Discover Alverstone Mead
MARK HAMBLIN / 2020VISION
From enchanting woodlands to tranquil wetlands, the beauty of Alverstone Mead is plain to see. This special mosaic of habitats teems with wildlife, especially red squirrels, and spring is prime time to visit.
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ituated around two miles from the Isle of Wight’s east coast, Alverstone Mead Nature Reserve is one of the Trust’s newest and most exciting reserves. It is home to one of the best red squirrel populations on the Isle of Wight and boasts a precious mix of important wetland, tranquil woodland, low-lying grasslands and wildflower meadows. The Trust was delighted and honoured to take on the management of Alverstone Mead in 2021 from Wight Nature Fund, an
independent volunteer-run charity that had managed the reserve since 1995. Read more about Wight Nature Fund on page 30. Rather than a single reserve, Alverstone Mead is made up of four nature reserves: Alverstone Mead, Bensteads Marsh, Bretts Meadow and Youngwoods Copse. The alluring complex of reserves, which covers an area of almost 30 hectares, sits within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
A crucial wildlife corridor
Located in the Eastern Yar valley, Alverstone Mead adjoins the Trust’s existing reserves at Sandown Meadows and Newchurch Moors to create a vital 4.5km-long wildlife corridor. Too often nature is forced into fewer and smaller pockets of wild space. Yet, creating connected spaces like this across our landscape gives wildlife a chance to recover and adapt to pressures such as climate change. The addition of new reserves like Alverstone represent a fantastic step towards achieving the Trust’s ambition to create an Island-wide Nature Recovery Network.
Wild Life | Spring 2022
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