Farming in Protected Landscapes Case Study:
Dormice habitat at Cowlin's Wood
The Farming in Protected Landscapes project for Assington Mill is to fund the development of a management plan to guide the management and improvement of the wood over the coming years, with a grant of £2,384 awarded to help the project.
Cowlin’s Wood was planted 20 years ago to extend and connect the territory of dormice recorded in Arger Fen, Spouses Vale and Tiger Hill Nature Reserves.
Why is this work needed?
Dormice predominantly live in mixed woodland and like dense undergrowth so they can hide from predators. The picture shows the woodland shortly after it was planted. The location is important as it links isolated dormouse populations in nearby woodlands.
The hazel dormouse is the flagship species of the Dedham Vale National Landscape & Stour Valley,
In 2024 the landowner advised that Cowlin’s Wood is now well established but he needed a management plan to guide him on managing this wood in the future, particularly to continue to make it attractive to dormice and to sustain a diverse mosaic of habitat in this new woodland.
It was planted with 12 native tree /shrub species which were specially chosen as dormouse food plants and for future the trees /shrubs need to be manged appropriately to ensure they thrive in the future. Evidence of dormice themselves was found in 2023 for the first time using nest boxes. These now need replacing as they are rotting so the grant included funding for 50 new nest boxes and 25 dormouse fingerprint tunnels.
What work will be done?
Nest boxes will be used by licensed dormouse surveyors to monitor breeding dormice populations. The fingerprint tunnels will be used by volunteers, who don’t have licences, to record presence /absence of dormice. Suffolk Wildlife Trust have produced the management plan and organised the installation of the nest boxes and finger print tunnels as well as subsequent surveys to monitor dormouse activity.