Fundraising push to create new nature reserve

Middleton Moor currently features species-poor grassland

Wildlife campaigners have started an urgent appeal to raise £1.2m to create a nature reserve in Derbyshire.

The county's wildlife trust wants to buy Middleton Moor near Wirksworth with plans to restore and rewild the 135-acre site.

If successful it is hoped the site could become home to birds including skylarks, curlews and barn owls.

The moor is surrounded by five other nature reserves operated by the trust and if Midldleton Moor is secured it would create a 1,000 corridor of nature-rich habitat.

The fundraising appeal runs until 30 November and forms part of a five-year plan to create more wild areas in Derbyshire.

A spokesperson for the trust said it had set the deadline to give it enough time to raise the money while also moving quickly to secure the site.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust hopes barn owls can be encouraged to visit the nature reserve

Surrounded by quarries, Middleton Moor is currently an area of species-poor grassland.

But if the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust appeal is successful it would be rewilded to encourage birds, mammals and rare plants into the landscape.

Early work would focus on creating species-rich habitats, including wildflower meadows alive with bees, butterflies, and moths along with healthy grasslands where skylarks and curlews can thrive and scrubland and woodland areas that provide homes for green hairstreak butterflies, bullfinches, and barn owls.

The project also hopes to restore populations of the rare burnt tip orchid and improve public access, offering people the chance to connect with nature just a short distance from the High Peak Trail.

The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is hoping to transform the site

Rachel Bennett from the trust is confident that the money can be raised and that the site can be transformed for future generations.

"As we turn this site into a wilder landscape, what we hope to see is more species-rich grassland coming in," she said.

"So that's wildlflowers which will help pollinators like bees which in turn will attract things like butterflies.

"And we hope to see other species start to recover and even be reintroduced to Derbyshire."