The Government has announced the creation of the UK’s first ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR) which it says will help tackle climate change and benefit more than 2.5 million visitors.

The new Purbeck Heaths NNR ‘knits’ together 11 types of priority habitat to enable wildlife to move more easily across the landscape.

It combines three existing NNRs at Stoborough Heath, Hartland Moor, and Studland and Godlingston Heath linking them with new land including nature reserves and conservation areas.

The ‘super’ NNR is 3,331 hectares (8,231 acre) in total, expanding the current NNR in Purbeck by 2,335 hectares (5,770 acres). The new designation has resulted in an area similar in size to the town of Blackpool.

The expansion will create the largest lowland heathland NNR in the country providing benefits to wildlife by allowing all species the opportunity to move around the landscape more easily.

The Government also says it will give people more opportunity to explore and in turn help improve the health and wellbeing of more than 2.5 million people who visit Purbeck every year.

The NNR is the result of a joint project by the National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, Forestry England, the Rempstone Estate, Dorset Wildlife Trust, and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

‘This new super nature reserve is a great example of what can be achieved through partnerships and collaboration,’ said Natural England chair Tony Juniper.

‘It demonstrates how by working together we can secure a brighter future for our wonderful natural environment. By creating bigger, better, and more joined-up wild places like this one, we will achieve big benefits for both people and wildlife.

‘In facing the twin and deepening challenges of global heating and wildlife loss, we need to think and act on a larger scale. Today’s move marks a shift in gear and a new era for nature recovery in England.

‘Comparable ambition is visible in other partnerships that are established or forming across the country, not only setting the scene for species recovery, but also increased resilience to climate change.’

Photo: © Phil Champion