Talk notes: The Wild Woodbury Project

Rob Farrington, Wilder Dorset Project Manager at Dorset Wildlife Trust, came to give us a talk about the development of the Wild Woodbury community rewilding project, from land acquired by Dorset Wildlife Trust at Bere Regis in 2021.

It used to be an intensive arable farm, with some square areas of woodland, but was very difficult to farm due to excessive water which prevented access to farm machinery during great part of the year. Huge drainage ditches had been historically installed to try to alleviate the situation.

Since its acquisition, the management practices by DWT have consisted in the restoration of natural processes, with inspiration from the rewilding movement and the Wicken Fen project. For example, the natural hydrology of the site is in process of being restored by removing ditches and drains, artificial fertilisation has stopped and extensive grazing by cows and ponies at low stocking levels has been implemented… Pigs will be introduced at a later stage.

According to Rob, the rate of change has been enormous and unexpected processes have been observed, such as the creation of spoil heaps from mice and voles. The site has a very varied geology, which makes the changes very interesting. We were shown pictures of before and after to demonstrate the changes. Biological surveys have shown that the numbers of invertebrates have increased (for example, butterflies have increased 62%), and therefore the number of predators of invertebrates (for example, harvest mice and birds such as nightjars and short-eared owls). The colonisation of the former arable land by heathland and acid grassland species suggests that the site may revert into a wet heath. The river leaving the site used to be brown with run-off; now it is clear, the site retains a lot of water which prevents flooding in the surrounding roads.

We are looking forward to our visit of the site when we resume our outings this spring. In the meantime, you can follow the news on Dorset Wildlife Trust website’s blog:
www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/tag/wild-woodbury

Inés López-Dóriga