Grazing on Prestatyn Hillside
Prestatyn Hillside is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its nationally important calcareous and acid grassland, calcareous heath and scrub and broadleaved woodland and for its populations of hoary rock-rose, spring cinquefoil, a whitebeam and spring sandwort. Locally important juniper also occurs.
Although grazed many years ago, over the last few decades, Prestatyn Hillside has been managed by either heavy machinery and/or with power tools such as strimmers. In 2019, it became part of the Landscape Solutions Grazing project. The project was funded by the Welsh Government Sustainable Management Scheme and was hosted by the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now National Landscape) and aimed to introduce (or re-introduce as in this case) grazing animals to over 40 sites in North East Wales.
The initial plan was to fence the perimeter of the whole hillside and allow sheep to graze the entire area simultaneously. However, following extensive public consultations, a key concern emerged: as the site is highly popular with local dog walkers, many were unhappy about the prospect of having to keep their dogs on leads whenever livestock were present. Taking this feedback into account, we adjusted our approach by dividing the site into three sections, ensuring that sheep would only be in one compartment at a time. This solution effectively addresses the concern while maintaining the grazing plan.
Grazing began in 2023 in just one compartment. Since no members of our Ranger Team had prior experience managing grazing on this site, we opted for a cautious approach. After three years grazing this compartment, we are at a point where we are happy with the amount of stock and length of time needed to reach our objectives.
Work is still being carried out on one of the compartments to bring it into favourable condition for sheep to graze while fencing is required in the third and final compartment. This final compartment was ready to graze following our cut and collect regime (where we utilised a Robo-flail) so with the absence of fencing we decided to use close shepherding. This strategy has been very successful. By mapping out the areas that required heavier grazing, we were able to focus our efforts more precisely and manage grazing more efficiently across the landscape.
This site stands as an outstanding example of successful nature recovery, and we’re all incredibly excited about its future. It will also help Denbighshire County Council to achieve its Climate and Ecological Change Strategy by protecting and improving biodiversity by managing and restoring land.
The goal is to transition away from traditional manual labour and fully adopt grazing as the primary management tool.