‘Super’ nature reserve creates sprawling wildlife wonderland
RARE birds, butterflies and bats are among hundreds of species set to benefit from Britain’s first “super” National Nature Reserve, created yesterday.
Species including Dartford warblers, silver-studded blue butterflies and 12 types of bat will inhabit Purbeck Heaths NNR in Dorset.
Other species getting a helping hand include rare sand lizards, nightjars and lesser butterfly orchids.
The area is also home to two types of fungi found nowhere else in England and Wales – the sand earthtongue and Roseodiscus formosus.
Seven conservation groups, including the National Trust, Natural England and the RSPB, have combined to link up existing reserves.
They have more than trebled the protected area to 8,231 acres – an area the size of Blackpool.
It marks a major change in the piecemal approach to conservation and is vital because 41 per cent of species have declined since the 1970s. The reserve is the UK’s largest lowland heath NNR, a rich mosaic of lowland wet and dry heath, valley mires, acidic grassland and woodland, along with coastal sand dunes, lakes and saltmarsh.
Natural England chairman Tony Juniper said: “This move marks a shift in gear and a new era for nature recovery in England.”
The groups hope the reserve will also benefit Purbeck’s 2.5 million visitors every year. Purbeck Heaths is one of the most biodiverse places in the UK, home to thousands of species, including 450 listed as rare, threatened or protected.
Mark Harold, National Trust director of land and nature, said: “For generations to come, Purbeck Heaths will be firmly at the heart of a healthy, resilient landscape brimming with wildlife.”