A peek into our restricted access nature reserves

At 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.

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.

Weavers Down Bog Nature Reserve

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

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.

Pewit Island Nature Reserve

One of a few undeveloped areas of Portsmouth Harbour, this wildlife-rich haven is composed of vegetated shingle and saltmarsh habitats. It supports a wide variety of plants including sea lavender and golden samphire.

Pewit Island is a critical component of the Portsmouth Harbour Site of Special Scientific Intere (SSSI), Special Protected Area (SPA) and RAMSAR site. What makes this unique one-hectare island so special is that it is a locally important high tide refuge for wading birds to roost.

While you cannot access this protected nature reserve, so not to disturb the birds, you can view the island from the Portchester coastline, using binoculars to identify the many birds, such as curlew and oystercatcher, that roost there.

Ron Ward’s Meadow Nature Reserve

This impressive 10-hectare flower-rich grassland was passed on as a legacy to the Trust by Ron Ward. This special place reminds us how a great deal of the countryside would have looked in the early 20th century, when traditional low-intensity farming, such as grazing and hay cutting, took place without the use of chemicals or machinery. The Trust

continues to manage the grassland using these methods, just as Ron Ward did. The meadow is exceptionally rich in wildflowers, offering a beautiful and undisturbed haven for plants such as dyer’s greenweed, yellow rattle, saw-wort, field scabious and quaking grass, in addition to both and southern marsh and common spotted orchid hybrids. Although there is no public access, a

public footpath runs along the northern boundary of the reserve providing excellent views of the meadow.

Swanpond Copse Nature Reserve

This small four-hectare woodland consists of traditional hazel coppice and seminatural ancient woodland. An autumn visit to Swanpond Copse allows time to experience the wonders of the natural world as it transforms into a kaleidoscope of colours and the landscape comes alive with dormice and red squirrels, who appear searching for hazelnuts to eat or store away in the ground.

The Monkton Mead brook, a small stream running through the reserve, hosts a population of small fish such as stickleback and bullhead. These fish provide food for visiting kingfishers, which can be seen darting along the stream or sitting patiently on a low branch over the water.

A coppice and tree thinning regime at the reserve aims to improve the woodland structure for red squirrel and dormice, while also helping flowering plants to thrive by allowing light down to the woodland floor. The site supports a variety of plants including a mass of bluebells, wood anemones, primroses and ragged robin - most notable is the uncommon narrow-leaved lungwort, which thrives in the dappled shade of the ride.