Written by: Howard Craft
2021
In 2018, Berkhamsted Golf Club commissioned an ecological survey of not only the golf course habitats, but also the additional 350 acres of Common land that the Club owns. The area of Berkhamsted common is regionally importance due to the acid grassland and heathland habitats, both of which are very scarce in the county of Hertfordshire. The survey consisted of a Phase 1 habitat survey using the national vegetation classification system as the basis of coding the various habitats around the common.
The results of this ecological survey have been used by the golf club to form the starting point of a 10 year habitat management plan for Berkhamsted common, the key points of which will be to increase the coverage of heathland on the common and the desire to bring back grazing onto the common, something that has not been seen since the 1940's.
