The Trust’s nature reserves are special in many ways and we want them to be accessible to all. However the purpose of the nature reserves is to support, protect and conserve wildlife and wildplaces. We therefore must find the balance between allowing access to experience the nature reserves whilst continuing to protect these precious habitats.

Dog walking is one area where this balance is difficult. Many people experience the nature reserves as a result of dog walking, but dogs without close control and guidance in the reserves can cause a significant amount of damage. We hope the following guidelines will help dog owners understand some of these issues and help keep the reserves both wildlife and people friendly.

1.  Clean up after you dog and take the poo home with you.

• Dog poo is rich in nutrients – wildflowers need low nutrient soil in which to flourish. Soils over enriched with dog poo encourage the growth of coarser plants such as nettles and thistles, which compete and outgrow specialist flora such as orchids.
• Volunteer workers – volunteers and reserves officers are responsible for maintaining the reserves through management work, such as meadow cutting, scrub control and coppicing. Dog poo, however far in the bushes, under trees, or in the long grass can soon be found by unsuspecting hands or tools. If ingested dog poo can cause serious diseases in humans such as Canine Toxocoriasis.
• Other visitors – the reserves are used by all kinds of different people. Cleaning up after you dog prevents others taking the mess away on the bottom of their shoe, or in the case of a wheelchair user prevents the spread of poo from wheel to hand.
• Take the poo home – we don’t have the resources to keep bins on the site, so please take the little bags home with you.

2.  Keep your dog under close control or on a lead

• Birds and mammals on the reserves – Nature reserves are a haven for many types of birds and mammals, with some habitats offering unique breeding grounds. Dogs allowed to roam freely, or simply wandering in and out of the verges can disturb these creatures, for example driving birds away from their nests. Keeping your dog firmly at your side will prevent your dog unwillingly or willingly causing distress to wildlife.
• Worrying stock – Many of our reserves have grazing cattle and sheep. Dogs can easily cause extreme distress to stock unless kept closely under control.

3. Spread the word

• Please help us keep the Trust nature reserves as they should be by encouraging other dog owners to use the reserves responsibly.

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