POOLE Harbour beauty spot Brownsea Island has been shortlisted for a national award in this year’s BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards.

It is one of 10 nominees in the favourite nature reserve category, as chosen by nature writer Mark Cocker and Ellie Harrison, presenter of the BBC’s Big Wildlife Revival, pictured inset.

The pair describe Brownsea as “A diversity of habitats: sheltered lagoon, flooded woodland and pine wood. Home to red squirrels.”

The island is the largest of the eight in the harbour and was home to the first camp of the Scouting movement in 1907. Now owned by the National Trust, it featured in BBC’s Autumn Watch programme in 2008.

The northern part of the island is a nature reserve managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust and the lagoon is an important habitat for overwintering and summer breeding birds. The awards celebrate the British countryside and its people. This year’s were launched in the magazine’s August issue and feature 10 categories, including best heritage attraction, country-side writers and conservation projects.

Members of the public are now being invited to vote for their favourites. Visit countryfile.com/ awardsvote or email awards@ countryfile.com by September 30.

* National Trust spokesman Allan King said: “It’s excellent news. A number of National Trust sites have been selected across the country, but I think Brownsea is the only one on the south coast.

“We and the Dorset Wildlife Trust do a lot of work to look after red squirrels and ensure that the island has the right sort of habitat to enable them and lots of other wildlife to thrive. It has a huge variety in a very small area.”