The second Visites du Branchage are due to start next week and by law, landowners must ensure all foliage is cut back on any part of their property that adjoins roads or footpaths.
Action for Wildlife Jersey were part of a group made up of farmers, the parishes and other environmental groups which set a new standard where a minimum of 10cm of vegetation is left when cutting banques and to check for wildlife before cutting starts and to clear away all cuttings.
Chris Perkins, from Action for Wildlife, said the changes brought in for the spring branchage benefited wildlife and plants.
‘We are very pleased to note that the number of injured hedgehogs taken into the care of the Jersey Hedgehog Group is lower this year than for a number of previous years and there is also anecdotal evidence that the number of pollinators, such as butterflies, seen around our hedges and banques has increased.
‘The working group is therefore particularly grateful for the support from the Comité des Connétables and the wholehearted commitment from, in particular, the Jersey Farmers’ Union and the Jersey Royal Potato Company.’
The group says the reaction from landowners and the staff they employ has been positive and it says a Facebook page, Branchage and Beyond – Nurturing Nature’s Highways, has praised the work carried out so far.
Dairy farmer Andrew Le Gallais says the changes have had a positive effect on the countryside and have also brought farmers and environmentalists together.
‘As a consequence of the dialogue we have had, I feel at long last what was an extremely expensive, regulated chore on a farm is now becoming recognised as something we have to do,’ he said.
‘It is now appreciated that we do this for free.’
All farms in the Island are in the process of gaining compliance with the LEAF Marque, an internationally recognised standard that requires farmers to meet higher environmental requirements.
The government is linking its funding for agriculture on the LEAF standard, and it is hoped by the end of this year all farms will be compliant, making Jersey the first jurisdiction in the world to do so.
Mr Le Gallais says it is incumbent on environmentalists to come together with farmers and the discussions on the Branchage and Beyond Facebook page have been a unifying factor.
‘In a broad sense, I’ve found it very refreshing to see what we can do as custodians of the countryside is being recognised. We have been doing this for years and I know a lot don’t like us using machines and not cutting by hand.
‘But it’s about the way we cut it back and the key message that’s got through to farmers is that we must not cut as close as previously.’
The second cut will be slightly different to the one in the spring because more will be taken from the top of hedgerows to encourage them to grow next year and to clear the summer growth as it dies back. But Mr Le Gallais says they will not be trimmed as closely as in previous years.
And as the second branchage begins, warnings are being given about disturbing Asian hornet nests. A leaflet is being produced which will have an emergency number to call and workers and contractors are being advised to only use tractors with sealed cabs that hornets cannot get into.
Last week a farmworker was stung several times by a swarm of Asian hornets when he disturbed a nest with his tractor while cutting the verge on Les Ruettes in St Saviour.
