This document accompanies the Oak Processionary Moth Management Plan which you have agreed to complete. This Management Plan forms part of a research trial where management plans are completed in lieu of SPHNs. If you have any questions whilst completing the plan, please contact Anna Molyneu.
Please complete the table with the site name, name of author and your agreement that you and any staff intend to implement this plan on your site. Plan period and revision number tables are to be completed by Forestry Commission.
Please review your completed plan against the criteria in the table and tick the ‘author check’ column. This demonstrates that you have met the objectives of the plan.
Please provide the details of your site in the table. There is a point to acknowledge use of GIS shapefiles later in the document. Please ensure you provide maps depicting the location of oaks (ideally as a GIS shapefile). If you are a large site owner, please provide the location of oaks (raw numbers or percentage cover); if you have a small site, approximate percentage cover of oaks in each area is suitable.
If you do not have access to GIS, maps can be produced using MAGIC.
Plans without appropriate maps will be returned to the author as incomplete.
Under the Risk Based Approach, it benefits site owners/land managers to understand how their peers have approached OPM control. Therefore, it is encouraged that you will agree to share this plan with others. If you do not want this plan to be shared, please explain your reason in the table
To develop your long term vision, you need to express as clearly as possible the overall direction of management for the woodland(s) and how you envisage it will be in the future. This covers the duration of the plan and beyond.
Describe your long term vision for the woodland(s) in a maximum of 300 words. Please address the following points:
State your objectives relating specifically to OPM management and how this will be achieved. Please attempt to make them as specific and quantifiable as possible (please add/remove rows as you please. The number of rows is just a guide).
This section is about collecting information relating to your site, its location (including any statutory constraints i.e. designations), and OPM infestation. Please attach a GIS shapefile map showing oak locations here. If GIS is not available, please contact andrew.hoppit@forestrycommision.gov.uk for additional guidance.
Please provide a brief description of OPM on your property.
Please provide details of any Biodiversity Designations and Environmental Considerations on your site. It is especially useful to understand the monitoring plans and methods in place for detecting butterflies and moths (if applicable).
This section is for capturing the survey methodology and operational control processes.
Please describe the risk that OPM poses to your site and stakeholders by completing the risk assessment tables. Please use the Risk Rating Matrix in this section to help determine the severity of the effect before and after mitigation of risks.
Following completion of the risk assessment you should ensure the controls identified are included within your work procedures / method statements / work instructions and safe systems of work. For further information, please see: HSE Guide - Five steps to risk assessment
Please use the Risk Rating Matrix in Section 4.1 to help determine the severity of the effect before and after mitigation of risks due to OPM contact. This could include direct contact with caterpillars, handling a nest, hair ingestion etc.
Please use the Risk Rating Matrix in Section 4.1 to help determine the severity of the effect before and after mitigation of risks due to OPM management. This could include risks related to chemical spraying, nest removal etc.
Produce a map(s) with zones for risk management; ideally colour coding low, medium and high risk zones in a GIS shapefile or MAGIC map (See Section 1). These maps should include point of interest which affect the level of risk. For example, a high risk area may be a point of access where there is high footfall and oak trees; a medium risk area may be a popular area a reasonable distance from oak trees; a low risk area may be the centre of a woodland with low footfall and no footpath. Please provide your justification for each zone.
Use this section to explain how you will carry out surveillance for OPM. Please find guidance on how to complete a survey here. Your plan should consider:
Use this section to identify which control methods would be appropriate for each risk zone you have identified.
Please find guidance on OPM control methods here.
Use this section to highlight how you will communicate with stakeholders about OPM. For example, posters on public right of ways, information in a newsletter etc.
Use this section to highlight key stakeholders to be consulted. These may include schools, community groups and others who may be affected by the public health effects of OPM and OPM control methods.
Complete this table throughout the year, providing marking your OPM management against your objectives from Section 2.2. Every time this is completed, subjectively assess your management in the ‘Interim Assessment’ column. If mitigating action is required, please describe this in the ‘Action Required?’ column.
At the end of the OPM season, evaluate your management against each objective in the ‘Annual Assessment’ column. This will then be assessed by Forestry Commission.
After your plan has been reviewed by Forestry Commission and it meets the requirements, it will be approved.