Charity buys Dorset farmland to help cut water pollution

The land includes a 123-acre (50 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest

A wildlife charity has acquired a farm to help reduce the level of harmful nutrients entering the waterways.

Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) and Natural England bought 833 acres (335 ha) of farmland and chalk downland at Lyscombe, north east of Dorchester.

The trust will restore the land for nature while helping cut the amount of pollution flowing into Poole Harbour.

Natural England said it would help offset the "nutrient impact" of housing in the Poole Harbour catchment.

DWT said the farm had practiced wildlife-friendly techniques but, by adopting a more sustainable form of land management, the trust hoped to reduce the level of nutrients entering the land.

Natural England deputy director Rachel Williams said: "This work will offset the nutrient impact of much-needed housing elsewhere in the Poole harbour catchment, while crucially playing its part in creating a beautiful landscape for people to come and enjoy for many years to come."

Dorset Wildlife Trust and Natural England bought the land at Lyscombe

The land includes a 123-acre (50 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Site of Nature Conservation Interest and several Scheduled Monuments.

The trust said a similar project at Wild Woodbury had resulted in a resurgence in wildlife, with more than 1,600 species recorded, including threatened species such as tree pipit, woodlark and hen harrier.

The UK has signed up to the Global Biodiversity Framework target to ensure that at least 30% of land and sea is effectively conserved and managed by 2030.

The purchase was funded through Natural England's National Nature Reserves programme, planned nutrient mitigation credit scheme, and donations from Dorset Wildlife Trust supporters.

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