The Woodland Trust has doubled the land it owns at Snaizeholme, near Hawes, having secured a significant extension.
Home to rare golden plovers and with a red squirrel colony nearby, it aims to create a mosaic of habitats allowing nature recovery and helping combat the effects of climate change.
The new piece of land, situated in the White Rose Forest area of the Northern Forest* wraps around the head and the western flanks of the dramatic valley, including two wonderful areas of limestone pavement and the extensive peat moorland of Grove Head.
Just a year ago the charity was successful, thanks to a popular public campaign, in its £3 million bid to buy up 550 acres at the site. It's home to a rare red squirrel colony and near to Ribblehead Viaduct, the popular Yorkshire Three Peaks walking route and long-distance trail the Pennine Way.
It now needs a further £7 million to transform this extra piece of land, which will bring its ownership to a total of 561.5 ha (just under 1400 acres).
Al Nash, the Woodland Trust’s Estate Manager for the North said increasing its ownership will help the fight against climate change, as well as the biodiversity crisis.
He said: “Snaizeholme is an incredibly unique opportunity for the Woodland Trust. Hundreds of years ago there would have been trees across the site but now there is just a handful. Creating more woodland is hugely important, but it is so much more beyond. The vision is to create a vibrant mosaic of native woodland, with extensive habitat restoration across peat moorland, acid grassland, limestone pavement and riverside meadows. It will become a Yorkshire beacon for the bid to tackle climate change.”
Completing the sale of both these areas of land was only half the story. The hard work to create a mosaic of habitats for wildlife and people in the Yorkshire Dales is just beginning.
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Posted On: 06/04/2022