OUR RESTRICTED ACCESS RESERVES
Beyond the gate:
A peek into our restricted access nature reserves
Pewit Island
A
t the Wildlife Trust, we love nothing more than welcoming people onto our nature reserves to experience fresh air, green spaces and wonderful wildlife. But in some cases it’s important that certain areas are protected from human footfall. Sometimes this is because a reserve is very small and fragile, and if the land were open to everyone sensitive species would suffer. Other times, it may be that the reserve can only be accessed through privately owned land.
CHRIS LAWRENCE
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that’s rarely seen in Southern England. The unique mix of specialist plants at the site offers a sweet-smelling, colourful scene that attracts a variety of insects, such as the black darter dragonfly.
Weavers Down Bog Nature Reserve
Liphook, North-East Hampshire In the north of the county lies one of Hampshire’s hidden gems. A gift from Lord Selborne, at just two hectares, this pocket-sized wet heath and mire, surrounded by pine and birch woodland, is part of Woolmer Forest. The soil at Weavers Down bog is very poor in nutrients and remains wet all year round, making it very difficult for the majority of plants to survive. Due to these conditions the site has a uniquely rich and complex assemblage of flora and fauna, and the plants found here tend to be rare, such as bog asphodel, insect-eating sundews, cross-leaved heather and sphagnum mosses. The reserve is also one of only a few sites in Hampshire where you can find water-loving wild cranberry; a plant
Weavers Down Bog
Sundew
VICKY NALL
Cranberry
Weavers Down Bog, Pewit Island, Swanpond Copse and Ron Ward’s Meadow are a few of our nature reserves that are not open for public access. But they are just as important for wildlife as bigger reserves such as Blashford Lakes and Newchurch Moors.
Wild Life | Winter 2020
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