Drovers Agreement : Hawkhope, Kielder

Aberdeen Angus CattleHawkhope was the sixth site to be grazed under the Drovers Project and is being grazed for the first time during the 2005 grazing season. The Drovers Agreement for the site was a three-way agreement between Northumberland National Park Authority Drovers Project, the landowner, and the grazier for the site.

Profile:

The Hawkhope site is owned by Northumbrian Water Limited and is located below the Hawkhope Dam at Kielder Water. The grazing of the site was possible through working in partnership with Northumbrian Water and Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

The habitat of this site is very similar to that of Redpath which was grazed during the 2004 season. As such it provides a valuable opportunity to compare results from grazing two similar sites, and applying the lessons learnt from Redpath to the grazing regime for Hawkhope.

Objectives:

The objective for grazing this site was to use traditional cattle to open up the vegetation structure which had become very rush dominated. By opening up the structure it was hoped that the wildlife interest, both floral and faunal, would improve.