JUST weeks ago an arson attack destroyed more than seven acres of Dorset heathland.

Some 30 firefighters battled the blaze at Upton Heath last month but, while a handful of smooth snakes were saved, other reptiles were not so lucky.

Wardens discovered the charred bodies of slow worms and toads and nests belonging to rare birds were also burned.

As the peak season for heath fires approaches, I paid a visit to Upton Heath to see exactly what is being put at risk by the mindless actions of arsonists.

Some grasses have already started to grow back on the site of the latest blaze, but East Dorset area warden Nigel Brooks and Upton Heath warden Andy Fale explain it will take 10-15 years for the area to fully regenerate.

The majority of heath fires take place during the school holidays and almost all are started deliberately.

Nigel tells me he was once watching firefighers tackle a blaze on one part of the heath, when he saw smoke rising from another area, and two youngsters running away.

That was two years ago, but the damage the fire caused is still clear to see.

While the heath looks almost fully recovered on the surface, Andy explains it's only superficial and that the damage you can't see will take many more years to repair fully.

"The grass grows back really quickly, but then it doesn't allow things like the heather to grow back, so we don't get the plants we really want," he said.

"There are flagship species here like the smooth snake and Dartford warbler.

"It's really tragic when they lose their habitat.

"But the problem is, it's all the small stuff like insects and spiders, because they're right there at the base of the food chain, so there's nothing for the reptiles and birds to eat if they do survive.

"It can take 10 or 15 years for them to get back to this area of heathland, because they're not very mobile.

"Plus, things like smooth snakes and sand lizards like mature heath that's over 15 years old, so they're not going to survive in these conditions."

Indeed the few lizards the wardens found which did survive the latest fire have now been relocated to other areas of the heath.

Upton Heath is home to all six native reptiles - the rare smooth snake, grass snake and adder, the slow worm (also known as the leg-less lizard), the common lizard and sand lizard, which is particularly scarce.

Visitors can see heathland birds the Dartford warbler and Stonechat, as well as ground nesting nightjars and skylarks, and the heath also boasts 400 types of beetle, 20 species of dragonfly and more than 200 species of bees and wasps.

Then there are the 15 types of sphagnum moss, Marsh clubmoss, rare silver-studded blue butterflies, grayling butterflies, palmate newts and raft spiders.

On my short tour of the 500-acre heath, I managed to tick off slow worms, a male and female sand lizard, a common lizard, a Dartford warbler, a stonechat, a skylark and a buzzard.

It's this fantastic wealth of wildlife which Dorset Wildlife Trust is trying to educate people about, in a bid to reduce the number of heath fires.

"It's a bit underrated, heathland, because it's not obvious," explained Nigel.

"But there is an ongoing education process and we work with the Urban Heath Partnership - in schools."

Admittedly, it is a small minority who are responsible for the fires, and they may not always be deliberate.

"Sometimes the kids have a little den and decide to make a camp fire, but don't realise how flammable it is," said Nigel.

"But it is potentially life-threatening. Also, there's a danger that if you have too many fires in one spot it changes the vegetation type.

"Heathland sites are very small now, so they're isolated from other areas of heathland.

"If you get a fire there then there's no undamaged heathland left for the wildlife to come back from.

"We have some heathland at Alder Hills, for example.

"It's quite small, so a big fire there would just wipe it out."

Of course, there are other threats to the heath, like motorbikes and mismanagement.

Nigel and Andy work with a team of volunteers to ensure no one plant takes over and restricts the growth of others.

Some 80 per cent of Dorset heathland has been lost in this way in the last 200 years.

The heath is open access and there are several self-guided nature trails, although visitors and their dogs are encouraged to keep to the pathways to avoid disturbing the wildlife.

"The thing about the heath is it's everybody's heath," said Andy. "So everybody should be taking responsibility for it."