FARMLAND on the picturesque Levisham Estate in the North York Moors National Park is likely to revert back to moorland, and improvement made to its remote landscape and wildlife under a new management plan put forward by the park authority.

Michael Graham, the estate and moorland officer, said a blueprint had been drawn up for the next five years for the 3,358-acre estate, which the authority bought in 1976, with further purchases of farms in later years.

He said in a report to the authority: "The decision for the initial purchase of the estate was in response to concern about the loss of moorland arising from agricultural reclamation around Levisham.

"Buying the land was seen as the most effective way of conserving this area of outstanding landscape, which includes the Hole of Horcum and part of Newtondale Gorge."

The draft plan for its future is to sent to 30 organisations for their views before it goes back to the authority for a final decision in March.

Mr Graham says the strengths of the estate are its landscape, ownership by the national park, its wealth of historic and archaeological remains, its popularity with walkers and other visitors, which contributes to the local economy, and that it is easily accessible by road and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

But there are threats, warns Mr Graham. These include over-use of the existing rights of way, erosion by heavy rain, fire, especially the risk from the moors railway, illegal use of the moors by motor-bikes and 4x4 vehicles, and the loss of character of the moors through increased numbers of visitors.

However, he highlights several opportunities, among them the use of the estate as a recreation asset to increase its value to the local economy, restoration of woodland, an increased role for graziers and tenants as managers of the moors, and its potential as an education and research resource.

"Local businesses, such as pubs, cafes, villages shops, Lockton Youth Hostel and accommodation providers, benefit directly from the proximity of the estate and its high public use," says Mr Graham. He adds that for work such as fencing and tree planting, local contractors are used.

People living in the park use the estate for walking, horse riding and hunting.

Park officers have already had meetings to discuss the future of the estate with parish councils and residents at Newton-on-Rawcliffe, Lockton, Levisham, Stape, the YHA, Saltersgate Hunt, estate graziers and holders of sporting and recreation licences.

Mr Graham says habitat action plans are being drawn up for the estate's rivers, streams, moorland, woodland, marshes, fences, and grassland.

Levisham Moor, he says, is registered common land with 26 registered right holders for grazing, fishing, and collecting wood, and peat.

It is planned to create new rights of way in the woodlands on existing tracks and paths which are to be improved, and English Nature is to be asked to help fund a wildlife enhancement scheme.

New bridleways are also planned with one route linking Goathland station and Newtondale Halt on the moors railway.

Action is to be taken to improve buildings, fences, gates, water supplies, drainage, and way marking, and to control moles, rabbits, squirrels, roe deer, nettles, thistles and bracken as well as improving several eyesore spots on the estate, said Mr Graham.

Conservation work will be carried out including hedge-laying and hay meadow management.

The estate, which has three sites of special scientific interest designations, has the largest area of heather moorland in England. It also has a wealth of archaeology and a rich diversity of habitats, he said, which provide breeding grounds for curlew, red grouse, and merlin.

At the Hole of Horcum, improvements are needed to the Saltersgate car park, and the track from Saltergate Elbow to the hole should be re-instated.

The moor, he says, has suffered from over-grazing for many years. "It has suffered a lack of management in recent years. There is considerable potential to improve the landscape and wildlife of the moor."

The key to enhancing the area is to reduce the number of grazing animals through an agricultural scheme and to carry out heather management. One of the biggest problems facing the management of the estate is limited finances, says Mr Graham, and the lack of a permanent staff post dedicated to running it.

Updated: 10:55 Wednesday, January 07, 2004