Phil Bance has alerted me to a heathland site near Bewl Water that is being invaded by bracken and young birch trees. Because heathland in East Sussex, away from Ashdown Forest, is such a scarce resource he is keen to see the area conserved (it is about 2 acres in extent).
Does anyone know of any voluntary groups (such as BTCV) that might be interested in carrying out management work and if so then who is the person to approach? The landowner has given permission for the work to be carried out but does not have the necessary resources to do it. So far as I am aware the heath is not within an SSSI or SNCI. The land cannot be positively allocated to a vice county - although it is in Watsonian Kent (VC 16) it is actually within the modern administrative county of East Sussex. However, Kent wildlife recorders have, in the recent past, been unwilling to carry out surveys along several parts of the Kent/East Sussex boundary because they claim the Watsonian line was drawn in the wrong place and therefore there has been little data collected for the site. Peter Hodge.
