Holyrood Park Nature Reserve Management Project
The site
Holyrood Park is a 2.6 square kilometre site of special scientific interest (SSSI) in the heart of Edinburgh. Enclosed as a Royal Park in the 15th century it retains a flora and fauna rare in modern times, including uncommon ferns, orchids and butterflies. All of this diversity needs to be managed in the light of visitor pressure and some on-going problems with invasive plant species. As a result Historic Scotland keenly appreciate the assistance of volunteers in a variety of seasonal conservation activities.
The project
Help is required to carry out a number of projects at Holyrood Park, with the type of project on offer being heavily dependent on the time of year. The removal of gorse at the site is one project option, as gorse needs to be controlled so that it does not become dominant over the whole site, which would threaten some of the plant communities that make the site a SSSI. Control of gorse also reduces the spread of fire at Holyrood Park, which is a real issue, with fires burning through the hillside most years. Gorse is used as cover for nesting birds, and for this reason cannot be cut back between about April and July.
Gorse needs to be controlled on the site so that it doesn’t spread too much. However, it is a native plant species which should be present at Holyrood Park, with the issue being the extent of its presence. Other species in the park, such as himalayan balsam for example, shouldn’t be present at all. They are non-native species which have spread round the UK after being brought back from foreign countries many years ago, and are very invasive. A second project involves the removal of himalayan balsam from the site, and this project is best suited to the first half of the summer.
