Wild Woodbury

Launching a rewilding project on the doorstep of Bere Regis opened up a unique opportunity for Dorset Wildlife Trust to involve the community - from organising bug hunts for local schoolchildren to open days and leading guided walks around the site. Many local people have volunteered to help with surveys, take photographs and share their memories of wildlife that used to be on the site.

The Community Liaison Group and an online poll of residents have helped to formulate the plan for the open access area which will include a food forest, free for the public to walk through and pick as they go as well as woodlands, a wild play and wildflower picnic meadows, a community table to seat 60 people and of course lots of footpaths and trails throughout the space.

Dorset Wildlife Trust is working with students and researchers from Bournemouth University and UWE who are conducting surveys and analysing the data being collected. This will be a long-term project to assess change in the landscape over the next decade and beyond.

There is a waymarked walking trail around the Wild Woodbury site and a car park at the main entrance. There are also footpaths and public rights of way across the land which are open to everyone. Vehicle access is from Southbrook, Bere Regis, BH20 7LL and the what3words location for the main entrance is: ///pesky.indicates.stubble

There were three key reasons for purchasing this land. First is tackling the ecological crisis. The Wildlife Trusts want to see 30% of land being managed in a way which is beneficial to nature in the UK by 2030. This means some currently nature-poor areas need to be restored to allow nature space to rebound and spread.  

Second is tackling the climate crisis. Restoring nature increases the amount of carbon held in healthy soils, new woodlands and wetlands and reduces outputs of harmful greenhouse gases.   

Third, we aim to help local communities better connect with nature on their doorstep. More of us than ever are disconnected from the natural world but connection to nature has huge benefits for mental and physical wellbeing. This site will provide vital space and new opportunities to engage the public with the natural world. Dorset Wildlife Trust is working closely with the local community with planning for the site’s future, to ensure their voices are heard and they receive real community benefits. 

Julia Davies , environmental campaigner and founder of We Have The POWER played a major role in making the acquisition possible, by initiating and negotiating the purchase on behalf of Dorset Wildlife Trust, giving us time to secure funds. Find out more about her Funding Nature Project.

We were very grateful to receive funding from both BCP and Dorset Councils for this project, to mitigate the impacts of increases in nitrates due to new housing development in the Poole Harbour catchment.   

Supporters of Dorset Wildlife Trust made generous donations to the project and our thanks go to those who pledged money in their Wills to support the purchase of land.

High levels of nitrates in our waterways cause algal blooms which can kill ecosystems and have a devastating effect on the wider food chain. Nitrates predominantly come from fertiliser and manure that has been used in agriculture and then washed into waterways and, to a lesser extent, treated sewage. The high levels of these nutrients flowing into Poole Harbour mean that any new input, such as from new houses, has to be balanced by reductions in the same catchment. By taking this land out of intensive farming, the levels of nitrates will be reduced over time.

A year into Dorset Wildlife Trust's Wild Woodbury community rewilding project at Bere Regis and surveys  recorded an uplift in the biodiversity and abundance of species moving onto the 170 hectare site. Since the land was acquired in 2021, it was allowed to naturally regenerate with remarkable results. At the end of the first year, staff and volunteers  recorded over 1,300 species in the summer surveys and eight Red List birds of conservation concern were confirmed to be breeding at Wild Woodbury.

Stage-0 River Restoration

A major part of rewilding is the restoration of natural processes, which for us at Wild Woodbury meant a site-wide project to re-naturalise the headwaters of the River Sherford. Stage-0 in the river restoration process is simply water flowing across the landscape; water that is not diverted or constrained into channels and ditches, but can freely flow into the low ground, finding natural pathways and re-establishing historic routes through fields. To achieve this, we strategically filled in ditches to push water out into the fields, before supplementing this work by blocking up field drains and creating leaky dams throughout the remaining ditch systems. The effect of the restoration has been both immediate and incredible to witness, with a once dry and cracked landscape now a heterogeneous mixture of large flows, ephemeral pools, and delta-like areas. This wetland system makes the land much more resilient to drought, filters excess nutrients out of the water, helps to alleviate flash flooding downstream, and will provide habitats and space for biodiversity and bio abundance to increase. Just a few weeks after the restoration had finished, we played host to 90 lapwing, 20 golden plover, and 30 common snipe, all feeding in the newly wetted areas. 

