be a heather beetle denier, and don’t doubt they played a part in the heather destruction, but the elephant in the room is the experts avoidance to blame moorland management on the over zealous practice of heather burning, all in the interest of grouse shooting, to my eye I saw more evidence of burnt scrub than dead vegetation. I know there are for and against arguments for the practise which was originated by hill farmers for managing grazing area’s but now the status quo is unevenly balanced on the side commercial hunting and be damed the environment.
Heather story
My evening trip to the North Yorkshire Moors a couple of weeks ago was rather disappointing, I think I’ve alluded to this in another post. The disappointment was mostly down to the condition of the heather, I was on one of the biggest moors in the area and it was a dry and dead wasteland, where it should of been bouncing with thick heather and cotton grass. The condition of the moor has mostly been blamed on the heather beetle by expert bodies like the moorland association and local press. However I did find healthy heather on the outskirts of the moor as this posted photo will testify. Are we saying these little insects don’t like the more sheltered areas and would be rather in the wind swept open moor. I have no reason to be a heather beetle denier, and don’t doubt they played a part in the heather destruction, but the elephant in the room is the experts avoidance to blame moorland management on the over zealous practice of heather burning, all in the interest of grouse shooting, to my eye I saw more evidence of burnt scrub than dead vegetation. I know there are for and against arguments for the practise which was originated by hill farmers for managing grazing area’s but now the status quo is unevenly balanced on the side commercial hunting and be damed the environment.