'Vulnerable' dormice helped in new national reserve

Hazel dormice are found in "very few places in the UK", Shropshire Wildlife Trust says

"Vulnerable" dormice will have a more favourable habitat as a new national nature reserve is opened, a wildlife charity has said.

The Stiperstones Landscape reserve in Shropshire brings together organisations to safeguard heathland, ancient woodland, bogs and acidic grasslands.

One of the areas within the reserve is home to hazel dormice, which are found in "very few places" in the UK, Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) says.

The reserve forms part of the King's Series of National Nature Reserves, created to honour King Charles III's coronation and his long-standing environmental advocacy, Natural England (NE) said.

Dormice live in low density, with just three to four in the same hectare of woodland together, making creating more habitat "all the more vital", SWT said.

Tom Freeland, its head of nature reserves, said the sharing and coordination of resources and techniques "with our partners is a key approach to achieving this".

'Numbers plummet'

The national reserve is launching this month, and will see more than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of rare habitats protected, NE said.

As well as SWT and NE, Forestry England, The Linley Estate, Shropshire Council and Middle Marches Community Land Trust are all involved.

The reserve combines existing sites with more than 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of additional managed land.

SWT said it brought "60 years of local conservation knowledge" and five of its current nature reserves - including Hope Valley, where the hazel dormice are - to create the national one.

Mr Freeland said: "Now listed as vulnerable, the loss of hedgerows and changing woodland management practices has seen hazel dormouse numbers plummet in the last two decades.

"We're carefully managing the woodland at Hope Valley to create and maintain more favourable habitat for dormice.

"By working with our partners we can turn small islands of wildlife-friendly habitat into one unified sanctuary for nature that reaches across the Stiperstones landscape for the benefit of vulnerable species like the hazel dormouse and many more."