Kites Hill
History
Originally a farm, Kites Hill was donated to WLT by its owner Jane Pointer as a living legacy in 1999 order to ensure its protection, for the benefit of wildlife.
Administration and management of Kites Hill continues from the WLT office in Suffolk, however we have an agreement with a local grazier for the management of the permanent pastures, use a network of local volunteers and groups for monitoring, and collaborate with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for further site management and for local advice and guidance.
Project Summary
Kites Hill is a small but important site that is characteristic of the Cotswolds escarpment habitat, with calcareous and semi-improved neutral grassland communities, extensive mixed native hedgerows and two small woodland plots, predominantly of ancient semi-natural beech woodland.
The area’s beech woods represent the most westerly extensive blocks of Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests in the UK, making these priority habitats for the reserve.
The reserve’s pasture areas are another key feature of the site, as they reflect historical and more recent farming practises and offer the most opportunity for further improving the biodiversity value of the site.
WLT’s aim is to manage the site to maintain, protect and improve these priority habitats, and to enhance biodiversity throughout the site.
Recently, the site has also been used as a demonstration site for Natural Flood Management, which is working to reduce flood risk and restore biodiversity throughout the catchment of the River Twyver and all its tributaries.
Biome
Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests
Ecoregion
English Lowland beech woodland/ flower-rich hay meadows/pasture
Habitats
Originally a farm, the woodland, meadows, scrub and hedgerows are now protected and managed for the benefit of native wildlife. The site is 47 acres (19.2 ha)
Method for Land Protection
Reserve Management
BIODIVERSITY
Over 200 species of plant, over 40 bird species, 14 mammal species, 3 amphibian species and almost 200 invertebrates have been recorded on the reserve.
Global Prioritisation
Kites Hill Reserve is within an internationally important area, which includes some of Britain’s finest beech wood and limestone grassland areas.
The reserve lies within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and the reserve’s woodland, which joins a larger areas of ancient semi-natural beech woodland, is recognised within the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods National Nature Reserve (NNR), the Cotswold Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Kites Hill also falls within the Cotswolds Scarp Nature Improvement Area (NIA), identified by The Cotswolds Ecological Networks Forum as one of the places that offer the best opportunities for habitat restoration to benefit wildlife.
Main Threats to the Area
Within the Cotswolds more than 95% of unimproved limestone grasslands have been lost since the 1930s.
They are lost when they are “improved” for farming by reseeding and fertilising. Kites Hill retains two large fields of high quality unimproved grassland and ongoing site management through cutting and grazing is used to maintain their floristic diversity.
Ash dieback disease poses a significant threat to hedgerow and woodland composition at Kites Hill and within the wider landscape.
Lower category threats include managing recreational pressure particularly within beech woodland areas, and the need for ongoing hedgerow and woodland management in order to retain these features and their conservation status.
