Success for Wild Woodbury rewilding project at Bere Regis

One year into Dorset Wildlife Trust's Wild Woodbury rewilding project at Bere Regis has seen an uplift in the biodiversity and abundance of species moving onto the site.

As part of the project, the land has been allowed to naturally regenerate to increase the abundance of wildlife.

Staff and volunteers have recorded more than 1,300 species in this summer’s surveys and eight bird species on the Red List of conservation concern have been confirmed to be breeding at Wild Woodbury.

Yellowhammer bird at the Wild Woodbury rewilding area in Bere Regis. Picture: Seb Haggett (Image: Seb Haggett)

A dry spring coupled with the increase of invertebrates attracted by the fast-emerging pollinators in the former arable fields has led to a very positive breeding season for birds.

Numbers of juvenile birds spotted, including cuckoo, whinchat and nightjar, have risen. Skylarks have gone from two singing males last year to 18 this year. 28 yellowhammers have been recorded after no data for 2021. Similarly, a breeding pair of each tree pipits or woodlark have been sighted raising juveniles this year after none were recorded last year.

Butterfly transects have tracked more than 200 meadow brown butterflies as well as silver-washed fritillary and newly hatched painted lady on the wing.

The hot weather in July and August increased moth activity too, with traps holding hundreds of individuals and attracting some rarer species such as dingy mocha.

Cobalt crust fungi at the Wild Woodbury rewilding area at Bere Regis. Picture: Seb Haggett (Image: Seb Haggett)

In just a few sessions, invertebrate specialists amassed more than 300 species of beetles, bugs and spiders – some of which only have a handful of previous records in Dorset.

Large clumps of the nationally scarce flora, narrow-leaved lungwort, red hemp nettle and three species of orchid are also present on the site, as are small populations of cobalt crust fungi.

Wilder Dorset project manager Rob Farrington said: “Restoring a landscape and making space for nature on this scale takes time of course, but it is extraordinary to see all that has been achieved in just one year.

“Our plans for the next year include re-naturalising the River Sherford, reducing the nutrient load carried into Poole Harbour and creating wetland habitat for wildlife whilst locking up carbon in wetter soils, introducing mixed grazing on the land and opening up 35 acres of the site for local people to use.”