Wild Purbeck Partnership by Alison Turnock, Dorset AONB Officer (Biodiversity)
Within a relatively small area (46,000 Ha) Purbeck supports a fantastic array of wildlife. You can see everything from reptiles and amphibians (all six species of native reptile occur here), to nesting seabirds such as guillemots, razorbills and puffins, from heathers including Dorset heath which support Dartford warblers, nightjars and woodlark, to early gentian and early spider orchid on the limestone plateau. For those wanting to see some of our larger fauna, Durlston is a great place to watch for dolphins, while the elusive otter is found in Purbeck’s rivers and lakes.
This stunning wildlife is a legacy of decades of stewardship by land managers and conservation organisations who have been managing Purbeck. More recently, the Wild Purbeck Partnership was successful in securing a grant through the Nature Improvement Area initiative. The project aimed to deliver the aims outlined in “Making Space for Nature” of “bigger, better, more, joined”.
Bigger areas of land managed for conservation that have greater resilience to withstand pressure from people and climate change; better quality habitats that can support a wide range of species; more land managed for conservation, and sites that are joined to each other so animals can move between them.
Partnership Achievements Over Three Years - the partnership have worked together on a number of projects, the highlights include: • Purchase of two significant sites: saline lagoon at RSPB Arne and Slepe Heath (National Trust) • 396 Ha heathland restoration, including extensive management and connecting areas of existing heathland • High quality heathland restoration – 71 Ha of conifers restored to heathland • 6 Ha new wetland created at Tadnoll nature reserve (Dorset Wildlife Trust) • 64 Ha woodland created near Bere Regis with open access and a nature reserve • 342 Ha conservation grazing unit established at Rempstone Forest • 12 sites where ladybird spider has been reintroduced
Community engagement was also a key aim – over 970 children were involved through local schools and over 4,100 people engaged in dialogue with us about landscape change.
(Photo 1 Dorset AONB Arne Forestry from Swineham Point Crop March 2014 (c) Tony Gill)
What’s Next? The partnership is now working towards a joint project to deliver a further conservation grazing unit which will encompass RSPB Arne, we want to deliver more heathland conservation and visitor engagement, and to encourage greater numbers of people to appreciate the stunning wildlife found in Purbeck. Dorset AONB is working with the National Trust, RSPB and Natural England to secure funding to deliver this.
Find out more about Dorset AONB:Web: www.dorsetaonb.org.uk/Facebook: facebook.com/Dorset-Area-of-Outstanding-Natural-Beauty-AONB-449270285224339/Twitter: @DorsetAONB
(Photo 2: Dorset AONB Arne Forestry from Swineham Point Crop Sept 2013 (C) Tony Gill)