13 square mile savannah to protect rare species and plants
It’s taken three years to ‘knit together’ nearly 13 square miles of ‘priority habitat’ to create the UK’s first-ever ‘super’ National Nature Reserve on the Purbeck Heaths in Dorset.
The National Trust is working with reserve partners on an ambitious project to create the 1,370-hectare open ‘savannah’ for free-ranging, grazing animals.
The aim is to create natural habitats which mimic what it would have been like thousands of years ago.
The Purbeck Heaths super reserve is a rich mosaic of lowland wet and dry heath, valley mires, acid grassland and woodland. There are also coastal sand dunes, lakes and saltmarsh.
It’s already one of the most biodiverse places in the UK it is home to thousands of species of wildlife, including all six native reptiles.
With ambitions to make the area even more abundant in plants and wildlife, the National Trust, RSPB, Natural England and Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have created an open grazing site.
It’s envisaged ponies, pigs and cattle will roam freely to graze alongside deer to help shape a more diverse habitat.
The team says the area is already benefiting wildlife for birds such as nightjars to tiny plants such as yellow centaury. They add that fence removal has made the area even more accessible to people.
Domestic grazers mimicking wild ancestors
‘Over large swathes of open grassland and heath, these domestic grazers are now mimicking their wild ancestors, who would have shaped habitats in the past,’ says David Brown, National Trust lead ecologist for Purbeck.
‘We can’t bring back aurochs, the native ancestors of our domestic cattle, but we can use our 200 Red Devon cattle to graze and behave in equivalent ways.’
‘Similarly, Exmoor ponies mimic the actions of now-extinct tarpan horses, and the quirky, curly coated Mangalitsa pigs are rooting around like wild boars.’
‘We’re also discovering that by letting them get on with their own thing as much as possible, our grazing animals explore new habitats and discover different types of vegetation to eat – all of which help create a more dynamic and complex ecosystem.’
In a natural environment, large herbivores also play a crucial role in helping plants and less mobile insect species move around the landscape – carrying seeds and larvae on their fur and hooves, or in their dung.
By giving cattle, ponies and pigs this huge landscape to wander around, they are helping rare and threatened species such as Purbeck mason wasps and heath bee-flies disperse and build stronger populations.
‘Grazing in their own individual ways, these animals are slowly forming diverse, wildlife friendly habitats.’
‘Cattle are untidy eaters, leaving messy tussocks perfect for insects; pigs turn over the soil and help sand lizards burrow; and ponies nibble tightly down to the ground creating grassland lawns full of specialist flowers such as storksbill and waxcap fungi.’
Grassland important for pollinating insects
‘These grasslands can be really important for pollinating insects too, including rare mining bees. It’s the perfect mix of habitats in which biodiversity can thrive and a great landscape for people to also roam freely.’
‘As well as making the landscape richer for nature, some of these grazing animals will provide good quality food and support the local economy through ecotourism, such as camping and safaris,’ says Tom Munro, Dorset AONB Manager.
‘Creating a wilder grazing system is a long-term project to enrich this landscape for nature. It’s early days but we are already seeing some surprising changes,’ says Peter Robertson, RSPB Senior Site Manager.
‘We expected that the pigs would turn over the ground in areas of grassland and woodland to create bare ground for invertebrates and reptiles to feed and nest and to create space for plants to germinate.’
‘What has come as more of a surprise is how they have created new ponds by wallowing in water-logged areas and have opened up areas of saltmarsh by foraging for shellfish!’
‘We are using remote sensing to monitor these changes to allow us to adapt our management and to inform other projects and partners who are interested in adopting the same approach.’
‘It isn’t just the wildlife of this area that is special but also the very close collaboration between multiple conservation bodies and our private sector partners who supply and care for the animals,’ says Ian Alexander, Natural England Senior Advisor for Wessex.
‘This close partnership working is what has enabled us to deliver such striking conservation results.’
Wildlife are already moving more easily across the whole of this special landscape, including the sand lizard, the Dartford warbler, and the silver studded blue butterfly.
Experts say the area gives them a better chance of adapting and thriving in light of the current climate crisis.
Successes of the ‘Super’ National Nature Reserve
In 2022, Studland Heath saw the highest numbers of silver-studded blue butterflies recorded in 45 years of monitoring. At RSPB Arne, Dartford warblers have increased from just two breeding pairs in 1965 to 92 pairs in 2022.
Experts are amazed and say that over the whole super National Nature Reserve there are now thought to be about 300. Rare plants are also thriving in greater numbers including marsh gentians, great sundews and pale dog violets and yellow centaury.
Last year, ospreys bred on the edge of the NNR for the first time in 200 years following a reintroduction project that began in 2017 by local charity Birds of Poole Harbour.
The UK’s largest native bird, the white-tailed eagle is also now regularly seen flying over the reserve, following its introduction to the Isle of Wight.
Managers also believe the work may help the landscape to be more resilient to the impact of fire.
Last August a disposable barbecue set fire to Studland heath and devastated an area of about five hectares. They point out that the site is now nestled within 3,500 hectares of heathland which has resulted in wildlife quickly recolonising the area.
The fire has had a much smaller impact than if it had been a small, isolated nature reserve.
Environmentalists are celebrating the news that Borrowdale will be the latest in the ‘King’s Series of National Nature Reserves’ (NNRs) by the National Trust and Natural England.
The National Trust says the 721 hectares is made up of ‘vitally important habitats, including temperate rainforest, ancient woodland pastures and carefully selected areas where these can be expanded and reconnected.’
It is in the heart of the Lake District, renewing the National Trust’s commitment to celebrating and enhancing this rare habitat.
