Woolly grazers help keep St Peter’s Valley looking its best

Woolly grazers help keep St Peter’s Valley looking its best

Manx Loagthan sheep are a primitive breed, associated with the Isle of Man and whose ancestors are thought to date back to the Iron Age.

They were brought to the Island in 2009 by the National Trust for Jersey to restore neglected habitats on the north coast and they are now a familiar sight between Devil’s Hole and Sorel.

Since they arrived, the Manx Loagthan have grown in number from the original 20 to more that 350 animals, who, for the past eight years, have been managed by shepherd Aaron Le Couteur of conservation grazing business The Reserve. In addition to offering grazing services to local landowners at a number of sites around the Island, he supplies fresh lamb meat and wool to the local market.

‘From the sustainability and conservation point of view, sheep grazing is a fundamentally important way of controlling a landscape,’ Mr Le Couteur said.

‘They not only control the grasses and other vegetation, by grazing they enable a more diverse range of different plants and grass species to grow.’

The sheep were introduced to St Peter’s Valley last month in a joint venture involving The Reserve, the trust, other landowners and nature conservation experts. They were first let loose in the meadow on the bend by the Vic in the Valley pub and have recently been moved closer to Moulin de Quètivel.

Mr Le Couteur says Islanders who use the valley on a regular basis will known how high and dense the plant life and grasses can be. As sheep are such efficient grazers, able to safely consume a variety of plants, they provide the ideal method of controlling habitats in a sustainable way – especially on wet land such as meadows, where it is difficult to use cutting machinery.

– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –