Old estate could revive wildlife
AS I stood on Horse Common last week, on the northern edge of the New Forest, the wildlife made its presence known despite the bitter cold.
A buzzard wheeled overhead, flocks of fieldfare and redwing – thrushes from Scandinavia – flew past, and coal tits and great tits were singing away.
I was with the RSPB and the Daily Express to look at the potential of this plot of conifer plantations, ancient oaks and heathland.
Part of an old estate, it was historically important for wildlife thanks to its ancient mixed woodland, sandy lowland heath and valley mires.
It also crucially lies alongside a relatively new
RSPB reserve, Franchises
Lodge, which makes it all the more valuable because it expands and links up to the area protected for wildlife.
Despite the single species, non-native pine plantations, a lot of wildlife is already here.
As soon as the land is better managed for nature, and we can trust the RSPB to do this brilliantly, the wildlife will
bounce back in spades. The area was formerly drained for the plantations but by rewetting it we can reinstate those valley mires and that will in turn create damp woodland which will be ideal for willow tits and lesser spotted woodpeckers, species undergoing catastrophic declines in the UK.
In the summer we can expect to see woodlarks, redstarts, wood warblers and nightjars, all visitors from Africa, arriving to nest here. Those valley mires are home to insect-eating sundew plants, bladderwort and marsh orchids. The marsh
has a large population of common toads.
Butterflies such as silverwashed fritillaries, white admirals, purple hairstreaks and silver-studded blues are likely to thrive here.
I am lucky enough to live in the New Forest and anything that helps to alleviate the problems it faces from overgrazing and the large number of human visitors is really important.
If Daily Express readers are generous enough to give the RSPB the money to buy this area, they will be putting their cash into action to help the environment – and helping to create a vital haven for wildlife.
This is your chance to back the Daily Express campaign to create more space for wildlife and a better world for everyone.