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THE UNMANAGED FORESTS OF ABRUZZO NATIONAL PARK IN ITALY SUPPORT LILFORD’S WOODPECKERS. Find out more on p78

It was during a stay at Lulworth Cove in Dorset that I had the chance to walk across the MoD land around the abandoned village of Tyneham on one of the open weekends when no artillery firing was taking place. That was the first time I was aware of the wildlife treasure houses contained within these army training ranges. Farming land left virtually untouched for decades promotes a profusion of plants and animal species, the like of which our countryside has hardly seen since the pre-War years.

Ben Hoare, our features editor, was privileged to be allowed to spend the day on parts of Salisbury Plain that the public are not normally allowed to visit, and he reports on p22 on some interesting studies being conducted in amongst the tank tracks.

We also present another fascinating study area on p66. In Oxfordshire’s Wytham Woods scientists have learnt a wealth of facts about great and blue tits.

Sheena Harvey sheena.harvey@immediate.co.uk