Meet the new engagement rangers inspiring more people to learn about their local heath
March 22, 2021
The countryside surrounding Whitehill & Bordon contains some of the world’s rarest heathlands habitats, supporting amazing wildlife including the beautiful sand lizard, the silver-studded blue butterfly and several rare birds. These heaths are, in fact, so special that they have protected status.
Now a new inspiring initiative is being launched to encourage people to care for these local heaths and ensure the town’s regeneration protects the biodiversity of these special sites.
East Hampshire District Council, Whitehill Town Council and the South Downs National Park’s Heathlands Reunited Team are working in collaboration and using developers’ contributions to introduce new engagement rangers on the heaths.
To coincide with the start of ground nesting bird season, a team of seasonal rangers will be onsite from March to September and will have two key roles. Firstly, they will be monitoring the sites’ protected species. Secondly, their engagement role will include offering talks and site visits to local community groups and schools, as well as running a series of wildlife identification pop-up events, guided walks and dog walking activities in the Whitehill & Bordon area.
The rangers will be working across the Wealden Heath Phase II Special Protection Area (SPA) that surrounds Whitehill & Bordon. The SPA includes Bramshott & Ludshott Commons, Broxhead Common, Kingsley Common, Longmoor Inclosure and Woolmer Forest. The rangers will also be working at the Shortheath Common Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Olivia French, Engagement Officer for the Heathlands Reunited project, said: “The new engagement rangers will be a team of friendly faces on the commons, bringing people together to care for the heaths and hopefully reaching new audiences who might not be aware of how fragile these protected habitats are.
“These heaths are a habitat as rare as the rainforest and we see this as a wonderful opportunity to help more people learn about how special these sites are and simple things we can all do to help care for them”
The Wealden Heath SPA is what remains of a vast lowland heathland habitat that once stretched across Hampshire and Sussex and is now confined to a few isolated pockets. The sites are all home to three protected bird species: The Dartford warbler, The European Nightjar and The Woodlark.
These birds use the cover of the heather and gorse to build nests and raise their young between March and September. They can be vulnerable to disturbance by inquisitive dogs, so dog walkers are asked to stick to paths and keep dogs on leads and out of vegetation during this time.
If you are interested in linking up with the seasonal engagement ranger team and are local to Whitehill & Bordon and the surrounding area, please email heathlandranger@southdowns.gov.uk to register your interest.
