Wood pasture and parkland

There is very little parkland in the Dales. This habitat is listed on the UK list of priority habitats for biodiversity action.

Habitat statement

Conservation objectives

Eshton Park

• To determine the historical and current extent of wood pasture and parkland in the Yorkshire Dales.

• To maintain the current extent of traditionally managed wood pasture and parkland ensuring that the management of important sites takes account of their biological interest.

• To restore, where appropriate, modified wood pasture and parkland to more traditional management.

Conservation measures

• Liase with archaeologists and carry out survey work, where appropriate, to identify the historical and current extent of parkland in the Dales.

• Restore traditional management practices to selected areas of parkland modified by forestry, neglect, development or unsustainable agricultural use.

• Protect existing parkland from inappropriate use.

• Establish, where restoration of traditional management practices is not possible, other methods for maintaining and enhancing the biological interest of parklands.

• Contribute to a UK inventory information on the extent of parkland and their associated plant and animal communities in the Yorkshire Dales.