Rewilding the wildness

Sustaining a green vision for St Ouen’s Bay, by Mike Stentiford

It would be very difficult to deny the presence of environmental excellence when entering St Ouen’s Bay, either from the north at L’Etacq or from the south at La Pulente.

The landscape has a certain wild and untamed charm about it that is never in evidence along other parts of our coastline.

In fact, logic tells us that, for scores of different reasons, this large informal expanse of sea, sand, dune and grassland holds an intrinsic value well beyond the realms of any monetary terms.

Yet, any feelings we might have today of social ‘ownership’ are comparatively new and certainly at odds with an astonishing lack of respect shown for the bay over half a century ago. Part of an official survey conducted in 1961 clearly recognised ‘the unkempt appearance of St Ouen’s Bay and of the many instances of disused sheds, broken fences, emplacements, derelict dwellings and the haphazard dumping of rubbish.’

To confront the issue, a proposition to deliver a desperately needed programme of restoration was boldly addressed in a report commissioned by the (then) Island Development Committee (IDC). Lodged au Greffe on March 7th 1978, the report quickly received the seal of approval from the IDC and the States Assembly. As a direct response to these recommendations, the Committee was firmly of the opinion that St Ouen’s Bay should be designated ‘a special place’ and, furthermore, be regarded as a modest yet important national park; ‘Le Parcq des Mielles’.

And so began what can genuinely be regarded as Jersey’s most successful environmental accomplishment which, in 2011, culminated in the entire sweep of St Ouen’s Bay gaining political recognition as a major part of the Jersey Coastal National Park.

However, one of today’s biggest environmental challenges is how to sustain the bay as ‘a special place’ when so many areas are divided into a mosaic of private ownership and commercial outlets. Although much of the bay pays due respect to agriculture and leisure activities, large sections of the more sensitive open landscape are owned and managed either by the Environment Department or The National Trust for Jersey.

But, because manpower and financial resources are proving constantly difficult to secure, a recent comingtogether of various voluntary bodies have formulated a visionary plan to restore a partially degraded area of scrubland back into bio-rich grassland. The area in question is at La Mielle de Morville, a comparatively large tract of inland coastal national park close to the Frances Le Sueur Centre.

Although this publicly accessible expanse of tangled undergrowth already receives a limited regime of management from a small team of States rangers, a partnership is now helping to co-ordinate a more sustained programme of grassland restoration.

Assisting with this are a diversity of individual volunteers including those from the Rotary Club of Jersey and the Jersey National Park.

This determined commitment to ‘re-wild’ a current barren area of the west coast landscape is being recognised as a long term challenge but one that is vital if the Island wishes to seriously address the steady decline in local biodiversity.

The stark reality is that any notion we might have that biodiversity is ’doing just fine’ is a regrettable misconception. Hence this hands-on commitment to create a much improved grassland habitat ‘fit for wildlife purpose’.

Such positivity will also rekindle the courage and visionary intent of those who, almost 50 years ago, foresaw the inclusive environmental benefits of a national park and of our collective obligation to respect and sustain St Ouen’s Bay as ‘a special place’.