1. The grazing should help achieve the objectives of the park. Extensive systems, in which livestock are fed on the natural productivity of the grassland and browsing available within the park, are likely to meet most objectives.

2. Grazing should maintain a species-rich and structurally varied sward, and allow some scrub development which in turn will aid natural regeneration of the trees.

3. Stocking rates should be low: a max. of 1 LSU / ha should be the aim and if possible less.

4. Cattle are the most appropriate grazing animals overall. Suckler herds, store cattle or young dairy followers (heifers) are all acceptable; dairy herds are generally not.

5. Sheep can be an important component of the parkland grazing system and combine well with cattle grazing. They can be helpful in controlling ragwort infestation if control is deemed necessary.

6. Horses or ponies can be useful grazing animals in parks, particularly where they form part of a mixed grazing system. However, intensive pony paddock grazing can have disastrous effects causing damage to trees and grassland.

7. Breeds should be appropriate to the grassland type within the park. Older and traditional breeds tend to be most suitable.

8. Grazing stock should be allowed to graze over as large an area as possible as this tends to create a greater range of grazing intensity across the park, depending on seasonal differences in vegetation growth rates in different grassland/vegetation types. There is a corresponding variety in grassland structure.

9. Summer grazing is in general most appropriate for cattle and avoids need for supplementary feed. However there may be reasons for grazing at other times of the year.

10. Supplementary feeding should generally be avoided within parks, especially if it will result in higher stocking rates than the park grasslands can support. If it is unavoidable it should not take place close to or under parkland trees, feed sites should be moved; and ideally ring feeders should not be used.

11. Salt licks and water troughs, if used, should be placed away from parkland trees.

12. Parasite control should avoid the use of ivermectin, avermectin and their derivatives.

13. Antibiotics should only be used in response to problems and not as routine. Treated livestock should be kept out of the park until the problem is cleared.

1. Grassland in parks should be managed as permanent grazed pasture, although mowing can be acceptable if grazing can't be arranged. There should be no ploughing or re-seeding.

2. Management should aim to conserve or restore semi-natural swards reflecting the local geology and soils.

3. Grazed grassland should be managed without the application of artificial fertiliser, slurry or FYM.

4. Other organic products such as lime, sea sand, seaweed and fish and bone meal should not be applied to park grassland.

5. Machinery use should be prevented or kept to a minimum in parks, especially around trees.

6. If the grassland is managed by mowing, the aftermath should be grazed, or the cut material removed. Hay management without fertiliser may be satisfactory, although silage management is not appropriate in parks.

7. Rolling or harrowing of grassland should not be undertaken.

8. Topping of grassland in late summer may be necessary to control weeds but should be kept to the minimum necessary.

9. Herbicide use should be limited to spot spraying or weed wipe application.

10. Tile or other sub-surface drainage systems should not be installed or repaired and natural drainage regimes should be encouraged.

Note: for more information and rationale refer to The Lowland Grassland Management Handbook (Crofts and Jefferson, 1999)

1. The density of parkland trees is often dictated by landscape considerations and historic park restoration plans, but where there is scope, average tree density within parks should be between 6 and 10 mature or over-mature trees per hectare. This may include open areas of grazed lawns and more 'wooded' areas of high forest wood pasture.

2. The indefinite retention of veteran trees is essential. Similarly, care is needed to ensure mature and over-mature trees are retained and conserved within parks.

3. Ploughing should not be permitted within parks. Where this is unavoidable it should not be permitted near to parkland trees and certainly not within the 'dripline' or a distance that is 15 times the trunk diameter at breast height, whichever is the greater. The same should apply to any access by machinery.

4. To conserve parkland trees overstocking should be avoided (see Box 2). Fencing trees to prevent stock damage may be necessary as a short-term measure until stock management systems can be improved.

5. Stock feeding is damaging and should not generally be permitted. Where this cannot be prevented, stock feeding or watering should not be permitted near trees (and only well beyond the 'dripline' or a distance that is 15 times the trunk diameter at breast height - whichever is the greater) nor in bracken areas, wetlands or other valuable habitats.

6. All dead and decaying wood should be retained in the park.

7. Wherever possible dead wood should be allowed to remain standing (on trees) and allowed to fall naturally.

8. Movement and cutting/tidying of dead wood should be avoided unless essential for public and livestock safety.

9. New trees should be encouraged through natural regeneration wherever possible. Trees for planting should be propagated from locally derived (indigenous) genetic stock.

10. Scrub forms an important wildlife habitat within parks and can be important in promoting natural regeneration. It should be retained and managed, as either permanent or temporary habitat.

11. Wood pastures associated with parks, which are now invariably ungrazed and densely wooded, should be re-united with the park and restored.

1. Do not apply fertiliser or herbicide to wetland vegetation or its catchment.

2. Ensure there is permanent vegetation in the catchment, and that the soil is well vegetated. Avoid cultivation, and poaching or heavy grazing / dunging, even on a seemingly small scale (eg around stock feeders, or at watering points).

3. Do not drain wetlands, either through excessive ditch or drain management or through the installation or repair of sub-surface drainage systems. Allow water to infiltrate slowly through the soil into park lakes and streams, rather than run off rapidly in drains.

4. Where ponds and lakes need to be dredged, first consider catchment management problems to reduce future silt inputs. Even small-scale livestock watering places can cause significant sediment run-off.

5. Most wetland vegetation benefits from light stock grazing. As with other parkland habitats, heavy grazing can be very damaging.