It’s a wildlife oasis rarer than the rainforest and home to some of Britain’s most endangered reptile, amphibian and bird species.
Now, five years on from the start of an incredible conservation effort, the future of heathlands in the south of England is looking much brighter.
The Heathlands Reunited project has successfully conserved and enhanced 23,825 hectares – or 18,000 football pitches – of lowland heath. An independent scientific assessment has revealed that the initiative has been “significant” in restoring the ecological condition of the habitat.
The £2m initiative started in 2016 after backing from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is now coming to its conclusion.
The project has seen amazing biodiversity success stories, including the return of the woodlark to key sites, recovery of the endangered field cricket, Dartford Warbler and natterjack toad, and new habitat for the UK’s rarest lizard, the majestic sand lizard.
The project focused on heathland at 41 sites, stretching from Bordon, in Hampshire, to Pulborough in West Sussex. The need was profound because less than one per cent of former heathland remains in the South Downs National Park and what was left was very fragmented, leaving animals and plants vulnerable to extinction in these isolated “island” habitats.
Heathlands are, in fact, ‘man-made’ and only exist because our ancestors used them to dig peat for fuel, harvest heather and graze animals, unwittingly creating a unique mosaic of habitats which many plants and animals now can’t survive without.
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Posted On: 13/12/2021