Natterjacks return! Planning Authority supports nature recovery

Natterjacks return! Planning Authority supports nature recovery

December 20, 2021

Funding of almost £40,000 from the National Park Authority will help support the re-introduction of the natterjack toad.

The iconic amphibian species was found at Blackmoor until the 1970s when it died out due to neglect of the heathland habitat.

But now, five years since the launch of the Heathlands Reunited conservation project, the re-introduction of the natterjack is finally possible.

The site is part of the Woolmer Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest and much of the heath has been restored in recent years after careful management by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust.

Section 106 funding in 2020 allowed the Trust to buy 20 hectares of Blackmoor in 2020 and the new funding this year will support the complex ecological work needed to re-introduce the species.

Funding will also pay for new stock fencing – replacing the the current barbed wire fencing – along the A325 to enable grazing of English Longhorn cattle over an additional 4.5 hectares of land.

This grazing of the vegetation will improve the habitat, encouraging the natterjacks to thrive.

Gill Welsman, who oversees S106 funding, said: “This is nature recovery in action and it’s wonderful that our role as a Planning Authority can have this kind of impact on biodiversity.”

The Heathlands Reunited project, led by the National Park Authority, has successfully conserved and enhanced 23,825 hectares – or 18,000 football pitches – of lowland heath across the South Downs over the past five years. An independent scientific assessment has revealed that the initiative has been “significant” in restoring the ecological condition of the habitat.