The UK’s first ‘super’ national nature reserve has been created on Purbeck Heath. The reserve has been created thanks to seven landowners joining forces to help evolve a rich landscape of heaths, woods, marshes and dunes which contain a number of rare bird habitats, insects, bats and interesting plant life. It will join other ‘super’ national sites across the UK.
Speaking to reporters, an ecologist for the National Trust, said: “It is a really special place and is one of the few places left that you can find small pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies. At last count, there were only 15 of them here. They only stay in that one small area.”
The main aim of the project is to help creatures, like the butterflies, spread further so they don’t rely on one tiny area. The aim isn’t to conserve the land as it is now, but to help it create the conditions so that it can change dynamically as the world around it evolves and help the animals living there adapt to an ever-changing landscape. Much of this is being done with the use of cattle grazing and removing evasive plants while allowing the rest of the plant and animal life to continue as normal. Eventually, it is hoped that people will want to visit here for fresh air and will get to see these creatures in their natural habitat.
Purbeck Heaths is one of the most biodiverse places in the UK and is home to thousands of species of wildlife, including 450 that are listed as being rare or endangered. These include Britain’s six native reptiles, a number of birds, twelve species of bat and many rare insects.
Currently, Purbeck Heaths knots together eleven priority habitats to allow wildlife to move more easily across the landscape. Animals living there now include the rare sand lizard and the Dartford Warbler, who will have a better chance of adapting to the changing climate with this project in place.
Find out more about the project here:
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