Dorset Area of Natural Beauty ( Dorset AONB) Partnership has been awarded £763,900 from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund for two projects. The purpose of the Defra-origin fund was to aid nature recovery while securing jobs, particularly in the environmental charities which have suffered serious financial impacts as a result of the pandemic.
The projects, which must be complete by March 2022, are:
Purbeck Heaths Large Grazing Unit (grant £549,900 / total £840,041)
Building on the work of the Wild Purbeck Partnership the AONB will be working with the RSPB and National Trust (funded partners) and Natural England to create a 1,370 hectare area of lowland heathland at the heart of the recently declared Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve (NNR) for grazing by cattle, ponies and pigs. This will reintroduce lost ecological processes and create a more dynamic, complex and better-connected suite of habitats. The funds will also provide an education, engagement and visitor management programme including the co-development of a Sustainable Tourism Plan with local businesses.
Greening West Dorset’s Hills & Vales (grant £214,000 / project total £237,419)
Working with Dorset Council, Dorset Wildlife Trust, National Trust, the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SW, Litter Free Dorset and numerous farmers, this project will conserve and restore some of the best loved and valuable landscapes features in the area. This includes restoring nine ponds (which support rare great crested newts), stretches of river, lowland meadow, traditional orchards and hedgerows. The work will also expand the natural flood management capacity of the River Asker and control invasive species such as Himalayan balsam which have been adversely dominating some habitats.
Connecting people with nature is also an important element of the work and we will support seven communities to improve their local water environments. This work will happen on sites across the following areas: Marshwood Vale, Eggardon, Winterbourne & Broadmayne, Littlemoor & Preston, Radipole and Bridport with the potential for community engagement as the project develops in Chesil Bank, Lyme & Charmouth and Beaminster wards.
Litter Free Dorset will work closely with five communities between March 2021 – March 2022 to reduce litter and pollution within West Dorset.
Dr Phil Sterling, the Dorset AONB Chairman, explains:
“The Dorset AONB Team has led these two successful bids, bringing together a range of farmers and other delivery partners including Dorset Wildlife Trust, National Trust and the RSPB. This is what the AONB does best – taking a strategic role to agree priorities for action, bringing people together and drawing in new resources. We depend on these partners to get vital ‘on the ground’ work done and connecting with local communities and are very happy that these projects will support them during these challenging times.”
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“We are very proud to be part of the AONB partnership, supporting their work by hosting the team within the organisation and forming part of this bid. This award shows that working together to protect and enhance the natural environment has a whole range of benefits.”
Good result to get such funding