Pevensey Levels coastal grazing marsh management scheme

Pevensey Levels during late Roman Times was mostly below 4 m O.D. and submerged at high tide. With the development of the Crumbles shingle ridge, which effectively blocked the tidally-influenced bay from the sea large-scale, enclosure began. By the late 1600s most of the Pevensey Levels had been enclosed. Up to the 1940s the area was made up of coastal wet grassland, grazed in summer though still prone to flooding in the winter. In keeping with other similar areas between 1959 and 1977 pumped-drainage schemes allowed intensification of agricultural use. This included the extension of the grazing season and conversion to arable farming, which by 1990 covered some 20 % of the total wetland area.

As with other coastal wet grasslands this change caused a loss of conservation interest as water levels were kept lower in the winter than needed to attract wildlife. In order the help redress this loss the Pevensey Levels became a 'pilot' site for the Wildlife Enhancement Scheme operated by English Nature in November 1991. Under this scheme the following management is applied to the site in return for regular annual payments:

• carry out a rotational approach to ditch cleaning;
• dispose of dredgings at least 5 metres from the ditch to prevent renutrification via run-off;
• maintain ditch water levels as constant as possible at no more than 300 mm below ground level between March and September and no more than 600 mm below ground level between October and February, subject to a minimum ditch water depth of 300 mm;
• refrain from the use of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides (unless specific application have been previously agreed with English Nature);
• graze only at low stocking rates before July in order to avoid nest trampling;
• maintain permanent pasture and the old marsh contours;
• keep a record of what management has been carried out;
• mow for hay or silage only from July and carry out any topping of thistles or nettles only in July and August.