The council have been exploring conservation grazing in Trent Park for a couple of years now. It is an eco-friendly way to manage grassland habitats and Trent Park has some extensive and rare acid grasslands that are gradually losing the battle to shrubs and trees. The red poll cattle are docile and have been trained to respond to a virtual fence. They wear GPS trackers and can be monitored remotely at all times.
Forty Hall Park has been used as a trial and there have been two cows continuously grazing in a defined area there since the beginning of October 2023. In line with the project plan, it will now expand the grazing area at Forty Hall and introduce grazing to Trent Park. Signage will be installed around Trent Park this week, and the team expects to introduce the cattle next week. [Week of March 25, 2024]
Please see the plan below showing where these features are proposed along with the maximum grazing extents.
The map below shows the initial grazing area as the cattle are slowly introduced to the park with a view to increasing the boundary as the project progresses.
There will be a small number of cattle (approximately 4) introduced to Trent Park initially and there is a team of trained Looker Volunteers who will help to monitor the project and share knowledge.
Find out more about the project at: www.enfield.gov.uk/conservationgrazing