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Information board , Finemere Wood 2

This information board alongside the main ride that runs north-west through Finemere Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), reads:

'Ride Management. Rides are flower-rich tracks which allow access to woodland and provide a grassland habitat for a variety of wildlife.

To stop rides becoming overgrown, they are either mown, or if fenced, grazed by sheep or cattle. Rides are cut once or twice a year. This controls coarse grasses which would shade out wildflowers, but gives the wildflowers time to flower and seed. Wildflowers grow best in poor soil where they have little competition, so any cut grass is raked away to remove nutrients.

Rides provide grazing not only for sheep, but also voles, rabbits, deer and hares. Sparrowhawks, noctule bats and dragonflies use the rides as aerial hunting corridors, catching small mammals and insects.

Ride edges can also be valuable for wildlife. At intervals, bordering trees have their branches cut or are felled, leaving spaces where sunlight can penetrate, the remaining trees acting as windbreaks. This creates sunny, but sheltered conditions much favoured by butterflies and other insects. This has to be repeated regularly as the trees re-grow. As a result, many butterflies, such as the comma and speckled wood, use the rides during the summer months.

The wood is managed by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. See also SP7221 : Finemere Wood.