Opening of woodland a landmark day, charity says

Supporters of the woodland gathered for the opening on Thursday

The official opening of a woodland park in the north of the island has been heralded as a "landmark day" by the head of a conservation charity.

In 2022 The Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) were granted a 99-year lease by the government to maintain the Hairpin Woodland Park, which overlooks Ramsey.

A ceremony at the site saw Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer cut an ivy ribbon to mark the unveiling.

MWT chief executive Leigh Morris said while the project was "about biodiversity, protecting the habitat, and carbon sequestration" it was primarily aimed at getting people to engage with nature and wildlife.

Sir John Lorimer is a patron of the Manx Wildlife Trust

The site, which has a children's play area, footpaths for all abilities and an arc of rare Manx woodland plants, also includes the Crossags Fields which the trust has described as the Isle of Man's first carbon credit project.

It also said the park was the "gateway" to plans to link and expand plantations and glens in the area into the island's first forest.

Sir John told supporters at the unveiling he was "thrilled" the island would be home to another reserve that was "going to be available for everybody to appreciate".

The park can be accessed at Ramsey Hairpin on the TT course

Mr Morris said the project had "really come to fruition after working on the site for nine years" with the support of the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, the Milntown Estate and The Rotary Club of Douglas.

Funding from the Douglas Rotary Club, which is celebrating its centenary year, is set to support the development of education spaces and footpaths, and enable the planting of more than 10,000 trees across the wider site, which extends southwards to Glen Auldyn.

Club chairman Charles Fargher said the support for the project would "pay tribute those who went before us, and invest for the future for those who go ahead of us".

The trust is currently recruiting for a part-time ranger role, which aims to encourage more people to use MWT’s woodland sites, particularly the Hairpin Woodland Park.