Restoring Valuable Heathland

The project involves an innovative restoration programme for the largest block of heathland in Worcestershire. Heathland provides a mosaic of habitats for a wide range of wildlife, but it is one of our most threatened habitats and Worcestershire has lost 90% of heathland over the past 200 years.

This new project will involve the restoration of Blackstone Farm fields nature reserve. The site adjoins the Devil’s Spittleful nature reserve, a SSSI flagship heathland, and the restoration of Blackstone Farm will lead to the creation of a 44 hectare block of valuable wildlife habitat .

Heathland plants thrive on poor sandy soil and our aim is to move from an arable management regime to a programme ofgrazing and scrub clearance to further reduce the nutrient levels and create the right conditions for heathland to be recreated. To help plan the transition to heathland the project will include a range of wildlife and botanical surveys, as well as volunteer training for ongoing monitoring.