Devon Heath Service
Heathlands are one of Devon’s most valuable wildlife habitats.
England’s rarest ant species, churring nightjars, Dartford warblers, colourful dragonflies and beetles, lizards and slow worms, and a wasp that builds clay pots to store food for its young: all these amazing animals have evolved to thrive among the heather.
Photo, Jo Damsell
And not only protected. Heathland is a habitat shaped by human activity. For centuries, open areas of wet or dry heath were maintained by small numbers of grazing livestock. When this traditional form of management declined, many heathlands became dominated by gorse and scrub.
Now it’s essential that this habitat is managed to ensure wildlife can continue to thrive on lowland heaths.
Photo, David Tipling/2020VISION
Devon Wildlife Trust manages some of the most important remaining lowland heathland sites in Devon, including DWT nature reserves like Bystock Pools in east Devon, Ideford Common, near Teignmouth, and sites in the Bovey Basin like Chudleigh Knighton Heath and Bovey Heathfield.
Stonechat (Neil Bygrave)
Without management, heathlands would revert to scrubby woodland. While that habitat would still be a space for some wildlife, we would lose the creatures that have evolved to specialise in lowland heaths.
It's vital that we maintain the ‘heath service’ provided by well-managed nature reserves for the array of wildlife that relies on lowland heath.
Please support the Devon Heath Service fundraiser with a donation before the campaign ends on 31 March - thank you!
Heath potter wasp collecting clay at Bovey Heathfield (David Cawthraw)
As if each stage of this quarrying and constructing wasn’t amazing enough, if the bare earth is too dry when the wasp needs to create her pots, she will ferry water to her ‘quarry’, to create the mud she needs. DWT’s heathland reserves in the Bovey Basin, such as Bovey Heathfield, are important homes for the heath potter wasp.
By managing the site to leave areas of bare ground, heather, gorse and fresh water in close proximity to each other, DWT can ensure this incredible insect continues to thrive here.
A £30 donation can help the heath potter wasp make pots for many more generations of its young.
Nightjar at Chudleigh Knighton Heath. Photo, Chris Root
The good news is that nightjar populations in Devon have increased in recent years thanks to good heathland management providing the right conditions for nesting and a well-stocked larder of moths and beetles to feed breeding adults and their chicks. With your support we can continue to provide nightjars with the nesting and foraging conditions they need.
Your donation will support essential fencing, water supplies and welfare of grazing animals to manage heathlands for nightjars.
Silver-studded blue. Photo, Chris Root
But as they do not fly significant distances, colonies are very loyal to sites where the lowland heath habitat is well-maintained.
Silver-studded blues thrive at Bystock Pools and Ideford Common, but DWT was also delighted by the first confirmed records of silver-studded blues returning to Bovey Heathfield after years of habitat improvements.
A donation of £40 can help this stunning butterfly continue to thrive on DWT heathland reserves.
Green tiger beetle (John Bridges)
Making full use of its long legs and big jaws to catch ants and spiders, this vivid green insect is one of the UK’s fastest moving beetles, but they can be spotted at DWT reserves like Ideford Common.
Your donation will help DWT maintain areas of bare ground on heathland reserves to benefit insects and reptiles.
Narrow-headed ant preying on caterpillar at Chudleigh Knighton Heath (John Walters)
In recent years, DWT partnered with invertebrate conservation charity Buglife on a project to translocate narrow-headed ant nests and queens to two nearby DWT heathland sites. So management of habitats around the introduced nests at Teigngrace Meadow is essential to ensure access to food and materials for the ants to maintain their nests, while making sure nests are not shaded out by gorse or scrub.
DWT is committed to providing this ‘heath service’ for the translocated narrow-headed ants for at least the rest of this decade – a £25 donation will help support England’s rarest ant species on two nature reserves.
© Chris Gomersall/2020VISION
As a rare British warbler that doesn’t migrate south in autumn, they can fall victim to harsh winter further north, but Devon’s relatively mild climate means the Bovey Basin and East Devon are important strongholds for this magnificent bird.
Dartford warblers can be seen and heard at DWT’s Ideford Common and Bovey Heathfield reserves. Your donation will support heathland management to benefit heathland birds on DWT reserves.
Heathland at Bystock Pools (Simon Williams)
So this year’s main task will be to create more space for the pioneer stage of young heather by managing bracken and scrub. Clearing areas of bracken will also help create areas of bare ground which will benefit reptiles and many invertebrates including ants, and heathland butterflies such as grayling. The bare ground created may also allow areas of lichen heath to develop which will further diversify the heathland habitat there.
Grazing by ponies is an essential part of the management of Bystock. That means fencing has to be maintained around the reserve, something that has increased greatly in cost in recent times; a £50 donation will help continue this vital habitat management.
Southern damselflies (Steve Day)
Home to a successful re-introduction of rare and threatened southern damselflies since 2009, the reserve supports 21 species of dragonfly and damselfly in total, along with 40 bird species. Common lizards, slow worms, grass snakes and adders are also found here.
Exmoor ponies carry out much of the management at Venn Ottery, and your donation will allow them to continue their crucial work for wildlife, by supporting maintenance of the fencing that keeps the ponies where wildlife needs their work.
Bovey Heathfield. Photo, David Chamberlain
Once a much wider area of heathland, much of the habitat has been lost to the nearby industrial estate and housing. All the more need for this nature reserve – with its butterflies, other insects and birds that have evolved to thrive on heathlands – to be maintained in the best possible condition by DWT staff and volunteers.
This year, we need to create more patches of bare ground near pioneer heather to benefit the Kugelann’s green clock beetle. Bovey Heathfield is an important site for this insect, which has only been recorded in 15 places in Britain this century.
A £30 donation will help support this beetle and the many other species that thrive in this site that has already recovered from historic ill treatment - and needs our ongoing 'heath service.'
Common lizard (Tom Marshall)
By opening up the areas of scrub at Clayhidon the site will provide more suitable conditions for slow worms and adders and for a wide range of plant life including cotton grass, bog asphodel and insectivorous plants such as pale butterwort.
Your donation can help us create more space for rare plants, insects and reptiles at this nature reserve.
Chudleigh Knighton Heath (Simon Williams)
There is a significant amount of scrub clearance required on this reserve this year, not only close to the narrow-headed ant nests but also around one of the ponds where there are records of great crested newt.
A donation of £25 will support removal of conifers and scrub to ensure Chudleigh Knighton Heath’s precious insect life can continue to thrive here.
Ideford Common nature reserve is near Teignmouth
Birdlife at the site includes stonechat, nightjar and Dartford warbler, while the reserve has important populations of bog bush cricket and silver-studded blue butterfly.
Hand-tools for volunteers and machinery for staff to carry out vital scrub clearance at this reserve are increasingly costly – your donation will support this essential work for wildlife.
©Chris Gomersall/2020VISION
Please support the Devon Heath Service fundraiser today
With your help, DWT can maintain the ‘heath service’ that ensures a wide range of birds, insects, reptiles and plants can continue to thrive on Devon’s remaining heathlands.
Can you help us reach the £5,500 target by 31 March?
Thank you!