AN OPPORTUNITY has arisen for the Wildlife Wildlife Trust to double the size of its nature reserve in Coombe Bissett.

The charity needs to raise £185,000 before it can apply for the Heritage Lottery Fund to purchase 85 acres of land which sits next to its existing nature reserve. The appeal has already raised nearly £113,000.

The UK is a stronghold for chalk grassland and Wiltshire contains 40 per cent of the world total. However, over 80 per cent of the UK’s chalk downland has been destroyed over the past 70 years, meaning many of the species associated with this historic landscape have become rare or endangered. The protection, enhancement and restoration of chalk downland is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority.

If WWT is successful in buying the land, the new reserve will cover an area of 215 acres, provide ecological connectivity and further protect, maintain and enhance this internationally important habitat.

Gary Mantle, the trust's CEO, said: “We have been delighted and humbled by the fantastic response that we have already received in the first few days of our appeal. It’s a big ask but people are being wonderfully generous, recognising the value of the site and it’s importance locally.

"In the face of so many threats to our wildlife it’s become clear that we need to create larger areas of land managed for wildlife, and this purchase provides us with a unique opportunity to reconnect some important fragments of chalk downlands”.

For more information see: https://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/Appeal/coombe-bissett-land-purchase-appeal.