Wildlife thriving at Wild Woodbury

Volunteers have once again been crucial to our progress this year, with over 1,500 volunteer hours logged for both practical work and species surveys. Days have been varied, including the pulling of non-native species such as bamboo and buddleia, installing new signage, and planting out the one 1-hectare community food forest. During surveys, staff and volunteers have seen a huge increase in both biodiversity and bio abundance, with the site list now over 1600 species, an increase of 300 from the previous year.  

Many new species have colonised the site, and several Red-listed and Red-data Book species, including marsh tit and greenfinch, are using the site to breed, helping smaller populations build resilience, as well as increasing numbers of more common species. Perhaps the most exciting discovery of this year’s summer surveys was the nightingale, another visitor on the Red List for birds of conservation concern. Though not confirmed to be breeding on site, its presence at Wild Woodbury as it migrates southwards is extremely encouraging. Hopefully, they will return next spring to breed!   

The upward trend in ground nesting bird numbers continues from year one, with skylark now at around 50 pairs compared to 18 in 2022, tree pipit increasing from one to seven pairs, and nightjar holding new territories. Reptiles are moving back in, with adder now confirmed to be breeding, and an uplift of grass snake, slow worm, and common lizard populations on site. Our invertebrate numbers continue to grow, with butterflies showing around a 25% increase in abundance, including the colonisation and breeding of silver-studded blues, a butterfly usually associated with wet heath habitats. 

The increase in diversity and abundance has included several other species which have also been a surprise whilst recording on site. Nightjar, known for usually being on heathland, moorland, and woodland clearings, have been holding territories on site, possibly breeding this year, but certainly will be in the coming years if not. Common hemp nettle has been rapidly taking advantage of new bare ground and spreading across large areas, whilst the grayling butterfly has also been exploiting bare ground to bask in the sun. The once thought extinct speckled footman was trapped during moth surveying, and the endangered Red Data Book beetle Hylis cariniceps was recorded in a vane trap. As the site rewilds further, I imagine that future surveys will continue to surprise us. 

Community Engagement 

The increase in biodiversity has allowed for the team to facilitate more wildlife-themed events and activities on site for the public to get involved with. In May we ran guided Dawn Chorus walks and attendees were able to enjoy the sound of birdsong and learn about how the diversity of birds has changed since we purchased the site in 2021. Wilder Dorset Ranger, Seb Haggett, has also been busy running moth trapping events throughout the summer. Visitors were treated to glimpses of a whole host of moth species that now call Wild Woodbury home, including the poplar, privet and elephant-hawk moths. 

The one-hectare food forest, planted by volunteers and the Bere Regis Scouts, is made up of around 200 mixed fruit trees and bushes, which will be free for the public to come and pick in the coming months and years. Not only will this food forest help provide local and sustainable food for the nearby residents, but it also presents a future opportunity for ongoing engagement through a variety of events. This food forest is also going to add to the diversity of habitats on site, supporting different species and allowing us to further build on the species data and future recovery of wildlife.  

Over the past year, we have been working with the incredibly talented wildlife film maker and producer Sue Western to document the inspiring story of Wild Woodbury so far. 

To start the rewilding process, we had to reinstate natural processes on site, firstly letting the site rest and preparing it for the introduction of mixed grazing, and then carrying out Stage-0 river restoration to renaturalise the headwaters of the river. All whilst carrying out extensive surveys to see how the abundance and diversity of species has been changing. The site was also visited by pupils from Bere Regis primary school on a mission to collect acorns ready to plant what will be the start of the ambitious Oak Henge Project.

We hope you enjoy this beautiful video.