A DORSET nature reserve has been chosen as the UK's first 'super' National Nature Reserve (NNR) in order to “reverse the decline in nature”.

Declared in February 2020, the Purbeck Heaths NNR covers 3,331 hectares (8,231 acres), including Studland and the Arne peninsula, and is the first ‘super’ NNR in the country, combining a number of existing nature reserves.

It is now the largest area of lowland heath managed as a single nature reserve in all of England.

The partners, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Forestry England, National Trust, Natural England, Rempstone Estate, and the RSPB have agreed a 20-year vision, a 'Memorandum of Understanding' and the first ever joint management plan for a ‘super’ NNR.

The management plan will allow the partnership to work at a large landscape scale and use natural processes and animals to sustain the range of habitats in the heathland.

The area is being more than doubled in size and, led by the Dorset AONB team, will see new fencing and cattle grids installed – allowing for the introduction of rare breed pigs and and other animals.

Natural England area manager Rachel Williams said: “This is a fantastic example of partners working together to make nature recovery a reality. Purbeck Heaths NNR is an inspirational place for people from all walks of life to enjoy the natural world.

“By giving wildlife space to thrive and restoring natural processes across the landscape, we can reverse the decline in nature.”

David Brown, National Trust landscape partnerships manager, said: “The Purbeck Heaths NNR is the latest milestone on the journey to recover nature across Purbeck. Conservationists have been working here since the 1950s and have helped safeguard some of Europe’s most precious heathland sites, gradually reconnecting them back into one huge nature-rich landscape.

“The NNR has brought together seven landowners under this common vision.”